The Senju Family

The Uzumaki and Senju clans — being distant relatives — have always had close ties. Mito ended up marrying Hashirama Senju, who would help found Konohagakure and became the First Hokage.[2] After Hashirama's victory against Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End and obtaining Kurama from him, Mito sealed the tailed beast within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki. Despite the seal's strength, it almost broke when she was going through childbirth. Towards the final years of her life, it was decided that a new host for Kurama would have to be found. Kushina Uzumaki, one of Mito's clansmen, was then selected for the role due to her special chakra. Terrified by the idea of having been taken from her home to become a jinchūriki, Mito comforted Kushina, and told her that in order to counter the fox's hatred, she needed to fill herself with love.[3] She elaborated on the topic by comparing their situation with their clan symbol and their residence, that while a spiral is two-dimensional, staying in one place, they need to be a three-dimensional helix, capable of rising by filling themselves with love.[4] Some time after this, the beast was presumably extracted from within Mito and sealed into Kushina, resulting in Mito's death. Mito seemed to be a very calm and composed individual with a dignified air about her. She had a strong sense of duty to her husband and the village as seen when she turned herself into a jinchūriki by sealing Kurama into herself in order to gain power for her husband.[2] In addition to her sensy of duty, Mito was described as gentle and reassuring.[1] During the time when Kushina discovered that she was to be made a jinchūriki, Mito comforted her younger clanswoman and told her about how to cope with being a jinchūriki,[3] sharing how she usually climbed the stairs of her residence in order to see her husband's face on the Hokage Rock.[1] Mito had long, bright-red hair and large, black pupilless eyes. She also used a dark shade of red lipstick and had a rhombus marking reminiscent of her granddaughter Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead. Her hair was arranged in buns with hair pins in them and three clips in the front. She also wore tags with kanji written on them in her hair decals. She wore an elaborate, high-collared kimono with the Uzushiogakure symbol on the back of the obi which was tied around her waist. In her old age, Mito's hair had grown much longer some of which she allowed to hang into her back (in the anime her hair was depicted as brown in her old age).[5] She, however, maintained the two buns in her hair and wore a simple loose fitting kimono held closed by a simple dark-coloured obi. Tobirama Senju (千手扉間, Senju Tobirama) was a member of the renowned Senju clan, who, together with his elder brother and the Uchiha clan, founded the first shinobi village: Konohagakure. Throughout his lifetime, Tobirama would work tirelessly to achieve political stability and implement the institutions that made the village system work, thus ensuring Konoha's continuity and prosperity. After his brother's death, he would earn the title of Second Hokage (二代目火影, Nidaime Hokage, literally meaning: Second Fire Shadow).Tobirama was born during the Warring States Period, and was the second of Butsuma Senju's four sons. He and his brothers grew up on the battlefield waging constant war with their rivalling clans especially the Uchiha. After the deaths of their brothers: Kawarama and later Itama, Tobirama and his older brother, Hashirama, decided a new shinobi system would need to be implemented to end the cycle of child deaths — a system that would require an alliance between the warring clans. At some point in time, it became apparent that Hashirama got into the habit of disappearing into the forest for extended periods, and as such, Tobirama accepted his father's assignment to follow Hashirama and find out what he was doing. Hashirama family Tobirama and his family. Senju and Uchiha fights From tracking Hashirama, Tobirama discovered that he was meeting with a boy named Madara: a young Uchiha. After Tobirama reported this to their father, Butsuma pressured Hashirama to lead Madara into an ambush to be carried out by himself and Tobirama. Upon springing the trap, however, they were met by Madara's family — who had similar plans and while their fathers clashed — Tobirama fought Izuna Uchiha: Madara's younger brother. Hashirama and Madara were able to negotiate a temporary ceasefire, allowing all of them to walk away without bloodshed. In the years following their families would continue to clash, Hashirama against Madara and Tobirama against Izuna. On one occasion Tobirama eventually mortally wounded Izuna. Hashirama Senju (千手柱間, Senju Hashirama) was a member and leader of the famed Senju clan and a reincarnation of Asura Ōtsutsuki. He himself was hailed as the "God of Shinobi" for his unmatched ninja prowess. Hashirama sought peace for the shinobi world, and to that end founded Konohagakure with his clan, his childhood friend and rival: Madara Uchiha, and the Uchiha clan. He would later become the First Hokage (初代火影, Shodai Hokage, literally meaning: First or Founding Fire Shadow) of Konohagakure. Although he was not able to achieve peace during his lifetime, his legacy and vision for the world would continue to shape the village and the entire shinobi world even after his death. Hashirama was an excitable man with a boisterous personality. He loved meeting new people, having friendly competitions, and gambling. Headstrong and often impulsive, it fell to others – such as his brother, Tobirama – to be more responsible or realistic about things that Hashirama had gotten carried away with.