Ashura had only just begun considering a small prank on his older brother, but under the stare of Indra's Sharingan, what little courage he had immediately vanished.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"N-No, actually, I wasn't trying to say anything..."
Indra sighed. "With a cowardly personality like yours, ninshū will eventually fall apart in your hands. Sooner or later, someone will sway you with a few sweet words."
Everyone else was left speechless by the two brothers.
Thinking about it, if these brothers had been able to live together peacefully, none of those later tragedies would have happened.
There would have been no three lifetimes of conflict involving Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, then Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
There would have been no Fourth Shinobi World War or Infinite Tsukuyomi either.
"Hey, Indra, aren't you a little too protective of your younger brother?" Naruto pulled a strange face.
He had noticed it while viewing Sasuke's memories. Whether it was Sasuke or Madara, whenever someone connected to Indra's chakra reincarnation became involved, their way of thinking became difficult to describe.
Naruto's words made everyone turn toward the eldest son of the Rikudō Sennin.
Ashura felt a little awkward. His older brother had indeed protected him when they were children, but after they grew up, Indra became so strict that Ashura was afraid of him.
Calling him overprotective seemed like a stretch...
"Ashura is too naive. He's easily manipulated."
Huh?!!
Indra had actually admitted that he was overly protective of Ashura?!!
Everyone present was stunned.
As far as they could tell, Indra had never protected Ashura. It was already impressive that he did not bully his younger brother in their daily lives.
Had Indra not been jealous that their father had chosen Ashura as his successor, how could there have been three lifetimes of relentless conflict?
Yet when Naruto accused Indra of being too protective, Indra indirectly admitted it and blamed everything on Ashura being too foolish and innocent.
Naruto said, "You really are like Itachi in that regard. He's always saying Sasuke is as innocent as a blank sheet of paper..."
Sasuke pursed his lips unhappily, but he could not think of a way to refute it. He could only direct his irritation at Indra.
"When it comes to being manipulated, someone who was used by Black Zetsu has no right to criticize his younger brother."
He truly did speak without holding anything back, striking Indra exactly where it hurt.
Perhaps it was simply the fate of Indra's lineage to dislike one another. Hashirama Senju and Ashura usually took care to keep Madara Uchiha and Indra apart, afraid that the two might bring out their Susanoo and create a second Valley of the End.
Naruto and Ashura quickly stepped between Indra and Sasuke to stop them from clashing.
Hamura Ōtsutsuki also hurriedly changed the subject, directing everyone's attention toward Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju as they prepared to form the Seal of Reconciliation.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stood facing each other in the same place Naruto and Sasuke had occupied moments earlier.
One had long, smooth black hair. The other had long, wild, spiky black hair.
Their journey through the Warring States Period had brought back many memories from their childhood.
More importantly, they had personally seen their once dead younger brothers living in Konoha and heard those brothers acknowledge their dreams and the village they had built. The deepest obsessions in their hearts had finally found release.
For a moment, they seemed to see each other as they had at their very first meeting.
"I can't tell you my surname. I'm Hashirama..."
"My name is Madara."
It was not as awkward as either of them had imagined.
Well, Madara still felt a little embarrassed when Hashirama repeated that old introduction.
But when Madara failed to answer, Hashirama looked ready to pout in dissatisfaction, so Madara had no choice but to respond.
They formed the Seal of Reconciliation, hooking together the fingers they had used for the Seal of Confrontation to symbolize peace.
Following the Nine-Tails' instructions, they allowed their wills and memories to enter each other's consciousness.
The same regrets.
The same dreams.
Similar ages and strength.
For the first time, Hashirama Senju became Madara Uchiha, while Madara Uchiha became Hashirama Senju.
For the first time, they truly understood one another.
Through Madara's eyes, Hashirama viewed Konoha, Tobirama, and the Uchiha Clan.
Madara had lost Izuna, the younger brother who had always mediated between him and the rest of the Clan.
Within the Uchiha Clan, Madara commanded fear and authority, but not trust.
His clansmen did not dare defy him openly, but neither did they believe that Madara Uchiha, who was gradually sinking into darkness, could lead the Clan toward a brighter future.
They certainly did not expect his decisions to bring the Clan a stable and peaceful life.
Only now, hearing his own clansmen repeatedly address someone else as "Hashirama-sama," did Hashirama truly understand how Madara had felt at the time.
Their abilities, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. As rivals for more than a decade and former friends, they understood each other better than anyone.
Hashirama Senju had never been skilled at politics or creating rules. Madara knew perfectly well how much Tobirama had contributed to Hashirama's success.
Perhaps that was precisely why Madara's acknowledgment of Tobirama had been consumed by hatred after Tobirama mortally wounded Izuna.
Had Izuna still been alive, had that younger brother who excelled at mediation remained by his side, Madara would not have been isolated and helpless within his own Clan.
Through Madara's chakra, Hashirama finally experienced that hatred and regret for himself.
Tobirama Senju gravely wounded Izuna.
Hashirama Senju protected Tobirama Senju.
Madara Uchiha failed to protect Izuna.
