Chapter 18: No longer a dream

Authors note: Fixed the chapter saw some more mistakes

and a small spoiler, Conquering the shinobi world is less then half the story, what do you think will happen next.

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Raiden jogged after Hashirama, who darted ahead through the forest, his energy boundless as usual. "You've gotta see this spot, Raiden!" Hashirama called over his shoulder, the sound of the nearby river growing louder as they approached. "It's perfect!"

Raiden sighed, though he couldn't help but smile at his friend's excitement. When they finally emerged at the riverbank, they both stopped short. There was a boy already there—standing near the water's edge, tossing stones across the river.

The boy's stance was stiff, his eyes focused intensely on the water. With a smooth flick of his wrist, he sent a stone skipping across the surface, but it only bounced twice before sinking.

"Hey!" Hashirama called out suddenly, his grin wide as he bent down to pick up his own stone. "Mind if we join?"

The boy turned to face them, his dark eyes narrowing. "Go ahead," he said quietly, his voice guarded. Raiden could sense his powerful chakra—a boy not to be taken lightly. 

Hashirama tossed his stone effortlessly, and to Raiden's surprise, it skipped across the water with ease—five, six, seven skips—before finally sinking on the far bank.

Madara blinked in surprise, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration. "How did you—?"

"Skill," Hashirama said proudly, crossing his arms. "What about you?"

Madara's face tightened. He picked up another stone, flicking it harder this time, but it only skipped three times before sinking. He frowned, glancing at Hashirama.

"Not bad," Raiden chimed in with a smile, picking up a stone of his own. "But watch this."

Raiden could not contain his excitement, this had to be him Madara Uchiha.

He tossed his stone, and it skipped four times before sinking. Raiden shot Hashirama a playful look. "Seems like I'm catching up to you."

Hashirama laughed, clearly enjoying the friendly competition. "You'll have to try harder than that!"

Madara, watching the two of them, seemed to relax slightly. He grabbed another stone but hesitated as if debating whether to try again.

"I'm Hashirama, by the way," the Senju boy said with a grin. "And this is Raiden."

"Madara," the boy replied, tossing his stone without looking at them. It skipped three times before sinking.

'I knew it' We finally meet, the Ghost of the Uchiha!

"Madara, huh?" Hashirama's grin widened. "Well, you've got some work to do if you want to catch up."

Raiden watched the interaction closely. He could see the competitiveness rising in Madara, but also something else—something more guarded, as if Madara wasn't used to this kind of lighthearted rivalry.

"I'll get there," Madara said quietly, his tone determined. He bent down, picked up another stone, and tossed it again, this time getting four skips. "See?"

Hashirama chuckled. "That's more like it!"

The three boys continued their stone-skipping for a while, the playful atmosphere easing the tension between them. But as the sun dipped lower in the sky, the mood began to shift.

Even Raiden had to admit that Hashirmas excitment was infectious even the stoic Madara was smiling like a excited kid. 'I wish everyday was fun like this.'

"Hahahaha"

"Hahahaha"

"Hahahaha"

They played until dawn, and they lay tired next to each other side by side, "I haven't had this much fun until now" said Raiden, Madara hesitated before saying "Me too"

"You guys are a real bummer you know that" Said Hashirama lying in the middle.

"I come here to get away from everything," Hashirama admitted, staring out at the river. "All the fighting, all the wars... it's peaceful here."

Madara's expression darkened. "I come here for the same reason. My clan members die every day because some people can not come to an agreement, they died leaving behind their family, while saying all that Madara's hand started bleeding from clenching it so hard. 

Hashirama's smile faded. "I've lost people too."

Raiden, sensing the gravity of the conversation, stayed silent. He could feel the weight of their shared grief, the pain they both carried. This wasn't just a game anymore.

"What if it didn't have to be like this?" Hashirama said suddenly, his voice soft but filled with hope. "What if we could change things? Stop all the fighting?" Raiden's eyes lighted up 'Maybe Hashirama has finally decided that my way is the only way'

Madara scoffed, though his voice lacked any real malice. "You're dreaming."

"Maybe," Hashirama said with a grin. "But it's a good dream."

Madara looked at him, his eyes softening slightly. "Yeah… I guess it is."

"But how are you gonna achieve that" asked Madara, Hashirama said nothing, but looked meaningfully at Raiden, 'You know don't you, that Madara is from the Uchiha clan, sometimes I forget that you have a brain in there compared to your future self'

"Cough" 

"Cough"

"Cough"

Raiden coughed a few times because he got nervous, it is no easy feat standing before someone as famous as Madara, he could never forget how he felt while listening to Madara speeches in his previous life.

To tell you the truth I am from a famous clan the Uzumaki clan, looking at Madara's face expecting surprise, all he got was a blank stare, "I already knew, only you Uzumakis have red hair like that with purple eyes in the shinobi world, only an idiot would not know that"

'AAAAAHHHHH, I am so stupid I forgot about that' while Raiden was scolding himself, hashirama looked sheepishly at Madara and said "OOhh nice catch, and I am from the..."

"Senju clan"

Boom 

"But how..."

"Our clan has already known that a group of Uzumaki came to the Senju clan a while ago, I geuss they were reinforcement for the upcoming battles"

Let me formally introduce myself, my name is Madara Uchiha, the next in line for the clan head of the Uchiha, said Madara while giving a small bow.

Hashirama, stood up and said the same, My name is Hashirama senju, next in line for the position of clan head.

Raiden got out of his stupor,' Forget it, it was my mistake thinking nobody would link my looks to my clan', "I am Raiden Uzumaki, the son of the clan head"

They looked into each others eyes and smiled, knowing that from that moment onwards they could be completly honest towards each other. "So, what was your grand plan for bringing peace to the shinobi world."

Raiden smiled knowing this was his chance to get Madara into the fold and make Hashirama make up his mind he had been thinking hard about how to achieve the dream of conquering the shinobi world.

"It is simple really, we will conquer the shinobi world"

''W-hat do you mean conquer the shinobi world''

With a dead serious face, Raiden said "All this conflict between clans is because they want something be it more land, wealth or power, in order to stop that we will gather like minded people, we will announce that we want to create a nation of shinobi, a place where every clan has a place to be as they are, a place where we can exchange ideas, goods and much more."

"Think about this if we make clans submit to us and then give them a better life a life worth fighting for would they not help us to achieve that dream, I am sure you noticed the tired faces of your clan members that just want to stop this to go back to their family and have some peace and quiet" 

This shook both Madara and Hashirama since they knew that Raiden was right, they both saw this, clan members who would mumble, When will this end.

Raiden continued, I know this sounds absurd with all the bad blood that the shinobi clans have with each other, but I would bet they would mostly let it go for some lasting peace, and if you ask me how we are going to start it is simple, first we have to become the clan heads of our respective clans, then become the most powerful in the clan so no one will question our decision to ally with each other, after that the rest will be easy.

Both Hashirama and Madara looked confused, there were more then hundreds of shinobi clans. "how do you mean easy?" 

Raiden smirked, and said, just trust me on this. Hashirama still had a hesitant look in his eyes, Madara on the other hand was thinking of the feasibility of this, he knew Raiden had a point if we started with their respected clans and then gathered nearby clans that had the same ideals or wanted in on this, it could be possible.

Madara looked into Raiden's eyes and said, only on 1 condition, Raiden nodded at Madara to tell him, Raiden was prepared for almost any condition, "You have to marry someone of my clan"

'MARRIAGE, I did not even get married in my last life, I am Screwed'