Green is the most terrifying color in the world.
If you know, you know; if you don't, you'll find out sooner or later.
In comparison, black is quite ordinary.
Mokuton: Jukai Kotan (Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence) is undeniably green, while Amaterasu is merely black. Therefore, in terms of color theory alone, the former holds a natural dominance.
Regarding Amaterasu, there have always been two rumors. One claims its temperature rivals the sun, making it the strongest Fire Release. Don't even think about it—this rumor is a complete fabrication. You don't even need a specialized explanation; anyone who has seen the actual burning effect of Amaterasu wouldn't associate its power with the sun.
The other rumor claims Amaterasu is a black flame that never extinguishes. This is also fake news, as it can be debunked through simple logic. If it truly never went out, the Shinobi World would have been reduced to cinders long ago.
Conversely, since the world hasn't burned down, it proves Amaterasu is not eternal. It doesn't even require special containment; if left alone for a short while, it will eventually flicker out on its own.
Amaterasu is indeed a powerful Ninjutsu, but generally speaking, its "skill description" is about as reliable as the health claims on a bottle of snake oil. Only a fool would believe the hype.
However, Amaterasu does have one "advantage": it isn't an instant-hit skill that spawns exactly where the caster looks. It has a trajectory. Between the caster's Mangekyo Sharingan and the target, there is a flight path for the black flames.
In other words, any shinobi with decent reflexes can directly dodge this "ultimate flame" that supposedly "burns everything and never goes out."
So, here is the question: Senju Tobirama has always complained that Senju Hashirama isn't fast enough. So, just how fast is Hashirama?
As an Uchiha shinobi was accumulating chakra, Hashirama instantly sensed a dangerous aura. When the black flames flew toward him, a green vine—far thicker than a grown man—surged up to shield him.
The black flames clung to the vine and began to burn rapidly.
"What is this thing?"
Hashirama had never seen Amaterasu before, but he could sense its danger. He wasn't reckless enough to touch it directly.
"Hmm?"
The Amaterasu quickly ignited a section of the sea of trees. Not wanting the flames to spread, Hashirama clapped his hands together. In response, that specific section of wood shot toward the sky like a magical beanstalk.
A deeply awkward scene unfolded. Amaterasu was indeed impressive, but as it burned the wood, it couldn't keep up with the wood's growth rate. Not even close.
On the other side, Uchiha Madara didn't even bother to spare a glance at the black flames. His eyes were locked onto Senju Hashirama, and for the moment, he seemed to have no intention of deactivating his Susanoo.
He was beginning to suspect he had walked into a trap. Had Hane Genma and that insidious brat from the Senju clan predicted his arrival? Had they brought Hashirama here specifically to surround and kill him?
Well, that thought wasn't entirely baseless. After all, Genma had used "fishing" tactics to lure Hashirama here. Poor Tobirama, however, was being framed; it seemed as though every conspiracy in the Shinobi World was being pinned on him.
"Hashirama, why are you here?" Madara asked.
"That's my line, Madara. Why are you here? I'm just here as a visiting guest," Hashirama replied, looking at his old friend.
Nearby, Uchiha Sasuke was speechless.
Wait... am I being ignored? Seriously? This makes no sense.
Sasuke moved to step forward, but the area behind him suddenly shimmered with mist. With a sharp hissing sound, the ground was eaten away by acid. Hane Genma then stepped out from between the trees.
He looked a bit disheveled; the excessive consumption of chakra had left him slightly wilted.
Genma walked forward a few steps and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Deactivate those eyes. The Mangekyo isn't meant to be used like that, or you'll go blind in no time."
To put it bluntly, Sasuke used his Mangekyo the way an office worker blasts the company air conditioning in the middle of summer—with zero regard for the cost. He was being incredibly wasteful; it was no wonder he would lose his sight so quickly.
Sasuke looked back, stunned. Wait, wasn't I protected by Susanoo? How did he just grab me... Huh? It's gone?
His Susanoo had first been smashed to bits by the sea of trees, and then Genma had "polished" it off with his acidic mist. There was no defense left.
Sasuke tried to shake off Genma's hand, only to find he couldn't budge it.
Genma thought to himself: When the big shots are squaring off, what room is there for a kid like you to interfere?
Unable to break free, Sasuke quieted down for the moment, though he still didn't deactivate his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Madara trusted Hashirama's words. Firstly, Hashirama was a terrible liar. Secondly, he truly showed no intent to continue the fight.
