Autumn, Konoha Year 12.
Summer came to an end beneath an indescribable pall, a mixture of stifling gloom, restlessness, and the oppressive hush before a storm.
Autumn had only just touched the treetops around Konoha, and discussions of "tailed beasts" and "deterrence" still lingered, when a more concrete, more unsettling undercurrent began stirring among Konoha High Command, particularly between the Senju brothers.
Hashirama Senju's body was like the last withered leaf on an autumn branch, moving irreversibly toward its end with every coughing fit and cold sweat.
Yet the almost obsessive fire burning in his eyes for a "final peace" only grew stronger, its heat ever more searing.
"I must... before I can no longer move at all... capture them..."
In a quiet room, Hashirama leaned back in a reclining chair, murmuring to his younger brother, and seemingly to himself. Falling leaves drifted outside the window, reflected in his increasingly clouded eyes.
"Especially... the Nine-Tails. The strongest... and the most dangerous. We cannot leave any... uncertain factors... out there."
Tobirama Senju stood beside him, his expression stern.
He still disagreed with his elder brother's naive notion of "distributing the tailed beasts to achieve a balance of terror," but he knew just as clearly that the tailed beasts, especially the Nine-Tails, were enormous sources of instability in themselves.
Rather than leaving them loose for other villages or ambitious schemers to exploit, it would be better to bring them under Konoha's control first.
At least then, the initiative would be on their side.
"I understand, Brother." Tobirama's voice was flat. "The tailed beasts' power must not fall into enemy hands. As for how to use it..." He paused, leaving the latter half-"anything is better than letting you hand them out recklessly"-unspoken. "I'll make the arrangements. You... take care of yourself."
Capturing tailed