After a long silence, the two exchanged a glance, reading the helplessness and resolve in each other's eyes.
They made the gentlest, most painful choice that two young boys could make.
The next instant, both raised a hand and gently tossed a stone toward the other.
The stones sailed lightly through the air, carrying neither lethal force nor the slightest hostility.
This was the only warning they could give, the only way they could protect each other.
Run! Someone's coming to kill you!
That silent warning held unbearable sorrow and reluctance to part.
Almost the instant they finished moving, two terrifying figures appeared!
Butsuma Senju and Uchiha Tajima had secretly followed them, keeping themselves hidden. Now they emerged at the same time and, without a word, clashed fiercely!
The battle between the two elite adult shinobi was vicious and perilous, every move aimed to kill!
It was not just the two clan leaders. Their younger sons, Tobirama Senju and Uchiha Izuna, who had followed their respective fathers, also locked in combat in an instant. The battle between the boys was just as ruthless and unyielding!
In an instant, the riverbank erupted into battle, murderous intent filling the air.
Hashirama and Madara stood motionless, silently watching their loved ones fight, their enemies locked in bloody combat. Their faces were filled with pain and helplessness.
They watched their closest kin fight to take each other's lives, watched a thousand years of hatred play out once again, yet could do nothing.
Every beautiful hope, every dream of peace, every promise to stand together was brutally torn apart by bloody reality at that moment.
After a long while, Madara slowly lowered his head. His voice was hoarse and cold, filled with a young boy's utter despair.
"So... peace doesn't exist at all."
Their thousand-year