Only at this moment, as Hashirama Senju noticed the smiles on the faces of the Senju clan, the Uchiha clan, and the ordinary people who had settled in Konoha, did he truly understand it.
That relaxed feeling of being part of the village. That must be what belonging meant.
He looked at those children from the future in stunned silence. Thinking carefully, perhaps they too had unconsciously noticed that Madara never quite fit in. Not only within the village, but even among the Uchiha clan, he always seemed out of place.
As Madara's closest friend, Hashirama had always wanted to help him integrate into the village.
That was the very reason he had proposed making Madara Hokage that day.
But when Naruto and Minato suddenly descended from the sky, the words he had been about to say were left unspoken. Later, during his conversation with Tobirama and Minato, he realized how poorly thought out his actions had been.
It wasn't that becoming Hokage would earn someone everyone's approval.
It was that only by earning everyone's approval could someone become Hokage.
His headstrong decision to invite Madara to become Hokage would not only fail to help Madara integrate into the village, it would instead breed dissatisfaction among the villagers and deepen their resistance toward him.
By contrast, Naruto and the others' approach allowed Madara to open his heart in front of everyone for the first time, letting others see that he wasn't as distant or untouchable as they had imagined.
Watching those children brimming with vitality, laughing without restraint, Hashirama Senju, the future God of Shinobi, felt none of the fear they had carried as children, the constant anxiety over losing brothers or their own lives. He realized that although the future held many problems, it was not entirely without hope.
Seeing Madara bristling with anger, Hashirama felt genuine gratitude for their arrival. Later, he would sit down and properly talk things through with Madara and Tobirama. Now that the village had been built, how should it develop from here?
Madara longed to unify the entire ninja world, to end all war. Tobirama was willing to follow Hashirama's lead on this matter, while Hashirama himself believed that conflict would still exist even after unification, and so he did not agree with Madara's vision.
Yet the knowledge he carried from the future made one thing clear: even if every village remained independent—each forming its own single-village state—the Shinobi Nations would still go to war over interests and the competition to hire ninja.
As long as Madara could truly integrate into the village, and Izuna could return to his side, Hashirama believed that with his and Tobirama's efforts, Izuna would eventually set aside his prejudices. His outlook would no longer be limited to the clan alone, but expand to the village, and perhaps, like Madara, even to the entire ninja world.
Besides, the village was already complete. There was no way he would refuse to help Madara resolve the tensions between himself, the Uchiha clan, and the village.
Minato spoke up awkwardly, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Hashirama-sama. Naruto, he…"
"Naruto has been blessed with a truly exceptional pair of eyes," Hashirama Senju said suddenly, as if speaking to himself, yet also as if addressing Minato Namikaze beside him.
"They are neither Sharingan nor Byakugan, yet they can see into people's hearts and grasp the essence of things."
"…Mm." A trace of relief, mixed with a sorrow too subtle to fully name, appeared between Minato's brows. "Aside from his natural disposition, this also has a lot to do with his background. In the parallel world he comes from, Kushina and I died in battle. As the third Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Naruto's situation in the village was extremely harsh."
Hashirama Senju nodded and fell silent.
Based on what Minato and the others had revealed about the future, Konoha had many paths that could go terribly wrong. From here on out, he, Tobirama, and Madara would do everything they could to avoid those mistakes.
"Big brother…"
Tobirama Senju let out a long sigh. He had truly run out of patience.
"Before anything else, we should probably go wash up and change clothes."
On the other side, an utterly fed-up Madara Uchiha had once again caught several troublesome little brats. He was hauling them along, debating whether to squash them flat or knead them into balls, when something caught his attention. The looks coming from the people around him made him pause.
Madara was sharp. It wasn't just about sensing someone behind him.
In fact, even if he never said it out loud, he was just as sensitive to how others viewed him.
"Tch, always doing pointless things…"
He turned his head away and muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Obito, still firmly in his grip, grinned at each other and bumped fists.
"Old Man/Uncle Madara, your awkward attitude is exactly the same as Stupid Kakashi/Idiot Sasuke."
Sasuke: "..."
Young Kakashi: "..."