At this moment, everyone was standing atop a sea of trees. If Hashirama wanted to, he could ruthlessly drain chakra from everyone present—an efficiency level ten thousand times higher than Genma's. Yet, he didn't.
The only reason Genma could easily corrode the trees was that Hashirama had stopped controlling them. As long as Hashirama didn't pump chakra into them, the "Sea of Trees" was just a pile of dead wood, ripe for corrosion.
"Visiting?" Madara repeated. He said nothing more, knowing this was exactly the kind of thing Hashirama would do.
"Yes, visiting. I don't want to start a fight on someone else's property—unless you push things too far."
Hashirama might look carefree, but he wasn't stupid. If he fought a life-and-death battle with Madara now, he'd essentially be doing Genma's dirty work for free. Helping out was one thing, but he wouldn't just throw himself into a fight for no reason.
Moreover, because of their past friendship and his hopes for the future, Hashirama didn't want to kill Madara.
"Hmph. Your arrogance is as insufferable as ever."
Despite his words, Madara nodded to Izuna first and then dispelled his Susanoo.
The current situation was extremely disadvantageous for him. He might be able to stall Hashirama, but Izuna would surely die. Since Hashirama was offering a graceful exit, Madara wasn't so foolish as to refuse it. People are different—Madara would only accept a "way out" if it was Hashirama offering it; otherwise, his pride wouldn't allow it.
Madara then turned his gaze toward Genma.
"One last question. Where is Orijun?"
"He was hit by Nanami's technique. There's no telling what era he's drifting in now."
"...Return the remains of the Uchiha clansmen."
"We never saw the body of Uchiha Tajima. The remains of the others have long been cremated. As for the body of Uchiha Nanami, you Uchiha aren't fit to ask for it."
In their previous conversation, Genma had repeatedly implied he didn't know the cause of Tajima's death, suggesting only the Hagoromo clan knew the details. On one hand, he was keeping Tajima's body for his own uses; on the other, he was baiting the two clans into a "dog-eat-dog" conflict.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan..."
Genma frowned, cutting Madara off directly. "Only you Uchiha would place value on such cursed eyes. Do you really think everyone is trying to claim that filth for themselves? If I were someone who coveted such things, would Nanami have joined the Firefly Organization?"
"Uchiha Madara, you are narrow-minded—a frog at the bottom of a well. But don't assume everyone else is as small-minded as you."
"A f-frog... at the bottom of a well...?"
Madara had never been insulted like this in his entire life. Honestly, he always considered himself extremely proud, but at this moment, he realized that the person opposite him was looking down on him, as if Uchiha Madara were nothing but a joke.
His intuition was finally correct for once. Genma, having seen the entirety of Madara's life in the original story, couldn't help but view him as a joke.
A joke that wasn't particularly funny, at that.
Uchiha Sasuke shifted his shoulders, feeling as if he had been insulted as well.
Madara was truly seeing red now, his posture suggesting he might strike again.
"Madara!" Hashirama barked.
In the sea of trees, vines bearing giant flower buds were slowly rising from the earth. If the fight continued, he was going to get serious.
"This is not over," Madara said, taking a deep breath and forcing down his rage. Truth be told, he had never suffered such humiliation since childhood.
But as Genma said, if you lack the skill on the battlefield and die, who is there to blame?
If Madara felt grief and indignation over the death of his father and clansmen, what about Nanami's death?
He didn't even know whom he should hate.
"Wait, I have one more question."
Genma's words made Madara stop in his tracks.
"Previously, you used the reputation of the Uchiha clan as collateral to purchase a batch of ninja tools on credit from our Fuma clan. I'm asking you: why haven't you paid the debt yet?"
Madara stumbled, nearly tripping over a vine.
What the hell? The question was so bizarre, but the problem was that Genma was 100% in the right. Madara was left speechless.
He could only glare at Genma, wanting to argue but finding himself unable to open his mouth. Finally, he could only turn and leave in a huff.
He looked exactly like a deadbeat debtor who couldn't face his creditor.
Fine, so you have no intention of paying, huh? Just wait—I'm going to bring this up for the rest of your life.
"The reputation of the Uchiha clan seems to be worth absolutely nothing from start to finish," Genma said with a look of pure innocence, staring straight at Uchiha Sasuke.
Genma might never become the "God of Shinobi," but he could certainly become a first-generation Master of "Talk no Jutsu."
Uchiha Sasuke was stunned by the sheer logic used to repel Madara. Sasuke's mental state was already unstable and abnormal, but at this moment, his horizons were forced wide open.
