For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat strange.
Haru was the first to break the silence between them.
"Tobirama, since you already know the origin of the thousand-year conflict between the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan, do you want to consider returning to your ancestral roots?
"The Uchiha clan is descended from the older brother, Indra. Your Senju clan is descended from the younger brother, Asura. No matter how you look at it, the younger brother's family should merge into the older brother's family. The Uchiha clan is very rich now. We absolutely won't mistreat your Senju clan!"
"..."
After Tobirama heard this, he visibly turned red with rage. He instantly lost control of his expression and cursed Haru out.
"You want my Senju clan to merge into the Uchiha clan? I spit on that!"
"You're delusional!"
"Nothing good comes out of your mouth, you naturally evil Uchiha brat! I..."
"*****"
Hiss. What filthy cursing. His spit even sprayed onto my face.
Haru took out a tissue and wiped his face. Fortunately, he had not said the rest of his words yet.
If he and Tsunade... cough, cough, had a child, maybe it could be an Otsutsuki.
But Tsunade's temper was not to Haru's liking. She was also a rotten gambler. Maybe she could lose all the family property he had worked so hard to accumulate overnight. That truly made her unsuitable to be his wife.
However, if Tobirama agreed to merge the Senju clan into the Uchiha clan, Haru could reluctantly accept this marriage. For the Leaf, for the Uchiha, and for his own lifelong matters, suffering a little loss would not matter.
But judging by the current situation, Tobirama would never agree to merge the Senju clan into the Uchiha clan. Tsunade did not have the fortune to marry him either.
"I was just joking. Tobirama, why are you taking it so seriously? You really have no sense of humor."
"Not even as a joke! And I don't think you looked like you were joking. Have you been secretly targeting the Senju clan this whole time?"
Tobirama glared fiercely at Haru. Haru's prestige in the Leaf had already surpassed his own, and maybe even his brother's. If he truly set his sights on the Senju clan, who could stop him?
Right now, there was not a single person in the Senju clan who could deal with Haru, this shameless bastard with no sense of decency. Even Tobirama himself had been schemed into working like a beast of burden for Haru every day.
"Just a little bit. You should know that the source of all chakra in the ninja world comes from the Sage of Six Paths. The realm the Sage of Six Paths reached is simply not something people at our level can understand. Even Madara and Hashirama back then could not touch it."
"In the end, the reason Madara and Hashirama were unimaginably strong was largely because they benefited from the chakra of Indra and Asura. But what Indra and Asura inherited was only half of the Sage of Six Paths' abilities. As their descendants, if the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan combined and produced a child, perhaps some interesting changes would occur, recreating the bloodline power of the Sage of Six Paths."
Haru explained his thoughts. Arranging marriages between the children of the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan had always been part of Haru's plan. However, the relationship between the two clans could only be described as average right now. To break the deadlock of marriage between the two clans, he, the clan leader, could only lead the charge first.
The best candidate was naturally Tsunade. Their identities were extremely well matched and very symbolic.
However, there were many difficulties. Age was one aspect. He would also have to lower his face and pursue Tsunade. Most importantly, if he really did that, Mito might actually step on the Nine-Tails and chase him down.
Moreover, the position of Third Hokage had been intercepted by Haru halfway. This matter had always been a knot. It would take several years to fade this matter. The more successful Haru was as Hokage, the less resistance the Senju clan would have. There were already early results.
Maybe after a few more years, he would not even need to lead the charge. The two clans might already have a chance to intermarry.
"Recreating the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline... That does sound somewhat interesting. No, wait. Don't even think about targeting the Senju clan. I won't listen to your temptation!"
Tobirama had just felt that this idea was somewhat interesting, but the next second, he denied it. Marriage alliances were the beginning of the fusion of two clans. Truly a naturally evil Uchiha. He actually wanted to use this method to annex the Senju clan!
"I'm telling you, Haru. Don't even think about it!"
"My Senju clan will absolutely never marry into the Uchiha clan. You definitely don't have good intentions!"
"Tch, you stubborn old fossil. Didn't the First Hokage create the Leaf to eliminate hatred and barriers between ninja clans? As productive forces gradually improve, the collapse of clan power is only a matter of time. When that happens, forget intermarriage between the Senju clan and Uchiha clan. They will even marry ordinary people. If a young couple is deeply in love, are you going to break them apart?"
