Parallel World 1, Konoha Village.
Even though the previous battle was limited, some houses were still destroyed due to the impact of the fighting.
Fortunately, Hashirama acted quickly.
While Madara was beating Sasuke, he had already used Wood Release to evacuate the surrounding residents, so there were no casualties.
Fighting using Susano'o like a Gundam inside the village was indeed too dangerous!
"Madara, you shouldn't have fought inside the village! Besides, isn't that child an Uchiha descendant? Why were you so cruel?"
"Hmph! I already held back. Otherwise, that brat would be dead!"
Madara snorted in annoyance. Clearly, he wasn't satisfied at all.
Just a few minutes, if that child hadn't been moved by Lux, Madara would have really 'trained' him for three days and three nights!
"But that's too cruel, he's just a child!"
"A 15-16 year old child? In the Warring States Period, that age could already be a father."
"This is different. I'm worried you'll destroy his beliefs!"
"The Uchiha clan has no cowards. Confidence is fine, arrogance isn't! His eyes were full of arrogance; a brat like that will fall sooner or later because of his nature. I was just correcting his mistakes!"
Madara spoke proudly.
He was clearly doing it to correct the weaknesses of the younger generation, not to 'eliminate witnesses'.
"Haaah... you're still as stubborn as ever."
"Hmph... who's more stubborn than your 'Hashirama'?"
"Alright, the child isn't really in danger. Besides, with Sir there, it's not a problem. By the way, Madara, about earlier...?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, your chest—"
"Shut up! Nothing, that wasn't me!"
Madara retorted while shouting. Seeing more and more Konoha ninjas gathering, he couldn't stand it and immediately disappeared.
"Madara, where are you going?"
"Shut up! I'll meet you tonight!"
Seeing Madara disappear, Hashirama was confused.
They used to even pee together. Why was it awkward now just looking at his chest? So strange...
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Several hours later.
Hashirama used Wood Release to repair the damaged houses, and he was quite tired. Not physically, but mentally.
Hashirama wasn't good at handling administrative matters. The commotion that afternoon made many people ask for the cause, and he was overwhelmed.
At times like this, Hashirama began to miss his younger brother Tobirama's reliability.
Unfortunately, Tobirama was busy in the Fire Country capital and didn't have time to take care of the village. But if that secret-leaking Tobirama dared to return to the village now, he might already be minced by Madara.
Nighttime.
After dinner, the wise Mito cleared the dishes.
Meanwhile, the restless Hashirama quietly slipped out of the house and headed towards the Uchiha Clan's territory, smoothly meeting Madara.
"You brat, aren't you the one who was supposed to meet me?"
Seeing Hashirama arrive at night, Madara was also annoyed.
The two of them, one a God of Shinobi, the other a Demon of Shinobi, meeting like thieves, how undignified!
But it was also good, more privacy to talk.
"I was worried there was something important, so I hurried over. There are some things we need to discuss."
"Speak quickly!"
Hashirama forced himself to look away from Madara's chest and seriously discuss important matters.
"First: The Uzumaki Clan has agreed to my proposal. Tomorrow, three Uzumaki ninjas suffering from terminal illnesses will arrive in Konoha."
"They are all volunteers for the resurrection experiment with the Rinnegan, and all compensation will be provided by the Uchiha Clan."
"But they are still Uzumaki ninjas, so I need to inform you. Once the experiment begins, they will most likely die."
"So I need to confirm one more time. Hashirama, do you agree? If you refuse, I will stop this plan. This is the last chance."
Madara looked at Hashirama seriously.
He could ignore anyone's opinion, but it was impossible to ignore Hashirama's feelings.
Especially since the Senju and Uzumaki Clans were already allied, so he needed to be more careful.
"I understand! This is their own choice. For those suffering from terminal illnesses, perhaps this is the best option."
"The Head of the Uzumaki Clan, Uzumaki Ashina, has already agreed, so I won't refuse."
"Just hope Madara doesn't disappoint the families of the volunteers. If there's a need, I and the village will help!"
Hashirama nodded firmly.
He was naive, but not rigid.
Hashirama certainly opposed any act of taking another's life, but if terminally ill patients were willing to give up their lives, he couldn't comment.
After all, everyone knew this was a cruel world.
Compared to Konoha and the stable Land of Fire, the Land of Whirlpools was still at war, an environment like the Warring States Period.
Most ninjas couldn't even live to old age, let alone those with terminal illnesses.
Unable to fight, unable to do missions to support their families. The only end was being abandoned by their clan or lord; or like the elderly during famine choosing to die so as not to burden their families.
Now, they could use their remaining lives to give their families a chance to survive. For them, perhaps this was already a miracle.
In certain respects, the wages from dangerous missions weren't even as much as what Madara offered!
This was also the reason why the stubborn Head of the Uzumaki Clan agreed to this arrangement.
Of course, Hashirama understood this was an exception and couldn't be widely applied.
Otherwise, with the cruelty of the ninja world, there would definitely be more people 'forced' to volunteer!
Fortunately, besides the Uzumaki Clan who had great life force, 99% of people weren't even qualified for the Rinnegan experiment.
This was a kind of luck.
"Good that you agree. I originally planned to meet Uzumaki Mito tonight; she's still part of the Uzumaki Clan."
Madara, who hadn't defected from Konoha, was very open.
He didn't want to secretly use Uzumaki ninjas for experiments; that was the reason he wanted to visit Hashirama's house tonight.
"No problem, I'll accompany you home tomorrow morning and tell her."
"Mito has already heard from Clan Head Ashina. She respects the voluntary choices of her clan members. She also asked me to ensure that no one is forced."
Hashirama replied casually.
He must have already discussed it with his wife. If Mito didn't agree, he wouldn't have agreed either.
"By the way, does this experiment have a chance of success? It doesn't need many sacrifices, does it?"
"The success rate was initially low, but now it's no problem."
Discussing this, Madara was more relaxed.
The power of the Rinnegan was indeed strong, and even many Uzumaki ninjas couldn't withstand it.
But now it was different. After obtaining his own Rinnegan from Parallel World 5, Madara could already control the Gedo Mazo here.
With the great life force of the Gedo Mazo and Hashirama's body cells, the endurance of the Uzumaki volunteers could be increased.
This meant they could most likely withstand the power of the Rinnegan.
If lucky, it might only take a few experiments to succeed.
"That's great! Does that mean Izuna will be revived soon?"
Hashirama was also happy; he even wanted Izuna to be revived more than Madara did!