Madara Uchiha lost to Hashirama Senju.
In strength and in every other respect, Madara had lost to Hashirama.
Sooner or later, Konoha would cease to be a place where the Uchiha Clan belonged.
Yet the clansmen no longer listened to Madara, their own Clan Head.
The Hokage's authority stood above that of every ninja Clan Head. Even the Uchiha began to trust Hashirama more, captivated by his beautiful promises and blinded by what Madara saw as hypocrisy.
Perhaps Madara should never have agreed to the alliance.
Perhaps the best ending would have been for the Senju to destroy the Uchiha when they were defeated.
Or perhaps, if the Senju and Uchiha had formed an alliance before Izuna was gravely wounded...
Following Madara's will, Hashirama seemed to return to the final battle before the Senju and Uchiha formed their alliance.
For the first time, however, he witnessed and experienced that battle through Madara's eyes.
Madara had only just received his younger brother's Ocular Power. For him, it had been a final battle fought after he had lost all hope.
"If you are the one who kills me, I will have no regrets. Do it, Hashirama."
"Can't we... go back to being friends and skip stones together like we did as children?"
"Impossible. We've both grown up. We carry our Clans' hopes and responsibilities, as well as all the hatred between them. Now that I don't have a single brother left, I have even less reason to trust any of you."
"What would I have to do for you to trust us? Is there truly no way?"
"If you want us to understand each other, then kill your younger brother right now, or take your own life in front of me. Only then will we be even. Only then will I believe you."
"What nonsense! Brother, would you truly kill me, or die because of this man's absurd demands?! This is ridiculous! Brother, stop listening to his poisonous words! Kill him now while you still have the chance!"
Reliving that moment from Madara's perspective, Hashirama realized that even the usually composed Tobirama had panicked.
Tobirama had already guessed what Hashirama intended to do.
That was why he desperately tried to say or do something that might change his older brother's mind.
"Thank you, Madara. You gave me an option that didn't require me to kill my younger brother. You understood how an older brother feels because you are a kind person."
Through Madara Uchiha's eyes, Hashirama saw his past self pick up a kunai and demand that Tobirama and the others swear an oath upon their own blood relatives.
"After I die, you are not to harm Madara. From this day onward, there will be no more war between the Senju and Uchiha."
The imagined sound of a stone striking the surface of the water echoed through both their memories.
Only after seeing each other's pasts did they realize that, in that moment, they had both heard the sound of the stones they once skipped together as children.
Plip.
In Hashirama Senju's vision, "he" reached out and grabbed the hand holding the kunai before it could take his life.
In Madara Uchiha's vision, a black gloved hand seized the wrist of "himself" as he prepared to die.
The alliance was formed.
Their dream was realized.
The village rapidly took shape.
"I want you to become Hokage and protect the entire village."
Madara Uchiha heard "himself" say those words.
Through Hashirama's feelings, he knew the words had been sincere. Hashirama had genuinely hoped that Madara Uchiha, who had lost all his brothers, might find something new to fill the emptiness inside him.
"The village needs a name. Do you have any ideas?"
Through a hole in the leaf held before his eye, Hashirama Senju looked upon the small ninja village under construction from Madara Uchiha's perspective.
An Uchiha's love was narrow in scope, so narrow that their entire heart could contain only one thing.
In this vast world, it was as though nothing existed except Konoha.
At that same moment, Madara Uchiha viewed his past self holding the leaf before his eye through Hashirama Senju's perspective.
A phrase suddenly appeared in his mind.
A single leaf could blind the eye.
They had clearly agreed that Madara would become Hokage.
Yet Hashirama could not deny Tobirama's claim that the village no longer belonged solely to the Senju and Uchiha Clans. In the end, an election was held, and Hashirama became the First Hokage.
Through Madara's chakra, Hashirama experienced how Madara had felt at the time.
Even calling him deeply despondent would not have been enough.
Madara had failed to protect Izuna.
He had also failed to keep the promise he had made with Izuna to protect the Uchiha Clan.
Even Hashirama, his closest friend, could not choose him over the village and his own younger brother.
When every other path was blocked by a single leaf, the only road Madara Uchiha could see was the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
An optimist could always find sunlight.
A pessimist saw only darkness.
During the years Madara spent away from Konoha, he witnessed only the ugliest parts of the Ninja World.
As Hashirama experienced those memories, he finally understood how Naruto felt about Sasuke.
Watching you wander alone, unable to find your path, isolated and helpless, makes my heart ache too. The pain is so intense that I cannot ignore it.
But Hashirama Senju was not Naruto Uzumaki.
When he watched Madara Uchiha leave Konoha all those years ago, Hashirama had already made his choice.
He chose Konoha.
He chose the younger brother he had sworn to protect.
Conversely, if Hashirama saw nothing but darkness in Madara Uchiha's memories, then the Konoha Madara saw through Hashirama Senju's eyes resembled a mighty tree flourishing beneath the sunlight.
Except for the one figure who should have been standing beside him, everything in Hashirama Senju's vision was bathed in warm sunlight.