[28] When taken down in this way, or even when simply presented with information that troubled him, Hashirama could do a near-immediate about-face, going from laughing to sulking. These moping periods were typically brief though, and he'd quickly go back to his usual high-spirited nature.[29] Later generations upon meeting him, tended to remark that neither extremes of his personality were very fitting for a man called the "God of Shinobi".[21] Despite the first impression he may give, Hashirama was capable of being serious when it came to matters that were important to him. He spent years opposing the practice of sending children to war and dreamed of a shinobi system where a child could be around others their age, never needing to "grow up" prematurely on the battlefield.[7] To that end he became very devoted to Konoha upon its foundation, as it was the realisation of his dream for peaceful childhoods. He wanted the rest of the village to cherish what Konoha represented just as much as he did, encouraging them to regard every villager as part of one large family that should always look out for each other. As Hokage, his job was to protect that family at all costs, even if that cost was his life. This philosophy, known as the "Will of Fire", would become a cornerstone of Konoha teachings for decades after his death. The Will of Fire is demonstrative of Hashirama's general optimism when it came to other people; he believed a village-first loyalty would naturally break down the mentality that shinobi had to look out for their clans.[30] Hashirama lived by this philosophy long before Konoha's founding, having no qualms about killing himself if it meant peace between the Uchiha and Senju clans. In fact, his entire goal of gaining more power was to have enough just to stop violence. One example of this was he believed if the two most powerful clans during the Warring States Period were to join forces, there would be no other shinobi clan to stand against them and would stop selling their services, effectively ending the Warring States Period. He always saw the best in others, either trusting that they acted in good faith or that they could, through non-violent means, be reasoned with. He was humble, not above lowering his head to his fellow village heads[31] or claiming inferiority to those he'd never met but whose actions he approved of.[32] If nothing else, Hashirama was kind, placing the needs of others before his own: he was even willing to take his own life if it would help create a world where his friends and family wouldn't need to die unnecessarily.[33] It was on these points that Tobirama disagreed with Hashirama most ardently, as Tobirama felt that Hashirama should have a greater value of himself and a greater suspicion of others. It was, similarly, on these points that Hashirama was at his most forceful, asserting his views over Tobirama's; though Tobirama did not often agree, he knew better than to oppose his brother.[34] Hashirama is also well-balanced on this regard as he didn't exert his force over Tobirama over past actions that cannot be changed such as when finding out Tobirama seemingly mistreated the Uchiha, he expressed anger, but didn't exert his force as it didn't do any good. Hashirama had a lifelong friendship and rivalry with Madara Uchiha, eventually considering him a brother.[35] As children, they would spend much of their free time together, talking, playing, and planning for a future that they weren't sure would ever come. Both were willing to oppose their own fathers by refusing to kill each other, but only Hashirama kept up this refusal into adulthood;[36] even as enemies, Hashirama would go out of his way for Madara, restraining himself (and Tobirama) so as not to hurt him and indulging Madara's desires at his own consequence.[37] When they were able to rekindle their friendship by making Konoha, Hashirama placed a great deal of trust in Madara by desiring him to be Hokage, believing it was the best way for Madara to recover from the loss of his brothers. When this ultimately failed, Hashirama respected Madara's opinions and dissatisfaction with the village, but would not permit him to move against Konoha, killing him in the end with sadness and reluctance in order to protect what they'd made together.[38] Despite everything, Hashirama considered Madara his friend to the very end while admitting that the two of them tried to do everything by themselves to fulfill their respective dreams instead of cultivating them across their generations.[39] Hashirama was a tall man with tanned skin and dark eyes. He had waist-length black hair typically styled in a centre-parted fringe that framed his face. He often wore the standard shinobi dress of his era, consisting of dark red armour worn over a simple black suit with sandals. This armour was constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body; each collar of his shoulder guards bore the Senju symbol. Prior to Konoha's formation he wore a white-coloured cloth bearing his clan's symbol on his forehead,[40] which he later replaced with the village's forehead protector. Upon becoming Hokage, Hashirama tended to wear the traditional Kage attire consisting of the customary maroon and white hat and haori over a full-length maroon and white gown, along with a simple red headband.