"I didn't mean to upset you. My little sister often says I hurt people without meaning to with my naive, airheaded remarks." Hashirama Senju looked utterly forlorn. Choking back sobs, he forced out, "To make it up to you, I'd better brace myself for being thrown into the river... go on, throw me."
Madara Uchiha's face twitched, a vein faintly bulging on his forehead. "Your sister's right, you bastard. Do you have any idea how annoying that habit of yours is?"
But Hashirama Senju gave him an ugly grin. "Hopefully... you can skip my whole body all the way to the other bank."
That ugly, smug grin.
Those words, as foul as miasma.
They enraged Madara Uchiha enough to make him roar, "You bastard-get lost!"
"...All right, all right, I'm leaving." Hashirama Senju made as if to go.
Madara Uchiha: "..."
Fuck!
Seeing Hashirama Senju about to leave, Madara Uchiha grew inexplicably agitated. "Wait, stop right there-"
He's just a stranger. So what if he leaves?
Yet, for some reason, a trace of reluctance welled up in Madara Uchiha's heart. What exactly was he reluctant to let go of? Even he couldn't put it into words just then.
Hashirama Senju chuckled inwardly. Yanbai had often used this trick on Tobirama, and Tobirama had never been able to do anything about him. Now that Hashirama had tried it himself, this unfamiliar boy was reacting exactly as Tobirama had back then...
Despite those thoughts, Hashirama Senju wore a languid expression as he said, "What is it now? Weren't you the one who told me to get lost? Now you won't let me leave. Could you make up your mind before you speak?"
Those words left Madara Uchiha at a loss. He stammered, "I... I..." for ages without managing a complete sentence.
Smiling, Hashirama Senju was about to say something.
Suddenly, something out of place entered his field of vision, and the smile gradually vanished from his face.
Madara Uchiha also sensed something and followed Hashirama Senju's gaze.
In the crystal-clear river ahead, something drifted along with the current, coming into view on the surface.
Hashirama Senju immediately ran over using Water Walking and examined the corpse.
That action, however, put Madara Uchiha on his guard.
After a moment's hesitation, Madara Uchiha asked, "Are you a Shinobi?"
"This place is about to become a battlefield. You should head back." Hashirama Senju didn't turn around, his hand resting on the dead man's armor.
That confirms it...
This is the Hagoromo Clan's crest.
The Hagoromo Clan had allied with the Uchiha Clan and was an enemy of the Senju Clan.
"Sorry, I have to go." Many thoughts flashed through Hashirama Senju's mind. Still without looking back, he leaped out of the water in a few bounds and landed on the opposite bank. Turning sideways, he said softly, "Goodbye..."
But after saying goodbye, Hashirama Senju quickly turned back. "Oh, right, you..."
"My name is Madara." Madara Uchiha stared steadily at Hashirama Senju without moving.
A hint of resignation suddenly crossed Hashirama Senju's face. "Madara, not telling strangers your surname..."
Madara Uchiha finished for him. "It's a Shinobi's rule. I know."
Hashirama Senju said wistfully, "So you really are a Shinobi too."
Despite their vastly different personalities, Hashirama Senju inexplicably sensed something familiar in Madara Uchiha.
And Hashirama Senju felt as though he understood why Madara had come to the river.
At their first meeting, the two exchanged names, then hurriedly bid each other farewell.
Yanbai had just spotted the corpse upstream as it drifted toward the lower reaches.
It was the body of a Shinobi from the Hagoromo Clan.
The sight immediately told Yanbai that today was the day Hashirama and Madara first met.
Because of that corpse, their brief meeting had ended in a hurried parting.
When Yanbai reached the riverside he remembered, he saw Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha waving goodbye to each other in the distance.
Hashirama Senju's figure disappeared into the shadows of the forest ahead.
Madara Uchiha turned around as well, preparing to leave.
However...
Madara Uchiha suddenly picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it toward Yanbai.
There was not a trace of stone-skipping technique in that throw. He was clearly throwing the stone as though it were a shuriken.
Yanbai dodged instinctively, swiftly leaping out of the bushes and appearing before Madara Uchiha.
"Oh my, I heard everything~ Your name is Madara."
Beneath the westering sun, a childish voice rang out along the riverbank.
"You..." Madara Uchiha's eyes widened.
Before him stood a little girl with silver-gray hair and red eyes, wearing the same style of clothing as the boy who had called himself Hashirama.
Could this silver-haired girl, whose beauty could steal someone's soul with a single glance, be Hashirama's little sister?
"Are you my big brother Hashirama's new friend?" Yanbai asked with a smile.
Those words confirmed that Yanbai was indeed the deranged little sister Hashirama had mentioned.
Upon hearing Yanbai's voice, Madara Uchiha involuntarily thought of roses blooming in harmony with a quiet night.
That voice, as melodious as a nightingale's, seemed to carry its own genjutsu, leaving people utterly entranced.
In a sense, the girl before him was herself an irresistible genjutsu.
Madara Uchiha frowned in silence, feeling unable to look directly at the child's face.
When?
When had Hashirama's little sister arrived over there? How long had he been watching them?
Why hadn't either he or Hashirama noticed?
"Nice to meet you. My name is Yanbai."
Yanbai was petite, and the sunset's lingering light shone on the hem of his green dress, spreading like ripples across the lustrous fabric.
Madara Uchiha watched helplessly as Yanbai approached him. He wanted to leave, but his legs felt filled with lead, refusing to move.
Danger!
Alarm bells rang wildly in Madara Uchiha's mind, but they did him no good.
However...
Yanbai suddenly caught the part of Madara Uchiha's right arm exposed beyond his sleeve and smiled brightly. "Madara, you seem to be injured. Let me... heal you..."
Madara Uchiha: "???"
The instant the child before him touched him, all the hidden injuries in his body were healed?
Madara Uchiha stared at Yanbai in shock, his gaze fixed on the hands resting on his arm. A soft glow surrounded them.
This isn't Medical Ninjutsu...
There's no sign of chakra flowing. What kind of technique is this?
Questions rose in his mind one after another.
Before Madara Uchiha could figure it out, Yanbai had withdrawn his hands, and the soft glow vanished too.
Smiling, Yanbai quickly retreated several steps as he said, "All done, Madara. I'm going to catch up with my big brother. I look forward to seeing you again."
Yanbai exuded an alluring aloofness, beneath which lay a quietly concealed, untamed wildness.
Though he still looked like a child, Yanbai's innocence carried a hint of cool sensuality. His face showed little emotion, yet he seemed deeply mysterious.
From behind, Yanbai looked extremely lively, still showing something of a child's manner.
Madara Uchiha watched speechlessly as Yanbai skipped away.
Only after Yanbai had completely disappeared from sight did Madara Uchiha mutter, "...What a strange kid."
After checking the sky, Madara Uchiha quickly left.
What Madara Uchiha didn't know was that Yanbai, racing through the forest ahead, was wearing a thoroughly dejected expression.
He had just touched Madara Uchiha all over and been rewarded with the "Beginner Skipping Stone Skill."
What the hell is the Beginner Skipping Stone Skill?
Trash!
The system's backend was currently a mess of garbled code. Otherwise, if Yanbai opened it and saw that thing, he felt his blood pressure would shoot through the roof!
Yanbai picked up speed, thinking, Looks like I'll have to touch him a few more times...
Before you continue