After pouring his heart out to Shingetsu in the Orchard, Hashirama finally shook off the gloom that had hung over him for so long. Madara Uchiha would never leave his dejected best friend to suffer alone, either. With Madara and Shingetsu's companionship and understanding, Hashirama's spirits visibly improved.
Though Tobirama had no idea what had happened and was full of questions, he privately breathed a sigh of relief. He had sensed his elder brother's troubled state of mind, but had never found a way to ease his anguish.
Time quietly passed amid the seemingly peaceful state of affairs. With the Five Kage Summit approaching, the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the entire Shinobi World were on edge. Madara Uchiha and the Senju brothers were so busy they had no attention to spare for their students, so the Ninja Academy simply went on an extended break. Even so, Madara did not forget to assign homework. Before the students could celebrate, they were clutching their heads and wailing.
Homework really was pure evil!
Forced to do their homework under Madara Uchiha's supervision, the Uchiha youngsters nearly squealed like pigs at slaughter. Homework was painful enough already, but every evening, after returning from the Hokage Building, their clan leader checked their work and progress. If he was dissatisfied, he would drag them out of bed while they were sound asleep and beat them!
The youngsters, whose entire vacation had become a living hell, could only console themselves with this: getting scolded and beaten a few times by Teacher Madara now was better than being beaten to death by him once school started.
One afternoon, while Madara was away at a meeting in the Hokage Building, the youngsters, who had practically torn their hair out over their homework, put down their assignments and decided