Madara's Request: Accompanying Madara to Meet Senju Hashirama

Chapter 43: Madara's Request: Accompanying Madara to Meet Senju Hashirama

"Shangwu, you didn't have anything to do today, did you?"

"Mm, no. My training is already over. Is something wrong?"

"It's Hashirama, Senju Hashirama. He said he wanted to talk to me. I wanted you to come with me so we could hear what Hashirama has to say together."

"Sure."

It was not strange for Uchiha Madara to remain in contact with Senju Hashirama. In the anime's storyline, even after their respective clans discovered them and fought a great battle, the two would still sneak out to meet in secret, like a pair of young lovers.

However, in this timeline, Uchiha Tajima and Butsuma Senju had died far earlier than they had in the original plot.

Thus, after becoming the Uchiha Clan's leader at an early age, Uchiha Madara spent nearly all his time handling clan affairs aside from training. Whenever he had spare time, he also had to guide the younger generation of the clan and help them grow stronger.

Over time, he had rarely contacted Senju Hashirama.

Likewise, Senju Hashirama had inherited the position of Senju Clan leader early on. If not for his overwhelming strength and a younger brother whose mind could produce hundreds of thoughts in an instant, he might not even have been able to hold the position of the Senju Clan's current leader.

Compared to each other, the gap between their strengths was not great. One had already mastered Wood Release and possessed the powerful constitution of the Senju Clan, allowing him to use Wood Release as ordinary ninjutsu.

The other had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. After adapting to and mastering it, Uchiha Madara could now easily activate the second stage of Susanoo. When enraged or truly pushed into a fight, he could even explosively unleash the third stage of Susanoo.

It was just a pity that overusing the Mangekyo Sharingan would cause one to lose the light.

Uchiha Madara did not know that information yet, and Uchiha Shangwu had not told him.

So, while accompanying Uchiha Madara to the riverside to meet Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Shangwu wondered whether a fight would break out.

If they really started fighting, he should still warn Uchiha Madara not to use the Mangekyo Sharingan unless necessary. Otherwise, if its ocular power was overdrawn and his eyes lost their light, Uchiha Madara would definitely lose his ability to fight for a while.

They soon arrived by the river. Seeing the figure standing on the opposite bank, killing intent flickered through Uchiha Shangwu's eyes.

"Tobirama Senju."

The person standing beside Senju Hashirama was Tobirama Senju, the true power behind the Senju Clan and the man known as the Master of Forbidden Techniques.

"Hashirama! What did you mean by this? Is this how you planned to talk to me?"

Uchiha Shangwu felt the terrifying aura erupting from the furious Uchiha Madara beside him. It felt as though he were standing amid a storm, battered head-on by raging wind and rain.

He had to admit it: as expected of the Sage of Six Paths' second son, his talent as a ninja was utterly terrifying. Even without awakening Indra's chakra yet, he already possessed the strength of a Kage Level expert.

And according to the storyline, within a year or two, the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan would wage all-out war. Several fierce battles would exhaust the ocular power in Uchiha Madara's pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.

By then, unless Uchiha Madara chose to transplant Izuna Uchiha's eyes, his only option would be to inject Hashirama Cells.

His thoughts had drifted too far. Uchiha Shangwu hurriedly pulled himself back and looked at the somewhat awkward Senju Hashirama across the river. "Madara, put away your aura. Since Senju Hashirama wants to talk to you, have a proper talk with him. Leave Tobirama Senju here to me."

Uchiha Madara's gaze darkened, killing intent swirling within it as his surging aura continuously swept out in all directions. Hearing Uchiha Shangwu's words, he froze for a moment, then silently nodded. He signaled Senju Hashirama before turning and leaving.

Once Uchiha Madara left, Senju Hashirama followed after him. The two close friends knew each other well enough to understand what Uchiha Madara's look meant.

Across the river, Tobirama Senju spoke. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

What could he talk about with Tobirama Senju? Naturally, how to kill him.

What else, sit down and have tea first?

Uchiha Shangwu truly wanted to make a move. It was because Tobirama Senju had played a little trick during the exchange, suddenly pulling something underhanded and destroying the Sharingan that was supposed to be returned, causing Izuna Uchiha to become completely like Shimura Danzō.

"What I want to talk about isn't important. What matters is, what do you think Senju Hashirama will talk to Madara about?"

Tobirama Senju frowned. He knew his elder brother well enough; his brother spent all day clinging to unrealistic fantasies.

That was why he was worried. He truly feared that his elder brother would suddenly surrender to the Uchiha Clan and start saying things like the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan could put aside their hatred, and that the Ninja World could surely come to understand one another as well.

Tobirama Senju was sickened enough by how naïve his elder brother was. If the Senju Clan did not need Senju Hashirama's formidable strength, Tobirama Senju would sometimes have wanted to teach his elder brother a harsh lesson.

After pondering for a moment, he glanced in the direction his elder brother and Uchiha Madara had gone. "The Senju Clan will never reconcile with the Uchiha Clan."

"That's hilarious. Seriously, I'm dying of laughter. Did you think I was asking whether you wanted to reconcile with the Uchiha Clan?"

"Hm? Then what did you mean?"

"My meaning is simple. No matter what your elder brother, Senju Hashirama, says, the Uchiha Clan will not agree with it. Once Madara returns, the Uchiha Clan will declare war on the Senju Clan. Wash your neck and wait to die."

"If you can't wait, you can make a move right now. I could deal with Izuna Uchiha, and I can easily deal with you too."

Uchiha Shangwu narrowed his eyes, searching Tobirama Senju for possible openings. But he discovered that Tobirama Senju truly deserved to be called a crafty bastard. The figure standing across the river was not his real body at all.

Although Shadow Clones could fool the eyes of most ninjas, ocular jutsu users could still see through them.

Unless one increased the amount of chakra and used more chakra to create a high-quality Shadow Clone, Shadow Clones were not much different from ordinary clones in the eyes of ocular jutsu users.

"Using a clone to chat with me? Were you afraid I'd suddenly attack? How amusing. Let me see where your real body is hiding. In the woods? Underground? Or in the water?"

"Uchiha Shangwu, you can see through my Shadow Clone? As expected of an evil Uchiha, with eyes filled with evil power."

"Yes, yes. In your eyes, every Uchiha is evil. Whoever you call evil is evil. I completely agree. But do you dare let your real body come out?"

To be honest, Tobirama Senju did not dare. The last time on the battlefield, he had nearly been seriously injured by Dead Bone Pulse. The memory was still fresh in his mind.