Tobirama Senju Opens His Heart

"Tobirama, sometimes I really feel that you are more suitable to be the Hokage than I am."

Tobirama turned back to his desk, pen in hand, eyes lowered, his usual cool tone returning to its usual indifference. "I'm not suitable. I'm too harsh and stubborn, inflexible, and utterly incapable of winning people over or navigating social situations."

Upon hearing these words, Hashirama finally chuckled softly, his brows, which had been furrowed with worry for days, completely relaxed, and he finally regained some of his former carefree ease.

He rose and walked towards the door, his foot pausing at the threshold. Without turning back, he uttered a soft, yet incredibly sincere, word. "Thanks."

There was no response from the Tobirama; the pen paused slightly as it touched the paper.

He knew in his heart that this thank you was not just a formality. His elder brother was thanking him for always being clear-headed, always cautious, and willing to be the one who planned for the worst outcome and took on all the risks.

This cold-blooded and thorough preparation is precisely what Konoha in another world lacks most, and is also the most regrettable thing.

Hashirama leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a long time.

Tobirama quietly held his pen, letting Hashirama him slowly digest all the chaotic information of the night.

The impact tonight was truly devastating.

In another world, he personally ended Madara's life;

Ban's blunt assertion that the ideal of peace is like scattered sand and floating fortresses;

And his promise just now to take responsibility and minimize the cost of human gullibility... all of these things are enough to make Hashirama, who is always optimistic and always thinks of the bright Hashirama, calm down and carefully review everything.

Tobirama.

"I always thought you couldn't get over the knot of the past. The deaths of Kawarama and Itama, witnessing your clansmen fall under the Uchiha, and then personally killing Izuna Uchiha —the blood feud was too tightly entangled, so the hatred in your heart could never dissipate."

Tobirama paused, then slowly put down his pen.

He sat quietly for a moment, then got up and walked to the bookshelf on the inside of the study. His fingertips traced rows of neatly arranged files, and finally pulled out a yellowed, old handwritten notebook.

The cover is plain and untitled, with only a line of faint writing in the corner indicating the date of the first year the village was founded. The edges of the paper have been worn and frayed from years of frequent use.

"I don't hate the Uchiha."

Upon Hashirama immediately sat up straight. He was all too familiar with Tobirama's tone—cold, composed, and devoid of any emotional bias. This was the tone Tobirama only used when analyzing the truth and stating the facts.

Tobirama opened the first page of his notebook, where dense handwriting covered the entire page, detailing his years of recording and Sharingan the Sharingan's Awakening and advancement patterns.

He looked up at the Hashirama, his words clear and resounding.

Hashirama frowned slightly, but did not interrupt him, waiting quietly for him to continue.

Tobirama's fingertips gently traced the words on the paper, his tone still calm, yet subtly heavy with weight.

"When they are devoted to someone, they can give their all, even at the cost of being at odds with the whole world. But the more extreme the favoritism, the more turbulent the hatred will be when it collapses."

He flipped to the second half of the notebook, his fingertips lingering on a concise annotation.

That was his precise analysis of Madara Uchiha many years ago: Izuna Uchiha's death and Madara's Mangekyou Mangekyo Sharingan advancement.

Tobirama murmured this truth that no one could see through, his tone calm yet filled with a sigh.

"Actually, that's not the case. What propelled his Sharingan to keep evolving was never just hatred. It was his deep-seated brotherly affection for Izuna Uchiha, and the extreme pain of suddenly losing this beloved."

"This is no gift of talent; it's clearly a shackle of fate binding the Uchiha. The stronger they are, the more they lose; the stronger they are, the more easily their minds turn to extremes. In the end, they will have nothing left."

"This is why I've always said that the Uchiha 'naturally evil.'"

"Deep love inevitably leads to fear of separation, separation inevitably breeds resentment, resentment nourishes the power of the eyes, and the power of the eyes, in turn, pushes the mind and nature to become more and more biased and extreme."

This is a closed loop, an unsolvable dead end. Rather than saying they are inherently evil, it's more accurate to say they were born under a bloodline curse.

He sat there, stunned, his throat tight, and after a long while, he finally found his voice, tinged with a belated realization. "So all these years of your judgments weren't slander, weren't prejudice... you were just stating a fact that no one else could see?"

Tobirama answered frankly, without any pretense, his tone weary yet utterly sincere.

"Do I hate the Uchiha? Of course I do. My Senju Clan brothers lie buried beneath the Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha died by my hand. The blood feud between our two clans runs deep, and the debt of blood is so heavy that it can never be completely erased in this lifetime."

"The Genjutsu that Natsu cast on Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo today is the most vivid proof."

"This is the power of the Uchiha, and also the curse they cannot escape. It can save lives, and it can destroy them; it is the most obsessive, and also the most sinister."

Tobirama had assumed that, given Hashirama's personality, he would eventually laugh and say that Hashirama was overthinking things and being too pessimistic. But this time, Hashirama didn't.

"Tobirama, I've wronged you for far too long."

His voice was slightly hoarse, but his words were earnest. "I never knew you had done so much research in private, I never knew you understood the Uchiha's destiny and weaknesses better than anyone else in the Ninja World."

Tobirama didn't push his hand away, but instead turned his head to look at the deep night outside the window, his tone softening slightly, losing its usual coldness. "I simply understand the price that inevitably comes with power."

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Hashirama.

"If you and Madara are gone one day, someone in Konoha needs to be aware. Someone needs to know that the Uchiha were never natural enemies, but their power is absolutely something the entire village should be wary of."

This Senju Clan second-in-command, perceived by the world as someone who hated the Uchiha and was driven by personal grudges, spent half his life studying his nemesis's bloodline and temperament, never for revenge, but simply for a sense of responsibility.

To support the Konoha he built in a moment of passion, and to safeguard his seemingly naive ideal of peace, which Tobirama has silently protected to this day.

Hashirama raised his eyes, his gaze open and resolute.

"From now on, I will listen to you properly. I will no longer be perfunctory, nor will I think you are overthinking or pessimistic. I will take every word you say to heart and carefully consider it."

"A rare moment of enlightenment. I'll write it down and keep it for future reference."

He turned and walked towards the door, but stopped abruptly at the doorway without looking back.

The evening breeze slipped into the study through the window cracks, ruffling his clothes, and a very soft, very sincere thank you quietly fell into the silent night.

As he finished speaking, he gently closed the door, his footsteps fading into the night.

Tobirama put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and slowly closed his eyes.

The night outside the window was as dark as ink, with only a few occasional barks of dogs in the distance, making the entire courtyard even more tranquil.

Brothers, I've finally finished the chapter I owed you today. My back still hurts so much. It's numb.