Tobirama vs. Madara

"...Leave the rest to me."

A towering man stood before Dai, his silver-white hair fluttering in the wind.

Dai knew that figure, that broad back.

"Lord Hokage!!"

Dai shouted the man's name.

It was the current Hokage—the man who had stayed behind alone in a deadly place to cover Diejian and the others' escape: Senju Tobirama himself.

His sharp gaze held not a trace of emotion as it fixed on the man standing before him.

"...So it really is you, Tobirama."

The man's voice carried a mocking sneer, yet there was also a complicated note mixed in.

His twisted smile sent chills down the spine.

His expression seemed to belong both to a lover overjoyed at a long-awaited reunion and to a ferocious hunter who had found his prey, giving off an intensely unsettling air.

The man sneered without trying to hide it, as if making a fool of Tobirama. It was Uchiha Madara's voice.

Yet Madara could not fully conceal the anger and hatred burning deep within it like hellfire.

Tobirama showed no fear of Madara's hatred. His sharp gaze grew even sharper as he carefully examined Madara from head to toe.

The Chakra he sensed from Madara was vast and terrifying.

It was the very presence of "Uchiha Madara" that he had sensed time and again on battlefields long ago.

That Chakra was no counterfeit. It carried the unmistakable pulse of life.

(This man... isn't some fake maintained by Impure World Reincarnation or a related technique. He really is Uchiha Madara, alive. But why is he still alive? After my brother killed him, I recovered his body myself and sealed it in the deepest part of Konoha...)

"Answer me, Madara. Why are you still alive?"

"It's been a long time, and you're already being so harsh, Tobirama. I don't mind answering that, but before I do... there's something I want to ask you, too."

Madara casually folded his arms and closed his eyes pensively.

A moment later, Madara opened his eyes and turned his crimson gaze toward the distant sky.

The sequence of gestures somehow carried a sense of sanctity—as though he were roaming through precious, ancient memories that no one was allowed to defile.

"Not long ago, in this very place, I sensed a Chakra that brought back memories."

Madara turned his gaze toward Tobirama, as if probing him—or perhaps seeking confirmation.

Tobirama showed no reaction. He simply watched Madara in silence.

Madara sighed, bored, and shook his head from side to side with a sorrowful air.

"Though it was muddied, that Chakra let me sense a part of his power—Hashirama, who has passed away. At first, I thought fighting 'that' might be entertaining... but then I sensed another familiar Chakra. Even I was astonished. I couldn't help but doubt my own senses."

Madara's crimson eyes sharpened like blades.

His gaze held an iron will, as if it would tolerate neither lies nor silence.

"Tobirama, I know you once struggled to pass Hashirama's Chakra... Wood Release on to the next generation. It was too dangerous, so the project failed at the experimental stage. But information always leaks. So it wouldn't be all that surprising if another shinobi had acquired Hashirama's Chakra. Whether I'd allow it is another matter, of course."

He paused.

Madara sighed deeply, as if savoring the words in his mouth—or weary of the world's cruelty.

"So what are you trying to say, Madara?"

"Oh? You want me to say it, Tobirama?"

Tobirama understood what Madara was getting at and had already figured everything out, but he deliberately played dumb.

Madara realized this and seemed to find it utterly ridiculous. A low laugh rumbled in his throat.

As if struggling to hold back a burst of laughter, he pressed one hand to his head, but he couldn't stop his body from shaking.

"Truly, it's a familiar Chakra. But it shouldn't exist. It belongs to my blood relatives, something that was lost long ago. My younger brother, Uchiha Izuna... died by your hand. Isn't that right, Tobirama?"

Madara's gentle voice and composed expression foretold the storm to come.

Then Madara's expression turned sorrowful, but it remained a contrived, insincere act.

"Izuna is dead. The dead don't come back to life. Not even Hashirama. But I know of only one technique that can bring the dead back..."

"..."

Tobirama remained silent, but Madara had already shut him out of his thoughts.

It was a rejection born of long-suppressed hatred and resentment.

Based on his past experience, Madara knew Tobirama wouldn't give up any information.

