Chapter 81: 'Fate'

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Title: 'Fate'

...

A year, give or take, had passed since the last epic battle between Hashirama and Madara and currently, Uchiha Izuna was leading a group of Uchihas toward the Senju clan to vent their frustration on the loss of their resources.

Tobirama had gotten news if this and had also, selected a few capable Senjus to accompany him to intercept Izuna in where would be their battleground.

As for Madara and Hashirama... They seemingly knew that their presence on the battlefield will rouse the other to interfere so they choose to sit this one out.

Unfortunately, for them both, faith had another thing planned for them, or rather, 'fate' didn't want for them to sit out any battle of importance.

Whenever there was a battle between the Uchiha and Senju, something would always come up that will need the appearance of either Madara or Hashirama.

As clan heads, they couldn't possibly leave their clan members to die unnecessarily when they know they could stop it and in this case, 'fate' decided to use the Kaguya clan.

'Fate' had been whispering into the ears of this particularly battle hungry clan who were all the way in the land of water, telling them that there were prospective lands waiting for them to cease if the Senju and Uchiha clan were wiped out.

Now, as a country of multiple islands, land was scarce, but even without putting that into consideration, the Kaguya clan revelled at the thought of being able to fight the notorious Uchiha and Senju clan and see them wiped out.

Of course Shun was aware of this 'fate' but didn't pay it any heed. In a way, this 'fate' was even nurturing these two clans without being non the wiser.

With more adversaries, these two clans gain experience if they should survive, and whether it was the True Fate or just plot, whenever members of these two clans die en mass, it seemingly doesn't affect their population.

On this special day, when the Uchiha and Senju clan clashed, the third party, the Kaguya clan interfered with the battle and begun killing left and right.

In the chaos of the fight, neither Izuna nor Tobirama knew who this clan was supporting and as though coming to a tacit understanding, commanded their forces to wipe them out.

However, 'fate'had also alarmed both Hashirama and Madara using their clan members, about the possible doom their clan members would face.

As caring brothers they quickly made for the battlefield only to catch the sight of multiple unidentified dead bodies lying around and their two clans going at it.

Without wasting much time, they too joined in on the fight, but unlike the previous battle, they didn't go all out for some reason.

This gave the other clan members the opportunity to give their all.

As they fought, whether it be due to the excitement of the fight or the exhaustion of the continuous fight, Hashirama asked. "Madara, do you remember that day..."

"Which day?" Madara asked back as they both moved back after clashing with their respective weapons.

"The day this all began..."

*Flashback*

The two friends had jus exchanged rocks and told eachother to hold on to it till the next time they meet and went in their way.

Hashirama giddily walked back to his clan compound only to be confronted by Tobirama.

"Brother..." Little Tobirama said with a frown uncharacteristic of a child. "We need to talk."

Minutes later, they were both seated in front of their father who was speaking.

"... I know you're hanging out with that body.."

"Hold on, how do yo-" Hashirama interuppted in shock only to also be interuppted by Tobirama.

"Father had me tail you. After all, you're severely lacking when it comes to sensing others..." Tobirama began. "You've been spending a lot of time outside the village, I was starting to get suspicious."

Their father, Batsuma continued. "I had gathered intel on that young man, he's from the Uchiha clan. He's already killed several capable adults from our clan. To be skilled at that young age... No doubt he's a prodigy.."

'I figured as much.' Hashirama thought to himself as he frowned at his father.

"Judging from that expression on your face, I take it you're both aware of eachother's clans?" Batsuma asked.

"No... I had no idea. I don't think he knows either." Hashirama answered after a short pause.

"Then I'm sure you're fully aware of what you need to do next... I haven't shared this info with anyone from the clan, so unless you want to be branded a traitor, the next time you meet up with this young man, I want you to follow him." Batsuma said with an intense stare.

"Your mission will be to gather as much intel on the Uchihas as possible. If he gets suspicious... Kill him." Batsuma ordered causing Hashirama's eyes to widen in shock.

"You... You're sure he's from the Uchihas?" Hashirama managed to ask calmly.

"Positive. He may already know that you're a Senju... In which case he could be playing dumb in order to pry more sensitive information from you. Regardless, don't trust him." Batsuma admonished.

"You're wrong... He would never do-" Hashirama tried to defend his friend.

