Senju Makoto stood on the roof, squinting at the forest before looking down at the unsightly "blush" on the paper inside the room. A strange curve slowly formed at the corners of his mouth.
"White hair, god-like speed... It seems the news of Senju Hashirama taking me as a disciple has reached the ears of that 'rigorous and pragmatic' Senju Tobirama," Makoto thought, his mind clear as a mirror. "Is he so worried about the Uchiha bloodline that he personally came to peep?"
At this thought, he jumped off the roof, returned to the room, and picked up the "contaminated" manuscript. Looking at the trace of the nosebleed, Makoto couldn't help but burst into laughter. The more he thought about it, the more absurdly comedic the scene became.
"I didn't expect that Senju Tobirama, known for his cool-headedness and logic, would be so... simple?"
Makoto rubbed his chin, his eyes darting around as a mischievous smirk crawled onto his lips. "Since you peeped at me first and loved watching so much that you got so invested..."
He sat back at the wooden desk, pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, dipped his pen in ink, and his smile became increasingly "evil."
"Then it's only right to give you a bit more of a 'sense of participation.' After all, I am famously known for settling scores."
The pen tip touched the paper, and a new chapter began to brew.
"Hmm... for the next plot, I can introduce a stern, old-fashioned senior image with green hair and red eyes, who always keeps a straight face. This senior has been silently observing his exceptionally talented junior, 'A-Zang,' believing him to be a person of potential and secretly testing him."
"Until one day, this senior accidentally discovers that 'A-Zang' has an extraordinary, secret relationship with his young, beautiful, gentle, and virtuous fiancée..."
"Shock! Heartache! Anger! And a trace of inexplicable jealousy he refuses to admit even to himself, along with the bitterness of being betrayed by a trusted junior... various intense emotions crash and churn wildly beneath his icy, expressionless exterior!"
"Let's name this new character 'Fei.' Yes, appropriate, very appropriate!"
Makoto's pen didn't stop. A new, destined-to-be-miserable senior figure—likely with a bit of green on his head—began to quietly take shape.
"I am currently the only disciple of the First Hokage. As long as I don't do anything to betray Konoha, he will definitely cover for me," Makoto pondered.
"Writing a few novels to earn some royalties, enriching the spiritual and cultural life of Konoha's villagers, promoting the development of the cultural industry, and increasing Konoha's GDP... For this, Tobirama will just have to suffer a little. It's all for the sake of Konoha!"
Meanwhile, inside the Sealing Space.
Following Senju Tobirama's social death and Makoto's malicious "retaliatory creation," the giant golden hand that had been hovering in the center of the Sealing Space suddenly gave an imperceptible... twitch.
The tremor was so subtle it was almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, but in this absolute silence where even time seemed frozen, it was no different from a silent thunderclap.
Floating cross-legged in mid-air, the Sage of Six Paths, who was racking his brain for a way to break this damned seal and settle accounts with that brat Makoto, suddenly had his pupils contract. Coupled with his swollen face from the previous beating, he looked extremely ridiculous.
"What'sh happening!?"
His heart jumped into his throat, and an extremely ominous feeling instantly enveloped his entire body.
In the next second, under his shocked gaze... the giant golden hand instantly spanned the void and slammed shut around his body.
"Ugh—!"
The Sage of Six Paths let out a suppressed grunt. Another small wisp of pure Otsutsuki bloodline was forcibly stripped away, refined through the patterns of the golden hand, and finally turned into a brilliant golden energy orb, floating quietly in the center of the Sealing Space.
The Sage felt the increasingly weak aura within his body, trembling with cold rage. His Rinnegan glared fixedly at the reset golden hand, yet he didn't have even a shred of ability to resist.
He tried to mobilize his Power of Six Paths, wanting to reclaim that wisp of forcibly stripped Otsutsuki bloodline origin from a distance, but the other party was completely unmoved. It just floated there as if waiting for its true master to arrive.
Ignored! Total and complete disregard!
This extreme sense of humiliation caused the Sage to lose his composure entirely. The indifference and transcendence belonging to a Sage, maintained for so long, vanished in an instant. The human anger and frenzy belonging to Otsutsuki Hagoromo surged into his heart.
"Naturally evil Senju Makoto!! You despicable, shameless junior!! How dare you humiliate me like this! Forcibly seizing my origin!! You have sought your own death!!!"
The Sage of Six Paths raged in impotence. His roars echoed through the Sealing Space, yet he couldn't even stir a single ripple on the golden hand. He was like a lamb to the slaughter, forced to watch his power being squeezed dry bit by bit.
What terrified him even more was that on the other side of the Sealing Space, as the golden hand moved, the black seal wrapped around the other jade-like foot of the woman bound to the pink cross had actually dissipated a bit more.
In Konoha Village, the setting sun dyed the horizon a warm orange-red.
In the Hokage's office, Senju Hashirama gave a massive stretch, his joints letting out a crisp "crackling" sound.
"Ah... finally 'processed' all this official business." He looked at the mountain of documents on the desk with a smile, choosing to be selectively blind. "Tobirama didn't know what he was busy with today and didn't come to watch me work; the efficiency is indeed much higher!"
In reality, he had slacked off the entire day, but Senju Hashirama would absolutely never admit that.
He slipped back to the Senju Clan compound with light steps and found that Uzumaki Mito hadn't returned yet, making him even happier.
He enthusiastically ducked into the kitchen, humming a tuneless song, rolled up his sleeves, and busied himself with a clatter. Before long, a table of food that barely qualified as appetizing was ready. He found a food box, carefully packed it, and ran out with it, fearing Uzumaki Mito would nag him again.
The target—the courtyard of his disciple, Senju Makoto.
"As a teacher, caring for my disciple's life, occasionally sharing a meal with him, and building our bond... that's normal, right? Yes, perfectly reasonable!"
As Hashirama walked, he made excuses for himself in his heart, his pace light. "It's definitely not that I want to find someone close to me, someone who understands me, to talk properly about those things with Madara... definitely not!"
Reaching the courtyard, he saw Senju Makoto sitting at the table writing and drawing. A bright, radiant smile immediately appeared on Hashirama's face, a sense of gratification for his disciple welling up.
"Makoto! Look what teacher brought you!" Hashirama's voice was loud and naturally friendly as he walked in with the food box. "Eat first, eat first! There's no rush to write things right now!"
Hashirama, though rough around the edges, was quite respectful of Makoto's privacy and didn't look at what he was writing.
Without taking no for an answer, he pulled Makoto along, and they polished off the fairly generous dinner like a whirlwind. After finishing, Hashirama pushed the bowls aside, wiped his mouth, and his eyes began to shine.
"Makoto, look at the moonlight tonight... oh, it's not dark yet, but that doesn't matter!"
A complex expression of excitement and a trace of hard-to-detect sadness appeared. "As your teacher, I feel it is necessary for you to have a deeper understanding of Konoha's history, and to understand... some important people and events..."