Wait, why are you looking at me? I don't owe you money.
Once the "deadbeats" had vanished into the distance, Hashirama controlled the sea of trees to shift. Tobirama and Genma's subordinates had merely been pinned underneath; now, they were returned to the surface completely unharmed. He wasn't about to actually launch an indiscriminate area-of-effect attack that hit his allies.
Genma signaled for Nara Hideyuki to come over. They swapped places, and once Hideyuki had Sasuke secured, Genma finally approached Senju Hashirama.
"Mr. Senju Hashirama, welcome. I am good friends with Tobirama; he often mentions you," Genma said with a smile, looking nothing like the man who had just been roasting Madara.
To be honest, petty verbal victories weren't Genma's preference, but since he couldn't win a physical fight, he had to settle for a war of words to satisfy himself.
"Haha! I've wanted to meet you all for a long time too... You've saved Tobirama more than once. I truly don't know how to thank you."
After suppressing his chakra, Hashirama looked quite ordinary. His laugh was about 80% goofy and 20% dim-witted, which actually made him very approachable.
"We are the ones who should express our gratitude. If it weren't for your timely arrival, Uchiha Madara wouldn't have left so easily."
"Haha, it was just a coincidence."
Hashirama definitely wouldn't think of things in terms of a conspiracy. If he said it was a coincidence, he truly believed it was a coincidence. I mean, honestly, is everyone as calculating as my little brother Tobirama?
Genma and Hashirama shook hands firmly. See? We're all good friends.
To the side, Tobirama wore a bizarre expression. Wait... why do you two look like such kindred spirits?
Wait!
He then noticed Uchiha Sasuke standing a short distance away. What? After all that, the guy who was attacking me like a rabid dog is one of yours?
The fact that Sasuke hadn't left with Madara revealed a shocking truth to Tobirama.
Even now, Sasuke still wanted to fight, but he was being held by the Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu). He didn't have a Cursed Seal; unless he manifested Susanoo again, he had almost no way to break free from Hideyuki's binding.
As everyone knows, Sasuke can't beat "Itachi" (One-Hit-Seven), and Hideyuki had seven hearts in his body. For Sasuke to fight him, it was literally a "one versus seven" situation.
"Haha, ignoring that little interlude, welcome to the Firefly Organization... Please, follow me."
Genma led the way, taking the Senju brothers toward the Firefly Organization's new camp.
"Lord Genma..."
At that moment, Yamanaka Megumi hurried to Genma's side and pointed toward the top of a giant vine where the black flames were still burning like a torch.
"It's fine. Just keep an eye on it. The black flames should extinguish after a while."
Genma didn't know if Sasuke could use Kagutsuchi yet, but it didn't matter. It was just Amaterasu; let it burn. How long could it really last?
"After a while? How long specifically?"
"Specifically? A few months at most."
Fine. Looks like we'll have to be on constant forest fire watch.
The shinobi regathered. Aside from Akimichi Shinyu, who was limping slightly after taking a direct punch from Madara, the rest were mostly fine. After all, they had only briefly faced off against Madara.
Genma, on the other hand, had sustained several injuries, though fortunately, his recovery rate was high.
The only other person struggling was Uchiha Sasuke, who looked prematurely aged due to overusing his eyes; his mental energy seemed completely depleted.
Senju Hashirama truly lived up to his legend as the ultimate Wood Style user. A Ninjutsu of that scale would have instantly drained the chakra of at least fifty shinobi, yet he acted as if it were nothing.
Any normal shinobi watching his display would inevitably feel a sense of despair. It was as if Hashirama wasn't even the same species as everyone else.
However, Genma and his team didn't need to feel inferior. They all possessed things the others envied.
When Hashirama arrived at the Firefly camp, which currently looked like a massive construction site, he stopped in his tracks.
It wasn't for any tactical reason. It was because he sensed an unprecedented, soaring spirit within the shinobi here.
Though the place was messy, it was brimming with vitality. He could even feel the glimmer of new hope.
Something was flourishing here, and it wouldn't be long before it spread like a wildfire across the plains.
Hashirama turned around and gripped Genma's right hand once more. He said with great excitement:
"Lord Genma, please! You must allow me to join the Firefly Organization!"
This damn Wood Style user... talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too! Isn't having that kind of strength enough? Now you want to join our group of people huddled together for warmth? This is outrageous!
Senju Tobirama was about to reach his breaking point. "Brother, stop joking around!"
"Who's joking? I'm not joking at all!"
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