The Real Dream

As Tobirama and the assembled Senju object to Madara's outrageous demand, Hashirama reaches his own decision. He thanks his rival for offering two paths so that he need not kill his brother, then strips off his armor and gives his kin a final charge: to swear that the Uchiha and Senju will never war against one another again. Before the blade can fall, Madara seizes his hand, satisfied that Hashirama's willingness to go through with it proves his sincerity.

With that, Madara agrees to the truce, and in the days that follow a village rises from the peace. Standing on the very peak where they had met as boys, the two survey the dream they once shared now made real.

Hashirama offers to name Madara as leader so he might watch over everyone and carve his likeness into the cliff face. It is Madara who supplies the village's name, Konohagakure, a choice Hashirama teases for lacking imagination. Their moment ends when Tobirama arrives to collect his brother for talks with the daimyo of the Land of Fire, passing Madara without a single word.

Later, Tobirama argues that times have changed since their father's day and that choosing a leader should follow the will of the people rather than one clan. He judges Hashirama the likelier candidate and raises worries about the Uchiha, but Hashirama cuts him off and tells him to abandon that suspicion. The talk halts abruptly when Hashirama senses a listener; finding no one at the window, he discovers a leaf Madara had been holding moments earlier.

Hashirama is ultimately chosen as Hokage. In a private meeting inside the hidden room of the Naka Shrine, he pleads with Madara, promising that people will come to understand him in time and that he would pass the title to him. Madara counters that Tobirama is far more likely to inherit it, leaving no room in the village for himself or the Uchiha he distrusts. His mind made up, Madara announces his departure, dismissing the world as mere entertainment and vowing to keep chasing his own ambitions, looking forward to the day he faces Hashirama again. The chapter runs as number 625 in volume 65 and is titled My True Dream in the Viz release.