"I, the Leaf's Third Hokage, firmly resist your backward clan power. I will hold high the great banner of the First Hokage's Will of Fire, you naturally evil old Senju ghost!"
"You, you, you! You're twisting logic!"
"Hmph, old man, you're already dead. Why are you still meddling in the affairs of the living?"
"..."
Haru and Tobirama clashed sharply. The debate between them ultimately ended in Tobirama's regretful defeat. How could stubborn clan power resist the surging tide of the times?
There was no need to even wait until the next generation. By the original story's later period, the Senju clan's main force had faded away, and the remaining elderly, weak, women, and children were no longer enough to maintain the Senju clan name. They had already begun marrying ordinary people and abandoning the Senju surname.
If the Senju clan could marry ordinary people, then naturally, they could also marry the Uchiha clan. Producing more Otsutsuki would be beneficial and harmless for the entire Leaf.
"All right, all right. You're dragging the topic farther and farther away. Let this matter take its natural course. The most critical problem right now is Madara. If Madara suddenly attacks the Leaf, forget a marriage alliance between the two clans. The Leaf itself may not survive."
Haru was too lazy to keep arguing with Tobirama over this issue. In any case, Tobirama was a dead man who spent twenty-four hours a day in the underground laboratory working experiments for Haru like a beast of burden. He had no chance to stand up and object.
"Hmph. I hope you don't make any little moves. Otherwise, I will go on strike."
Tobirama coldly snorted and tactfully skipped this topic as well. Right now, the most urgent issue was still solving the problem of Madara.
"Madara awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan long ago. He should have already known the method on the stone tablet clearly before the Leaf was founded. It's just that back then, Madara still shared the First Hokage's ideals. But later, after the Leaf was founded, he saw that the other ninja villages only obeyed the Leaf on the surface while refusing to submit in their hearts. They only behaved themselves because of the overwhelming strength of the First Hokage and Madara."
"On top of that, a certain sinister little man kept secretly excluding Madara and the Uchiha clan, causing Madara to completely lose his former beliefs. He came to believe that the path he and the First Hokage had always followed was wrong."
Haru analyzed Madara's mental journey. The words "a certain sinister little man" struck someone's sensitive heart.
"Who are you calling a sinister little man?"
Like a dog struck by a stone, Tobirama immediately began barking.
"Whoever responds is who I'm talking about!"
"Tobirama, you must bear responsibility for this!
"Setting aside the facts, are you saying you have no fault at all?"
Faced with Haru's aggressive pressure, Tobirama fell silent.
Was he at fault?
It seemed there was a little fault.
Forget it. For the sake of the greater situation, he would endure for now and not argue with Haru over these old and rotten matters.
"So, Tobirama, now you should understand why Madara suddenly left the Leaf. The path Madara had believed in throughout the first half of his life was ultimately discovered to be impassable and failed."
"In order to realize the dream of his youth, Madara gave up many things. Later, Madara even gave up taking revenge on you. You killed Madara's most beloved younger brother, Izuna. When Madara defected from the Leaf, he could have killed you first."
"After all hope turned to ash, Madara could only search for a new path that could forever realize peace in the ninja world."
Tobirama did not speak. Deep inside him, a faint feeling of guilt actually appeared.
He had no guilt over killing Izuna. On the battlefield, blades and swords had no eyes. In a life-or-death struggle, each side accepted its fate. However, Madara had given up revenge, chosen reconciliation with the Senju clan, and joined hands to create the Leaf. Yet Tobirama had still targeted Madara and the Uchiha clan this entire time. That was something he could not deny.
If he had not been there back then, maybe the Leaf, his brother, and Madara would have...
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world for Tobirama to take.
"Madara's battle with the First Hokage should have already allowed him to obtain the First Hokage's cells and chakra."
"I'm afraid Madara is now determined to awaken the Rinnegan, summon the Outer Path Statue, collect the nine tailed beasts, become the Ten-Tails host, and use Infinite Moon Reading."
"Regardless of whether Madara has appeared in the Leaf now, we will eventually face Madara. Tobirama, do you have any solutions?"
