"Tobirama, I agree with your view. Read."
The dark-brown mountain ridge stretching thousands of miles beneath his feet looked like the roof of the world standing before Hashirama as he flipped through the letter delivered by White Zetsu.
The red pill between his fingers perfectly overlapped with the blazing sun. Feeling the shadows fall across his face, Uchiha Madara said calmly, "Since they dared to reach out, they should be prepared for ninja blades to turn on them."
"The Hokage should treat everyone kindly and should not be overly ruthless."
"But wouldn't that violate the agreement from the conference held earlier in the Land of Demons?"
"Hashirama, I am the Hokage now!" Madara rose to his feet, shot him a sidelong glance, and tapped the conical hat tied at his waist. "Besides, times have changed. Konoha's reach now spans the Shinobi World's continent."
"Haah—"
The First, who could only accept that he had retired, shifted his gaze away from the character for "Fire" on the front of the hat and listlessly looked down over the vast lands of the Land of Earth.
White Zetsu, who had been tasked with delivering the letter, hurriedly shrank himself into the earth, exposing only the spot where his neck had once been, as though that could offer him a little sense of security.
After all, the auras unconsciously leaking from the two beings before him were enough to make it hard for him to breathe.
"Considering that they integrated into Konoha and abandoned their former noble titles and fiefs, perhaps we should be lenient—"
"You've already been Hokage, Hashirama. How can you still be so naive?!"
Madara clenched the pill in his hand, his face brimming with anger. "Why did they join Konoha? Do you need me to remind you of the treaty's