Hashirama and Madara (volume)

Hashirama and Madara ( 柱間とマダラ , Hashirama to Madara ) is volume 65 of the Naruto manga.

## Chapter 618
" The Ones Who Know Everything " ( 全てを知る者たち , Subete o Shiru Monotachi )

Orochimaru brings Sasuke , Suigetsu and Jūgo to the ruined Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple . Inside, Orochimaru searches for a particular mask , disturbing Suigetsu who found it strange that he knew exactly which one to choose. As they head back towards the village, Sasuke breaks away from the group to survey the village from a high point, which Orochimaru comments as something he needs to do as Konoha is still his birthplace. Arriving at the Uchiha clan 's destroyed compound, Sasuke unseals the passageway leading towards the secret room of the Naka Shrine , lamenting its current condition. There, Orochimaru dons the mask which invokes the Shinigami , and explaining as he went along, slashes the Shinigami's stomach releasing the contents. These turn out to be the spirits of those the Shinigami had consumed, which returns Orochimaru's hands to him, but has the negative effect of reflecting the wound on him as well. On Orochimaru's instructions, Jūgo uses natural energy to activate the spores Obito had Zetsu leave on Sasuke to monitor him: six in total. Sacrificing four of them while Jūgo and Suigetsu held down the other two, Orochimaru uses the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation and then transfers his being into one of the restrained Zetsu while Jūgo absorbed the other. The screaming White Zetsu spore clones are silenced once shrouded in dirt and ash, turned into the vessels of the men who collectively possessed knowledge of Konoha's history: the deceased First , Second , Third and Fourth Hokage .

## Chapter 619
" A Clan Possessed by Evil " ( 悪に憑かれた一族 , Aku ni Tsukareta Ichizoku )

As the newly reincarnated Hokage adjust to their circumstance, Suigetsu marvels at being in the presence of Hashirama . When the situation of how their souls were released and then they were reincarnated is explained by Hiruzen and Minato , Hashirama bluntly asks who the latter was. Announcing himself via his title of Fourth Hokage, Hashirama is pleased that the village had seemingly enjoyed such stability but was later shocked and bit apprehensive to hear that his granddaughter had inherited the title of Fifth Hokage. The banter between the Hokage is soon cut short after Orochimaru allayed their outrage that he had reincarnated them to destroy Konoha and instead presented Sasuke to them. From this point, Sasuke first questioned the Third about the Uchiha Clan Downfall and Hiruzen sombrely confirmed all that the young man had been told, noting that this was something Itachi decided to shoulder himself. This led the conversation to segue into a conversation about the Uchiha with Tobirama and his decision, as well as motives behind giving the clan the Konoha Military Police Force as a sign of trust. Here it was revealed that the Uchiha was a clan possessed by evil, but above even the Senju , they valued love and friendship above all else, but as a result of this, its loss had an even greater-than-normal effect on them. Upon hearing all this, the young Uchiha turns towards the once-leader of the Senju clan, posing two questions to him: what the village meant, and what was the purpose of shinobi .

## Chapter 620
" Hashirama Senju " ( 千手柱間 , Senju Hashirama )

As Sasuke boldly declares that Hashirama 's response would decide whether or not he should take revenge on Konohagakure , an enraged Tobirama states he would not allow it as he prepares to fight Sasuke. However, in a fierce exchange of silent wills that sends those around them into near-frenzied panic while the Naka Shrine quakes from the energy from their stand off, Tobirama finally stands down at Hashirama's order with Hiruzen breathing a sigh of relief and Minato marvelled. Praising Itachi to be a better shinobi than himself, Hashirama agrees to answer though it will be a long one. When he tells takes the First Hokage to make it abridged, Orochimaru reveals the war occurring outside the village with Madara leading the attack. While Hiruzen pleas Orochimaru to let them go and aid their people, Minato and Tobirama sense the situation to confirm it, with the former glad that his son was able to work with Kurama . Even after Orochimaru refuses to have them leave and considers having them ironically destroy Konoha on Sasuke's choice, Tobirama ignores his summoner's threat as he was about to go to the battlefield. However, thanks to now acquiring Hashirama's genetic material , the binding of the Impure World Reincarnation had become more powerful with only Hashirama breaking free of the additional restraint. Allaying the Sannin 's fears, Hashirama tells Orochimaru that he intends to first free Sasuke from the darkness surrounded him as he casually takes a seat on the ground and begins the retelling of the story of his confrontation with Madara at the Valley of the End and the history of the Senju and Uchiha .

