A nostalgic look on his face, Hashirama Senju began telling his story.
Hashirama spoke slowly. "Child, did you know? I was born in the Warring States era, when the world was an absolute mess. I was fairly lucky, being the son of the Senju Clan's leader. But back then, no matter who you were, children had to be sent to the battlefield at six. Even a clan as strong as the Senju couldn't escape that cruel fate." As he spoke, a trace of pity and melancholy for his childhood appeared in Hashirama's eyes.
"Actually, the clan didn't send children to the battlefield because it expected them to be much help in a fight. It wanted us to see the horrors of war early, to be aware of danger. It also wanted us to see blood and learn how cruel the world was, so we'd train ourselves all the harder." Hashirama frowned slightly, as though recalling the bloody scenes he had once witnessed on the battlefield.
"I was about your age when I first went to the battlefield, just over six. My job was to deliver food to our clansmen on the front lines, and help gather the bodies of those who had fallen and take them back to the village for burial. I did that for three whole years. When I turned nine, I started taking part in the wars between clans for real. The strongest members of the clan fought at the front and left some wounded enemies for us little ones to practice on. But don't underestimate those injured ninja. They could still fight back." Hashirama's voice grew lower, as if he had returned to those cruel days.
"I remember the first time I took part in a battle like that. I saw my cousin's head cut off right in front of me by a ninja we'd thought was already dead. One moment my cousin had been chatting and laughing with me, and the next he was dead before my eyes. For many days afterward, I had nightmares every night. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw the terrible way he'd died." Hashirama's face was full of pain, as though those nightmares were still haunting him.
"But no one came to comfort us. The elders in the clan only said that this was how cruel the Shinobi World was, and told us to recognize our own weakness early and hurry up and grow strong enough to protect our home." Hashirama smiled bitterly, his smile full of helplessness.
"Once, I woke from a nightmare feeling so stifled that I snuck out of the clan's camp. Without realizing it, I ended up by a little river. I saw a boy my age on the other side, skipping stones by himself. I went over and started skipping stones too. We competed to see who could skip one farther, and I lost. After that, I practiced hard every day until I finally beat him. From then on, we'd sneak out here every evening to complain about the cruelty of the Shinobi World and this chaotic world. He said he wanted to become the strongest person in the world, and we swore together that we'd put an end to those troubled times." A gentle smile appeared on Hashirama's face as he remembered that once-innocent friendship.
"Deep down, we both knew the other was probably a ninja from the enemy side. But without saying so, we both avoided the subject. We just wanted to be good friends, nothing more. Sadly, it didn't last. Our fathers soon discovered our secret meetings. One day, they quietly followed us to the river. The boy's father suddenly rushed out to kill me, and the boy actually threatened his father with his own life to make him let me go. When I saw the blood running down his neck, I knew he was the most important bond I'd ever have." Hashirama's eyes reddened slightly, and his voice grew choked.
"Just then, my father arrived too, and we learned who the other was. That little boy was Madara Uchiha, the man known as the Asura of the Ninja World. From that moment on, I set my heart on a goal I would never abandon: ending those troubled times." Determination shone in Hashirama's eyes, as though he could once again see the passionate young man he had been.
"After that, Madara and I met countless times on the battlefield. I killed many members of the Uchiha Clan, and Madara killed many members of the Senju Clan. Even my own brothers and father died in the wars against the Uchiha Clan, and it was the same for Madara. It was as though fate had deliberately turned us into mortal enemies. Later, we both became leaders of our respective clans. Once, when we met in private, I suggested that we join forces to end the chaos and build a village where everyone could live together in peace. Madara agreed." Hashirama's expression grew somber, as though he could once again feel the pressure of making that decision.
"But the resistance we faced was greater than we could have imagined. Everyone in my clan had a blood feud with the Uchiha Clan. If I worked with the Uchiha, I'd be betraying my clan. Madara faced even greater pressure. The Uchiha were all extreme in temperament, and they'd never surrender easily, even if it meant dying in battle. The moment Madara proposed an alliance, the clan elders drew their swords and tried to cut him down. You can imagine how much pressure he was under." Hashirama shook his head helplessly, filled with emotion at the memory of those difficult days.
"I can still remember the final battle between the two clans clearly. I defeated Madara with Wood Release, and Tobirama seized the chance to launch a sneak attack and kill Madara's younger brother, Izuna. Almost all the Uchiha elders were killed or wounded, and our Senju Clan suffered heavy losses too. After Madara returned to his clan, he awakened the Eternal Eye, which was even more powerful than the Mangekyō Sharingan. I went to the Uchiha Clan alone and proposed an alliance again. Madara was perfectly capable of killing me then. If he had, he would have been the strongest person in the Shinobi World. He could even have wiped out the entire Senju Clan in revenge, and the Uchiha Clan would surely have followed him wholeheartedly in a bid to conquer the world." A trace of admiration showed in Hashirama's eyes; he had a clear understanding of Madara's strength and the situation at the time.