"So what are you, a mind reader now?" Batsuma shouted. "If he's pulling the wool over your eyes, you not only jeopardize this family but the entire Senju clan. Tobirama and I will tail your, just in case. Understood!?"

...

That very evening, Hashirama stood at the entrance of the clan's compound looking at the stone in his hand.

He and Madara had just exchanged this stone earlier and promised to give it back to eachother the very next day... How was he to go about the entire ordeal.

...

The next morning.

The two friends stood at different sides of the running river and Madara said. "From now on... We'll skip rocks as a formal way of greeting one another."

"...Okay." Hashirama said after a slight hesitation.

Pulling out their stones, they threw it at eachother and also caught them.

"...!"

They both had looks of shock on their faces as they looked at the stones before Madara smartly spoke First.

"My bad Hashirama, I just remembered. I gotta run an errand today."

"..."

Hashirama being the slow idiot he was didn't react immediately but after a some seconds, he waved and said. "I see... Well then, I won't keep... I'll catch up with you later."

After saying this, he too turned and walked away while clutching the stone in his hand.

On their respective stones, were on word written... "RUN."

As soon as they walked a couple steps, they both immediately dashed in speeds the people watching them didn't know they had. Their one month with the old man wasn't wasted after all.

On a tree branch in front of Hashirama who was running, Batsuma said in surprise as he watched the fleeing Madara. "Such speed... Is he running away? Hashirama must have given him the signal. Let's go Tobirama."

"Of course." Tobirama answered and they both flickered towards the river.

At the same time they landed on the river, another duo also landed.

"Well, well... Look like we were on the same page, Batsuma Senju." A well built middle aged man said. He was wearing the iconic Uchiha samurai armour with a katana on his waist. His eye also had a three Tomoe Sharingan as he regarded Batsuma and Tobirama.

"Yo Tobirama." The brat beside the Uchiha greeted with a grin.

"Will miracles never cease... Tajima Uchiha!" Batsuma said while Tobirama greeted back. "Yo Izuna."

At that moment, it seemed the Uchiha side coincidentally had the same idea. Exactly identical circumstances.

Both Senju Batsuma and Uchiha Tajima knew from numerous prior clashes that the possessed practically equal strength.

They had been trained to keep their hearts in check on the battlefield no matter what happens. A single flash of emotional disarray could lead to vulnerability and mean the difference between life and death.

"STOP IT." Both Madara and Hashirama shouted at the same time as they turned around and ran towards their brethren.

The two adults were well aware... That if their own child were killed before their very eyes... It would likely, no matter how slight, imbalance their heart.

Meaning that, whichever one could land the First strike would determine the outcome.

Thinking this way, they both launched a kunai and shruiken at their opponents sons, Izuna and Tobirama who were completely unawares.

Fortunately, before the kunai and shruiken could land on their respective targets, two stone flew and intercepted them .

Hashirama and Madara had both thrown the stones in their hands at the projectiles to save the lives of their little brothers.

The two Uchihas and Senjus separated and moved back due to the new arrivals giving space for both Madara and Hashirama to jump in front of their little siblings protectively.

"I'll never forgive anyone who tries to hurt my brother, no matter who they are!" Madara declared as he looked at Hashirama before throwing a glare at Batsuma.

Hashirama and Madara regarded eachother with slight frowns on their faces.

"Maybe it just isn't possible for us... To reach that... Pipe dream of ours." Madara straightened up and looked at Hashirama before looking at the mountain top where the old man was supposed to be.

"Madara... What are you..."

"It may have been brief, but it was fun, Hashirama." Madara said with a tiny smile that not even Hashirama noticed.

"Three against three. Well, Madara? Can we take them?" Tajima asked.

"No." Madara shook his head. "Hashirama is stronger than me."

"A stronger kid than you...?" Izuna asked in amazement.

"I see." Tajima said as he sheathed his katana. "Quite impressive."

He didn't doubt Madara one bit, Madara had shown his worth on the battlefield.

"Let's go." Tajima ordered.

"Later." Madara simply said and turned around.

"Hey Madara." Hashirama called out. "You haven't Really given up have you? You've finally gotten to the same point-"

"You are a Senju... I truly wish it wasn't so." Madara said, interuppting him. "My brothers were killed by Senju."

Hashirama frowned as the faces of his brothers flashed in his mind. They too had died at the hands of the Uchiha.

