"Has the plot finally begun?" Uchiha Xuan muttered under his breath. Others might not know what Madara practicing skipping stones by the river meant, but he remembered perfectly well. In the original story, wasn't Madara and Hashirama's very first meeting exactly because of skipping stones by a river?
Calculating the timeline, the New Year had just passed, and Madara had officially turned nine. In the original story, this was roughly the exact age he met Senju Hashirama.
"I absolutely cannot miss this historic scene," Xuan thought to himself. He wasn't entirely sure if Madara had already bumped into Hashirama yet, but knowing this was happening and not butting in would be a disgrace to his status as a transmigrator.
Therefore, completely ignoring the shattered teacup on his floor, he got up and headed straight out of the clan compound. Once outside, he blurred into a black shadow, darting through the trees at blistering speed.
Skip... skip... skip... A flat stone bounced across the water's surface, skipping three times before sinking with a soft plop.
Looking extremely frustrated, Uchiha Madara picked up another stone, tossed it in his hand a couple of times, and grumbled, "Next time, I'm definitely getting it to the other side."
Whoosh... In a flash, a stone shot out from behind him, hit the river, rapidly skipped across the water, and landed perfectly on the opposite bank with a sharp clack.
Madara cast a sideways glance backward. A boy around his age was standing there, still holding his throwing posture. He wore a light green, almost white shirt with a white triangular scarf tied around his neck. Most notably, he had a bowl cut that left a remarkably deep impression on anyone who looked at it.
"When you throw it, remember to aim slightly upward. That's the trick," the bowl-cut boy said with a bright, incredibly approachable smile.
Looking highly annoyed, Madara turned around. "I obviously know a minor detail like that! As long as I throw it seriously, I can definitely make it across! By the way, who the hell are you?"
The bowl-cut boy put his hands on his hips and laughed. "Me? At this exact moment, I suppose you could call me your stone-skipping rival. I made it to the other side, after all."
Madara aggressively threw the stone in his hand to the ground and demanded, "I asked who you are!"
The bowl-cut boy chuckled softly. Just as he was about to answer, a stone flew past the two of them like a bolt of lightning, kicked up a massive spray of water, and violently smashed into a tree trunk on the opposite bank with a deafening BANG. The tree violently snapped in half, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
"Oh my, oh my. It seems I used a bit too much force."
A voice drifted over as a figure casually strolled out of the woods with a smile. Looks like I made it right on time, Xuan thought, catching his breath internally.
Madara looked slightly taken aback. "Xuan? Why are you here?"
Xuan waved his hand and walked up with a relaxed smile. "I was in a bad mood, so I came out here for a walk to clear my head. Saw you guys skipping stones. How about letting me join in?"
As he spoke, he turned directly to Hashirama, looking the future God of Shinobi up and down. He stared at him as if inspecting a bizarre new species of animal. He really does dress like a total country bumpkin, Xuan noted. And he looks so adorably clueless. Seriously, how the hell did a guy like this beat the Uchiha in the original story? I can't see it at all.
Keeping those thoughts to himself, he flashed a bright, hearty smile. "Yo! I'm Lu Xuan. From today onward, consider me your rival in stone-skipping. Am I welcome?"
The bowl-cut boy hadn't expected another person to pop out of nowhere, but given his carefree personality, he didn't mind at all. He smiled. "Lu Xuan? What a strange name. I'm Hashirama. I can't tell you my last name for certain reasons."
"Don't just talk amongst yourselves and ignore me, you bastards!" Madara yelled angrily. Stepping forward, he added, "Hashirama, right? I'm Madara. I also can't tell you my last name for certain reasons. We're skipping stones? Watch closely. I'll definitely succeed this time."
Madara raised his right hand, adopting a flawless, textbook shuriken-throwing posture, and launched the stone.
Seeing this, Hashirama froze slightly. That throwing form... just as I suspected, it's Shurikenjutsu, he thought. With that in mind, he glanced back at Lu Xuan. That violently thrown stone from earlier had left an incredibly deep impression on his mind.
Madara's stone skipped across the water a few times, but just as it was about to reach the opposite bank, it lost momentum and sank.
Ugh... Madara stared at the ripples where his stone had vanished, remaining completely frozen in his throwing posture.
Suddenly, he whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at the two of them with wildly exaggerated movements. "You bastards! You're standing behind me on purpose to distract me, aren't you?! I'm an incredibly sensitive person! The kind who can't even pee if someone is standing behind me!"
Having long grown accustomed to Madara's antics, Xuan simply scoffed. "Tch. If you can't pee, why don't you blame gravity while you're at it?"
Hashirama, on the other hand, was visibly startled. He instantly dropped to the ground, hugging his knees in a state of absolute, crippling depression. If this were an anime, you could practically see the massive, gloomy shadow looming over his head.
"I-I'm sorry..."
Madara clearly hadn't expected this kind of reaction from Hashirama. Completely ignoring Xuan, he threw his hands up in a panicked attempt to comfort him. "Hey, there's no need to get that depressed over it!" Sighing helplessly, he pressed a hand to his forehead. "Sorry, okay? I shouldn't have made up stupid excuses."
Holy crap, what am I looking at? Uchiha Madara actually apologized?! Is this the legendary, unique charm of Senju Hashirama? Seeing Madara apologize, Xuan stared at them like he had just discovered a new continent.
"I-I really didn't know," Hashirama mumbled, burying his head even deeper into his knees. "I didn't realize I had such an obnoxious lack of self-awareness."
Catching the double meaning, Madara pointed at him and roared, "I seriously can't tell if you're actually a nice guy or just an asshole with a smart mouth!"
"Hahaha!" Hashirama suddenly leaped to his feet. Mimicking a stone-skipping motion, he grinned cheekily. "Well, one thing is definitely clear: I'm way better at skipping stones than you."
Madara grew even more furious. "Do you want me to skip you across the river?!"
"Oh..." Hashirama instantly reverted back to his hopelessly depressed state. Hugging his knees on the ground again, he mumbled miserably, "I didn't mean to make you angry. As an apology, I'll mentally prepare myself to be skipped across the river... Go ahead, throw me."
Watching the future two strongest shinobi of the Warring States goofing off like this, Xuan was incredibly amused. He had only ever seen this dynamic in the anime, but today he was finally getting to watch the live-action version.
Having never encountered a person like this before, Madara put his hands on his hips and sighed helplessly. "Do you have any idea how annoying your mood swings are?"
Hashirama suddenly tilted his head up slightly, his voice dripping with pure, mocking malice. "But... I do hope you can actually manage to throw me to the other side."
"You're pissing me off! Get lost!" Madara completely exploded. He suddenly realized that the guy sitting in front of him was even more infuriating than Xuan.
As expected. If you crack open an airhead, they're always pitch-black on the inside, Xuan mocked internally.
Hashirama obediently stood up. Giving a little wave, he smiled brightly. "I'm leaving now."
"Wait." Madara suddenly called out, reaching out to grab his shoulder.
Hashirama turned back helplessly. "What do you want now? Can you make up your mind?"
"I... I..." Faced with someone who looked like an innocent airhead on the outside but was incredibly devious on the inside, Madara was momentarily at a loss for words.
Just then, the river's gentle current carried something downstream. A shinobi's corpse floated along the surface of the water.
"What is that...?" Madara asked, his voice suddenly sharp.
Xuan quickly stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with the two of them.
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