Senju Hashirama's sudden appearance stunned all the elders in the hall.
The noisy chatter about venison and fine wine instantly vanished, replaced by dead silence.
"That's enough! It's really enough!"
Senju Hashirama stood at the doorway, his chest heaving violently. The last trace of respect he held for the clan elders was completely crushed by the suffering of his people.
"Hashirama!? How dare you!", Senju Butsuma slammed the table and shouted in anger.
But Senju Hashirama ignored him completely and stepped into the hall.
"Enough! I can't listen to this anymore! How selfish are you going to be?!"
"The clan members are starving! Countless people are so hungry their faces are sallow and thin. They can't even manage the most basic meals."
"For a bite of food, they're forced to go against their own conscience and disguise themselves as bandits, only to die miserably in foreign lands!"
"And you sit here in this spacious hall, wearing proper clothes, unable to feel even a trace of their suffering, yet the first thing you talk about is what to eat?"
"Is this what the Senju of love looks like?!"
Hashirama pointed outside, his voice filled with pain, his eyes reddening from intense anger.
"These past years, Konoha has opened its doors wide, taking in civilians and accepting all clans. With a fair mission system, it allows ninja to live stable lives."
"You all know very well that as long as you let go of your obsession and join Konoha, the clan can immediately escape hunger!"
"But what about you? All you care about is your own power! All you care about is your so-called clan pride!"
"You're only afraid that once you join Konoha, your status won't be secure and your power will slip away!"
Senju Hashirama shouted.
Senju Butsuma's anger boiled over. "You unfilial brat, what do you know?!"
"Right! I don't know!"
"I just know this is wrong!"
"You people weigh over a hundred, even two hundred jin, while the clan members barely weigh a hundred. That's wrong!"
"You eat venison and salmon, while the clan can't even get rice balls and miso soup. That's wrong! So what?!"
Hashirama's words tore away all pretense.
The elders' faces turned green, then pale.
Someone immediately slammed the table and shouted, accusing Hashirama of rebellion, unfilial behavior, and colluding with the enemy.
"Rebellion! Rebellion! Rebellion!!!! Ahhh!!!"
Senju Butsuma trembled with rage. Chakra surged violently around him, shaking everything on the table to the ground where it shattered.
"You unfilial son! You dare to spread such nonsense here, openly defy the elders, and go against your own father!"
Senju Butsuma's eyes were wide with fury, his voice like thunder.
"The Uchiha are our sworn enemies! Konoha is nothing but their nest! As the eldest son of the Senju, not only do you not care for your clan, you keep speaking for our enemies. You don't deserve to be a member of the Senju!"
Hashirama looked at his father and the elders, their faces twisted, completely indifferent to the lives of their clan members. The last bit of hope in his heart went out, leaving only endless disappointment.
He no longer wanted to argue another word with these stubborn people. His eyes hardened as he turned and walked toward the door.
"Different paths cannot walk together. If you insist on destroying the Senju clan, I won't go crazy with you!"
Leaving those words behind, Hashirama didn't pause for even a moment and strode straight out.
"Men! Seize Senju Hashirama!"
Senju Butsuma smashed the table with a single strike, wood splintering as he roared.
"He has openly defied clan orders, slandered the elders, colluded with external enemies, and shaken the clan's foundation. If we let him live, he'll become a disaster."
"Today, I will clean house! I'll personally execute this unfilial, unrighteous son to uphold the Senju clan's rules!"
As his voice fell, the moment Senju Hashirama stepped outside, a chill ran through his heart. Immediately, several Senju elites locked their eyes on him.
Hashirama gritted his teeth and ran.
He leapt straight onto the rooftops within the clan and fled.
BOOM! BOOM!
"Capture Senju Hashirama! He's colluded with the enemy and betrayed the clan!"
"Senju Hashirama has betrayed us! Clan Head Butsuma is impartial and just, he's cleaning house!"
For a time, the entire Senju clan grounds were thrown into chaos.
Senju Tobirama and the others, who were training by the river, also heard the news.
"What!? Big brother colluded with the enemy? He defected? Impossible!", Senju Itama said in shock.
"Yeah, how could big brother collude with the enemy? I only remember he had a pen pal named Wang Wenwang. They just exchanged letters and chatted.", Senju Kawarama added.
Senju Tobirama's face showed shock at first, then his eyes quickly turned thoughtful as he muttered, "This is bad. Big brother was actually forced to defect… Father is really this ruthless. Just because their views don't align, he goes this far…"
In an instant, Tobirama saw through his father's harshness.
"Itama, Kawarama, come with me. Move now!"
Senju Tobirama suddenly turned to the two younger brothers behind him.
"Brother Tobirama, where are we going?", Kawarama asked nervously.
Senju Tobirama's expression was calm. "If we stay here, we'll only become Father's tools. We'll turn into cold-blooded executioners."
"We… defect too!"
———
Late at night, Senju Hashirama, looking somewhat disheveled, fled all the way into the forest.
He leaned against a large tree to rest.
At this moment, he was breathing heavily, his body covered in injuries.
Even though he had awakened Wood Release, he was still too young.
There was no way he could match those experienced veteran ninja.
If those Senju elites hadn't agreed with what he said and held back a little, he really would have been captured.
"Sigh… I really should've listened to Tobirama. Before having strength, I should've stayed silent…"
Hashirama wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He closed his eyes. Where should he go next?
At this moment, he thought of a pen pal.
Over the years, they had communicated through letters, talking about their dreams, and had become very close.
Hashirama only knew that the pen pal's name was Wang Wenwang, and that he lived in Konoha.
Maybe… he could go to Konoha.
"But first, I have to save Tobirama, Itama, and Kawarama!"
Hashirama clenched his fists.
His three younger brothers were still in the clan. How could he leave them there without worry?
At that moment, a burst of noise came from nearby.
Hashirama immediately became alert, thinking they had caught up.
But soon, a familiar voice came from the dense forest.
"Brother Hashirama?!"
"Big brother!"
Senju Tobirama appeared, leading the two younger brothers, pushing through the brush as they caught up.
"Why are you here?", Hashirama said in surprise.
Tobirama, Itama, and Kawarama were also overjoyed to see him and quickly ran over.
"Brother Tobirama said something was wrong, so he brought us and ran," Kawarama said, relieved.
"Yeah, yeah! Big brother, the clan is trying to capture you!" Itama said anxiously.
"Big brother, after Father issued the warrant for you, I realized we probably can't stay in the Senju clan anymore, so I brought them with me right away.", Senju Tobirama said calmly.