Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      Tobirama always tried to keep his composure. He had seen a lot of things in his life. The death of his brothers, the death of his father and mother. He seemed to be the only one who had been spared. Did he regret their deaths? Was he grieving like his brother after the death of his family? No... His grief was of a different nature. He was sorry that his brothers had not had time to fulfil themselves in life... to show the world all that they were capable of. And the death of his parents had been a very unpleasant blow to him, for he had never had the chance to prove to his father that he had become truly strong, and to his mother that he could protect his impulsive older brother. He had always been amazed at Hashirama... amazed at his naivety and kindness after so many deaths.... It was as if he was wearing rose-coloured glasses, preventing him from seeing the world in real dark grey tones.       As a child, this had bothered the albino a lot, for he didn't want to lose his last brother.... the last person he had ever known. But with each new battle, an epiphany came to Tobirama.... his brother was a true genius. His wood style and quick adaptation in battle allowed him to tear down mountains, doing simply unthinkable things, yet his kindness was beyond any man's comprehension... He spared his enemies... Tobirama never saw a single opponent his brother killed. Hashirama's goals at first seemed unthinkable... unattainable. Peace is such a sweet word to them... for shinobi who live their entire lives in war. Over time, he began to believe in his brother's aspirations as he watched his brother's accomplishments. Such a cherished dream of peace had already become a real goal for the two siblings, but there was one but... Hashirama wanted to see peace with his sworn enemies.... the Uchiha. Tobirama knew that was simply not possible. There could be no future between the two clans while their past was built on each other's blood and bones. Something out of the ordinary had to happen for the two clans to lay down their arms and stand under the same banners. Hashirama was stronger than Madara - that was a simple undeniable fact in the albino's eyes. He always held back in battle with his mate and Tobirama could see that. Slowly and gradually the head of the Uchiha clan was catching up in strength to his eternal rival.       Sooner or later the Senju were bound to fall if things continued like this, for his brother was too kind. His inability to make drastic decisions could cost his clan dearly. Tobirama simply couldn't watch this without doing something about it. There was a solution, but he didn't like it. He certainly couldn't wipe out the entire Uchiha clan, but there was a hope of victory in his possibilities, which was to shake the spirit and mindset of the enemy. The only way to do so was to kill his main opponent, Izuna Uchiha, the younger brother of the Uchiha clan leader. His death would most likely break the spirit of the legendary Madara, allowing him to win this eternal battle. The plan was simple and straightforward at first glance, but it had one flaw. Izuna was a very good warrior. He was not much inferior to his brother in strength. No matter how hard Tobirama had tried over the years, he had yet to gain the upper hand over such an equal opponent. Every time their battles ended the same way, with Madara losing and Izuna saving him by trumpeting a retreat, and Hashirama not being able to raise his hand to give the chase order. This made Tobirama very angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to take his anger out on training, trying to get his skills to a level where even those damn Uchiha eyes wouldn't be able to keep up with him.       He had invented many techniques of different elements, but none of them gave him a clear advantage over Izuna. He knew he lacked speed, but how to fix it... that was a good question... How to increase his speed to the point where the sharingan couldn't react? It seemed like something impossible, but Tobirama after many years had found a solution... dangerous and risky, but feasible... He didn't understand fuin at a very high level, but by trial and error he had managed to create a teleportation technique. Senju was somehow confident that his opponent would not react to such a thing. Even though the technique did have one problem with placing seals at teleportation locations, but that was a small thing when looking at the big picture. Tobirama had long ago started hiding his feelings and emotions so that any opponent wouldn't be able to determine his true intentions. He always managed to be one step ahead of any of his opponents. Not even the Uchiha could keep up with his thoughts. Izuna was no exception, but he levelled this advantage with his mastery of the sharingan. A keen mind combined with reflexes and hard work made Tobirama Senju a very strong ninja.       However, for the past few days, he had been in a very wary state that literally screamed of an impending storm. From the first glance at Mito's companions, he realised that there was something wrong with one of them.... Outwardly, he didn't stand out that much, looking like a member of the Hatake clan, but his chakra.... it was frightening for a seasoned ninja... cold. aloof and gloomy. Tobirama was a good sensor, and also knew from experience that the hue of chakra said almost everything about the wearer's character. He could sense Madara's chakra, but even it wasn't as devastated as this teenager's..... it wasn't normal... It was only on that simple hunch that he decided to test this young ninja's abilities in battle. Destroying a single wagon wouldn't have serious consequences, but information about a potential enemy could be very useful.       