A choice in camp

Ryuto woke early the next morning.

The energy inside him was overwhelming, as though inexhaustible strength were surging through his veins. Forget sleeping-he felt he could run a hundred laps around the camp without getting winded.

He sat up and looked at the bandages on his body.

He tore them off and tossed them aside.

His skin was perfectly smooth, without so much as a mark.

"Damn," Ryuto clenched his fists, gusts of air spilling naturally between his fingers. "This cheat is so ridiculous, even I'm getting a little embarrassed."

He got out of bed, his bare feet touching the wooden floor.

The cabin was small, with just a bed, a little wooden table, and a stump for a stool. Through the window, he could see the Senju camp's tents and campfires.

Ryuto walked to the window and looked outside.

Day had broken, and Senju clanspeople were moving around the camp. Some were packing things up, while others were lighting fires to cook. It looked quite... peaceful.

It felt like a different world from the Warring States Era outside, where people fought to the death.

Creak-

The door was pushed open again.

Ryuto turned.

Hashirama Senju stood in the doorway, still wearing his red armor, a smile on his face.

"You're awake? How are you feeling?"

"Couldn't be better," Ryuto said. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me." Hashirama came in and closed the door behind him. "I hope you won't take what happened yesterday to heart. That's just how Tobirama is. Everyone looks like a spy to him. Don't let it bother you."

"It didn't," Ryuto said. "Being cautious is good. In times like these, you won't live long if you aren't."

Hashirama looked at Ryuto for a few seconds.

"You're right," he said. "But sometimes, being too cautious means missing out on things."

Ryuto said nothing.

He returned to the bed and sat down.

The little wooden table stood between them. The bowl of medicinal porridge on it had gone cold.

"Hashirama," Ryuto began, "yesterday, you said you wanted me to join the Senju Clan."

"Yes." Hashirama sat up straight. "I meant it."

"Why?" Ryuto asked. "Just because I'm strong and can fight?"

"It's not just that you can fight." Hashirama shook his head. "I inspected the battlefield. When you protected those Uzumaki clanspeople, you weren't trying to kill people. You were trying to save them. You blasted that huge crater to drive back the tailed beast, not to bury all the Uchiha."

He paused.

"There are plenty of people who can fight these days. But people who can fight and are still willing to protect the weak on the battlefield? Not many."

Ryuto fell silent.

The sight of the little village swallowed by war flashed through his mind.

Then came the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, and those young clanspeople falling.

"You want me to join the Senju." Ryuto looked up. "Then what? Fight the Uchiha together? Until one side is wiped out?"

"No," Hashirama said firmly. "Until they're willing to stop."

"Stop?" Ryuto laughed. "How? Does Madara Uchiha look like someone willing to stop?"

"That's why we need strength," Hashirama said. "Enough strength to make them understand that if the fighting continues, no one will gain anything. Both sides will only suffer."

He looked at Ryuto.

"Your power is very unusual, and very strong. If you join the Senju, our strength will increase enormously. Then I'll have the backing I need to talk to Madara."

"About what?"

"A ceasefire," Hashirama said. "Cooperation. Building a place where all shinobi can live in peace."

Ryuto froze.

"You... want to work with the Uchiha?"

"Yes." Hashirama nodded. "How many years have the Senju and Uchiha been fighting? Hundreds, right? How many people have died? Has it meant anything? No. If we keep fighting, more people will only die."

He stood, walked to the window, and looked out at the camp.

"My idea is to first unite the Senju Clan's strength and become strong enough. Then we talk to the Uchiha. If they're willing to stop fighting, we build a village together. All the shinobi live together, take missions, and get on with their lives, instead of fighting and killing all day."

Ryuto was a little dazed by what he heard.

Wasn't this idea a little too far ahead of its time for the Shinobi World of the Warring States Era?

"You think Madara will agree?" Ryuto asked.

"Not now." Hashirama turned back and smiled. "But someday he will. As long as I become strong enough that he has to take the proposal seriously."

"What if he never agrees?"

"Then I'll keep getting stronger until I can force him to yield," Hashirama said. "But my aim isn't to kill him. It's to make him sit down and talk."

Ryuto looked at Hashirama.

His gaze was serious. He didn't seem to be joking.

"Aren't you afraid... I'll only make things messier if I join?" Ryuto said. "My power isn't like chakra. Even your brother called me an aberration. Aren't you worried I'll become another problem?"

"I was," Hashirama admitted. "But I thought about it. There are already enough problems. One more won't matter. Besides, I don't think you're a problem."

He returned to the stump and sat down.

"Ryuto, I can tell you don't want to spend every day fighting and killing either. You train and get stronger to protect people, not to kill them. Right?"

Ryuto said nothing.

"Join the Senju, and you'll have a rightful place from which to protect more people," Hashirama said. "You won't have to keep hiding and running on your own like before. You'll have comrades and support, so you can train and grow stronger with fewer worries. Then, together, we'll put an end to this age of war."

The cabin fell quiet.

