Butsuma Senju led the Senju Clan against both the Hagoromo Clan and the Uchiha Clan at once. On the battlefield, seven-year-old Kawarama Senju was surrounded and killed by Hagoromo and Uchiha shinobi. When Hashirama returned home and learned of his younger brother Kawarama's death, he voiced his doubts and was beaten by his father, Butsuma. When Hashirama insisted that this was absolutely wrong, Butsuma beat him again, only for Tobirama to stop him in time. Afterward, Tobirama told Hashirama that only by signing an agreement and forming an alliance could they avoid such endless war. But reality was cruel. Not long afterward, during another battle against the Uchiha Clan, Hashirama and Tobirama's other younger brother, Itama Senju, was killed by five adult Uchiha shinobi. Grief-stricken, Hashirama came to the river again. Madara arrived there as well, and the two came to understand each other's pain. Madara felt that the only way to stop both sides from dying was to open their hearts and be honest with one another, but he believed it was impossible because of human nature. They decided that, if they wanted the adults to accept their ideas, they had to become stronger themselves, and so they began sparring with each other every day.
The two competed to climb to the mountaintop. There, Hashirama proposed building a village to protect children, as well as a school where they could train, carry out missions, and be assigned ranks, keeping them away from war. Madara thought this would better protect his younger brother. During this time, their fathers grew suspicious of the two boys going out every day, so Butsuma ordered Tobirama to secretly monitor Hashirama's meetings with Madara. After learning of this, Butsuma ordered Hashirama to kill Madara. To prevent any accidents, Butsuma and Tobirama secretly followed Hashirama, while