Madara Uchiha gave him a strange look. "Hashirama, haven't you wanted to get away from Yanbai for ages? Isn't him not being able to climb up exactly what you wanted?"
"That's true, but he's still my adorable little brother." Hashirama Senju braced both hands against the ground and looked up at the sky. "His awful habit of following me everywhere really gets on my nerves, but apart from that, he's good to me, isn't he? You should understand that too."
As he spoke, Hashirama Senju suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Madara, did you suggest a vertical climbing contest just to help me get away from Yanbai?"
Madara Uchiha shook his head. "I didn't think that far ahead."
Hashirama Senju laughed twice and said, "It's fine. After we rest a bit, I'll go down and bring Yanbai up. You can see the whole forest from here. He'll probably like it too."
As they spoke, soft, unhurried footsteps reached their ears.
Hashirama Senju's smile froze. He and Madara Uchiha turned their heads in unison, moving mechanically like windup puppets.
There stood Yanbai behind them, dressed in green. With a gentle expression, he said, "Big brother, I'm already up here."
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha exchanged looks.
The same thought occurred to both of them: Yanbai had reached the summit before they did, then hidden himself and eavesdropped on their conversation.
Ah...
Didn't that feel downright awful?
Hashirama Senju even suspected that if he hadn't volunteered to go down and bring Yanbai up, Yanbai might never have appeared before them.
Madara Uchiha found Yanbai unfathomable, far more dangerous than Hashirama Senju.
But when they recalled everything Yanbai had quietly done for them lately, both felt guilty again. Surely they were overthinking things.
Madara Uchiha hurriedly changed the subject. "The view is nice here. You can see clearly even far into the distance."
"You have good eyesight, Madara." Yanbai smiled warmly.
"Of course. I've got the Sharin..." Madara Uchiha's expression froze.
Beside him, Hashirama Senju gave Madara Uchiha a puzzled look. "What's wrong, Madara?"
"Nothing." Madara Uchiha snapped out of it, gave an offhand reply, and stole a cautious glance at Yanbai.
Yanbai was as beautiful as ever, his smile unchanged, but Madara Uchiha kept feeling that Yanbai knew his true identity...
At that thought, Madara Uchiha lowered his head. A bone-chilling cold spread from his heart through his entire body.
Puzzled by Madara Uchiha's sudden silence, Hashirama Senju asked, "What's wrong, Madara? Why did you suddenly get so quiet?"
Madara Uchiha looked a little downcast. "I suddenly thought of my brothers who died..."
"Madara..." Hashirama Senju's expression grew sorrowful too.
In truth, Hashirama Senju had always known that without Yanbai, Itama and Kawarama might have died as well.
But the fighting had been brutal lately. Since Butsuma Senju no longer forced Yanbai to use healing techniques, the clan's situation looked grim. Children Kawarama's age were already heading to the battlefield with the adults. Kawarama and Itama would eventually follow them, and even Yanbai might be forced onto the battlefield. It was only a matter of time.
The thought filled Hashirama Senju with sadness.
"Are all your younger brothers gone, Madara?" Yanbai suddenly came up behind Madara Uchiha.
Feeling the warmth behind him, Madara Uchiha went rigid all over. He replied, "No, I still have one younger brother. No matter what happens, I'll protect him."
Hashirama Senju looked solemn. "I'll protect my younger brothers at any cost too."
Then, struck by a sudden idea, Hashirama Senju began telling Madara Uchiha about his dream of building a village.
Yanbai watched silently, watching the beautiful childhood dreams of these two men who would one day change the Shinobi World.
Looking at the two children's smiles, Yanbai gazed down at the forest ahead, the place where Konoha would one day stand.
Yanbai narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two boys, still oblivious to what was about to happen.
Just as they were about to descend the cliff, Yanbai suddenly stopped them both.
Yanbai, who rarely spoke, suddenly took two stones suitable for skipping from his pocket and handed one each to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
Yanbai said, "Big brother, because of me, our second brother and Father haven't had a chance to find out that you've been meeting Madara, but..."
That "but" made both Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha tense.
Yanbai continued, "But the people on Madara's side... have found out."
At his words, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha exchanged a glance.
Hashirama Senju looked at Yanbai solemnly. "Did you discover something?"
"It was probably Madara's younger brother. His hairstyle and clothes looked a lot like Madara's. When Madara goes home this time... something unpleasant might happen," Yanbai said quietly.
"Something... unpleasant?" Hashirama Senju already understood what Yanbai was implying.
Madara Uchiha's expression turned gloomy. He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
Yanbai looked at them both and, smiling, spoke without sparing their feelings. "Of course it'll be unpleasant. Madara's father will demand to know whether he's been meeting a boy often lately. Then Madara will surely be surprised that his father knows, and his younger brother will say he's been keeping Madara under surveillance..."
Yanbai's tone was calm, as though he were telling a story.
But both Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha understood that what Yanbai described was very likely to happen.
Then Yanbai said, "After that, Madara's father will force him to kill my big brother the next time they meet."
At those words, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha both widened their eyes, their expressions turning utterly horrified.
Madara Uchiha looked at Yanbai and asked, "When did you discover this?"
"I knew who you were from the first time I met you." Yanbai looked at Madara Uchiha. "I didn't expose your identity because I meant you no harm. Even knowing who you are, my brother and I both consider you a dear friend."
Hearing this, Madara Uchiha recalled how Yanbai always healed him, and his taut nerves finally relaxed a little.
Hashirama Senju furrowed his brows. In fact, he too had vaguely guessed Madara Uchiha's identity.
They had simply left it unspoken.
After all, in this era, finding a like-minded friend was rare.
Yet now Yanbai mercilessly laid that unspoken truth bare. "Don't be so nervous. We've spent so much time together. Leaving surnames aside, we're good friends, aren't we?"
In this era, surnames were even less friendly than people...
Hashirama Senju nodded. "Of course we are."
Yanbai continued, "Now isn't the time to question each other about our surnames. Shouldn't we be thinking of a way out of the predicament in front of us?"
"Things have come this far. They're bound to unfold the way you described." Madara Uchiha closed his eyes in anguish.
"If you can't even overcome this little predicament, how can you talk about dreams?" Yanbai said mercilessly. "Predicaments are there for people to find a way through."
Hashirama Senju looked at Yanbai. "Have you thought of a way?"
A wicked smile spread across Yanbai's beautiful, childish face.
Before you continue