Chapter 3: Gold and the Hokage's Burden
The mansion where Senju Hashirama lived was situated on the south side of the village. Konoha itself was built around and expanded from a great cliff face to the north. To the west lay a dense forest, territory primarily belonging to clans like the Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Inuzuka. To the southeast was the Ninja Academy, founded by Senju Tobirama.
To the east was Uchiha territory, stretching all the way to the banks of the Nakano River—the very place where a young Sasuke would later practice his Fire Release, yearning for a word of praise from his father, Fugaku. Officially, of course, everyone was part of the same village now. They were all comrades, a single unified entity.
At least, that was the official story. But everyone knew the reality was more complicated. It was no secret that the Uchiha were ostracized within the village; even the children knew it.
In the evening, Yuya returned to the Senju mansion, his backpack slung over one shoulder.
"I'm back," he called out, slipping off his shoes at the entrance and setting his backpack down.
Silence.
This was different. Usually, Uzumaki Mito would respond with a gentle "Welcome back" and direct him to wash up before dinner. But today, the house was quiet and still.
Youya tilted his head, confused. What was going on?
He slid into his indoor slippers and hurried from the entryway into the main hall.
"Master's Wife? Are you here?!"
He slid the wooden door open and his body instantly froze in place.
His master's wife was indeed there, kneeling serenely before a low desk, sipping tea. That wasn't the problem; Uzumaki Mito was always kind to him, and he wasn't normally afraid of her.
Well, not afraid when she wasn't angry, at least.
No, what made Yuya's blood run cold was the presence of the other person in the room.
The man had stark white hair and intense, blood-red eyes that might make someone mistake him for an Uchiha—but there were no tomoe swirling within them. This was Senju Tobirama, the younger brother of Senju Hashirama.
The Second Hokage.
In the eighth year after Konoha's founding, Senju Hashirama had abdicated the position to his brother, ostensibly to set a precedent for peaceful transitions of power. Officially, Tobirama had been elected through a referendum because he was widely respected and loved by the villagers.
But in truth, if anyone bothered to look into it, who else could have possibly been suitable for the role at that time? Uchiha Madara? He was gloomy and brooding. In terms of pure strength, he couldn't surpass Senju Hashirama, and in terms of developing new ninjutsu for the village's benefit, he was nowhere near Senju Tobirama. Why would anyone choose him?
To put it bluntly, choosing Senju Tobirama meant gaining a leader who could develop more and stronger ninjutsu for Konoha. What could anyone else offer that compared?
So, under the circumstances, Senju Tobirama was the only logical choice.
Of course, these were thoughts Youya only dared to entertain in the deepest recesses of his mind. He would never dare to speak them aloud.
"Where did you go today?" Tobirama asked, his voice calm and even as he looked at Yuya.
Youya forced a smile. "Uncle Master gave me the day off, so I went to play in the woods to the west of the village."
Tobirama's red eyes remained fixed on Yuya, showing no emotion. "Just playing?"
Youya shrunk his neck into his shoulders slightly. "I was really just playing…"
Tobirama narrowed his eyes. "You should know the consequences of lying to me."
Youya: "…"
One minute later, Youya was covering his eyes, wailing loudly. "Waaah! Leave some for me! That's mine! That's my gold! Stealing from a child! You're stealing a child's gold!"
Senju Tobirama rolled his eyes. "Be quiet."
Youya pursed his lips, staring at Tobirama with tear-filled, accusing eyes.
Senju Tobirama coughed, ignoring the boy's fiery gaze as he hefted the lump of gold he'd taken from Yuya's backpack. "It's about ten kilograms. For thirty kilograms… huh. You, kid, walking around Konoha with a backpack full of gold, aren't you worried about someone kidnapping you?" Tobirama's stern expression cracked for a moment, revealing a hint of something else—he couldn't quite bring himself to be fully harsh.
Let's be clear: the gold in Yuya's backpack weighed over ten kilograms. Converted into ryo…
Ten kilograms was over 10,000 grams. At a conservative rate of 5,000 ryo per gram, that was at least fifty million ryo.
Fifty million… that was enough to pay the monthly salary and bonuses for over two hundred Jonin!
The key was… Konoha didn't even have that many Jonin!
That money could build a bridge! Buy enough cement to pave roads! The benefits of having a bridge for transportation and trade were immense.
But…
Seeing the genuine tears welling up in Yuya's eyes again, Tobirama coughed in embarrassment. He really shouldn't be resorting to taking things from a child. But honestly speaking… he couldn't, in good conscience, let a boy like Youya walk around with ten kilograms of gold. It wasn't just a safety risk… in its raw, unrefined ore state, it was useless to the boy anyway.
