Facing the stunned Hashirama Senju, Shingetsu's mind was a tangled mess. The reason was simple: she, too, had felt the closeness he had just described, a bond even stronger than blood.
That feeling of closeness arose from an echo within her soul, roaring through her flesh and blood. It was wonderful. In that instant, the world before Shingetsu's eyes seemed to burst into enormous blossoms, and everything sparkled in her heart.
As though immersed in the sweet darkness of amniotic fluid, her consciousness sank uncontrollably beneath that dreamlike sensation, descending to the deepest reaches of her soul.
In her daze, she saw a barren, desolate stretch of land, like the silent seabed, cut off from all light and hope.
This dark, tranquil space was Shingetsu's sea of consciousness. Here, a tiny sapling had firmly taken root.
Before she had been given the name Shingetsu, its seed had already settled there, growing alongside her. When she was born into the world, its first shoot had also broken through the soil. In a sense, this sapling shared her very life.
Throughout all of Hokage, there was only one plant this extraordinary: the alien organism Kaguya Otsutsuki had brought from beyond the planet, the origin of all chakra, the source of all creation—the God Tree!
When Shingetsu first discovered the God Tree's existence, she had been thrilled, thinking her golden finger as a transmigrator had finally arrived. But she soon discovered that this damned plant was utterly useless, bringing her nothing but endless trouble!
The God Tree needed chakra to grow. Before Shingetsu could mold chakra herself, she could only instinctively seek nourishment from her mother. Yet even as a seed, the God Tree had possessed an almost bottomless appetite. It had drained Tōka and Hōkaku's chakra dry, and the insatiable seed had even begun siphoning away their life force!
Had Madara Uchiha not appeared in time, Shingetsu's entire family would probably have died of exhaustion after the God Tree's seed drained every last bit of their life force. Shingetsu would also have had the honor of becoming history's first transmigrator to die in the womb.
In fact, until the God Tree grew into its current sapling form, Madara, Tōka, and Hōkaku had all continued supplying Shingetsu with chakra. It was nothing short of a miracle that she had made it this far without incident.
Aside from draining her chakra and that of everyone around her, the God Tree sapling had brought Shingetsu no benefits whatsoever. Surely a plant this impressive, with at least some connection to Asura and Hashirama Senju, should have given her Wood Release, right? Yet Shingetsu discovered to her despair that no matter how she manipulated her chakra, neither the plant growing in her consciousness nor the plants growing in the ground paid her the slightest attention.
And this was precisely the emotional journey every Senju Clan member other than Hashirama inevitably had to endure.
The Senju Clan's obsession with Wood Release had reached the point of madness. They truly would have paid any price to produce a second Wood Release user. Yet throughout history, only Hashirama and people implanted with Hashirama cells could use it. Even Hashirama's son and grandchildren lacked Wood Release, never mind anyone else.
Although Shingetsu could barely count as half a Senju, she was not destined to learn Wood Release either. In this era, Hashirama Senju alone possessed Asura chakra.
Well, if Wood Release was out of the question, surely it could at least serve as a chakra battery like the Nine-Tails? After absorbing so much chakra from Shingetsu, providing some in return would have been perfectly reasonable. But no, it could not do that either.
What a joke. This plant only ever plundered chakra. Expecting it to spit any back out was about as realistic as expecting a capitalist to hand out money or Danzo to do a good deed. Completely impossible.
After all this bullshit, Shingetsu had fallen into utter despair. She had finally figured it out: the damned thing inside her was nothing but a time bomb wearing the God Tree's skin! It offered not a single benefit, but every conceivable kind of trouble. She could do absolutely nothing about it, so in the end, she could only pretend it did not exist.
Yet now, the little sapling that usually showed no signs of activity was happily stretching out its branches, its densely layered, pale-green buds joining into a continuous canopy. No wind existed within her Consciousness Space, but the God Tree's supple branches gently swayed of their own accord, weaving a fresh, water-rich song of life.
Hashirama Senju's Wood Release chakra was resonating with the God Tree!
Fuck! This damned God Tree was screwing me over again!
Shingetsu wanted to cry, but no tears came. Now came the problem: how was she supposed to explain the source of this resonance to Hashirama Senju? Surely she could not tell him:
"Lord Hokage, what you don't know is that I'm actually your long-lost distant niece!"
Shingetsu did not even dare look at Hashirama's expression. Right now, she was terrified that he would mistakenly believe she also possessed Wood Release.
Leaving aside how shocking and outrageous it would be for an Uchiha to possess Wood Release, in the Shinobi World, where bloodline inheritance was taken so seriously, this would be a scandal threatening the very foundations of a clan. It would be enough to spark another conflict between the two clans. If Konoha's two founding clans clashed again, the village, which had been established less than six years ago, might very well fall apart.
