"Tobirama-sama, if you have something to say, just say it. There is no need to circle around it so much. I think you simply want to insult me."
Haru waved his hand, still wearing that elegant smile, paying no attention to Tobirama's mockery. He had successfully become Hokage, while Tobirama had become his prisoner, reanimated and controlled by him.
Haru considered himself the winner.
The barking of a defeated dog was nothing more than the groaning of a loser.
Helpless rage only made it look more ridiculous.
"Hmph. What an insolent brat!"
"When asking advice from an elder, do you not even know how to say please?"
As Tobirama looked at Haru's smile, he became more and more convinced that Haru was mocking him in secret.
And then there was that openly awful tone. It had been a very long time since Tobirama had encountered something like this. Whether in the Senju clan or after becoming Hokage, everyone he met had always been respectful and deferential.
A tiger fallen to the plains being mocked by a dog.
To be taunted right to his face by a mere Uchiha was truly the greatest humiliation.
"Fine, fine. Then please, Tobirama-sama, enlighten this junior."
Haru said it with some resignation. Tobirama really would not give even an inch in verbal sparring.
"Since you ask so sincerely, then I shall mercifully tell you."
Hearing Haru soften his tone, Tobirama felt a bit better inside. Even though he knew the brat was only pretending, he still could not help feeling slightly pleased.
Some things never went out of style.
"Do you know how Konoha came into being?"
Tobirama looked at Haru as he asked the question.
"Of course I know. Back then, First Hokage-sama and Madara-sama fought a great battle and ended in a draw."
"Then, since First Hokage-sama could do nothing against Madara-sama, he had no choice but to pull out a kunai and force Madara-sama."
"He begged Madara-sama to lead the Uchiha clan into reconciliation with the Senju clan and establish Konoha together. Otherwise, First Hokage-sama would kill himself right there and die in front of Madara-sama."
"Later, Madara-sama's heart softened, so he agreed. And that is how Konoha was born."
"..."
Haru spoke with complete conviction.
Aside from the part where Hashirama and Madara supposedly ended in a draw, which Haru had invented, the rest was all true enough.
Back then, Hashirama had indeed held a slight advantage over Madara, but Haru would never diminish the prestige of his own clan ancestor.
There was no way he was going to say Madara had been beaten into the dirt by Hashirama and nearly lost his life.
A draw had to remain a draw.
Even if Hashirama himself were standing here, Haru would still say the same thing.
"That's bullshit!"
"Who told you that?!"
"That's complete nonsense!"
"Madara Uchiha was thoroughly beaten down by my elder brother. It was only because my brother was kind-hearted and unwilling to take Madara's life that he spared him and gave him a chance to live!"
"What do you mean he forced Madara with a kunai and threatened suicide if he refused?"
"When has my brother ever been that shameless?!"
"..."
Haru went on and on, and the more he talked, the angrier Tobirama became. The calm he had just recovered was shattered at once.
By the time Haru reached the part where Hashirama held a kunai to himself and tried to use his own life to force Madara into reconciliation and the joint founding of Konoha, Tobirama completely lost it.
You bastard, why are you saying the exact truth out loud?!
Madara, you damned bastard!
You even spread that story around, and on top of that you dared claim it was a draw. You really knew how to decorate your own face with gold.
The truth was that Madara had been beaten into a pile of mud by Hashirama and could not even get back up.
It was only because his elder brother was too soft-hearted and entangled in that absurd blood-soaked bond with Madara that he could not bear to kill him.
Otherwise, Tobirama would have stabbed Madara with a kunai himself the moment the man went down and sent him off to meet his dead brother Izuna.
The Uchiha truly were evil. Their ability to twist black into white was outrageous.
Tobirama silently added another entry to the list of reasons why the Uchiha needed to be settled once and for all.
As for the fact that Hashirama had indeed held a kunai to himself in order to exchange his life for Madara's forgiveness over Tobirama killing Madara's brother Izuna, Tobirama directly ignored that part.
He and Izuna had fought on the battlefield fairly and openly. That had been a proper kill.
A proper solo kill, understand?
He had solo-killed an Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan!
Madara, did you have any shame at all? How could you even bring up that kind of thing under those circumstances...
Tobirama cursed Madara over and over in his heart while verbally refuting Haru's very inconvenient truths.
Haru patiently listened to the entire rebuttal, then smiled faintly and said,
"Mad?"
The mockery on Haru's face was obvious.
"I'll mad your—"
"****"
"Haru, you little *****"
That single word sent Tobirama into another breakdown.
Never in his life had he hated an Uchiha as much as he hated this one. Not even Madara and Izuna together had ever provoked this much disgust in him.
"All right, all right. Calm down."
"People of our status, both Hokage of Konoha, really shouldn't open their mouths just to curse others."
"The world is such a beautiful place, Tobirama-sama, yet you're so irritable. That's bad, very bad."
Seeing that Tobirama's insults were becoming more and more vicious, with none of the calm or wisdom he usually carried, Haru stepped forward and tried to stop him.
If Tobirama kept going, Haru was honestly worried he might not be able to stop himself from beating him up.
After all, Tobirama was cursing viciously enough that some of it was basically just symbols now.
"Hmph. Hmph. This old man won't lower himself to your level!"
"Evil little Uchiha brat!"
Tobirama panted heavily, finally realizing how badly he had lost his composure.
That Uchiha brat before him really was dangerous. In just a few words, he had disturbed Tobirama's mind and driven him into irrational anger.
He was Tobirama Senju, calm and wise. How could he possibly be so easily influenced by a mere evil Uchiha brat?
The Sharingan.
It had to be Sharingan genjutsu.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have lost control so easily.
In his heart, Tobirama raised Haru's danger rating by another full level.
To think Haru could cast a genjutsu on him without making a sound, and he had not noticed a thing.
Terrifying.
From here on, this old man must remain calm. Absolutely calm.
Only calmness would allow him to find Haru's hidden weakness and eventually escape.
"Let me tell you this. The very reason Konoha was founded was to break the barriers between the various ninja clans, so they could let go of their clan conflicts, tolerate and understand each other, and together create a peaceful environment."
Tobirama decided to directly state Konoha's founding purpose. He would no longer let Haru answer, in case this evil brat said something even more astonishing and further disrupted his state of mind.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]