"Impure World Reincarnation—Tobirama, you used Izuna, didn't you?"

"So what if I did, Madara?"

"Tobirama—!!"

The moment his frustration reached its peak, Madara's mask fell away, exposing his naked hatred.

It was the anguish and despair of a man renowned among the Uchiha Clan for loving more deeply than anyone.

Dai, lying on the ground behind Tobirama, shuddered and broke out in a cold sweat at the sharp wave of killing intent Madara suddenly released.

Once again, he was forced to realize that his battle with Madara just moments ago had been nothing more than an illusion Madara had created on a whim.

The merciless truth stood before him: Uchiha Madara could have killed Dai at any moment.

"So, in your rage, did you come all this way just to complain to me?"

Tobirama stepped between Dai, trembling from the force of Madara's power but still holding on, and Madara, trembling with fury.

Freed from the pressure, Dai sighed—and only then realized that fear had made him forget to breathe.

"Tobirama, you really are a despicable man. Killing Izuna wasn't enough; you killed my little brother, and now you're going to 'use' him, too... I'm surprised even I didn't realize you were this kind of man."

"Say whatever you like."

Madara was unusually talkative. It was probably because his anger had dulled his reason.

Tobirama calmly and quietly assessed the situation.

He had already administered emergency treatment to the dying Diejian.

He had closed the Eight Inner Gates, halted the Forbidden Jutsu's erosion of his soul, and reapplied the seal on his Sharingan.

All of it had been possible thanks to Might Duy's valiant fight.

Because Dai had drawn Madara's full attention on his own, Tobirama had been able to remain hidden and treat Diejian.

So Dai had no reason to blame himself.

Because Dai had done everything he needed to do, Senju Tobirama was able to stand here now.

Senju Diejian and Might Duy were both still alive.

Dai had not lost.

By seeing everything through, entrusting it all to his "comrades," and connecting every part of the plan, Dai had defeated an overwhelming "individual."

Tobirama praised Dai in his heart.

He didn't say it aloud, but he recognized what Dai had within him.

The Second Hokage himself had acknowledged his unquestionable Will of Fire.

Then Tobirama touched Dai and closed his Eight Inner Gates from the outside.

He injected a small amount of the Senju Clan's Chakra and performed a little treatment.

"Heh... Now I understand why that brat Diejian brought out the Eight Inner Gates even though he knew I'd chew him out for it."

Tobirama withdrew his hand from Dai and gave a faint smile before turning back to Madara.

Understanding the unspoken meaning behind Tobirama's words, Dai was so overjoyed that tears ran down his face.

The fact that his efforts hadn't been in vain and that the Second Hokage had recognized him was enough to break Dai's tear ducts.

To Uchiha Madara, however, all of this was no more than a tedious, third-rate drama.

Madara frowned irritably and cracked his neck.

"You're remarkably composed in front of me, Tobirama. Do you think you can kill me whenever you want? Or are you planning to use that Eight Inner Gates kid as a sacrifice for Impure World Reincarnation? You could summon Izuna, and even I might find that a little troublesome."

Tobirama didn't respond to Madara's spiteful taunt.

Senju Tobirama knew that Uchiha Izuna's soul resided within his junior disciple, Senju Diejian.

Therefore, it was impossible to summon Uchiha Izuna with Impure World Reincarnation.

Senju Tobirama thought.

There was a major contradiction in Madara's words and actions.

He had certainly been drawn here by the Uchiha Izuna dwelling within Senju Diejian.

But Madara mistakenly believed that Izuna's Chakra had manifested because of the Summoning Technique: Impure World Reincarnation.

Uchiha Madara was a man who loved deeply.

Through years of research, Tobirama had gained a profound understanding of the Uchiha Clan's nature. He had especially investigated Madara, an exceptional member of the clan, thoroughly even after his death.

Therefore, if Madara learned that Uchiha Izuna had been reincarnated and now existed as Senju Diejian, he would almost certainly take Senju Diejian away.

He would use every means of torture to brainwash him, trying to mold him into a second Madara.