## Chapter 621
" Hashirama and Madara " ( 柱間とマダラ , Hashirama to Madara )

When the Tailed Beast Ball held by Hashirama Senju 's humanoid creation collides with Madara Uchiha 's Susanoo Sword , it explodes. As the smoke clears, a Susanoo-clad Nine-Tails is revealed ready to attack Hashirama as he emerged from his wooden defence . With Hashirama praising Madara, he quickly grabs the ethereal sword and counters with several additional hands emerging from the ground to suppress the beast only for the tailed beast to destroy with a swing from another blade. Not wanting the landscape of the current area to be completely decimated, Hashirama quickly retreats to the coastline prompting Madara to give chase. As the Uchiha charged another Tailed Beast Ball onto Susanoo's sword and throws it, Hashirama summons a set of barriers to deflect the attack. Hashirama then attempts to reason with his friend and comrade, wanting to stop the battle but Madara refuses, noting that he has gone too far. Knowing that Madara was beyond the point of being persuaded, Hashirama enters Sage Mode and uses the gigantic wooden construct with which he prepares to attack. As the battle progresses, Hashirama remembers the first time when he and Madara met, skipping stones by a river. When asked who he was, Hashirama noted that he was currently Madara's rival in stone skipping, at which he was winning.

## Chapter 622
" Reached " ( 届いた , Todoita )

As Madara and Hashirama continue their conversation by the riverside, the banter between them is cut short when a body washes up near them. Moving to check the corpse out, Madara comes to realise that Hashirama is a shinobi as he stood atop the water . Upon further inspection of the body, Hashirama realises that it belonged to a member of the Hagoromo clan and he, and Madara decide to leave the riverbank. Heading back home, Hashirama is informed that Kawarama had been killed on the battlefield, and as they stood by the graves with his youngest brother Itama openly weeping, Hashirama questions his father about the fact that innocent children were being sent on the battlefield to die. Affronted by this, Hashirama's father hits his son telling him that saying such things were an insult to Kawarama's memory who had died a proud shinobi on the battlefield. Unable to agree with this, Hashirama decries these actions further, but before his father can hit him again, Tobirama intervenes offering that Hashirama was grieving and pleaded for their father's forgiveness. Later, the three brothers spoke of bringing peace to the world. Some time later on the battlefield, Itama would lose his life after being confronted by five members of the Uchiha clan . Affected deeply by the loss of his brother, Hashirama went back to the riverbed when he met Madara again, who caught him crying. At first, Hashirama refuses to share the reason for his shedding tears, but he eventually explains that his little brother Itama, had died. When asked if he had any siblings, Madara answers he's one of five brothers, then correcting himself, he noted that he was one of five brothers. After Madara finally manages to skip the rock to the other side, the two talk about the death of their relatives and Madara offers words of comfort about a better future.

## Chapter 623
" One View " ( 一望 , Ichibō )

Hashirama and Madara continued to meet in this manner by the riverside where they sparred with one another as well as talked about the future. During this time, the two grew closer as friends and worked on improving their weaknesses, all the while not revealing their last names. On one occasion, Madara almost let slip that he was an Uchiha , nearly bragging about the visual prowess which he wielded, as Hashirama feverishly talked about creating a village where the elders would watch over the children who would be brought up to be strong and not carelessly sent to war to die. Hashirama also spoke about creating a system by which shinobi were assigned missions which played to their strengths and skill sets, after both young men relived the loss of their siblings. Creating a greeting method the two boys skipped their rocks across the river to one another until they met again, however, upon returning to the Senju compound, Tobirama informs his brother that their father wanted to speak with him. Revealing that he had tailed them upon their father's request, Butsuma tells his son that the young boy he had been spending his time with was an Uchiha who had killed several of their strongest clansmen on his own. Coaxing his son, Butsuma told Hashirama that he was to gather intelligence on the young man and report to them, else he be seen as a traitor for his actions. Faced with the only other option to kill Madara, the pair met up by the river and, at Madara's behest, skipped their rocks across to one another as a greeting. Reacting, the two boys immediately bid each other farewell, having told one another that a trap had been laid for them via the stones they had skipped to one another. However, both Butsuma Senju and Tajima Uchiha appear on the field accompanied by their sons Tobirama and Izuna respectively. Both Hashirama and Madara who were in the process of fleeing look on as the two sides greeted one another — no love lost between the pair.