[41] Otherwise, he wore a light-brown, short-sleeved, kimono shirt with mesh armour underneath, held closed by a red sash, and navy blue pants. In his Hokage portrait, he is seen wearing a kerchief.[42] As a child, Hashirama's hair was more bowl-cut in style, hanging around his face. His usual attire consisted of a dark kimono shirt, a short light green jacket with darker green linings, a white scarf around his neck, traditional pinstriped kimono pants of his clan, and a dark green sash around his waist. うちはマダラ Uchiha Madara Second Six Paths (二人目の六道, Futarime no Rikudō)[3] Saviour of this World (この世の救世主, Kono Yo no Kyūseishu)[4] Ghost of the Uchiha (うちはの亡霊, Uchiha no Bōrei)[2][5] Debut Manga Naruto Chapter #370 Madara Uchiha (うちはマダラ, Uchiha Madara) was the legendary leader of the Uchiha Clan. He founded Konohagakure alongside his childhood friend and rival, Hashirama Senju, with the intention of bringing about an era of peace. When the two couldn't agree on how to achieve that peace, they fought for control of the village, a conflict which ended in Madara's death. Madara, however, rewrote his death and went into hiding to work on his own plans. Unable to complete it in his natural life, he entrusted his knowledge and plans to Obito shortly before his actual death. Years later, Madara would be revived, only to see his plans foiled and ultimately, and finally, realising the error of his ways and making amends with Hashirama before his final death. Advertisement Background Madara apperance Madara as a child. Madara was born during the Warring States Period, and was the eldest of Tajima Uchiha's five children.[6] Madara and his siblings grew up on the battlefield waging constant war with the Uchiha's rivals: the Senju. Three of his siblings died young, leaving Madara with only his younger brother, Izuna. Madara and Izuna became very close through their shared loss and constantly competed with each other to get stronger.[7] This, combined with his naturally strong chakra, enabled the young Madara to defeat adult Senju in battle and develop a reputation as a genius.[8] During his infrequent downtime, Madara met a boy his own age named Hashirama. The two quickly developed a friendly rivalry, be it skipping stones or urinating in rivers. Like Madara, Hashirama was also a shinobi who had lost his brothers on the battlefield. Together they imagined a world where children like themselves wouldn't need to fight.[9] As a precaution, Madara and Hashirama did not divulge their family names, but nevertheless discovered each other's identities: Madara was an Uchiha, Hashirama was a Senju; it was their duty to kill each other, even if they were friends. Needing to choose between his family and his dreams of peace, Madara chose to end his friendship with Hashirama so he would have no reservations over killing him in the future, a resolve strong enough to awaken his Sharingan.[10] Madara and Hashirama combat Over the following years Madara and Hashirama continued to meet in combat. Madara could never defeat Hashirama — even after acquiring a Mangekyō Sharingan — and Hashirama could never bring himself to kill someone he still considered a friend, resulting in a constant stalemate between the two that lasted decades. In time, both Madara and Hashirama became leaders of their respective clans, a position Hashirama tried to use to broker peace between them.[11] Although some Uchiha found the offer increasingly tempting, Madara refused due to Izuna's death at the hands of Hashirama's own brother, Tobirama Senju. Despite this, some Uchiha defected over to the Senju clan out of self-preservation. Madara then used Izuna's eyes in order to gain "eternal" Mangekyō Sharingan and restore his deteriorating vision. With this new power he waged one final assault against the Senju and was summarily defeated. Rather than kill Madara to bring the era of war to an end, Hashirama offered to kill himself if it would stop the fighting. Madara was moved by Hashirama's gesture and finally assented to peace.[12] Senju & Uchiha truce Konohagakure is formed. The Senju, the Uchiha, and all their affiliated clans came together to found a village of peace, where children would never need to die in battle. Madara and Hashirama rekindled their childhood friendship, and Madara named that village Konohagakure, seeing it through leaves.[13] But Madara's idea of peace differed from Hashirama's: where Hashirama envisioned cooperation with the other newly-formed villages, Madara desired control so the peace could never be lost, evidenced by his attacking Iwagakure's Mū and Ōnoki so that they would submit to Konoha's authority.[14][15] When Hashirama was elected as Hokage, Konoha's leader, Madara also became concerned for the Uchiha's future, believing this to be but the first step in the Senju's dominance.[16] Hashirama vs Madara The Stone Tablet Zetsu altered[17] had been in the Uchiha's possession for generations and was brought with them when they settled in Konoha. Through careful study, Madara was able to decipher enough of it to learn of the history of shinobi: of the endless cycle of failed peace and the destiny of battle between Uchiha and Senju, but also a means of unity for the world.[18] With this knowledge, Madara decided Konoha was a failed experiment. He tried to convince his own clan and even Hashirama of the same conclusion, but none would hear him.