In that instant, Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama understood: the root of everything that had twisted and corrupted the village was none other than himself.
"So this is where the Will of Fire ends..."
He stared at Danzo's face, its ugliness laid bare, but what he saw was his own cold expression when he had killed Madara all those years ago. The two were so alike.
The words he had spoken then seemed to linger in his ears:
"Whether they're friends, brothers, or my own flesh and blood, I will never spare anyone who stands against this village!"
"No! It shouldn't have been like this!"
Years later, reborn through Impure World Reincarnation, Hashirama teetered on the brink of an emotional collapse. In his visions, he desperately tried to stop his past self, to prevent the beginning of this tragedy.
But it was all in vain.
From that moment on, he had utterly twisted the village, and this distorted Will of Fire had been passed down through generation after generation.
The moment he understood that, despair all but swallowed Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama's heart. He could barely stay on his feet.
Founding the village had never been a mistake, but leaving behind the Will of Fire and twisting it himself had been a terrible, terrible wrong!
"Danzo, do you think you're so impressive?"
Sasuke stepped forward. His sharp words tore another layer off Danzo's facade, then drove another knife into Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama's chest.
Unlike his former self, who had been blinded by hatred, Sasuke was now calm and rational enough to see through all this darkness.
"You were able to keep harming people in the village not because you were clever or your methods were brilliant, but because they loved Konoha and believed in the Will of Fire."
"And you