## Chapter 624
" Draw " ( 相子 , Aiko )

Knowing full-well that their power was more or less evenly matched, in order to gain the upper-hand as the four of them clashed, Butsuma and Tajima — again thinking along the same lines — decided to target Izuna and Tobirama respectively, hoping to use the shock of a parent losing a child before their very eyes as a method to gain an advantage. However, their attacks were stopped by Hashirama and Madara , who had turned in time to see and prevent what was about to happen. Seeing the attack on his brother as an unforgivable act, Madara declared that they had reached an impasse, noting that their pipe-dreams would die there. Determined to fight, Tajima enquired whether or not Madara was prepared to take them on, but Madara noted that Hashirama was stronger than he was and the outcome would not be in their favour. As they prepared to depart, Madara stated that the next time they would see each other was on the battlefield as Uchiha and Senju , activating his Sharingan for the first time. Thus beginning the non-stop battling between the two, and eventually, the two would inherit the leadership of their respective clans. During one such battle, Tobirama fatally wounded Izuna on the battlefield. Despite the fact that Hashirama once again attempted to create peace between the two clans, Madara refused and left the battlefield with his injured brother. In time, the fact that the Uchiha were inferior to the power of the Senju became abundantly clear and defectors began to come to the Senju side. The next time they met on the battlefield, Madara had acquired the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and remarked that his brother had died from the wound Tobirama had inflicted on him. Despite his new-found power, Madara was still defeated, but Hashirama, still seeking peace, halted his brother from killing the Uchiha and asked Madara if the two of them could not settle it like they used to. To this, Madara declared that they had lost his trust and the only way to regain this was if Hashirama were to kill himself or his brother.

## Chapter 625
" The Real Dream " ( 本当の夢 , Hontō no Yume )

While Tobirama and the other Senju present start protesting Madara 's ludicrous proposal, Hashirama — having come to a decision — thanks Madara for being so sympathetic as to have given him two choices so that he did not have to kill his brother. Removing his armour , Hashirama imparts his final words to his kinsmen, telling them to swear that Uchiha and Senju would not fight again. However, before Hashirama stabbed himself with the kunai , Madara grabs his hand , noting that seeing his resolve to go through with his request was enough. After this, Madara agreed to the treaty, and in the time to follow that the village was established. Meeting atop the same mountain they had met as children and seeing their dreams realised before them, Hashirama and Madara discussed the future, with Hashirama noting that he wanted to make Madara the Hokage so he could watch over the entire village and etch his face into the very rock they stood on. Madara would later coin the name of the village: Konohagakure — which Hashirama noted lacked imagination. They were later joined by Tobirama who called away his brother for the meeting with the daimyō of the Land of Fire , exchanging not a single word with Madara. Back in the village, Tobirama noted that they were no longer in the same time as their father and that decisions such as who should be the head of the village were not to be done without democratic involvement. Tobirama also noted that Hashirama was more likely to become the village's leader, and as he broached the subject of the possible Uchiha threat, Hashirama cut across him telling him to stop thinking in that manner. Their conversation is cut short when Hashirama believes that they were being eavesdropped on. Not seeing anyone outside the window, and Tobirama not able to confirm nor deny it, Hashirama finds the leaf Madara had mere moments before outside the window. Hashirama was eventually chosen as the Hokage, and during a meeting with Madara in the Naka Shrine 's secret room, Hashirama tried to plead with Madara, noting that in time people would come to understand him and as such, he would inherit the title from him. Madara noted, however, that in all likelihood, Tobirama would inherit that title, leaving no place for him, or even the Uchiha he feared, in the village. His resolve formed, Madara declared that he was leaving the village, and that this world was nothing more than mere entertainment, and that he looked forward to fighting with Hashirama as he went about realising his own dreams .