"But Madara gave up those gains that were within easy reach and led his whole clan to submit to the Senju Clan as the defeated side. After that, the other ninja clans submitted one after another. After all, no one dared oppose Madara and me together, and the clans unwilling to submit fled the Land of Fire. Just like that, through our efforts, the troubled times finally came to an end. We ninja weren't good at handling civilian affairs, so we left the nobles and daimyō to govern the civilians, while Konoha was responsible solely for ninja and military affairs. Neither side interfered with the other. We protected them, and they provided us with money and resources. That was how the one country, one village system was established. I'd finally fulfilled the ambition I'd had as a child, but all my life, I've felt that I wronged Madara." Hashirama's face was full of guilt, and his sense of indebtedness to Madara lingered in his heart.
"After Konoha was founded, life didn't get much easier. Think about it: ninja were raised from childhood to be killing machines. How could there not be conflicts when a group like that gathered in one village? There were all kinds of disputes every day, and everyone thought they were in the right. Their arguing nearly made my head explode. All I could do was go around apologizing and begging the ninja clans to do me a favor and let things go. But after a while, even that stopped working." Hashirama rubbed his temples, looking exhausted, as though he were once again trapped by those troubles.
"Assassinations and bloodshed kept happening. I really couldn't handle all those problems, so I wanted to give the Hokage Position to Madara. But his solution was to kill every last person causing trouble. It turned out he was just like me, no good at dealing with complicated matters. The two of us only knew how to fight and kill." Hashirama smiled bitterly, mocking himself a little for his and Madara's inability to handle the village's affairs.
"Luckily, Tobirama stepped forward. He was exceptionally skilled in politics, and no matter what problems arose in the village, he could solve them. But he did something that made me angry, and there was nothing I could do about it." Hashirama's expression grew ugly; clearly, the matter still bothered him.
"Three years ago, Tobirama kept stirring up conflicts between the Konoha Military Police Force and the villagers, causing everyone in the village to ostracize the Uchiha Clan. He didn't want Madara to become Hokage, because when I became Hokage, I promised that Madara would be the second. That was why Tobirama began targeting the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha all had fiery tempers too. A few elders put their heads together and led some of their clansmen to wipe out the Senju Clan's Shincheng Branch. All 167 members, from the elderly to the children, were killed. Of the thirty-six Senju branches, only thirty-five remained from then on." Hashirama's eyes were full of anger and pain; the devastating infighting had grieved him deeply.
"Tobirama struck back, joining forces with all the ninja clans in the village to pressure the Uchiha. The Uchiha had no choice but to execute the perpetrators. Three hundred and twenty-six elite Uchiha ninja, gone just like that. I was powerless in that matter. Against the tide, even I, the Hokage, was just an ant. Faced with pressure from the entire village, Madara could only swallow his anger, and the Uchiha Clan began to distrust him too. Later, I stopped Tobirama from continuing to suppress the Uchiha, but a rift had already formed between Madara and me. With Tobirama there, we could never again trust each other without reservation. On top of that, our ideals were different. I believed peace could be achieved through compassion, bonds, and mutual understanding. After all, the wars of the Warring States era had gone on for over a thousand years; killing could never solve the problem. But Madara believed that only by killing all those ambitious people could we truly achieve peace." Hashirama's voice was full of helplessness, and he regretted the differences between himself and Madara.
"But how could you ever kill all the ambitious people? Kill one batch, and more would appear. There was no end to them. Later, I distributed the Tailed Beasts to the other countries, thinking that if everyone had the power to destroy a village, they'd fear one another and wouldn't dare start a war lightly. But Madara thought I was too naive. He said distributing the Tailed Beasts would only cause an even greater war. So he wanted to take his clansmen away from the village and start a new life somewhere isolated from the world, but not a single person in the entire Uchiha Clan was willing to follow him. In the end, Madara was all that remained of his whole world. He wanted to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming the strongest person in the world, and I was his only opponent. I didn't want to be Madara's enemy, and I could never have attacked him. But Madara left Konoha with the Nine-Tails and threatened to use him to destroy the village if I didn't fight him with everything I had. Why did he have to force me like that?" Hashirama's eyes were full of pain and bewilderment; Madara's actions had left him both confused and helpless.
"I couldn't stand by and watch him destroy the village, so I had no choice but to fight him with everything I had at the Valley of the End. In the end, he died in battle, and my soul was injured. I don't have long to live either. I buried him with my own hands. That's the story of Madara and me. I fulfilled my ambition and ended the troubled times, and Madara fulfilled his ambition too. He became the strongest person in the world." Hashirama's voice gradually sank, carrying a trace of loneliness.
Tsubasa asked in confusion, "Didn't Madara lose? You were the one who won!"
But Hashirama Senju smiled happily and said, "Madara didn't die, and I don't have long to live. He must have used the Uchiha Clan's forbidden jutsu, Izanagi, to fool me. But Madara probably doesn't know that I placed a sealing formula on his coffin. I sensed it when he left. I'm truly so happy. He finally fulfilled his childhood dream."
"Then what if Madara comes back and destroys Konoha?" Tsubasa asked worriedly.