"Monster..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips trembled as he forced out those two words.
"Brother."
Tobirama Senju's voice was grave.
"It seems we've encountered real trouble."
Hashirama Senju, who had remained silent all along, finally stepped forward.
The faintly despondent air around him vanished completely, replaced by an aura as steady and weighty as a mountain.
He was the First Hokage.
The God of Shinobi who had brought peace to an age of war.
"Young man."
Hashirama Senju's voice rang out.
"Stop."
"This kind of power should not be used this way."
"It will only bring more hatred and destruction—to you, to the Uchiha, and to this world."
Upon hearing that, Uchiha Yao looked as though he had heard something utterly ridiculous.
"Hatred? Destruction?"
He shook his head.
"First Hokage, I think you've misunderstood something."
"Everything I've done was not to create hatred."
"It was to end it."
"By the most direct and effective means."
Hashirama Senju frowned deeply.
"End hatred through slaughter?"
"That's impossible!"
The smile on Uchiha Yao's face deepened.
"Why is it impossible?"
"If all sources that can produce hatred are erased, then there will be no hatred left, won't there?"
"Just like those five thousand trash mobs earlier."
"Once they were dead, they could never hate the Uchiha again."
"See? The logic is sound."
Hashirama Senju fell silent.
He could not refute such madman's logic.
He only knew that he absolutely could not let the man before him continue.
"In that case..."
Hashirama Senju suddenly pressed his hands together.
"Then I can only stop you in my own way!"
"Wood Release: Forest Descent!"
Rumble—!
The earth began to roar violently.
At the bottom of the enormous bowl-shaped crater, smooth as a mirror from the Universal Pull, the hard bedrock was instantly torn apart.
Countless thick roots burst from