Today was October 23rd—the birthday of Senju Kyogawa's eldest brother, Senju Hashirama.
After today, Senju Hashirama would be fourteen years old.
The average lifespan in the Ninja World was thirty years. Senju Hashirama had never expected that he was already nearing half that age.
Senju Hashirama stood in the courtyard, gazing at the moon as an inexplicable melancholy rose within him.
It had been nearly a month since he had parted ways with Uchiha Madara on the battlefield.
On the battlefield, Hashirama could only be Senju Hashirama, and Madara could only be Uchiha Madara. Their identities were forever separated by the barrier of their clans, a towering wall built from bloodshed and hatred.
On either side of that wall stood the enemy Senju and Uchiha Clans.
Today, on his birthday, Senju Hashirama found himself thinking once more of Uchiha Madara—the boy he regarded as a revelation from heaven.
Ever since their relationship had been discovered by both sets of parents, they had never met in private again.
And the future they had once spoken of—building a village and protecting their younger brothers properly—felt so distant, so utterly beyond reach, as though it lay on the farthest edge of the sky.
Perhaps the most distant dreams were not those beyond one's sight, but those like this—clearly within view, yet impossible to touch...
"Big Brother, why are you standing out in the courtyard? Aren't you cold?" Senju Tobirama opened the door and saw Senju Hashirama still standing outside, dressed in nothing but a thin short-sleeved shirt. He could not help asking in confusion.
It was already October, and the weather had gradually turned colder, especially at night.
Senju Hashirama's sorrowful thoughts were interrupted. Coming back to himself, he felt a chill slowly creeping up his spine.
He suddenly shuddered, then cried out