Madara understood what those two little punks were trying to do. That only made it harder for him to actually hit them. He was stuck, unable to go forward or back, and it felt absolutely miserable.
He wanted nothing more than to pick a fight with Hashirama, but this was the early stage of Konoha's founding. There simply wasn't time for them to go all out in a brawl.
After changing into clean clothes, Tobirama planned to use Earth Release to restore the rock wall to its original state.
But Hashirama insisted that carving all three of their faces onto the Hokage Rock was a great idea, symbolizing that the three of them would forever protect Konoha together.
Tobirama understood what his brother was trying to do. He wanted to use this to keep Madara close. After hearing Minato's account, Tobirama had also come to realize that constant vigilance and isolation were not effective ways to reduce risk when it came to the Uchiha clan.
That said, looking at the current three prank-filled carvings was clearly not acceptable. If word got out, wouldn't Konoha become a laughingstock among other ninja clans and villages?
"Let me redo it with Earth Release and Wood Release!"
Hashirama volunteered enthusiastically.
"...."
The end result was that, in this early parallel version of Konoha, the Hokage Rock was carved into the childhood appearances of Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama, all thanks to Hashirama Senju's personal bias.
And not only that, it was done in an extremely childish style.
Madara immediately exploded at Hashirama, leaving Hashirama slumped on the spot in visible dejection.
"Why don't you carve it yourself with Fire Release?"
"Fine, I'll do it!"
Madara was just about to unleash a Great Fire Annihilation.
Everyone else rushed in to stop him.
With no other option, the most reliable and serious one present, Tobirama Senju, was forced to clean up the aftermath.
As everyone knew, the Senju clan excelled at Water Release and Earth Release.
Tobirama Senju was no exception.
The problem was…
For some reason, ever since he was young, he had been determined to make his public image look as heroic and imposing as possible. It was the same logic as insisting on wearing a massive fur collar and a face guard on the battlefield.
This meant his aesthetic sense was… just a little bit…
It wasn't exactly indescribable. It was more like it had crossed straight through the dimensional wall.
If one had to put it into words, the current JOJO-style Hokage Rock was absolutely capable of scaring a child to tears if they got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.
Hearing Naruto, Obito, and the others laughing without restraint, Tobirama flew into a rage.
"What's so funny?! At least this is better than your stupid pranks!!!"
Hashirama said calmly, "Tobirama, are you sure you weren't pulling a prank yourself?"
"Big brother, shut up! Do I look like someone who plays pranks?!!"
Madara snorted coldly, his voice full of disdain. "How ridiculous."
"What's ridiculous about it?! Worry about how to awaken the Rinnegan first, will you!!" He pointed both thumbs downward at Madara in blatant mockery.
This was probably the most lighthearted day the three founders had experienced since Konoha was established. Despite being busier than ever, they laughed freely. Still, they soon had to return to serious matters. After a night of work, Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze had already cracked the second-tier fūinjutsu.
"If nothing unexpected happens, once we unseal one piece of information, the seal on the remaining one should be upgraded to a higher difficulty," Minato Namikaze said. "It may be something that even Tobirama-sama and I won't be able to decipher in a short time."
Tobirama Senju spoke in a low voice. "So before we decide which seal to remove, think carefully. Which matters more to you—the stone tablet left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, or the Sharingan's Kekkei Genkai disease?"
Madara Uchiha chose the former without the slightest hesitation.
Sasuke nearly slammed the table in frustration at this choice from his ancestor.
Madara had his own reasons.
According to the earlier information, reviving Izuna required Madara to awaken the Rinnegan, then use its ability, Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, in coordination with Tobirama's Edo Tensei.
As for how to awaken the Rinnegan, the only possible record was likely on the stone tablet the Rikudō Sennin had left behind for the Uchiha Clan.
Adult Kakashi understood that Sasuke wanted to unseal the other piece of information for Itachi's sake. He reached out and patted Sasuke on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. Unsealing the last piece of information is only a matter of time."
This seal was broken jointly by Minato and Tobirama, and it took roughly the same amount of time as when Hashirama had undone the previous one.