Senju Diejian was Tobirama's junior disciple, a seed of the future left behind by his late elder brother, Hashirama.

He absolutely could not let Uchiha Madara take him.

So Tobirama let Madara continue believing he had summoned Izuna with Impure World Reincarnation, taking Madara's near-mad killing intent and hatred entirely upon himself.

"But Tobirama, even after you 'used' Izuna, you're still in this sorry state. You were once hailed as the fastest shinobi in the Shinobi World, but look at you now. I suppose even you couldn't outpace time."

"..."

Tobirama merely blinked in response to Madara's words.

He was neither shaken nor impatient.

Tobirama simply stared at himself, playing the best card available to him.

But Dai, whom Tobirama shielded behind him, couldn't do the same.

Young and hot-blooded, he looked at Madara in astonishment. A moment later, he gasped, overwhelmed by shock.

Tobirama's once blue armor had been stained crimson, damaged in several places and no longer functional as armor.

Much of the muscle on his slender, battle-hardened limbs had been torn away. His hand, missing several fingers, was still soaked in blood.

In some ways, he was more gravely wounded than Dai and Diejian. But the weight of what he carried would never let him yield.

—Protect those who admire the village and trust you.

And raise people you can entrust with the next era...

Those were Tobirama's final words to Sarutobi Hiruzen when he became Hokage, as well as the path Tobirama had shown him.

He was to protect those who admired the village and trusted Hokage Tobirama—that is, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others—and train them into people worthy of the next era.

Tobirama had shown Hiruzen the path he had walked.

Therefore, Tobirama had followed his own "ninja way" until the very end.

"Answer me, Madara. Why are you still alive?"

"I really did die in my battle with Hashirama. I knew you wouldn't dispose of my body after I died, but would instead use it for research. So I simply prepared a little in advance, having a clone switch places with my 'corpse' shortly after my death."

"—It was a technique passed down through the Uchiha Clan, called Izanagi. You rewrote fate at the cost of one eye."

Madara swept back his hair with one hand.

The eye that had been hidden beneath his long black hair was a cloudy, colorless white.

After letting his hair fall and cover the eye once more, Madara smiled.

"You've investigated that much? Or did someone from the Uchiha Clan tell you? That wouldn't be impossible. The current Uchiha Clan is just a collection of cowards who've lost their former glory. If the Second Hokage himself gave an order, they wouldn't dare refuse."

"Madara, the way you talk makes you sound quite bothered. Your clan abandoned you, leaving you no choice but to 'leave' on your own. Did you come wandering out because you longed for a bond with your only blood relative?"

Madara's expression vanished.

The ghastly look on his face, like that of a vengeful spirit, was something even Tobirama—who had faced him for years—had never seen before.

Tobirama furrowed his brow in confusion and began gathering Chakra for the fierce battle that was about to come.

The wind changed direction.

The atmosphere shifted.

"—Tobirama. Honestly, I'm surprised. This anger is so great, this hatred so deep. The thought that even the peace of my younger brother's death was taken from him makes my chest ache. Before I knew it, my body had moved on its own. I should have stayed hidden... It seems I'm a man with more feelings than I expected."

"Likewise."

"You're still the same, talking nonsense."

Madara seemed to be indulging in self-admiration—or rather, pretending to do so in order to restrain his emotions.

Madara hated Tobirama, but he didn't underestimate him.

Madara had assessed Tobirama only after acknowledging everything about him: the speed that had surpassed his own in battle, the mind that had created countless techniques, the keen eye for accurately spotting others' weaknesses, the skill with which he and Hashirama had led the Senju Clan, the strongest clan in the Shinobi World, and his sheer combat prowess.

Even Uchiha Madara would never let his guard down.

But he couldn't completely suppress his deep emotions.

The mockery gradually faded from Madara's voice, and the air around him grew sharper.

Madara stared at Tobirama, stained red with blood, sizing him up from head to toe.

His eyes narrowed slightly, heavy with complicated thoughts, and a sorrowful expression surfaced.