The successful sabotage gave cause for reflection. Michiko Yuki was quite intelligent and gifted for his age. Tobirama also noticed that the boy trusted his instincts completely, which was saying a lot, and Senju was also surprised by the ice element. It was the first time he had seen such a thing, however, as he understood from the conversation between this Yuki and Hashirama, the guy was not short of a sense of humour, even though his words about the power of his genome sounded loud, the albino had a hard time believing them... Also, the younger Senju had learnt that Michiko was already the head of the clan at such a young age. Tobirama had mixed feelings about this kid's strength, but he didn't even doubt that if this shinobi lived another dozen years, he would become a great ninja. Now the albino was looking at his body, watching the latter squirm in pain. It could have looked like he had a fever or was sick, but Senju knew it was something else... something unknown and beyond his comprehension.... The colour of the guy's skin began to change before his eyes, taking on a pale hue as if he was deathly ill. The temperature in the cave had already dropped to zero degrees in two hours, still dropping rapidly.       The man didn't understand what was happening to this guy, for his body had begun to exude such coldness and aura that it was hard to get closer than five metres. That was why Tobirama stood at the exit of the cave, watching everything that was happening. There was a keen interest in him... a scientist's interest that was literally driving him mad with curiosity.... He felt that this frostbite was just the beginning... the beginning of something bigger..... Yuki's chakra hearth was accumulating a huge amount of chakra. This both frightened and mesmerised Senju at the same time. However, at some point, the former shinobi's sense of unease reached its limit and he realised it was time to leave. He used the teleportation technique, but he was slightly too late. His arm was hit by the shockwave. It wasn't critical, though he would clearly still have a bruise, even though Tobirama had reinforced his body with chakra.       - Unbelievable. - Senju's eyes widened in surprise. He found himself a kilometre away from the cave where Yuki had stayed. A bright blue coloured beam struck the sky, frightening in its power. The beam felt no resistance from the perennial rock where the cave was located. The sky howled at what was happening. This phenomenon occurred for several seconds, causing a whole hurricane of emotion on the face of all who watched it. The phenomenon ceased as suddenly as it had appeared.... the beam was gone in the blink of an eye. A very cold wind blew, signalling a time of change, and then small, barely perceptible snowflakes began to fall, giving Tobirama goosebumps. His eyes read fear. He finally realised that this ninja had far more potential than he could even imagine.       - I don't know if he'll be our friend or foe in the future, but I realise he's dangerous... dangerous to everyone. His genome is not inferior to the element of wood, which means he could be a danger to all of us. - The man pondered nervously. All these thoughts flew through his head in a split second. He didn't even need to give a command to his body, it already understood everything without any commands from its masters, starting to move towards the cave. The ninja didn't even realise how he found himself at the very entrance to the cave, but he was in for an unpleasant surprise. The entrance to the rock was littered with a thick layer of ice, which even at a glance was very strong.       - Water element, tearing wave. - Hashirama's brother spoke out the name of the technique, having previously formed a series of hand seals. A huge jet of water flew out of the ninja's mouth while under high pressure. The stream of water hit the ice defence, after which the two elements began to fight, which didn't last long. The stream of water simply hit as if it was hitting a concrete wall. Not even a scratch appeared on the ice defence. The man frowned as he poured a decent amount of chakra into this technique, but there was no result.       - Lightning Element, Lightning Strike. - The albino said the name of another ninjutsu as he formed a series of seals. A bolt of lightning shot out of Tobirama's hands, but even that failed to damage the ice defence, simply ricocheting off into a nearby rock, which shattered into small shards. After several more failed attempts to enter the cave, Tobirama was about to head back to the clan to bring his brother or a squad with him to break the defences, but he noticed that the ice itself had begun to melt, forming first a small stream from the cave and then a small river. Senju waited patiently for the end of what was happening. When it was over, a young man emerged from a passage in the rock. His skin was as white as snow and his hair was coloured a pale blue. The pupils of his eyes had elongated and his face had taken on animal-like features. He walked towards Tobirama, staring at him with his inhuman eyes.