Even if they took a step back and proved Shingetsu did not possess Wood Release, the Shinobi World had Ninja Arts capable of determining blood relations. After all that, her lineage would definitely be exposed. Then Tobirama Senju would absolutely make a covert move to kill her!
At that thought, Shingetsu felt her vision darken. Tobirama Senju's face, as terrifying as an evil spirit in her eyes, appeared before her, cackling "Keh, keh, keh" as he prepared to hack her to death.
Waaah! Master, save me! The Senju brothers were terrifying!
Shingetsu curled tightly into Madara's arms, her little body trembling with fear. Madara's hand rested firmly against her back as he raised his head and looked expressionlessly at Hashirama Senju, who seemed to have something to say but held back.
The two close friends' gazes met in that instant. Everything they could and could not say passed between them without a word.
In a situation like this, someone had to give way first, and getting Madara Uchiha to back down was utterly impossible. So Hashirama Senju put on his trademark genial smile and laughed a few times, as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.
"Ahahaha, that just now must have been my imagination!"
Yes, yes, yes! It was your imagination!
Shingetsu nodded frantically in her mind. By now, the strange resonance between her and Hashirama Senju had ended, and everything seemed to have returned to normal, as though nothing had happened. Still, she knew perfectly well that despite what Hashirama said, he would never truly pretend nothing had happened.
Soon enough, the sly schemer showed his true colors. He leaned close to Madara, holding a large handful of little white flowers, and continued trying to coax her despite Madara's murderous stare:
"Shingetsu, would you like to visit the Senju Clan Compound?"
Hashirama Senju smiled with exceptional warmth. He already had a handsome, lively face and a generous, intelligent, cheerful disposition. With that kind of charm, very few people could bring themselves to dislike him, and even refusing him seemed shameful. But right now, Shingetsu only wanted to stay far, far away from him. She desperately wanted to shout:
No, I wouldn't!
If I went to the Senju Clan Compound, would I even make it out alive?
"Hey, Hashirama, are you trying to steal my student?"
Madara Uchiha's expression darkened, and he immediately shot Hashirama Senju a vicious glare. Hashirama smiled without denying the accusation. He simply gazed down at Konoha beneath their feet, his eyes bright and shining:
"We can teach her together. Tobirama and I teach Sarutobi together, after all. Once the Ninja Academy is established, you, me, and Tobirama could all teach there. Just imagine the children calling us their teachers. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Madara pondered for a moment, his brows drawing together slightly as though he were considering something. Without a doubt, Hashirama had successfully moved him. But he soon broke free of that beautiful vision. The future Hashirama described contained two things he absolutely could not tolerate: Shingetsu becoming Hashirama's student, and Tobirama becoming his colleague.
"What you're suggesting isn't out of the question. But Shingetsu is my precious student. Hashirama, even you cannot take her away from me."
Madara held Shingetsu securely in his arms. After leaving those words behind, he glanced at Hashirama and the village beneath them, then turned and left without the slightest hesitation. Watching his retreating back, Hashirama grew even more worried and could not help calling after him:
"Madara, where are you going?"
"I'm heading back. You should get back to the Hokage Building too. Don't make that dear little brother of yours so anxious that he comes looking for you."
Seeing his clan head and beloved daughter finally leave that terrifying man's side, Hōkaku felt indescribable joy ripple through his chest. He gave Senju Toka a gloating look, then immediately followed Madara and Shingetsu, fleeing at lightning speed.
Poor Tōka reached out helplessly. If she could, she would have loved to flee Hashirama Senju's side too. Perhaps it was her guilty conscience, but she could not shake the feeling that he definitely knew something!
"Tōka."
Only Hashirama Senju and Senju Tōka remained atop the vast Hokage Rock. With no outsiders present, Hashirama revealed the imposing side of himself as Hokage. His calm gaze locked onto Tōka's, and his scrutiny sent chills down her spine. She lowered her head first.
Are you hiding something from me?
No words were needed. Tōka could infer his meaning from his gaze alone, thanks to her many years of experience as his trusted aide.
At that moment, Senju Toka's heart pounded like a drum being beaten. She was afraid-afraid Hashirama Senju would actually ask that question. She knew perfectly well that if he did, she would reveal every secret in full, even though doing so would inevitably endanger both Shingetsu's life and her own.
But she had no choice, because ultimately, she was still a Shinobi of the Senju Clan.
Hashirama Senju understood that perfectly well too, but in the end, he chose not to ask. As the pedestrians in the streets began heading home, Hashirama also rose to leave. He put on the Hokage Robe and Hokage Hat that symbolized his office, then slowly made his way toward the Hokage Building.
As he passed the motionless Tōka, he stopped and patted his clan's elder on the shoulder.
"Tōka, once the Ninja Academy is established, you should become a teacher too."
Before you continue