Encounter in Fate

War was about to begin again. Every time this happened, it might be the last time one saw familiar or unfamiliar faces. How was this kind of life ever going to end...

With these thoughts, Hashirama arrived at a riverside. For some reason, this unremarkable river always managed to make him feel a little better.

However, this time, it seemed someone had arrived first.

A spiky-haired boy tossed a flat stone into the river.

Tap... tap... tap.

The stone skipped three times on the surface before splashing into the water.

"Next time, I'll definitely make it to the other side."

The spiky-haired boy's tone carried a hint of frustration as he picked up another stone.

Hashirama became interested; it seemed the other party was a boy who also enjoyed skipping stones. He picked up a stone, closed one eye, and tossed it toward the river...

With his sensory perception, he didn't really need to do that, but whenever he was here, he never deliberately used those powers, as it added to the fun.

The stone skipped rapidly across the surface three times and landed on the opposite bank with a thwack.

"Raise your hand slightly when you throw it; that's the trick."

Hashirama said with a gentle smile.

The spiky-haired boy turned his head slightly, looking annoyed:

"I know that much, obviously. If I actually tried, I could definitely make it across. Besides, who are you?"

"My name is Hashirama. I can't reveal my surname for certain reasons."

Hashirama?

The spiky-haired boy immediately thought of the name Senju Hashirama, but the idea of running into a mortal enemy the moment he stepped out was too ridiculous—it was almost as absurd as the Senju Clan being wiped out by a single Explosive Tag.

"Hashirama, is it? I'm Madara. I can't reveal my surname for certain reasons either."

"Watch closely, I'll definitely make it to the other side this time."

Madara grew more serious and threw the stone again, using his habitual shuriken-throwing stance.

Hashirama took all of this in, his expression shifting slightly. That stance—was he a ninja?

The thrown stone skipped three times on the water, but just as it was about to reach the bank, it sank into the water.

Caw, caw, caw. A few crows happened to fly overhead.

Madara remained in his throwing pose, his body frozen in place, before he suddenly turned and pointed at Hashirama, shouting:

"You bastard, you stood behind me on purpose to distract me, didn't you?"

"I'm the super-sensitive type who can't even pee if someone is standing behind them."

Hashirama was startled by this sudden outburst and triggered one of his own quirks. He immediately became dejected, sat down on the ground hugging his knees, and whispered:

"I'm sorry..."

Madara blinked. He hadn't expected this reaction from Hashirama and immediately tried to comfort him:

"It's fine, you don't have to be so depressed about it."

Seeing no response, Madara felt a bit guilty and helplessly covered his head:

"Sorry, I shouldn't have been so unreasonable."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Hashirama stood up, looking like a completely different person:

"Hahaha, it's alright, I forgive you!"

This sudden shift made Madara feel like he'd been tricked, and he immediately pointed at Hashirama and shouted:

"You bastard, were you lying to me just now? Do you want me to skip you across the river instead?"

Hashirama sat back down, hugging his knees, and retreated into his shell:

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry. As an apology, I've prepared myself to be thrown to the other side. Come on, go ahead."

Madara realized there was no dealing with a guy like this and couldn't help but sigh:

"Do you have any idea how annoying that habit of yours is..."

The withdrawn Hashirama looked up slightly:

"But, I hope you can make it to the other side."

Someone immediately lost their composure:

"You bastard, get out of here!"

Hashirama stood up very obediently and smiled: "Then I'll be going."

Just as he was about to move, he was grabbed by the shoulder by Madara:

"You stay right there."

You're the one who told me to leave, and now you're the one telling me to stay.

Hashirama looked at Madara, speechless: "What exactly do you want? Can you be clear about it?"

Madara let go of his hand, looking somewhat awkward as he said:

"I... I..."

Before he could finish, Hashirama suddenly looked toward the river with a serious expression, where a corpse was slowly drifting down from upstream.

Hashirama did not intend to hide his identity as a ninja from Madara; he stepped onto the water to investigate, believing that information should be shared equally between friends.

Madara was stunned by Hashirama's actions, his expression shifting as he asked:

"Are you a ninja?"

Hashirama examined the corpse and discovered it belonged to the Hagoromo clan:

"This place is about to become a battlefield. You should head back quickly."

Madara fell silent for a moment. A ninja, named Hashirama, of this age—all these signs indicated that the person before him was very likely Senju Hashirama.

Should he fight? Should he kill him?

But would anyone really be foolish enough to blurt out their own name and ninja status, especially after the way he had reacted to his own shuriken technique and name reveal?

He must have guessed my identity as well. For some reason, despite this being our first meeting, that inexplicable sense of closeness felt just like having a brother.

In the end, Madara did not make a move:

"Fine. You should get back soon, too."

Hashirama waved goodbye:

"Then, farewell. I hope next time you can throw it to the other bank."

"You bastard! Just hurry up and leave!"

"Haha!"

Hashirama left with a smile. He also felt it was strange; despite this being their first meeting and their personalities being vastly different, he felt a brotherly sense of closeness.

A ninja, named Madara, and of this age—but since he hadn't attacked, he likely wasn't Uchiha Madara.

Hashirama was well aware of the Uchiha's stance toward the Senju, just as Madara was aware of the Senju's attitude toward them.

However, because Hashirama's sincerity was extremely rare in the Warring States period, combined with the mutual attraction of their reincarnated Chakra, the two did not end up fighting.

Upon returning to the clan grounds, Hashirama found his younger brothers busy; Tobirama was hiding in his room, while Itama and Kawarama were practicing ninjutsu.

Everyone had something to do, but what about Hiugo?

Hashirama went to his house and knocked on the door; after a while, Hiugo walked out.

"Big Pillar? Need something?"

"Hiugo, let's go train together."

"...Fine. I'm bored anyway. Judging by that smile, did you run into something happy?"

"Hahaha, I met a very interesting boy while skipping stones."

"Oh? I've divined it—was his hair a hedgehog style?"

Hashirama was slightly surprised: "How did you know?"

"Not only do I know his hairstyle, I also know his personality is the opposite of yours."

"Amazing, how did you do that?"

"I guessed. People with completely different personalities are often attracted to each other. Actually, the same goes for appearance; your hair is soft, so you'd be attracted to a hedgehog style. Your attitude is gentle, so the other person's attitude would be somewhat aggressive. This kind of complementary situation usually leads to a deep friendship."

Hashirama listened and suddenly realized, hitting his fist into his palm:

"That makes so much sense! So that's why you and Tobirama get along better than others—Tobirama also has hedgehog hair and an introverted personality, while you have soft hair and an extroverted personality."

"..."

Hiugo thought about it and realized it was mostly applicable; there was nothing wrong with that logic, though in the future, Sasuke and Naruto both seemed to have hedgehog hair.

Hashirama couldn't help but praise him:

"Hiugo, you really are amazing. You noticed these little things and even have your own conclusions."

Hiugo felt slightly awkward:

"It's nothing, really. I was just talking nonsense and happened to guess right."

"No, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Look..."

"Stop. Training. Let's go train."

"Oh, right. Actually, I think we could use Wood Style to develop a ninjutsu. I've even thought of the name: Ultimate Wood Style: Super Multi-Shuriken Illusionary Fragment Technique."

Hiugo frowned deeply. With his brain, he couldn't figure out what this was supposed to be. Shuriken? Genjutsu? Or Wood Style? How was this mess supposed to be combined into a single technique?