Chapter 274: Character Determines Your Fate

"...when my brother shows up later—…"

Senju Tobirama spaced out, lost in his own imagination.

"You look pretty happy there, Tobirama." The "Second Hashirama" squatted down nearby, watching the younger version of his "little brother" with curiosity.

Tobirama instantly wiped the grin off his face and replied in a deliberately chilly tone, "I've said it before—I'm not your 'Tobirama.'"

"What's the difference?" the Second Hashirama asked, totally unfazed. He plopped down on the ground and, even while seated, was almost at eye-level with the younger Tobirama. "As long as you're Tobirama, that's good enough for me."

"You—" Tobirama started, but then he noticed swirling vortexes appear in the air. He immediately shut his mouth and glanced over with a hint of excitement.

"Haha! Tobirama!" A kid around ten years old wearing a loose green-and-white jacket and ninja sandals landed on the ground with a big smile. This was the "First Hashirama."

Seeing him, Tobirama got a little dazed. When Kawarama died back in the day, his brother had been about this age.

He remembered, back then, how that was the first time he'd heard his big brother's genuine fury—"A world like this… is just plain wrong!"

That was so long ago.

He was still lost in thought when he felt somebody messing with his cheeks. He looked up and realized it was his now-childish brother, who was grinning from ear to ear, squishing his face.

Tobirama was outraged!

Smack!

He slapped away the First Hashirama's hand. "Brother, how much of your strength did you manage to keep?"

"Heh, so it's really possible to pull off Edo Tensei." The Second Hashirama, off to the side, nodded. "That's a seriously impressive jutsu."

For some reason, hearing a total stranger praise someone else's forbidden technique really got under Tobirama's skin.

He took a moment to compose himself, folded his arms, and waited for his brother's explanation.

"Well, about my power…" The First Hashirama thought briefly. "I've got around half of my total chakra left."

"My physical abilities are what they were at this age."

"Kinda sucks that my body doesn't remember how to handle Sage Mode. I'll need time to train that back up…"

"All in all, I guess I'm at about one-fifth of my original strength."

?!

Tobirama froze, visibly taken aback. He knew his brother's chakra reserves were off the charts, but Edo Tensei also gulps down massive amounts of chakra. By his calculations, there should've been less than a tenth left. How'd his brother still have this much?

The First Hashirama brought his hands together, closed his eyes, and stood quietly for a moment. Then he opened them again, revealing Sage Mode markings on his face. He looked at his adult self and said, "When I was reincarnating, I used natural energy to rebuild my body. Problem is, I figured that out pretty late and ended up wasting a ton of chakra. Otherwise, I might've kept most of my original power."

He only said "most" because now he was stuck in a kid's body, meaning he'd need years of basic training to reach his old strength. Even with Link's jutsu to speed things along, it'd still be a few years before he was back at 100 percent.

The upside? Once he grew up again, he'd blow past his old limits easily.

As he finished, the Sage Mode markings faded. With his past experience, he could hold Sage Mode for a few seconds after a brief moment of stillness, but getting back to his old mastery would take time.

Luckily, with such a huge pool of chakra, balancing natural energy was still pretty simple. After some practice, he'd be able to maintain Sage Mode much longer—maybe in a week or two. But if he wanted to use it on-the-fly in battle, he'd need even more intense training.

"Well, that's not super useful," Tobirama thought. He clearly remembered the horrifying feeling of being sucked into that black slime during Edo Tensei. Staying focused and gathering natural energy in that situation? Nobody but his brother could pull that off.

Wait—Tobirama glanced at the Second Hashirama, who seemed deep in thought. So his brother was basically dishing out tips to this guy.

Unlike Uchiha Madara, who didn't trust anyone, Senju Hashirama was the kind of person who totally believed others could understand him.

Personalities really do shape destiny.

The Second Hashirama got to his feet and said, "Anyway, let's cut to the chase. Since you summoned me and mentioned a war coming to the village, let's get out there."

"Tobirama, time to fly!" The First Hashirama, now a kid, sounded all pumped up.

"…"

Tobirama sighed, pulled out his experiment log from a desk, then walked over to the two Hashiramas—one big, one small—and clapped them both on the shoulder. "Link, the rest of the experiments are yours. Don't forget to note everything down. If you're stumped, ask Orochimaru. You could even bring him to this world."

"If you're up for that, anyway," he added, knowing full well his nephew might still hold a grudge.

"That guy's got his uses."

With that parting line, the trio left the lab, probably heading straight for the battlefield.

Link watched them go, feeling like he'd just skipped an entire chunk of RPG storyline or something. They just rushed off to fight with zero hesitation—like real gamers skipping all side quests.

"They act more like players than I do, and I'm the one who supposedly got isekai'd…"

Shaking his head, Link flipped through the experiment log again. There wasn't much left to test. After finishing, he planned to retouch his mastery of Hermit Purple, then head out with Sasuke and Utakata to hunt down the Tailed Beasts.

…

Parallel World #3: Land of Wind

Under the scorching sun in a desert filled with swirling sand, two members of the Akatsuki—Sasori and Deidara—waited in silence for their informant to arrive.

"Hey, Sasori, I hear there's a mole in your crew leaking intel about our organization," Deidara said.

"Not much I can do," Sasori replied at an unhurried pace. "Even I'm clueless about what happens once someone's hit with that jutsu."

"Anyway, we're going after the One-Tail this time, yeah? And you're just bringing that bag?" Deidara started to ask but then stopped, suddenly on high alert.

A semi-transparent vortex appeared out of nowhere amidst the blowing sand.

[Space-time ninjutsu?!]

Both of them tensed up. If whoever was coming was an enemy, this could get ugly.

For a moment, even the wind seemed to stop. The sun beat down harder than ever, making the tension feel suffocating.

Soon, seven figures touched down. At the head of the group was an old man with a frosty, arrogant look in his eyes.

"Sasori, I don't like that geezer's face at all," Deidara grumbled, clearly annoyed.

[Wait... are those the Rinnegan?]

Inside Hiruko, Sasori observed silently, a growing sense of unease churning in his mind.

~~~

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