But Hashirama was Hashirama, after all.
Back then, he had not been swayed by Madara, nor had he been persuaded by him.
Today, it was obvious that he would not be easily persuaded by Shōji either. After that brief moment of wavering, the First Hokage regained his former resolve.
"Perhaps you are right. The kind of nation and shinobi village you wish to establish may indeed be the true path to peace. But your methods are still wrong, Shōji-kun!"
After taking a deep breath, Hashirama fixed Shōji with a resolute gaze and spoke in a low voice.
"Hmm?"
Although Shōji had known full well that someone like Hashirama could not be easily persuaded, hadn't Nagato's "righteous arguments" in the Original Work rendered even the protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto, speechless? Yet hadn't he been forcibly "set straight" afterward?
Naruto had not addressed any of the questions Nagato raised head-on.
He had merely kept saying that he would surely make everyone understand one another and achieve true peace, yet he had actually managed to persuade Nagato.
Of course, that was naturally related to the fact that Nagato still harbored the same ideals. After all, they had both been Jiraiya's disciples.
And as the leader of the "trio,"
Hashirama certainly would not be so easily—no, he absolutely could not be persuaded. Shōji had prepared himself mentally from the very beginning. He was merely curious what Hashirama would say to refute him.
When he heard Hashirama say that his methods were wrong,
Shōji raised an eyebrow and smiled with an expression of eager interest. "Oh? My methods are wrong? Then what solution does Lord Hashirama have!?"
"Establishing one nation and one shinobi village may indeed be the only way to eliminate war from the shinobi world and bring the world into a true age of