What… is jade?
A young Asuma once asked this question.
"Old man, even you don't know?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the little Asuma, took a slow puff of his pipe, and said with a bitter smile, "This is something you have to understand on your own. If you don't, even if I tell you the answer, you still wouldn't get it."
"Pfft." Asuma scoffed, annoyed. "And you call yourself Hokage? Might as well step down and let me take over."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned for a moment, then let out a helpless laugh.
"For the village, the Hokage isn't what truly matters."
Asuma didn't understand what he meant. Back then, he was still rebellious. To figure out the meaning of those words—and to get away from his troublesome father—he left Konoha.
Asuma never really liked the old man. He always said one thing but did another.
Asuma hated the Nine-Tails because his mother had died during the attack.
Asuma… had grown up.
He was slowly beginning to understand what the old man meant. He was starting to see what the old man had done for the village. And he was finally realizing that his mother hadn't died at the hands of the Nine-Tails, but rather… at the hands of this world itself.
"Fire Release: Hiding in Ash and Dust!"
Flames spread out, carried by smoke, rushing toward Madara and Hashirama.
Madara let out a scoff. "You really think this level of Fire Release is worth using?"
With that, he quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a blazing fire from his mouth.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The two flames collided, then dissipated at the same time. Seeing this, Madara frowned in frustration.
"That's all? Just how much chakra did that caster limit us with to stop us from breaking free of this seal?"
Tch. Annoying.
When had he, Uchiha Madara, ever been this weak? Since when could some random Jonin kid overpower his Fire Release?
Hashirama chuckled as he watched. "Madara, you look down on this junior, but isn't your Fire Release just as weak?"
Madara's face darkened. "Shut up."
Even though his chakra was restricted… what about his eyes?
Madara touched his Sharingan. His visual powers were also being held back, limiting most of his abilities, but if he pushed himself a little, he could probably still use something.
With that thought, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly and merged together, forming the unique pattern of the Mangekyou.
"Hashirama, watch closely!"
Susano'o—
Third stage!
A towering blue Susano'o rose from the ground, clad in armor and standing dozens of meters tall. Just looking at it gave off an overwhelming sense of power.
Madara smirked coldly as the Susano'o drew its massive blade and slashed toward Asuma.
"Hey, Madara! Didn't I tell you to hold back?!" Hashirama was stunned.
"Shut up." Madara didn't hesitate in the slightest, instead increasing his chakra output.
The sheer force of the attack tore through the air. There was no way Asuma could take a hit like that and survive. He quickly exhaled a cloud of smoke and disappeared into it.
Using the cover of the smoke, Asuma barely managed to dodge Susano'o's attack. The powerful shockwave still sent him flying, but that was much better than taking a direct hit—
"What?!"
Inside the smoke, Asuma's eyes widened in shock. The massive blue blade was right in front of him. He had just dodged, but there was no time to evade again. All he could do was watch as the attack came down.
"Madara! You're going too far!"
A furious voice rang in his ears. Just as the blade was about to strike him, countless trees burst from the ground, slamming into his body and sending him flying.
He crashed through tree after tree before finally slamming into the ground, embedded deep in the earth. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Clutching his chest, he could feel the pain from his broken ribs—who knew how many had snapped?
But ironically, it was those trees that had saved him. If they hadn't knocked him away, he would've been hit by Susano'o's second strike—a guaranteed fatal blow.
"…The First Hokage?"
Asuma forced himself to his feet, still holding his chest. As the smoke cleared, he saw Hashirama and Madara standing opposite each other, their auras clashing.
"But… wasn't the First Hokage under the control of the Edo Tensei? How did he save me?"
Standing at the center of Susano'o, arms crossed, Madara gazed at Hashirama with an unreadable expression. His Mangekyou eyes were calm, as if nothing had happened.
"By using the Edo Tensei's forced attack command against itself," he said. "Instead of using a high-powered jutsu to directly attack, he 'attacked' by launching you out of my range."
Madara smirked slightly.
"Hashirama, looks like you've got a brain after all."
His tone carried both amusement and an odd sense of pride.
Hashirama and Madara were strong enough to resist some of the absolute control of Edo Tensei. Not completely, but enough to delay their movements. For example, if they could normally form seven hand seals in one second, after resisting, it would take three seconds to form the same seals.
Orochimaru's command was for them to attack the ninja of Konohagakure. Hashirama resisted the control, forcibly weakening his powerful jutsu into weaker ones before attacking Konoha's ninja. This way, he still technically followed Edo Tensei's commands.
Basically, he was exploiting a loophole—glitching Orochimaru's jutsu.
Madara was so surprised because he realized this too—but he just didn't want to use it. Meanwhile, not only had Hashirama noticed it, but he actually put it into practice. That's why Madara felt impressed. Then, realizing that his rival was the one who figured it out, he couldn't help but feel a bit proud.
Hashirama's slightly angry expression froze instantly. He stared at Madara, completely dumbfounded, as if he had no idea what Madara was even talking about.
Madara: "…"
I take back what I just said.
"I really overestimated your intelligence." Madara sighed and smacked his forehead.
Hashirama's face twisted into anger again. "You can insult my strength, but don't insult my intelligence! I do have my own thoughts, you know!"
"Oh?" Madara lowered his hand and looked at him with amusement. "What thoughts?"
"Uh…" Hashirama hesitated for a moment, then carefully said, "Actually… you already said my thoughts out loud."
"Is that so?" Madara raised an eyebrow. "Repeat them for me."
Hashirama: "…"
Tobirama! Help me! Save me!
Madara sighed and shook his head. "As expected, without Tobirama to be your brain, you're just a complete idiot."
Cold sweat ran down Hashirama's forehead. Madara's words really pissed him off, but… for some reason, he couldn't even argue against them.
Their entire conversation fell word for word into Asuma's ears. He looked at the somewhat goofy First Hokage, then at the intimidating Madara, and couldn't help but smile.
Well, there goes the mighty image of the First Hokage in my mind. Old man… don't tell me you already knew he was this unreliable?
Come to think of it, every time my old man talked about the First Hokage, his expression was always a bit… complicated. But whenever he mentioned the Second Hokage, his eyes were full of pride. So that's why.
Asuma pressed a hand to his chest and pushed himself up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the other hand. "Lord First Hokage, Lord Madara… sorry to interrupt, but our fight isn't over yet."
Yeah, this fight isn't over yet.
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