## Chapter 626
" Hashirama and Madara — 2 " ( 柱間とマダラ 其ノ弐 , Hashirama to Madara — Sono Ni )

Confused about what Madara said, Hashirama questions his friend, asking if what they were building in the village wasn't his true dreams. Madara rebuffs Hashirama, noting that his dream had no connection to the village. Despite the fact that Madara abandoned Konohagakure , other nations praised the innovative system that had been created and soon began to imitate it upon seeing what two previously rival clans could create. As time passed, the village flourished greatly, however, this was punctuated with random attacks on the village by Madara. In what would become their ultimate battle on the edge of the Land of Fire and Land of Sound , after the Susanoo -clad Kurama was shattered by a thousand punches , the titanic battle waned down to the two men facing each other directly — sword and kama respectively. As Hashirama fell, Madara noted that unlike all the other times, he was the one left standing. As Hashirama tried to speak reason to his former comrade and Madara constantly ridiculed the dream they once shared, Hashirama pierces Madara from behind with a sword revealing that it was only a wood clone that fell and not Hashirama himself. Declaring that he would protect his village believing it to be the best way to protect shinobi , and that anyone that tried to destroy that would receive no forgiveness from him. As Madara fell, Hashirama resolved himself to endure in order to protect his dream while Madara, still resolute, declared that he would one day become darkness which enveloped the village. Back in present day, Hashirama tells those present on site that he did not know how Madara survived, because he was sure he had killed him. He then goes on to tell them that it was for the sake of the village. After explaining what his vision for the village was, Hashirama goes on to explain that shinobi were people who endure to achieve their goals, but depending on what they chose as their goals, it could change who they were; like the way Madara, and he himself had changed.

## Chapter 627
" Sasuke's Answer " ( サスケの答え , Sasuke no Kotae )

With Hashirama finishing his story, Sasuke iterated how ironic it was that his brother Itachi , who was from the Uchiha clan , and had never heard Hashirama's story directly from the source, was the one who had inherited his will so strongly. However Tobirama notes that there had been several Uchiha throughout history which had transcended the limitations of their clan and put the village first. One such person who stood out in his mind was Kagami Uchiha . Noting that he did not hate the Uchiha, but in his capacity as Second Hokage , had to find a way to mediate between clans and the village's well-being — the former being something he noted his brother foolishly thought would dissipate with the creation of the village system. In turn, both the Third and Fourth , noted that they had fallen short of their predecessor, and the expectations people had of them respectively. Having heard all he needed from the Hokage, Sasuke comes to the conclusion that the village and people that Itachi sacrificed his life to protect should not be wasted , and decides to enter the battlefield in order to follow his brother's will, with Orochimaru following out of interest. Motioning to Tobirama to prepare to transport them, Tobirama informs his brother that they could not do so because they were bound. As they left the Naka Shrine , Suigetsu who decided that fighting alongside who he deemed the four strongest reincarnated shinobi and three monsters was not a viable option tried to slip away, only to be met by a kick from Karin . She yells that she will never forgive him for what he did and Sasuke immediately apologises. Karin, who visibly cannot contain herself, runs up to Orochimaru and tells him that he stabbed her. He recommends that she should cooperate Sasuke for the time being so she reluctantly rubs against Sasuke, saying she has no other choice. As the Hokage prepare to make their way to the main battlefield, Hashirama — who can barely contain his excitement at this point upon seeing the village again — directs his fellow Hokage to their respective faces on the Hokage Rock before declaring that he wanted to know what his old friend had been up to, Tobirama declares that this time he would stop Madara for good, Hiruzen notes that he had not been to war in so long but vows to give his all this time, and Minato, delighted that he will finally meet his son , promises to make up for not being there with a huge surprise.

## Author's Note