Madara raised his head toward Konoha, gazing at the village he and Hashirama had devoted their lives to protecting. He murmured softly, clinging to one last shred of hope and resolve.
"Hashirama, I'll trust you one more time."
"Please... don't let me down."
This was the last chance he would give their friendship, this village, and the dreams of their youth.
The images on the Sky Screen continued to race forward as the years slipped by.
Hashirama Senju duly took office as the First Hokage, becoming Konoha's leader in name, in law, and in the hearts of its people.
His relationship with Madara Uchiha remained unchanged.
In their spare time, the two still discussed the village's development and their hopes for future peace, as though the rifts and regrets of the past had never existed.
But only those at the heart of the village knew that Konoha had already undergone a quiet yet earthshaking transformation within.
As the First Hokage, Hashirama was ill-suited to handling the minutiae of government.
Almost all the village's affairs, great and small, and virtually every task involving real authority fell to Tobirama Senju.
Holding actual power, Tobirama acted swiftly and decisively. While managing village affairs, he began sweeping reforms he had planned long ago.
The ideals of the will of fire began to take shape, spreading throughout the village and being instilled in everyone as Konoha's guiding spirit.
The shinobi hierarchy, team structure, laws, and system of rewards and punishments were refined one by one.
Among them, the most critical and devastating policy-the one that completely blocked the Uchiha's path upward-was formally enacted by Tobirama: the Hokage's successor would be elected collectively by the Jonin Commander.
Strength would no longer decide.
From then on, the Hokage position would depend on the village's approval, not personal