Haru threw the problem to Tobirama.
Originally, in his plan, by the time Madara was close to dying of old age and awakened the Rinnegan, Haru should have already completed one or two golden reward missions. Any random thing he drew would be enough to contend with Madara when he was about to die.
Even if he could not guarantee victory, he could absolutely guarantee he would not lose.
But if Madara suddenly ran to the Leaf at this time, Haru had no solution at all. If he could not beat him, he could not beat him.
If Hashirama in his prime were swapped in, maybe there would be a tiny chance.
Combining the large amount of intelligence Haru had provided tonight, Tobirama thought for a long time before speaking.
"Based on my understanding of Madara, if Madara has truly awakened the Rinnegan, he will definitely manipulate a Susanoo hundreds of meters tall to attack the Leaf and seize the Nine-Tails."
"Right now, nothing has happened to the Leaf, and the Nine-Tails inside my sister-in-law is still safe and sound. That means Madara has not awakened the Rinnegan yet. We still have time to respond."
"However, according to what you said, if Madara has already infiltrated the Leaf, that does not fit Madara's behavioral logic. He has always liked handling matters all at once while in his strongest state. I truly cannot understand this."
Exactly!
Who could understand it?
Madara, you old bastard, instead of properly trying to awaken the Rinnegan, why did you run back to the Leaf?
It could not really be because of me, right?
Haru roared inwardly. The butterfly effect could not be playing with him like this.
"But we must prepare for the worst. If Madara truly wants to recover the Nine-Tails in advance, the Leaf must stop him."
"You make it sound easy. Are you going to fight Madara, or am I going to fight Madara?"
Haru waved his hand. A direct confrontation had almost no hope.
"We can let my brother deal with him!"
"If you can summon me with Impure World Reincarnation, can't you summon my brother too?"
"Don't you know the strength of ninja summoned by Impure World Reincarnation? Your current body is already the limit. Based on my estimate, you can at most display about twenty percent of your strength from when you were alive.
"If suitable Hashirama cells are added to the Impure World Reincarnation body, it can increase the strength of the summoned ninja. With good luck, maybe they can display one-third of their strength from when they were alive."
Haru spoke irritably. He had already considered this method. The strength an Impure World Reincarnation ninja could display was directly proportional to the quality of the sacrifice.
His Impure World Reincarnation was already the final upgraded version from the original story. Based on the original story, the best sacrifice was naturally White Zetsu, created entirely from Hashirama cells and God Tree cells. The reincarnated ninja could even display nearly all the strength they had when alive.
At this time, he did not even know where Black Zetsu had hidden the White Zetsu left over from Kaguya's era. As for God Tree cells, were those not the cells of the Outer Path Statue? That was even less worth mentioning.
"Hashirama cells can increase the strength of Impure World Reincarnation ninja?"
Tobirama keenly noticed this information. Haru had actually never told him this before. Just how many secrets was this bastard hiding? Some of the secrets Haru had revealed tonight were things even Madara did not know. Where exactly had Haru gathered this intelligence from?
"Yes. Originally, I was thinking of telling you later. I was just afraid you would add something you shouldn't into the Impure World Reincarnation body on your own and break free from my control over your body. Since we need to deal with Madara now, I'll tell you this information ahead of time."
"However, I have a technique mark specifically targeting Impure World Reincarnation bodies strengthened with Hashirama cells, so don't even think about those little thoughts in your heart. When the time comes, I will personally watch you add Hashirama cells into your body and add another layer of control while I'm at it."
"You damn bastard! Even at a time like this, you're still thinking about dealing with me!"
Tobirama was furious and cursed Haru loudly.
"It's necessary. Very necessary. You are Tobirama, after all. When dealing with you, I must be extremely cautious. Even the smallest mistake might let you exploit a loophole."
"Oh, right. After your body is strengthened with Hashirama cells, the number of clones you can create with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique should increase quite a bit. Your work speed must improve along with it. You can't slack off just because Madara might be here."
"Go to hell! You black-hearted beast!"
Faced with Haru's beastly words, Tobirama lunged at him with claws bared.
Forget Madara!
Today, he had to beat Haru up first!
(End of Chapter)
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