The sacrifice at the center of the formula slumped to the ground, marking the complete failure of the first [Impure World Reincarnation] experiment.
The outcome had deviated completely from his plans. Tobirama Senju couldn't help sighing before collecting himself, taking out his experimental log scroll, and forming hand seals with one hand to begin recording the data from this experiment.
Watanabe Ichiro helped record it with an image-capturing scroll, though his thoughts had long since wandered elsewhere. He was thoroughly absorbed in daydreaming.
"That's enough, Ichiro. Go get some rest."
Having dealt with the aftermath, Tobirama Senju wearily rubbed his brow and consoled himself.
"It was the first experiment, after all. Failure is normal."
Watanabe Ichiro acknowledged him and left, then ran to the training ground and handed his disguise over to the system to run on autopilot. Meanwhile, he roamed outside in spirit form to gather information.
Sure enough, while Watanabe Ichiro had been peacefully studying forbidden techniques under Tobirama Senju, no further reports of [Black Zetsu] had surfaced outside. Madara Uchiha's ability to search alone was limited, so he had returned to Konoha to enlist the intelligence department's help.
Hashirama Senju was delighted to hear the news. He dumped his Hokage duties on Senju Toka, the Senju Clan's third-in-command, then ran to the Uchiha Clan Compound and dragged Madara Uchiha off to a gambling hall to unwind.
Madara Uchiha resigned himself to keeping his best friend company at the gambling hall. With his fierce glare and his arms folded across his chest, anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had come to wreck the place.
The gamblers had been rather restrained when the First Hokage, Madara Uchiha, and the Second Hokage, Hashirama Senju, first stepped inside. But once the gambling fever took hold, they stopped paying attention to the two men, and the hall grew lively again.
Calls to place bets, shouts, cheers, the rattle of dice... all blended into a chaotic melody.
It was rather grating. Madara Uchiha rubbed his ears. He had spent all this time tracking [Black Zetsu] in the wilderness, surrounded by nature, and it had been ages since he had been this close to the noise of human society.
His brow furrowed, making his glare even fiercer, and everyone within three meters instinctively moved away.
But as he watched Hashirama Senju gleefully absorbed in gambling, he lowered his threshold for what he could tolerate yet again.
Forget it. I've been wound tight lately. I'll relax for today.
For a little while, Madara Uchiha let himself become part of the bustle of everyday life, and the murderous aura around him softened.
Once Hashirama Senju had gambled to his heart's content, he dragged Madara along for a stroll through Konoha, telling him about the village's recent changes and important events in the Shinobi World. Madara Uchiha listened silently, sharing some of the conditions and developments he had witnessed in the countries he passed through while tracking [Black Zetsu].
Eventually, the two sat down on Hokage Rock, just as they had in childhood.
"Look. We've done a fine job running Konoha." Hashirama Senju gazed down from the heights, taking in the thriving village spread before him, his words filled with heartfelt emotion.
"Yes." Madara Uchiha gave his first smile of the day, only to rein it in immediately. He had thought of his younger brother, his own flesh and blood. If Izuna were still alive, he would surely love Konoha as it was now.
He turned that last thought over in his mind for a moment without saying it aloud. There was no need to bring up something so heavy when the mood was this relaxed.
But then Madara Uchiha's thoughts shifted, and he voiced something he had been considering for a long time-
"Hashirama, during my travels, I visited many countries and met many people. Over that long journey, an idea occurred to me. Perhaps we could unite the Shinobi World."
He dropped that bombshell as casually as could be.
"Madara... y-you-you want to start a war?" Hashirama Senju's jaw dropped in shock, and even his words began to stumble.
"Yes," Madara Uchiha admitted.
"Madara, do you understand what you're saying? You want to shatter the peace we worked so hard to achieve with your own hands?"
"Hashirama, the peace we have now is temporary. What I want is lasting peace." Madara Uchiha pressed Hashirama Senju, who had sprung to his feet in shock, back down and began to explain.
"Beyond Konoha, beyond the Land of Fire, there are many lands with scarce resources, where people live in misery. Hashirama, suppose Tobirama Senju was about to die of an illness, and the only medicine that could save him was in the Land of Lightning. If their daimyo and Kage refused to sell it, would you watch Tobirama die, or would you seize the medicine?"
Madara Uchiha posed the hypothetical, his eyes fixed on Hashirama Senju as he waited for an answer.
"I know Medical Ninjutsu. I could try to find a way."
"You couldn't save him. It's incurable."
"Perhaps we could borrow some, or offer something in exchange."
"They refuse to trade."
"If I got down on my knees and begged, perhaps..."
"Their hearts are as hard as iron."
"Then we could steal a little."
"The medicine is guarded around the clock. There's no way to get it except by force."
Hashirama Senju deflated and murmured.
"Things can always take a turn for the better. There should be a better way. But if there really isn't..."
He searched his heart and reached a conclusion he was reluctant to admit.
"I would seize it. I couldn't stand by and watch Tobirama die."
Having received a satisfactory answer, Madara Uchiha turned away and lowered his gaze, looking somewhat forlorn.
"If even someone as powerful as you would make that choice, why would weaker, ordinary shinobi-or even ordinary people-be any different..."
"No food at home, little water in the well, a sick loved one... if you don't have what you need, you go out and take it from others. Hashirama, that is the very essence of war!"
He gave a smile that never reached his eyes.
"The solution is simple. Bring the entire Shinobi World into Konoha, extend Konoha's policies throughout the Shinobi World, and place everyone under Konoha's administration... Think about it, Hashirama. If everyone in the Shinobi World could live peaceful, stable lives like the people of Konoha do now, who would start a war?"
"Food when you're hungry, prompt treatment when you're ill, family beside you when you're suffering-who could be dissatisfied with a life like that? Who wouldn't yearn for it? If anyone tried to destroy it, they would be the enemy of everyone under heaven, and everyone would have the right to strike them down... That is the true grand design for lasting peace!"
"Hashirama, the war we must wage now isn't a war to invade other countries. It's a just war for everyone under heaven, for our children and grandchildren, for peace across a thousand generations-ten thousand generations! We are creating eternal peace! I don't want temporary peace, much less peace confined to this tiny corner called Konoha!"
Madara Uchiha's voice rang out, leaving both Hashirama Senju beside him and Watanabe Ichiro, who had sneaked over in spirit form, wide-eyed and bewildered.
What was this?
Had a shift in the worldline caused our man Ying Zheng to possess Madara Uchiha?
Had the idea of an unbroken imperial line been discarded, with the ideal of unification now spreading through the land of cherry blossoms?
Could I actually be lucky enough to witness the legendary scene I'd been waiting for-
Susanoo-Clad Kurama, two men wiping out four nations!
Great Fire paired with a world of trees, all under heaven becomes Konoha!
Before you continue