"Madara… please… don't go, okay?"
Senju Hashirama clutched tightly at Madara's pants leg, his pale face filled with desperation and pleading.
After searching painstakingly for two whole years, he had finally managed to find Madara. There was no way he could just watch him walk away like this.
If Madara left now, there was no telling if he would ever be able to find him again.
No matter what, he had to find a way to make Madara stay.
"Let go." Uchiha Madara didn't even look back as he spoke coldly.
Right now, he had no desire to be entangled with this troublesome man.
He had only come here just now because he was worried Hashirama might die here, nothing more.
But he hadn't expected this guy to fake his death just to trick him again…
There was no way he was going to fall for Hashirama's schemes a second time.
"Madara, please, I'm begging you, don't go." Hashirama reached out with his other hand and grabbed Madara's wrist. "Can we at least talk?"
"Let go!" Uchiha Madara frowned, clearly impatient. "I don't want to waste time on you."
This idiot Hashirama was still as annoyingly persistent as ever.
If it weren't for Hashirama's current poor physical state, Madara would have already kicked him away without hesitation.
But given Hashirama's condition, a single kick could worsen his injuries and possibly even threaten his life.
If that happened, and Hashirama latched onto him because of it, that would be a massive headache.
He just wanted to get away from this troublesome man as quickly as possible…
"Madara, you've changed." Senju Hashirama looked at him with deep grievance. "I searched for you for so long, but all you want to do now is push me away."
For two years, he had scoured the entire shinobi world, just to find any trace of his closest friend.
And yet now, after finally finding him, the emotional, heartfelt reunion he had imagined didn't happen at all.
Instead, he was met with this cold reality.
—Madara didn't even want to speak with him. All he wanted was to stay as far away from him as possible.
Hashirama felt utterly heartbroken by this…
Uchiha Madara's eyelids twitched violently. He wanted nothing more than to knock Hashirama unconscious with a single kick and escape while he was out cold.
But out of concern for Hashirama's fragile body, he restrained himself.
Turning his head with a look of pure impatience, Madara said,
"What's there to even talk about between us?"
Ever since he'd left Konoha, things between the two of them had never been the same.
"Heh… there's so much we can talk about!" Senju Hashirama suddenly shook off his weak demeanor, using Madara's wrist for leverage as he pulled himself up from the ground.
As long as Madara was willing to sit down and talk, everything would be fine. He could calm him down, maybe even persuade him to come back to the village…
"What do you want to talk about?" Uchiha Madara stared coldly at him, his three tomoe slowly rotating in his Sharingan.
Right now, he just wanted Hashirama to say his piece quickly so he could send him away.
He had far more important things to do — dreams yet to be realized. He had no time for pointless chatter with an old friend.
"Madara, I finally found you!" Hashirama gripped Madara's wrist tightly, his eyes brimming with tears of relief. "Back then, I really thought you were dead…"
Madara frowned, trying to pull his hand free in disgust, but Hashirama's grip was far too strong. After a few failed attempts, Madara stopped struggling.
"Then how did you know I wasn't dead?"
Madara's sharp instincts immediately picked up on the subtle detail in Hashirama's words, and his eyes narrowed as he asked the question.
He had planned his fake death with Izanagi meticulously for a long time. With Hashirama's level of intelligence, there was no way he should have figured it out on his own.
Something must have happened to expose the truth.
Could it have been Senju Tobirama?!
Madara immediately suspected Tobirama. He was certain that Tobirama must have gotten suspicious of the clone he'd left behind, discovered inconsistencies with the body, and pieced it together.
That damned man was always scheming against him. If he could, he would have killed Tobirama without hesitation.
"Haha, Renya told me!" Hashirama answered with a bright, innocent smile.
Without a moment's hesitation, he threw Renya right under the bus.
"Re… Renya?" Uchiha Madara frowned, puzzled. He'd never heard that name before.
"Let me tell you a little secret." Hashirama leaned closer to Madara's ear, lowering his voice mysteriously. "Renya is Tobirama's adopted son."
"Tobirama's… adopted son?" Madara's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He hadn't expected Tobirama to adopt a child.
Not only that, but the adopted child actually knew about his faked death.
That… piqued his interest.
"Interesting." Uchiha Madara's expression shifted, his gaze deepening as he asked, "Which clan is that kid from?"
If the boy could uncover the truth about his fake death, he had to be exceptionally clever.
At the very least, cleverer than Senju Tobirama…
It was almost a waste that a child like that had ended up in Tobirama's hands.
"Renya is from the Uchiha clan." Senju Hashirama grinned proudly. "Hehe, bet you didn't see that coming, did you?"
"What?!" Uchiha Madara's eyes widened in shock, his voice practically trembling. "From the Uchiha clan?!"
His fists clenched so tightly they trembled.
That bastard Tobirama actually dared to adopt a child from the Uchiha clan?!
How… how dare he?!
And what about the clan elders — were they complete idiots?!
How could they possibly have agreed to something like this?!
An Uchiha child being adopted by Senju Tobirama — this was beyond humiliating!
He'd only been gone from the clan for a few years, and already, these spineless fools had completely caved.
Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
They had no pride, no backbone. They didn't deserve to call themselves Uchiha.
"Ever since you left the village, Tobirama has been more wary of the Uchiha than ever. I thought that was wrong," Hashirama explained gently, "so I suggested that he adopt an Uchiha child. I thought… maybe, by raising the boy, Tobirama would eventually let go of his hatred toward the Uchiha…"
Hashirama spoke slowly, carefully explaining everything.
Everything he did, he did for Madara — so that when Madara returned to the village, his clan wouldn't be discriminated against or targeted.
But instead of reconciliation… Madara had come back bringing the Nine-Tails with him, intent on destroying the village.
And in the end, Hashirama had been forced to kill him…
Uchiha Madara stood frozen in place, his entire mind thrown into chaos.
So Tobirama had adopted an Uchiha child… all because of Hashirama's meddling.
That damned idiot Hashirama was behind this!
"That kid… he isn't being mistreated in the Senju clan, is he?" Uchiha Madara's voice was low and icy, his Sharingan glowing faintly as he narrowed his eyes.
From what he knew of Senju Tobirama, there was no way that man would ever truly accept an Uchiha child.
Renya was likely living under constant suspicion, perhaps even outright hostility.
The feeling of being unwanted, of being an outsider… Madara knew exactly how bitter that was.
And it was all because of the clan's incompetence. For them to agree to Hashirama's outrageous idea… it meant they'd lost all sense of pride.
If he hadn't left Konoha… none of this would have happened.
But… that wasn't his concern anymore.
The day he walked away from the village, he'd cut ties with the Uchiha clan for good.
Whether Renya suffered or not… it had nothing to do with him.
...
"Renya's doing great in the Senju clan! We all adore him," Hashirama said with a bright, beaming smile.
"Renya's cooking is amazing, too! One of these days, I'll have him make something for you. I promise, you'll love it!"
Once you'd tasted Renya's cooking, you'd never forget it for the rest of your life.
Uchiha Madara didn't respond. As long as Renya wasn't being bullied by Tobirama, that was enough for him.
As for food, he couldn't care less.
Hashirama was clearly trying to lure him back to the village again. But this time, he wasn't going to fall for it.
He still had his dream to fulfill.
"Enough. Stop following me." Uchiha Madara finally yanked his hand free. "Go back to where you came from."
With that, his figure blurred and vanished into the distance.
"Madara, wait for me!"
Hashirama hadn't expected Madara to suddenly take off again and hurriedly chased after him.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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