The newly established village of Konoha had shattered the image of the entire ninja world and forcibly hung a new image on the wall, drawn in a completely different style.
If Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju's personal powers, along with their clans' powers, had not been present, all the major ninja clans in the world would have certainly taken action to destroy this painting. However, none of them possessed the strength to display such courage.
Of course, this did not mean that no ninja clan dared to do so.
A few ninja clans in the west joined forces to knock the portrait off the wall, but after a short struggle, they realized that it would cost them dearly.
As luck would have it, while drinking together after a battle, an idea came to their minds. Perhaps they should draw a similar portrait.
Thus, the ninja world was swept under a new tide.
The daimyos of the kingdoms in the north, south, east, and west were giving large gifts to the major ninja clans in their regions, provoking them, and urging them to establish ninja villages loyal to them.
Meanwhile, the ones who were really suffering were the independent ninjas.
In those years, before the Shinobi Black Market was established, all the missions began to concentrate in the ninja villages, creating a wave of discontent among the independent ninjas.
As a result, the ruthless independent ninjas decided to come together and make the daimyos realize a truth.
"They think that when the ninja villages face a real threat, they will turn their backs on the country without hesitation."
Madara silently watched the group of independent ninjas being killed in the strange forest that covered a vast area and replied to Hashirama.
"Fools... Who gives them the courage to act so boldly when they are nothing more than a group of annoying rats?"
"At least we arrived early enough. If we had come a little later, who knows how many more villages they would have burned and destroyed."
Madara exhaled through his nose and gave no reply.
After a while, Hashirama ended the ninjutsu he was using and decided to bury this strange forest back into the depths of the earth.
He clasped his hands together, and the lines of Sage Mode reappeared on his face. Immediately afterward, the entire forest was reconnected with his chakra.
Within a short time, hundreds of ninja corpses covered in green veins appeared before Hashirama's eyes.
"Madara! There's a child there."
Madara frowned when he heard his words. Even though he gave off the impression of being a cruel person on the outside, he had feelings too.
If Hashirama accidentally caused the death of a child, he would most likely be so sad that he wouldn't be able to recover for a long time.
Even though Hashirama had become the strongest member of his clan and had shaped the ninja world, he hadn't yet become such a hardened individual spiritually. Perhaps by the time he reached his fifties, he would be able to overlook the accidental death of a stranger's child, but he was still in his late twenties and had immense responsibilities as a young man.
Hashirama's depression may not have affected Madara much, but during this period of time, Madara and Hashirama fought against the world, relying on each other. They are still best friends, perhaps even more than that.
While Madara was deep in thought about how to comfort Hashirama, Hashirama continued to speak with a surprised expression.
"Unbelievable! At first, I thought he was a master in disguise when I saw that he wasn't affected by my technique, but now, even when I look more closely, I can't see the slightest flaw in his disguise... I can't even sense the slightest bit of chakra from him."
"Is he still alive inside Wood Release: Deep Forest Poison Bloom? You should check with the tree clone."
As Madara listened to Hashirama's words, he realized that an exciting battle was approaching today, and he lowered the parchment on his shoulder and prepared to summon the nine-tailed fox.
"You prepare for battle. I'll control him. There's something strange about him."
Before Madara could say that it was a foolish plan, Hashirama vanished with a sound of tearing through the air and plunged into the abnormal forest.
An indistinct shadow darted through the air at supersonic speed, continuing to leap between the trees, and came to rest on a branch where he could see the root where Eren was located from a distance.
What really prompted Hashirama to act was Eren pointing his finger like a weapon and firing a spiritual energy ball at the root in front of him.
Every tree in this forest has chakra channels formed from Hashirama's chakra, and the moment Eren used spiritual energy to fire at one of these trees, Hashirama immediately sensed the energy.
It was a different kind of energy, similar to natural energy, but with a much fainter sense of presence and a much more dangerous feel to it.
Hashirama's guess was that this was the Sage Mode of a sacred creature he did not know. If this person was indeed a sage who had been struck by his own ninjutsu by chance, Hashirama could find a way to make a deal with him.
Since the ancestors of the Senju clan had come into contact with sacred creatures many times before, negotiation was possible to a certain extent.
Just then, Eren finally succeeded in using Hado No. 1 and created a dent in the tree in front of him.
Hashirama was shocked once again.
If he wasn't mistaken, this child had completely ignored his own jutsu and was practicing here. And more astonishingly, this child had mastered natural energy to the point where he could use jutsu without any hand movements.
After a moment's hesitation, Hashirama decided to speak to him, hoping he was a real child.