Once the fūinjutsu was released, a new information scroll appeared—
[The stone tablet has been tampered with by Black Zetsu.]
The secret of the Uchiha stone tablet was not, as Madara Uchiha had imagined, a detailed method for awakening the Rinnegan. Instead…
"The Uchiha stone tablet has been tampered with by Black Zetsu…"
Madara felt dizzy, his vision swimming. Back then, it was precisely because Izuna had read the contents of the tablet that he had spent so long thinking about how to give his eyes to his older brother.
"Taking into account that the Uchiha stone tablet was altered by Black Zetsu, along with the title of the other piece of information, [The True Method to Prevent Mangekyō Sharingan Blindness], it seems the method you currently know—swapping eyes between brothers—is likely wrong."
Tobirama Senju spoke aloud the conclusion Madara himself had already begun to suspect.
Madara ground his teeth, a sharp sound escaping from his clenched jaw.
"The Black Zetsu within Akatsuki claims to be a subordinate of the 'Masked Man,'" Itachi added. "If that's the case, then there's one clear possibility. No matter who the Masked Man really is, he's been manipulated by Black Zetsu."
"!!!"
Minato reacted instantly. "No wonder!"
He had Naruto open the mission scroll.
"Obito's SSS-rank mission was to kill the Masked Man, but Naruto's mission scroll was to save the Masked Man!"
Tobirama Senju frowned. "So that means one of your two teams was destined to fail their mission?"
He laid out a hypothetical scenario. If Minato's team and Kakashi's team both confronted the Masked Man at the same time, and both had the ability to kill him, then judging his crimes, passing sentence, and deciding which team succeeded and which failed would become unavoidable.
Hashirama Senju, who had been silent with his head lowered in thought, finally looked up at Madara Uchiha.
"Madara, what exactly was written on that tablet? Can't you really tell me?"
Madara had originally intended to keep it to himself, but since it had already been altered by that thing called Black Zetsu, its significance to the Uchiha Clan no longer mattered as much.
"Yin and Yang combine, and from them all things are born."
"What?" Tobirama Senju asked, confused.
Madara continued, "The words the Sage of Six Paths left for the Uchiha Clan could only be seen after awakening the Sharingan. And the later portions could only be truly understood after awakening the Mangekyō. Most of it concerned the secrets of the Eternal Mangekyō, as well as one unbelievable matter…"
Awakening the Mangekyō?!
Sasuke looked at Itachi. "You saw that stone tablet too?"
"…" Itachi fell silent for a moment, then answered, "I did."
Sasuke snorted, mocking him with a sharp edge of retaliation. "So you were fooled by the inscription too! The Uchiha clan's way of preventing Sharingan blindness has nothing to do with using a brother's eyes!"
Itachi: "....."
Madara Uchiha, who had been dragged into the ridicule as well: "..."
He really wanted to snap back at that brat, but wouldn't that mean admitting in front of everyone that he himself had been deceived by the tablet?
"Madara, about that unbelievable matter… could you tell us?" Hashirama Senju asked solemnly. At this moment, he even adopted a formal kneeling posture as he faced Madara.
Madara sighed and scratched his head. That matter had once been a secret among secrets, but since the younger generation from the future had already proven the tablet had been tampered with, it no longer mattered.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi…"
Those four words slowly fell from Madara's lips.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Especially Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Minato Namikaze, who, aside from Madara, had all been pulled into the Tsukuyomi world by Itachi before.
"But Tsukuyomi isn't…" Minato looked toward Itachi.
Itachi was just as confused. Tsukuyomi was his Mangekyō Sharingan ability, so what exactly was this "Infinite Tsukuyomi" Madara was talking about?
Madara said, "After personally experiencing the Tsukuyomi world last time, and combining that with the descriptions on the stone tablet, I came to a guess… Infinite Tsukuyomi should be a technique that projects the power of Tsukuyomi through the full moon, dragging the consciousness of everyone in the world into the Tsukuyomi realm."
"!!!"
Itachi's expression froze in shock.
Tsukuyomi was his technique. He knew better than anyone how terrifying it was.
Dragging all of humanity into Tsukuyomi?
What kind of utterly deranged idea was that?!