"That's why." Madara continued. "There's no need to show our guys to eachother. Our next meeting will likely be on the battlefield... Senju Hashirama." Turning around to show his awakened Sharingan with one Tomoe, he continued. "For I am... Uchiha Madara."

For a moment there, the atmosphere stilled at his declaration coupling with the aura that came from him as he said that.

Completely unaffected by the pressure, Izuna beamed childishly. "Look father, big brother's eyes."

Tajima chuckled. "Heh, heh... We may not have obtained intel on Senju, but it seems we gained something valuable from this afterall."

"Sharingan." Batsuma said. "It was just now awakened?"

At that very moment, Hashirama felt like he finally understood something about the Sharingan, or to put it in clear terms, the awakening of the Sharingan. What it truly signified..

*End of Flashback*

"You directly decided to erase me as your friend." Hashirama said sadly but Madara scoffed.

"Don't mind yourself Hashirama." [Katon: Gōenka - Great flame flower]

Multiple balls of flames materialised and began pouring down on Hashirama and those around him.

This technique was an area of attack technique that spanned 20 meters around him.

[Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu - Water dragon bullet technique] Hashirama countered with multiple water dragon bullets which collided with the flames and extinguished it causing the area to turn misty.

Madara pulled out his fan from his back and waved it, directly clearing the area of mist as he charged at Hashirama once more.

On another sid eof the battlefield field, Izuna and Tobirama were going at it with all their might. Whether it was because of their elder brothers, these two hated eachother to the guts.

Izuna idolised his brother and saw him as the strongest who had no flaw while Tobirama saw his elder brother a the strongest but also stupid one he had to protect when necessary.

For some reason, the friendship between their elder brothers made them hate eachother to the bones.

Seeing Madara's flame technique, Izuna smiled proudly. "As expected of big brother."

At that moment multiple kunais flew towards him to which he deftly dodged and attacked Tobirama with his katana.

The two engaged in a pure Kenjutsu match with none of them getting the upper hand after many exchanges.

Tobirama jumped back and threw his kunais at Izuna again who merely dodged them without even wasting much movement.

"Seems like you're underestimating the abilities of the Sharingan, eh Tobirama?" Izuna sneered at the Senju who snorted and charged at Izuna.

Izuna smirked and charged at him as they continued their fight, but as the Sharingan was a cheat like dojutsu, Izuna and no difficulty holding Tobirama.

Noticing a slight opening, he punched Tobirama in the guys sending him flying into the distance and began weaving some handsigns.

[Katon: Gōka Messhitsu - Great fire destruction]

[Suiton: Suishōha - Water colliding wave] Tobirama weaved some handsigns and directly turned his chakra in water that grew in quantity and collided with the coming sea of flames.

This collision generated mist due to the rapid quenching of Izuan's fire by Tobirama's water.

Swish. Swish.

Sounds of the air sounded as Izuna caught sight of multiple kunais flying at him with speed from within the mist.

As usual, he dodged them with his Sharingan, unfortunately for him, the part of the kunai he couldn't see was engraved with some seals and as he tore his eyes from the kunais to look into the mist, Tobirama instantly flashed and appeared beside him.

[Flying Raijin Slice.]

"Na..ni..?" Before he could react to Tobirama's sudden appearance, Tobirama was already behind him and his chest was already sliced into.

"Cough." Izuna coughed out blood as he fell to his knees. Madara who had been fighting with Hashirama disengaged from the fight and appeared beside him and supported him.

"...!"

Hashirama looked at this scene in shock but his brain worked faster than usual and he said. "Madara, you can't possibly win against me... So... Why don't we end this?"

"I can help heal younger brother... Think about it, if our two clans, the two strongest clans around, join forces, there won't be any other clan that can stand against us... This conflicts will eventually start to die down. Here." Hashirama offered his hands to Madara.

Madara kept silent and looked around him, he saw his clansmen either dead or heavily injured. He looked at his little brother bleeding out and looked at Hashirama.

"..."

"Cough... No. Big brother, gasp...gasp... Don't be deceived by them.." Izuna forced himself to speak.

"...!"

Madara looked pensively at his little brother who was bleeding, pulling out a round ball from his armour he dropped it leading to an explosion of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, they were both gone, leaving the injured or weakened Uchihas to their dates.

"Sigh." Hashirama sighed. For some reason, he felt that this would be the last time he would get to meet the Madara he was familiar with, albeit a little bit distant.