So, after a moment's thought, Tobirama looked at Yuya and said, "Alright. I can teach you a ninjutsu. That should be a fair trade for this gold."
Yuya's tears vanished instantly. Senju Tobirama was momentarily stunned. The kid had been crying just a second ago, and now he was back to normal? Had he been tricked?
Tobirama shook the gold in his hand and felt a little better. Who cared? The gold was real—he'd tested it with water himself. It wasn't some fake conjured by the boy's unique "Kekkei Genkai." In that case, no matter what, it was a net gain for the village.
"What ninjutsu?! Is it S-rank?!" Yuya's eyes widened with excitement.
Tobirama stroked his chin. So the kid was this excited just to learn a new technique? Maybe he had been overthinking it. "Don't even think about S-rank. I can't teach you those," he said, ruffling Yuya's hair with a slight chuckle. "Wait for me at the Academy tomorrow. I'll take you to the training grounds in the back mountain then."
Youya nodded eagerly, then quickly scurried off to wash his hands and face for dinner.
Throughout the exchange, Uzumaki Mito hadn't shown any expression, but she was pleased inwardly. Yuya wasn't just idling his time away; he had a clear goal, and that made her happy. Though, deep down, she still wished this child could be as carefree as little Tsunade…
With a soft sigh, Uzumaki Mito stood up and went to prepare the meal.
Tobirama, on the other hand, looked at the gold in his hand and let out a deep sigh of his own.
If only this boy had been born fifteen years earlier… Konoha would be…
With a wry smile, Tobirama bid farewell to Mito and left the mansion.
…
The next day, in the Hokage's office:
BOOM!
The door slammed open with a deafening crash. Senju Hashirama looked up to see his younger brother storming in, his face pale with fury.
"You idiot! You actually took all the gold yesterday! You didn't leave a single gram for me! How can you call yourself a younger brother like this?!" Hashirama roared, his voice echoing through the room.
Senju Tobirama's expression shifted to one of panic. "Fool! Don't say such things here!"
Hashirama blinked, confused. "Ah? Why?"
The blood drained from Tobirama's face.
Ten minutes later:
Tap, tap, tap, tap! A cacophony of frantic footsteps sounded, and a crowd of people swarmed the hallway outside the office door.
"Hokage-sama! I heard you found a gold mine?! Are we rich now?! The Akimichi Clan would like to apply for a food fund… I mean, a training fund for our Multi-Size Technique!"
"Hokage-sama! Can the compensation for the small villa that was demolished for the Sarutobi family's ancestral home expansion—to comply with village planning, of course—finally be paid? Now that you have a gold mine!"
"Hokage-sama! The Hyuga family would like to inquire when this year's ninja subsidy will be distributed."
"Hokage-sama! Please grant us funding to select better ninja hound breeding stock to improve the genetic line of Konoha's police dogs!"
"Hokage-sama!"
"Hokage-sama!"
Senju Tobirama sat in his chair, his face ashen. Senju Hashirama, meanwhile, had quietly slipped out. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Phew… I haven't been Hokage for a few years, I'd almost forgotten…
These people were like a pack of starving ninja cats that had just spotted a mouse the moment they smelled money.
Well, it couldn't be helped. He still had some of the fake gold money Yuya had made for him before. He'd use that to have some fun today.
Hashirama whistled a cheerful tune and headed towards Konoha's commercial street. As for his dear younger brother… well, he was the Second Hokage now. He should work hard.
It was a different chain of events than in the original timeline. In this reality, Uchiha Madara had been convinced that Senju Tobirama would target the Uchiha clan once he came to power. Foreseeing this, Madara had tried to warn his clan to be wary of the Second Hokage. But no one in the clan would listen to him; they were too eager to integrate into the collective of Konoha Village. In the end, Madara found himself isolated and ostracized by his own people. When the vote for the Second Hokage was held, Senju Tobirama was elected unanimously. This, combined with his shattered mentality, led Madara to leave Konoha. He later returned with the Nine-Tails for a final confrontation, was defeated by Hashirama, and was believed killed. His conflict had shifted from being solely with his own clan to a confrontation with the entire village, all because he was convinced—rightly or wrongly—of Tobirama's future prejudice. He believed that resistance from the Uchiha was inevitable and would destroy the village's stability. Unfortunately, no one stood by his side, and his spirit broke completely.