Hashirama became interested when Tetsuya volunteered to let him transform into him.
"Sure! I've actually been wanting to try looking like you, Tetsuya."
As he spoke, Hashirama activated his ability again. His body began to change, and soon another Chiba Tetsuya stood before the two of them.
"Hey, you look just like me."
Tetsuya curiously looked his other self up and down.
"Come on, try out my abilities. Start with the Eternal Divine Kingdom."
He urged Hashirama on as he spoke.
He was genuinely curious about how many of his abilities Hashirama could copy.
"All right, I'll try. The Eternal Divine Kingdom, right? Let me find it..."
Hashirama's eyes began to flicker as he spoke, and his aura changed rapidly, becoming terribly weak one moment and ferocious the next.
"Hashirama!"
Madara noticed what was happening to Hashirama and grew worried.
"I... cough, cough, cough!"
Suddenly, Hashirama began coughing violently and reverted to his own appearance.
"Are you all right, Hashirama?"
Madara hurried to support him.
"I'm fine. It just drained me pretty badly. Ahem."
"Why would that happen? Even if you turned into someone you didn't know, it shouldn't drain you that much."
Hashirama took a deep breath, and his powerful healing ability quickly restored him.
"I don't know, but the moment I turned into Tetsuya, I felt a huge portion of my power get used up instantly."
"I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on."
Tetsuya spoke while rubbing his chin.
"Your ability might let you turn into anyone, but the greater the gap in strength between you and your target, the more power it consumes."
Hashirama gave an awkward smile.
"But surely the gap isn't that big? After turning into Tetsuya, I couldn't even use a single technique."
"Well, maybe it's because all my