But he wasn't mourning the fact that one of his old rivals had suffered such terrible injuries—

"Tobirama... Honestly... I've always wanted to 'make you like this.' You... are the man who killed Izuna. I wanted to stain you red with my own hands."

"Madara, I don't know what you're thinking. But you've already left the stage. For the sake of the Shinobi World and Konoha, as the Second Hokage, I cannot let you live."

The two moved with the wind.

Their heavy armor clanged together, and the instant their blades met—sparks flew.

Everything before Tobirama was swallowed by a sea of explosive flames.

—Ox—Monkey—Rabbit—Rat—Boar—Rooster—Rat—Tiger—Dog—Tiger—Ram—Rat—Water—Monkey—Rooster—Dragon—Rooster—Ox—Horse—Ram—Rooster—Snake—Rat—Monkey—Rabbit—Boar—Dragon—Ram—Rat—Ox—Monkey—Rooster—Water—Rat—Boar—Rooster. Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

A gigantic water dragon appeared beneath Tobirama, who had formed an astonishing number of Hand Seals in an instant, and swallowed one corner of the sea of explosive flames.

Concealed in the water dragon's shadow, Tobirama closed in on Madara while kneading Chakra in his mouth.

—Water Release: Heavenly Weeping.

This was one of the pinnacles of ninjutsu: a technique that required no Hand Seals and combined nature transformation with a shape transformation that maintained the needles' sharpness.

With its overwhelming potential for assassination and surprise attacks, the technique let him keep water needles in his mouth while performing another jutsu.

But this was proof of Tobirama's exceptional skill as a ninjutsu user, not some simple trick another shinobi could easily imitate.

Above Tobirama's head, the fire dragon crashed into the water dragon's back.

Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique—a dragon-shaped flame that could be fired repeatedly—violently tried to tear Tobirama's water dragon apart.

Tobirama quickly formed hand seals and pressed his hand against the ground.

The next moment, an Earth Spear shot out from behind Tobirama and pierced Madara's clone as it appeared there, making it disappear.

Immediately afterward, he traced a semicircle with his head and unleashed Heavenly Weeping from his mouth with astonishing force.

It precisely shot down the countless fireballs formed by Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique as they closed in on Tobirama, then continued toward Madara, who stood behind him.

Madara knocked Heavenly Weeping aside with his sword, but Tobirama used the Body Flicker Technique to close in behind him and quickly formed hand seals.

The technique known as Water Release: Water Shark Bomb was one of Kirigakure's secret techniques. It sent a massive shark-shaped bullet of water crashing into an opponent.

Madara easily defended against it by manifesting Susanoo.

"Even in a place without water, Water Release of this caliber... You really have gotten sluggish, Tobirama. Hmph..."

Tobirama gave Madara no chance to joke around.

Seeing Madara frown deeply inside Susanoo, Tobirama confirmed the technique had worked and formed hand seals again.

"Still the same old Darkness Walk. You're not very original, Tobirama. You really are a cunning fellow."

Genjutsu: Darkness Walk.

It was a genjutsu that deprived an opponent of their senses, and one Tobirama had once taught Diejian.

Tobirama immediately targeted Susanoo's weakness and attacked from below.

A water dragon suddenly burst out from beneath Madara's feet, but Madara had already seen through Tobirama's movements seconds earlier and avoided it with a leap.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Soaring Bomb!"

The water dragon chased after Madara, opened its jaws, and fired concentrated bullets of water from its mouth.

They were dense, destructive spheres of water that spun at high speed inside the dragon's mouth before being compressed into balls.

They slammed into Susanoo with a series of thunderous booms, steadily chipping away at it.

"Wahahahaha! Tobirama, I think this is the first time I've ever fought you!"

Even as Susanoo was gradually stripped away, Madara let out an excited roar. Tobirama was reminded once more of how dangerous he was.

If this man were allowed to live, he would surely become a calamity for future generations.

Tobirama believed that the reason his body—meant to serve as a decoy and cover Hiruzen and the others' escape, sacrificing itself in the process—was still alive despite being battered and broken was so he could complete the work his elder brother Hashirama had left unfinished.

