The Birth of Madara and Hashirama

"Two thousand years have passed. Those two fellows, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, have finally been born."

Otsutsuki Yuhao remarked with a sigh.

He could feel the presence of Indra and Asura emerging into the world.

I truly don't know how I managed to endure these past two thousand years.

Several thousand, nine thousand—it's all just "several thousand" in the end.

The Naruto storyline never gave an exact timeline, only mentioning that several thousand years had passed.

Otsutsuki Yuhao thought to himself with a wry smile.

As for Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, both had learned to speak and walk within three months of birth, could hold conversations by twelve months, became genin at three, chunin at five, and special jonin at seven.

Uchiha Madara was hailed as the peerless genius closest to his ancestor Indra, while Senju Hashirama was called the peerless genius closest to his ancestor Asura.

Because of Otsutsuki Yuhao, Asura and Indra had lived for a very long time, allowing the Senju and Uchiha clans to preserve the majority of their family history.

This history traced back two thousand years to when the two clans were one, their ancestors being brothers. However, one thousand years ago, the head of the Senju clan was accidentally killed by the Uchiha clan head, sparking a civil war that turned former kin into eternal enemies.

A millennium later, the hatred between the two clans had only deepened.

In the year 2007 of the Sea Realm during the Warring States period, various ninja clans were hired by anyone willing to pay a high price to carry out assassinations and extermination missions.

To survive, ninjas nowadays couldn't even reveal their surnames casually.

Even young children were forced onto the battlefield to fight for their lives, causing the average life expectancy to plummet, leaving both ninjas and civilians with an average lifespan of only about 30 years.

Troubled by family matters, Uchiha Madara went to the riverbank to skip stones, where he encountered Senju Hashirama, who was feeling similarly distressed by the clan wars.

Uchiha Madara threw a stone forcefully into the small river. The moment it skipped across the surface, it seemed to gain new life, dancing with the water. Those beautiful arcs looked as if they were painting an abstract, silent masterpiece upon the water's surface.

Seeing the fantastical display of stone-skipping on the water, a smile appeared on Uchiha Madara's face.

Just then, another stone skimmed across the water in an elegant arc, instantly shattering the tranquility of the autumn pond.

"Who's there?"

Uchiha Madara barked coldly.

"It's me, my name is Hashirama! Your stone-skipping technique is quite good. This is only the second time I've met someone whose skill is on par with mine."

Senju Hashirama's eyes sparkled with excitement, as if he had witnessed something wonderful.

"On par with yours? Mine is actually a bit better than yours. But tell me, who was the first person you met?"

Whenever the topic turned to stone-skipping, Uchiha Madara's face was filled with confidence.

Without realizing it, Uchiha Madara's attention was drawn entirely to the stone-skipping; he didn't even stop to wonder why Senju Hashirama was there.

Perhaps it was because he saw that Senju Hashirama was about his age, causing him to lower his guard, or perhaps it was his immense confidence in his own strength, or even the resonance between Indra's chakra and Asura's chakra.

When it came to stone-skipping, Uchiha Madara considered himself second to none.

This was a matter of technique, not raw power.

Now, meeting a peer of similar age who could skip stones so well naturally piqued Uchiha Madara's curiosity.

"The first was a strange uncle named Otsutsuki Yuhao. That strange uncle is very skilled at skipping stones."

Senju Hashirama said to Uchiha Madara with a serious expression.

Little did he know, this sentence left Uchiha Madara stunned: "What? You know that uncle too?"

"Hmm?"

Senju Hashirama nodded, asking curiously: "What's wrong? Do you know him too?"

Uchiha Madara replied directly: "Of course. That guy is elusive. Ever since I can remember, that uncle named Otsutsuki Yuhao has often appeared before me. But what I find very strange is, why can't my father and the others see him, and why don't they know him?"

Senju Hashirama exclaimed as well: "My father and the others are the same! That strange uncle couldn't be a ghost, could he?"

"I've thought that sometimes too, but I've noticed that the strange fellow seems to have a physical body!" Uchiha Madara said.

"If he's not a ghost, then maybe he's a spirit!" Senju Hashirama said curiously.

High above the two, Otsutsuki Yuhao heard their conversation. As it grew more and more outrageous, his face began to darken.

"Enough! Don't you two brats know that speaking ill of people behind their backs is very impolite? Furthermore, I am your ancestor—that makes it even more disrespectful!"

As he spoke, Otsutsuki Yuhao lightly flicked his index finger against the foreheads of both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.

However, this single flick sent both Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama tumbling into the river, leaving them looking like drowned rats.

"So you really are the soul of an ancestor? No wonder you're so powerful!"

Senju Hashirama stood up from the water, channeling chakra into his feet to remain steady on the surface. Uchiha Madara did the same.

"I'm not dead, so stop spouting nonsense."

Otsutsuki Yuhao said, sounding helpless.

"If you aren't the soul of an ancestor, then why can't my father see you? Wait, that's not right—this guy also said you were his ancestor, so why do you show up at my house every day? Just which clan do you belong to? Could you be an ancestor from a thousand years ago? But none of our ancestors have the surname Otsutsuki."

Uchiha Madara asked, full of curiosity.

Although he knew that the Uchiha Clan, the Senju Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan were once the same kin before splitting apart, the current Madara did not know that the ancestor of all three clans was Otsutsuki Hagoromo.

Even though Otsutsuki Yuhao was the younger brother of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, he could indeed be considered their ancestor.

"Haha, guess! If you want to know this ancestor's true identity, go find out for yourselves. If I were to just tell you, it wouldn't do either of you any good. So, from this moment on, you will undergo my training here!"

Otsutsuki Yuhao smiled at the two of them.

"Your training?"

Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were both startled.

Although they didn't know the extent of Otsutsuki Yuhao's strength, he had been coming and going from their homes ever since they could remember. Even with such immense power, Otsutsuki Yuhao had never once been discovered by their fathers.

In their hearts, they believed Otsutsuki Yuhao's strength must be far greater than that of their own fathers.

"I wonder, Ancestor, what kind of ninjutsu you plan to teach us?"

Uchiha Madara asked with a cool expression.

"Ninjutsu? No, I'll start by teaching you taijutsu. Now, the first lesson begins. And that lesson is... getting beaten up."

As soon as Otsutsuki Yuhao's voice fell, countless low-level ninjutsu erupted from his palm, while his other hand moved rapidly through hand seals—primarily for the two of them to see.