Bird droppings... were poisonous

At the edge of the clan grounds.

Tobirama Senju found his path blocked by animals of every kind. Across that "sea" of animals, he watched Yanbai grow farther and farther away.

Tobirama Senju's face was expressionless, but anger flashed in his red eyes. Through gritted teeth, he enunciated every word. "Yanbai, get back here. Right-this-instant!"

Yanbai merely smiled and waved vigorously at him again and again. "Big Brother Tobirama, I'm going to find Big Brother Hashirama. I'll come right back once I find him! Bye!"

With that, Yanbai turned away, leaving Tobirama Senju with the sight of his little figure skipping off.

Tobirama Senju's face twisted in fury. He was about to give chase, but after just one step, his whole body went limp, as though it were beyond his control. His eyes widened as he watched himself collapse, while Yanbai had already vanished from sight.

When?

What was going on?

As he fell to the ground, Tobirama Senju saw a bird.

It stood on a blade of grass before him, watching him with its head tilted.

Tobirama Senju remembered. Yanbai had been chatting with a group of cats just now.

One spoke human language, while the others spoke cat. Tobirama Senju had found it strange, so he had kept his eyes fixed on Yanbai.

Then a huge load of bird droppings had suddenly fallen from the sky, covering the top of Tobirama Senju's head.

For some inexplicable reason, a flock of birds had flown over from afar and gathered together. While Yanbai held Tobirama Senju's attention, they had all dumped a massive load of droppings on his head at once...

Then they had swiftly scattered again.

These bird droppings... were poisonous?

And the poison was a volatile paralytic toxin.

Tobirama Senju could only watch as a group of dogs and cats worked together to drag him back into the clan grounds.

At that moment, Tobirama Senju was screaming inwardly. So Yanbai could not only heal, but communicate with animals too?

Damn it!

That little bastard!

Before he lost consciousness entirely, one thought filled Tobirama Senju's mind: Big Brother, this was your fault-

"I have to find Hashirama as soon as possible..."

He struggled to recall the locations and routes from the original story.

Yanbai raced through the forest, "healing" quite a few animals and trees along the way.

Yanbai questioned plenty of local plants and animals, quickly confirming Hashirama's whereabouts. He also asked them to help cover his tracks-and even Hashirama's.

The longer he spent with Tobirama Senju, the more troublesome Yanbai found him.

Although Tobirama Senju was still young, with physical abilities and practical ninjutsu skills that fell short of an adult's, that was precisely why he worked even harder to develop his intellect.

With Tobirama Senju's tracking and sensory abilities added to the mix, Yanbai felt he needed to be even more cautious.

Acting spoiled and cute would only work while Tobirama Senju still felt familial affection for him.

Once they openly fell out, strength would have to do the talking.

To get frequent opportunities to touch Madara Uchiha, Yanbai decided to help his big brother, Hashirama Senju, cover his tracks.

However, that might mean that once Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Izuna discovered Madara Uchiha's secret, Hashirama Senju would have neither Butsuma Senju nor Tobirama Senju on his side to counterbalance them.

Yanbai formed a plan.

He would build good relationships with Madara and Hashirama and guide them toward becoming stronger. All he had to do was put them out in front, and he could hide behind them and do whatever he wanted.

The problem now was that neither of them was strong enough yet.

A boy in a dark robe walked through the mountains.

Lush greenery surrounded him.

Everything around him looked a little unusual today. Every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass in the surrounding woods, seemed extraordinarily vivid.

The black-robed boy continued toward the stream, the burble of flowing water filling his ears.

Standing beside the crystal-clear stream, he reached into the water and felt its icy chill.

Wild birds called in the forest, and the leaves overhead rustled in the wind.

Why had he come here?

After washing his face beside the stream to clear his head, the black-robed boy stepped back a few paces, remaining in the sunlight.

Standing on the rocky bank, he suddenly had a whim. He casually picked up a stone and tried skipping it toward the opposite bank.

Smack-

The surface of the stone struck the water, then swiftly bounced into the air.

Smack-

Another slap followed. This time, the stone bounced lower.

Smack-

The stone bounced off the water once more. Then, just as it was about to reach the opposite bank, it failed to bounce again and sank with a splash.

The black-robed boy let out a frustrated groan.

A few seconds later, he picked up another stone from the ground and muttered, "One more time... I'll get it to the other side."

Despite his words, his movements were noticeably more hesitant. He kept delaying the throw.

But then...

Whoosh-

Something whistled through the air beside his ear.

Whatever had made that sound shot straight toward the water ahead.

Smack-smack-smack-smack-

The stone bounced across the water in a steady rhythm.

Finally, with a clack, it successfully reached the opposite bank.

Still poised to throw his own stone, the black-robed boy frowned and turned to look behind him.

A second boy stood there, his arm still held in a throwing pose.

The newcomer wore fine clothes in a dazzling shade of green, with a bowl cut so ridiculous it was painful to look at.

Before the black-robed boy could speak, the boy with the bowl cut smiled and said, "Remember to angle it up a little when you throw. That's the trick to skipping stones."

The black-robed boy stared at him speechlessly. He had intended to cover his embarrassment with a haughty "Mind your own business" or "I knew that already."

But the bowl-cut boy's clothes and utterly mismatched hairstyle drove those thoughts from his mind. He couldn't help asking, "Who are you?"

"Uh... right now, I suppose I'm your stone-skipping rival?" Hashirama Senju, the boy with the bowl cut, said earnestly. "Mine made it to the other side."

The black-robed boy, Madara Uchiha, stared at Hashirama Senju in disdain and complained, "The clash between your unbelievably tacky haircut and your taste in clothes is such an assault on the senses that I can't concentrate on throwing..."

The strange style of those clothes somehow looked handsome.

But one glance above the collar made it seem as though the boy with the bowl cut didn't deserve to wear them.

At those words, Hashirama Senju scratched his head sheepishly. "Ahahaha, my little brother made these clothes especially for me. I really couldn't say no to him. They are too flashy, aren't they?"

Madara Uchiha remained silent. Rather than calling the clothes flashy, he would have said they made the boy seem to blend into the forest.

This... definitely wasn't a child from an ordinary family.

But he certainly wasn't nobility either. There was nothing aristocratic about this fool. He looked more like a landlord's idiot son...