The alliance with Kumogakure had failed, and both the Second Hokage and the Raikage had fallen. After this, the Shinobi World would likely enter an unprecedented Warring States Period.

It would be a massive war, incomparable to the old clan battles or the First Shinobi World War, which had broken out just after the Warring States Period ended, before the villages had fully consolidated their strength.

Tobirama had already foreseen that future while exchanging his final words with the Raikage.

And so, in the hellish world of bloodshed that was about to come, Tobirama chose a flame that would never go out.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was gentler than anyone and had his weaknesses.

Shimura Danzō, who had dangerous streaks but had inherited Tobirama's ideals with conviction.

If those two could work together, Konoha would surely grow stronger.

Tobirama believed they could overcome the war and usher in a new era.

And then there was Senju Diejian, who had the potential to connect the Senju and the Uchiha—the two great clans that had once dominated the Warring States Period.

If the Senju and the Uchiha could forge a genuine bond, then surely they could form new bonds with every other village as well. Tobirama believed a dream like that lay ahead.

That was why Tobirama would do everything in his power to defeat Uchiha Madara.

Tobirama didn't have much time left.

Diejian had been treated, and probably wouldn't die even if left alone.

He had also given Dai some Chakra.

So even if Tobirama died here, neither of them would be in immediate danger.

All he had to do was kill Madara.

Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance.

This technique normally required two people, one skilled in Wind Release and the other in Fire Release, but Madara had demonstrated it on his own.

The firestorm, its power boosted by Wind Release, effortlessly erased Tobirama's water dragon and sent Tobirama himself flying in the blast's wake.

Tobirama rolled across the ground, ignoring the agonizing pain tearing through his body as he adjusted his stance and refined Heavenly Weeping in his mouth once more.

"Die, Tobirama!"

A fire dragon released by Madara burst out of the blazing inferno, its size rivaling that of a Tailed Beast.

Even when Tobirama saw it, he didn't despair. He staked everything he had on confronting it.

As he fired countless needles of Heavenly Weeping, Tobirama threw kunai after them as if pursuing their trajectory, then formed hand seals.

It was the Shadow Shuriken Technique.

He had taught Shadow Clone to Hiruzen, but now Tobirama, the teacher, was using a technique conceived by Hiruzen.

The kunai multiplied into countless copies, but the fire dragon swallowed them—

"So attacking Tobirama across a wide area really is pointless. What a troublesome man."

Madara had dodged the attack that suddenly emerged through the sea of flames because he knew Tobirama always struck with a killing blow the moment his enemy was certain of victory.

The attack that pierced Susanoo and grazed Madara's cheek was Water Release: Water Severing Wave.

It was Tobirama's strongest attack, capable of slicing through and piercing any object.

Next came countless water needles—Heavenly Weeping—along with a swarm of kunai.

The kunai had raced in along the paths carved out by Heavenly Weeping and Water Severing Wave.

Madara dodged or knocked aside the kunai and needles.

The needles that entered through the holes made by Heavenly Weeping forced Madara to twist aside to avoid them inside Susanoo.

After confirming that he had knocked aside every attack, Madara "released" Susanoo so he could repair the holes Tobirama had punched through it.

"—Flying Thunder God Slash!"

"I've been waiting for you, Tobirama—!!"

In that instant, Tobirama used the mark on a kunai to activate the Flying Thunder God Technique and slash Madara across the abdomen.

The Ninja Blade, infused with Water Release's shape and nature transformations—the cutting power of Water Severing Wave—easily sliced through Madara's armor and spilled his innards out.

But Tobirama had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique with his grievously wounded body after escaping Kinkaku's Unit, all to save Diejian.

Then he had given some of his Chakra to Dai, and now he was fighting Uchiha Madara while battered and broken. His Chakra had run out.

He could no longer use any techniques.

The move he had once used to kill Uchiha Izuna was now about to kill Izuna's elder brother, Madara, as well.

Madara was enraged by this, and in his fury, he forgot the pain.

Those two things turned danger into opportunity, and opportunity into danger.

Susanoo's sword pierced Tobirama's body.

