Narutoverse Metas & Analysis

Was Madara 'obsessed' with Hashirama?

Ask : Do you think Madara was 'obsessed' with Hashirama, as some fans say ?

Analysis (short):

I think on some level, he was.

He was certainly captivated by Hashirama's charisma. From their childhood moments, be it because their own chakras seemed to gravitate towards one another, be it because they reciprocally found their own dreams mirrored in one another, the bond they shared lasted more than a life time, even past the limits of death.

There's a very interesting parallel between Madara/Hashirama and Naruto/Sasuke, at least in my very humble opinion. Whereas Naruto was resolute and unrelenting on bringing back Sasuke and somehow finding a way to save him from the curse of hatred, Madara is similar to Naruto in his obsession with Hashirama only in their case the tables are reversed: it's not Hashirama who is absorbed with the pursuit of bringing back Madara, it's Madara who is hellbent on Hashirama chasing after him (even though he clearly states the opposite).

In a way, it's a much sadder, far more tragic scenario - because, in the end, no one goes after Madara. When it comes down to it, the entire world had turned its back on him, all he was left with was pain and sorrow and the memories of the people he once loved. As opposed to Sasuke (and one can certainly criticise the relationship between him and Naruto or him and Sakura), Madara lost his nakama's support - by the time Madara chose to abandon Konoha, Hashirama had already evolved past the relationship they had and his dream, the village, his new life (I suppose understandably too) had gained greater importance than saving Madara from the notoriously criticised "Darkness" - of course, it comes down to the opposition to the Will of Fire. It's a recurring theme throughout the Manga; WoF Vs CoH. It's quite ironic to think that perhaps the WoF is what estranged Madara in the first place. I'd argue that CoH doesn't quite come down to something genetically inherited - When the alliance between the two great clans was forged, Madara had already gained the EMS - yet he was able to look past the loss of his beloved brother, he was able to look past his resentment and even his revile for T0birama - he was able to devote himself to the Founding of the first Hidden Village. If CoH is genetically inherited and aligned with the awakening of supreme ocular abilities, how is it that Madara was capable of investing himself into something constructive like creating a village? To me CoH sounds like an equivocal concept, something utilised to demonise and estrange a section of people. But that's just me...

Moving on... So Madara is left to wander the abyss on his own, having lost everything that was dear to him: his family, his clan, his closest most beloved friend, his faith in humanity and in the possibility that the world could be changed for the better. I can understand why he would be obsessed with Hashirama — bleak solitude, loss, desolation, these are all factors that can have an extremely detrimental effect on a person. So perhaps his manner of lashing out was in actual fact a desperate plea to be brought back into the light, as so many people tend to believe. Or maybe it was that Hashirama failed him, failed their shared dream. Konoha would fall into darkness and Hashirama just couldn't see it.

But we all know what happened at the Valley of the End — and you can see the sheer, unfiltered shock in Madara's expression when Hashirama drives his katana into his flesh, delivering a fatal blow; I have this idea that Madara didn't truly expect his friend to go through with it. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Madara falls with a blade through his back - it's allegorical and symbolic as Kishimoto made it very clear that Madara despised it when people stood behind him.

Even after his first death and despite everything, the despair, the pulsing darkness that envelopes him, the bitter loneliness, Madara endures with this one last visionary (and yes, a bit distorted) dream of peace. Yet, Hashirama is always in his thoughts:

The Gedo statue of the outer path, the one that keeps him alive, displays a sort of wooden carving of Hashirama's body. I think it's quite emblematic. Even the pose in which it's portrayed, arms splayed wide open as if in a gesture of giving and almost taking flight, I don't think it was a random choice.

But what sealed it for me was at the point of Madara's ultimate downfall (sage of six paths perfect Jinchuriki), when black Zetsu penetrates his body to seal Kaguya - As he realizes he has been betrayed by his (supposed) underling and he has failed in his mission, he says the following:

"Hashirama, where did I go wrong?"

And he says it with such a fatalist desperation.

Even at the point of destruction and failure, his thoughts were with Hashirama.

So I think that, after he had lost everything that was precious to him, Hashirama was the person that remained dear to him. And that he needed too, to save him from falling into annihilation - annihilation in the sense of complete and utter loneliness.

So yes, I could say that in a very desperate way, he was obsessed with Hashirama.