[19] Madara chose to abandon the village, attacking Konoha on multiple occasions,[20] later returning with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox under his control to challenge Hashirama.[21] They fought to exhaustion, and from the carnage of their battle the Valley of the End was formed.[22] In the end, Madara was killed by Hashirama.[23] News of Madara's death spread fast and his corpse was secretly hidden to keep anyone from finding it and profiting from it. But Madara had planned ahead: he had scheduled an Izanagi to activate sometime after his death, changing reality to bring him back to life in exchange for his right eye's vision. Meanwhile, Black Zetsu had spent an unspecific length of time hiding itself inside of Madara's body, allowing it to later deceive Madara into thinking he created it. After being revived, he left a copy in place of his real body and went into hiding with a special trophy from his fight with Hashirama: a mouthful of Hashirama's flesh that he transplanted into his wounds. It was not until decades later, towards the end of Madara's natural life, that the cells had any effect, awakening the Rinnegan (in the process restoring his right eye). With the Rinnegan, he was able to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which he used to cultivate a mindless living clone of Hashirama from which he believed he had produced a White Zetsu Army.[24] Over the years, Madara had perfected his plans for peace in what he called the Eye of the Moon Plan. But as his years waned, Madara knew he couldn't complete his plans in the time he had left. So he transplanted his Rinnegan into a young Nagato without the boy's knowing,[24] intending Nagato to someday use the eyes to restore Madara to life. If Nagato was to do this, however, Madara would need an agent to act on his behalf and guide Nagato towards this ultimate goal. Madara waited, connecting himself to Demonic Statue to keep him alive until someone could be found.[25] Madara spent this time keeping a close eye on Konoha to find a suitable pawn to take his place. During the Third Shinobi World War, Madara found a badly injured Obito. Madara used Hashirama's cells to replace Obito's damaged extremities and placed a Forbidden Individual Curse Tag in Obito's heart as a fail-safe in case Obito ever turned against him. Until then, Madara began working towards corrupting Obito. He had Kirigakure kidnap the girl Obito loved, Rin Nohara, and seal the Three-Tails into her. He then manipulated events so that Rin would die at the hand of Obito's friend, Kakashi Hatake, while Obito watched.[26] Driven to despair, Obito offered his services to Madara. Madara divulged to Obito the history of the Sage of the Six Paths and the Ten-Tails, the details of his Eye of the Moon Plan, and various techniques that Obito would need moving forward. As a final act, he left behind Black Zetsu — what he believed to be a manifestation of his will — to provide additional guidance to Obito in pursuit of this goal. With that, Madara disconnected from the Demonic Statue and, with his dying breath, entrusted Obito with his name: Madara Uchiha.[27] The childhood dynamics between Madara and Hashirama. Madara's childhood was a product of the times he lived in: the constant fighting made him a perfectionist that would keep at something until he mastered it, and his triumphs on the battlefield made him very confident in his abilities and talent.[28] Whenever one of these personality traits was challenged, as they tended to be by Hashirama, Madara's competitive streak would emerge. Madara did not mind Hashirama's influence in this regard; he believed that the only way to survive in the shinobi world was to make allies with one's enemies.[29] His exposure to Hashirama is credited for Madara not experiencing the Uchiha's "Curse of Hatred" or at the very least, not being victimised by it as much as Izuna was and even though he claimed to have abandoned his friendship with Hashirama, Madara still held onto their friendship subconsciously.[30] Madara's actions and beliefs were singularly focused on protecting Izuna, his only surviving brother.[31] So long as he had Izuna, Madara was reasonable and kind, willing to make concessions for a perceived greater good.[32] Madara changed after Izuna's death, becoming bitter towards the Senju, particularly Hashirama since he still had a brother. Embracing his clan's Curse of Hatred, he opted to die for revenge rather than compromise or forgive.[33] Although he was briefly convinced to set aside his grief and try to replace Izuna with the collective family of Konoha, he could never shake the feeling that he was betraying Izuna's memory. The increasing isolation of himself and other Uchiha from village politics ultimately convinced him of this, causing him to fully break with any other attachments. During his time as a Konoha shinobi, Madara did what he thought was in the village's best interests. Unlike Hashirama's compassionate methods, Madara took a merciless approach: the shinobi of Iwagakure only had purpose so long as they swore unwavering allegiance to Konoha.[14] Since their methods were so different, Madara hated to hear Hashirama's name during diplomatic discussions.