Hashirama sat on the riverbank, his eyes fixed on the small waves passing before him, as if he were trying to find in them an answer to a question he did not know how to put into words. Despite the beauty of nature around him, the clear sky, and the refreshing air, none of it was enough to lift the heavy sadness weighing on his chest.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching from behind him. He turned to see Madara standing there, looking at him with his sharp eyes. He then sat beside him without asking for permission and said:
"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. I thought you were busy. Why are you sitting here alone today? What's wrong?"
Hashirama looked at him for a moment, then returned his gaze to the water without answering, as though the words were too heavy for him to utter. Madara continued speaking:
"You seem sad this time. Not like usual."
Hashirama replied in a faint voice, barely audible:
"I'm fine, don't worry. It's just an ordinary day."
Then he lowered his head, and tears began falling down his cheeks despite his attempts to hold them back, as though the grief inside him had finally overflowed and he could no longer control it. He spoke in a hoarse voice:
"Just... my little brother died. He was so young. He didn't deserve to die. A child his age shouldn't have had to die in battle."
Madara fell silent for a moment and said nothing, because he knew that feeling all too well. He raised his eyes toward the sky, then spoke in a calm voice carrying a deep understanding:
"So that's what happened. I understand. We were five brothers, and every one of them died in battle. I know very well how painful it is to lose someone you love."
Hashirama raised his head and looked at Madara in surprise, asking him with words that carried both curiosity and pain:
"You were five?
Madara sighed and looked at the water flowing before them, then said:
"When you're a shinobi, that's simply part of your life. This is the world we live in."
An atmosphere of sadness and silence spread around the two children, each lost in his own thoughts, remembering those they had lost. As the silence dominated the place, Madara said:
"I wish I could find a way to end this situation. I wish the shinobi would open their hearts to the other side and stop killing one another. I wish all these wars and bloodshed would disappear and everyone could live in peace. Why do they insist on fighting? Why can't they understand that everything happening is nothing more than an endless tragedy?"
Hashirama looked at his friend in shock, while at the same time feeling a deep sense of understanding, because he had been thinking about exactly the same thing all this time.
Hearing these words from Madara, who seemed harsh and closed-off, made him feel that he was not alone in his thoughts, as though there were someone else who shared the same dream, as though hope still existed despite all the pain.
"I think about that too. I wish everyone would stop fighting and that we could all sit down and talk. Maybe if each of us knew the others, if we understood one another's reasons, we could put an end to all this suffering. But how can we do that? How can we convince the others that peace is possible?"
While the two children were lost in their dreams, they suddenly heard a familiar voice from a nearby tree, a lazy voice carrying a tone of annoyance mixed with a little sarcasm:
"Damn you two children, don't you have anywhere else for all this nonsense? I came here to take a nap, and now you're talking about peace, death, and war like a couple of old sages. Seriously, there isn't anywhere to rest in this world."
Suddenly, Leon jumped down from the tree and landed lightly near them, as though he had exerted no effort at all, his half-closed eyes looking at them with exhaustion.
"Huh? You damn wandering bum, are you still using this place to sleep? Don't you have a home to return to instead of bothering us and interfering in our private conversations?"
Madara shouted at him, but there was a hint of affection in his voice, and he was clearly happy to see him despite his annoyance.
Hashirama, meanwhile, smiled, feeling that the atmosphere had become a little lighter and that the sadness weighing on him had begun to fade thanks to the presence of these two people.
Leon looked at them silently for a moment, then said in a voice that had become serious, as though he were giving them an important lesson:
"Why are two children your age thinking about such complicated things? Instead of playing and enjoying yourselves like the other children, you're sitting here talking about the future of the world and wanting to change it with your own hands."
Madara and Hashirama fell silent, staring at the young man before them, who seemed carefree and strangely charismatic at the same time, while his words carried a kind of indirect wisdom.
Leon sighed, then added:
"You said you wished you could find a way to end this situation, didn't you?"
He looked at Madara with serious eyes, as though testing him, then continued after a moment of silence:
"I don't know what method you intend to follow, but if you want to have an opinion and have others listen to you, the first thing you need to do is possess enough strength. No one listens to the weak, and no one respects someone who cannot protect himself. If you want to change the world, then start by becoming strong enough to impose your vision."
The two children fell silent, as though Leon's words had planted a new seed of determination and resolve within their hearts, as though they had finally found the beginning of a path for their long journey toward changing the world.
Each of them looked at the other and exchanged a knowing glance, as though a new unspoken agreement had been born between them at that very moment.
--------------------
If you are enjoying this work , My P*atreo*n is more than 70 chapters ahead.
P*atreo*n :Aaron4dicard
Thank you to everyone who reads and supports the work .