In the now-empty Hokage office, Hashirama had sent Tobirama and everyone else away, leaving only Tōka behind.
The cousins, who had been inseparable since childhood and loved drinking, gambling, and getting drunk together whenever they had nothing else to do, each held a bottle of fine wine from Hashirama's private collection and drank straight from it.
From their youthful mischief to the present, when both had children of their own, they had always been close. There were some things Hashirama would only confide in Tōka.
After all, when it came to siding with outsiders and infuriating Tobirama, they had plenty in common.
"Ah, I really don't understand."
After draining more than half his bottle in one gulp, Hashirama let out a long, alcohol-soaked sigh, like any downtrodden man facing a midlife crisis.
"We're all comrades from the same village. Why are they so determined to shut out the Uchiha?"
Tōka shrugged and gave his shoulder a firm pat, a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
"Not everyone can be like you and give up power and glory when they're practically within reach."
With his generous nature, Hashirama naturally regarded the Uchiha as comrades. But to Tobirama and many other Senju, the Uchiha were rivals and political enemies-the only clan capable of standing alongside the Senju and threatening their position at any moment.
Against enemies, any means of squeezing them out was fair game.
For Tobirama to suggest handing the Hokage Position to Madara after Hashirama took office already represented an enormous concession and change.
Back when the village had just been founded, how could Tobirama ever have said such a thing? He would have been shouting that the Uchiha were plotting a rebellion!
Of the three cousins, Tobirama himself might have changed the most over the years.
Thinking about it,