Ryuto lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Ki surged through his body, far stronger than before.

If he joined the Senju, he really could grow stronger faster. With the Senju Clan behind him, he wouldn't lack resources, intelligence, or opportunities to fight.

And Hashirama's vision of peace... though it sounded a little idealistic, at least he was seriously thinking about how to end the war.

He wasn't thinking about slaughtering every enemy, but about getting them to sit down and talk.

That was different from Madara Uchiha's approach of beating people into submission.

"Hashirama." Ryuto looked up. "This shinobi village of yours... how exactly would it work?"

"I haven't worked out the details yet," Hashirama said. "But the basic idea is to find a place and build a village. Every shinobi clan that joins sends representatives to manage it together. We take missions to earn money and support ourselves. Disputes are settled internally. No private bloodshed."

"What if someone doesn't follow the rules?"

"Then the village's strongest force deals with them," Hashirama said. "Once the rules are set, they have to be followed. Anyone who doesn't gets expelled, or... eliminated."

His tone was calm when he said "eliminated."

Ryuto could tell this man wasn't some naive innocent.

He had ideals, but he also had methods.

"It sounds... a bit like a dream," Ryuto said. "But at least it's a good one."

"We won't know whether it's just a dream until we try." Hashirama smiled. "Well? Want to share this dream with me?"

Ryuto didn't answer immediately.

He stood, walked to the window, and looked outside.

In the camp, a Senju child ran past, tripped, and burst into tears. A nearby adult hurried over, picked him up, brushed off the dirt, and soothed him with a few words. The child stopped crying.

It was an ordinary sight.

But in the Warring States Era, a place where children could safely cry and fuss wasn't easy to come by.

"Hashirama," Ryuto said with his back to him, "I saw a village once. Small, out of the way. The people there weren't Senju or Uchiha. They were just ordinary people."

"They farmed, hunted, and lived their lives. Then the war reached them. The village was destroyed, and more than half the people died."

Ryuto turned around.

Hashirama said nothing, listening quietly.

"Later, I went to the Uzumaki Clan and helped them fight a few battles. Rena, Mito, those young clanspeople... quite a few of them died too."

Ryuto returned to the bed and sat down.

"I kept wondering when this war would ever end. Today, the Senju kill the Uchiha. Tomorrow, the Uchiha kill the Senju. The day after, maybe some other clan comes along. All this killing, and the ones dying are people who just want to live their lives."

He looked at Hashirama.

"You want to end this age of war. So do I. But..."

"But what?"

"But I'm not sure joining the Senju is the best way," Ryuto said. "Once I pick a side, I'm one of the Senju. Then the Uchiha and the other clans will all see me as an enemy. The people I want to protect might end up in greater danger because of that identity."

Hashirama nodded.

"I understand your concerns. Picking a side gives you a position, and enemies. But Ryuto, in times like these, staying completely neutral is too difficult. The Uchiha already marked you down when you helped the Uzumaki Clan. This time you wounded Izuna, and Madara came after you himself. Do you think he'll still consider you a bystander?"

Ryuto fell silent.

It was true.

From the moment he stepped in to save Rena Uzumaki, he had already been caught up in it.

"I won't force you," Hashirama said. "Think it over carefully. Give me your answer once you're sure."

He stood and walked to the door.

"You can stay here as long as you like. Once you've recovered, I won't stop you if you want to leave. But if you're willing to stay, the Senju Clan welcomes you."

With that, he opened the door and left.

Ryuto was alone in the cabin again.

He sat on the bed, his mind a mess.

Join, or not?

That was the question.

Joining the Senju meant officially setting himself against Madara Uchiha, and being drawn into the maelstrom of clan warfare.

But it also meant having a clear goal, people to fight beside, and a chance to achieve peace.

If he didn't join, he would remain a lone wanderer, free but alone. Whatever happened, he would have to shoulder it himself. If he wanted to protect people, he would have only himself to rely on.

Besides, Hashirama was right. He could no longer stay completely out of it.

He couldn't forget Madara Uchiha's scarlet Sharingan.

The way that man looked at him was like looking at an interesting piece of prey, or an obstacle that had to be crushed.

The next time they met, Madara would definitely get serious.

When that happened, could he withstand it alone?

Ryuto stood, pushed open the cabin door, and went outside.

The people in camp paused when they saw him, but no one came forward to stop him.

He walked to the edge of camp and stood on a dirt rise, looking into the distance.

Smoke rose along the horizon.

He didn't know which village had been burned this time, or which two clans had started fighting again.

The fires of war had never stopped.

Ryuto stood there for a long time.

The wind blew past, carrying a faint smell of earth and blood.

Yamano Tarō's face flashed through his mind, then Rena Uzumaki waving, then Hashirama Senju's candid eyes.

Finally, he drew a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"I'll stay a few days first," Ryuto told himself. "See how things go."

He didn't return to the cabin. He sat down on the dirt rise, watching the distant smoke.

The scales in his heart still tipped back and forth.