[14][34] After his defection from Konoha, Madara's priorities became centred around the Eye of the Moon Plan, manipulating countless others in order to satisfy his own goals and putting in place multiple layers of contingencies so that nobody could ever diverge from his own intentions. Despite this, Madara genuinely believed this plan would in fact, benefit the world and simply followed an "ends justifies the means" principle. As he valued only power and possessed so much of it, Madara therefore disliked to waste it on unworthy causes or unchallenging opponents, claiming disgust when he was forced to.[35] Madara loved fighting above all else: the sights, the sounds, even the taste of his own blood, occasionally describing his battles as "dances";[36] he felt being reincarnated deprived him of the full experience. Yet he was very disciplined in a fight, never allowing his failed plans or attacks to upset him, never letting superior numbers or power intimidate him, and always willing to do whatever must be done to gain victory. Although he sometimes imposed limitations on himself, such as not using certain techniques more than once, he was willing to "lower" himself with unbecoming tactics or excessive displays in order to change tactics and exploit advantages. He was perfectly aware of his talents and did not feign modesty, bluntly stating when he was stronger than his opponents and belittling them when they continued to defy him. Conversely, if he was proven wrong or somebody posed a legitimate challenge to him, he would admit it, and apologise for previous remarks if necessary. In addition, if such an opponent is about to die, he would show them the ultimate respect by taking the time and effort to finish them off himself, even if said person is going to die on their own.[37] Stemming from this, he feels insulted if he knows an opponent isn't using their full power against him, even if he knows it will result in their death.[38] He also held the Senju to a higher standard in terms of power due to his encounters with Hashirama, stating a weak Senju disgusts him more than a weak shinobi of any kind. One of the exceptions Madara makes was Hashirama. Their years of rivalry left Madara with competing feelings of respect and resentment for Hashirama. Madara considered Hashirama the only opponent worthy of his time and would postpone his own plans if it meant prolonging his time to fight with Hashirama without issue.[39] Despite this, Madara is quite open-minded about recognising other strong individuals besides Hashirama, as when he declares Might Guy as the strongest taijutsu user he's ever faced.[40] Despite his prowess and intellect, Madara is not without moments of recklessness. When he was brought back to life, he showed no hesitation in absorbing Hashirama's senjutsu chakra while admitting he expected to have some difficulty controlling it due to having no prior training. In the later years of his developing the Eye of the Moon Plan, Madara became pessimistic about human nature, believing the cycle of battle to be inescapable.[41] He also came to believe that humanity and the world are incapable of changing from what they were in the past.[42] He believed the current, "worthless" reality was built too much on the idea of winning and losing. For this reason he was deeply committed to his plan, so much that he would prematurely end a fight he was enjoying or kill any threat, even his own clansmen, for the sake of its success. Despite this, Madara was simply acting on what he believed would benefit humanity as a whole, showing his time in Konoha did indeed influence his actions and he wasn't acting simply out of bloodlust after Izuna's death. His plan's ultimate failure made him see its errors: breaking free of his Curse of Hatred, and admitted the superiority of Hashirama's methods for peace. He and Hashirama were thus able to reconcile their friendship in the moments just before his death. Madara was a fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair that had a slight blue tint to it. In his childhood, his hair was chin-length that parted to frame the sides of his face. His casual attire consisted of a blue long sleeve shirt and white pants. While on the battlefield he wore the standard Uchiha outfit: a black shirt with a high-collar left slightly open and the clan's crest on its back, with blue pants and bandages around his shins. Around his waist he had a white sash that held a sack, presumably containing his ninja tools.[7] Later, his sash was replaced by a belt, adorned with pouches and various weapons. He also wore another sash strapped across his shoulders which he used to hold his swords.[43] As an adult, Madara is fairly tall while his hair grew to waist-length with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face, covering most of his right eye. He has several scars throughout his body.[44][45] Although still relatively young, more prominent creases had developed under each of his eyes. At times, he wore crimson armour with numerous metal plates, forming protective guards along his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. Most of the time, however, he continued wearing the same basic Uchiha outfit: a blue high-collared, long sleeve mantle that splits down the lower half and a simple, light-brown obi and a belt.[46] During battle, he often carried an orange-brown gunbai which had a long black chain running up it. At one point, he wore a Konohagakure forehead protector.[47] The anime also shows him wearing a metal belt, as well as a brown leather sash to hold some of his other weapons, and a pair of belt sashes to hold two of his swords.