"Can we really never go back to skipping stones?"
After defeating him utterly, the man who now bore the title of the Senju Clan's strongest crouched down and asked him with a look of regret.
Perhaps Madara's vision had already blurred. Looking at that mature face, he kept seeing it overlap with the utterly foolish face in his memories.
"...There was never such a time."
"There was. Our dream."
"That was your dream. My brother is dead, and I have nothing left to protect..."
Madara stared blankly at the sky. "I have nothing left."
He knew no one could refute those words.
As he had expected, Hashirama said nothing, because the people he protected had left Madara with nothing.
He had no ground to stand on.
What could this world still ask a man who had lost everything to accept or accomplish?
Yet looking at that blurred, foolish face before him, Madara inexplicably added, "Besides, I don't trust you."
Didn't trust them?
Madara almost laughed at the stupidity of his own words. What was it he didn't trust?
But the moment he said it, Hashirama's eyes lit up. "Then what do I have to do for you to trust us?"
This fool still hasn't given up.
Madara slowly looked away from him and turned his gaze to the sky.
"Yes, what could you do... Kill your brother, or kill yourself."
Tobirama, standing nearby, could no longer bear to listen. But before he could lash out, he saw a smile of relief spread across Hashirama's face. "Thank goodness. You're finally willing to give me this chance."
A chance?
Madara laughed inwardly. He knew Hashirama would never kill Tobirama. His brother was someone he meant to protect.
Make him kill himself?
The instant Hashirama gripped a kunai and thrust it toward himself,