Tobirama thought that this was the end.

But he moved, refusing to let things end like this.

Even as Susanoo pierced him, Tobirama swung his arm and cut off Madara's head—.

Looking down at Madara's body as it fell heavily to the ground, Tobirama thought.

He knew this was far from the end.

For Uchiha Madara, this was "too weak."

Was it a clone, or a split body?

Even Uchiha Madara wasn't the real thing.

This undoubtedly proved that the real one was alive somewhere else.

(—But the technique was so convincing. He must have split off part of his power. Then the part I beheaded and truly killed should be impossible to restore... I can't move my body anymore. I can't even speak... But... Konoha has Monkey—has the Third Hokage.)

Tobirama looked at Madara's body, which had not disappeared even after being beheaded, and continued to speculate.

Since the real one hadn't come in person, Madara was probably unable to act for quite some time.

In a few years, after everything that had happened, Sarutobi Hiruzen should have "matured" enough to become the Third Hokage.

If so, there was no need to worry.

"If it's Monkey," Tobirama thought, placing deep trust in Hiruzen.

(Diejian... that fool who adored the village and trusted me... Did I protect you well...? It seems this is as far as I can go... I'll leave what comes next to the younger generation... Elder brother...)

As Tobirama quietly closed his eyes, a peaceful smile appeared on his cheek—one that believed in the future.

Dai dragged himself forward.

A sea of fire and enormous puddles of water lay scattered everywhere, as if they were devouring each other.

"Second Lord... where are you...?"

The sounds of fierce battle had long since stopped, and there was no sign of anyone nearby.

But the flickering flames and the pools of water reflecting them were arranged in an unnatural pattern.

It was almost as if they were lighting a path for Dai.

After hesitating for a moment, Dai headed straight in that direction.

Then—

"Second Lord! Are you all right?!"

Dai spotted Tobirama's back. Even surrounded by flames and drenched in blood, he still stood upright without collapsing. Ignoring the pain in his body, Dai hurried toward him.

At Tobirama's feet lay a bloodied, headless man.

Something wrapped in long black hair lay beside him.

"Thank goodness, Second Lord! Se-Second... Lord..."

Dai reached Tobirama's side, but the moment he got a good look at him from close up, he lost his voice.

Tobirama stood motionless in the fire, gripping his Ninja Blade. A massive hole gaped in his body.

The blood-red wound had stopped bleeding.

That meant all the blood in his body had already run out.

In other words, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—

"He... he died standing... Second... Lord... Sob, sob..."

Dai fell to his knees as if paying tribute and wept tears of profound grief.

The current Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Known as the fastest shinobi, he had raced across the Warring States Period. He had gone to protect the children, and lost his life doing so.

Amid his grief, Dai felt a fervent flame kindle in his heart.

In Tobirama, he had glimpsed the true Will of Fire.

Tobirama's determination to fight to the end despite suffering a mortal wound planted the Will of Fire firmly in Dai's heart.

Dai's face crumpled, and he wept without stopping.

Then—

"Mangekyō Sharingan—Izanagi."

Dai collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness—.

"Tobirama, you bastard..."

The head stirred and muttered.

Its eyes had lost their light. With them closed, it let out a sigh.

"I tried imitating the Earth Shadow's 'Split Body'... I didn't expect my power to drop so drastically or for it to affect the real body so much... On second thought, Shadow Clone is more useful... You've really outdone yourself, Tobirama... Keeping my existence secret would have been risky, but I have no choice..."

What Madara had done was alter Dai's memories through the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He had erased Uchiha Madara's existence from Dai's memories.

If he had used the power that could rewrite fate as he normally did, even the real Madara would have risked losing his sight.

So despite the risk, he had chosen the extreme option of altering Dai's memories.

"But never mind, Tobirama... Being able to kill you with my own hands has finally put my regret to rest..."

With that, Madara's body turned into Chakra particles and gradually disappeared like powder dissolving in water.

The only ones left were Dai, collapsed beside Tobirama's corpse, and Diejian, asleep a little farther away.

The unspoken battle to the death had now come to an end—