I still think it's really impressive that, independent of each other, both Madara and Hashirama came to the radical (for their time) stance of opposing needless violence and the idea of children being used as weapons/targets in the wargaming of adults.
We get to see bits of how Hashirama starts forming these thoughts and how he builds on them, but we're sadly never shown the equivalent from Madara's perspective. All we do know is that 1.) Madara clearly shares the same beliefs due in large part to his own experience with violence/loss and 2.) that it is so revolutionary for him to think this way, Hashirama is shocked to discover there is another little boy out there who shares his beliefs.
In contrast, I think it's also interesting to consider the perspective of Tajima and Butsuma amid all this as their worldview(s) would have been the first both Madara and Hashirama were exposed to.
We're told that the life expectancy of this era was just about thirty years old for both shinobi and civilians. People were essentially speed-running through life and while Butsuma and Tajima have, what I would say, somewhat aged appearances, I don't think it would be wrong to assume that they're still fairly young themselves given the life expectancy line (though, I'll grant that this is up for interpretation... age/stress lines can sometimes be deceiving in this manga). But along that line of thinking, it kind of makes me wonder if there's some element of 'children raising children' where, because their own childhoods were likely cut short/traumatic due to how bloody/violent the world was/continued to be, Butsuma and Tajima were probably doomed from the start as parents and would have been horribly suited to raise the next generation healthily/effectively (honestly pretty standard in the Naruto-verse lol).
While I've always found Tajima's deference to Madara interesting because of how it stands in contrast to what we're shown regarding Butsama's demeanor with his children, I think it's important to remember that Madara still came to the same conclusions about the world that Hashirama did... meaning that, at some point, Madara, on his side of the fence, was grappling with similar issues within the shinobi system.
Take this with a grain of salt as we only see a split-second of Tajima through Hashirama's extremely brief interaction with him, but it's always made me think that, while Tajima might not have been as physical/firm with his sons, it's likely that he was similarly neglectful.
Both Tajima and Butsuma are clearly products of their generation/the times they live in and are very likely victims of the shinobi world themselves (again, this is just standard fare in the Naruto-verse). I don't think it's a stretch to read them as two people who may have defied the odds of actually reaching adulthood but ultimately remain trapped in the cycle of violence they've inherited since birth. And now, here they are... broken, battle-worn men who are no stranger to loss/tragedy and know nothing else beyond passing that cycle/ideology down to their children.
I'm not trying to justify how they're raising/interacting with their children, but I am trying to see the world through their eyes. Especially as Butsuma likens participating in the cycle/ensuring his children can survive it to his idea of 'love' as a parent (again, I don't think it's a stretch to assume this is a 'standard' line of thinking in this era and it might be one shared by Tajima as well).
Now, we don't know the exact context of why Tajima and Izuna are there at the river (unlike the context we have with Butsama and Tobirama), but it's clear from the way it's presented that even this confrontation was mirrored on both sides. Somehow Madara's rendezvous with Hashirama was discovered and the Uchiha devised an almost identical plan to try and target Senju, just like Senju family plotted against the Uchiha.
I guess I'm kind of rambling here now (when am I not), but I just want to understand more about Tajima and how he might have influenced Madara since I think knowing Hashirama's experience with Butsuma helps inform us of how he reached his radical beliefs.
What I can conclude from the crumbs we have is that 1.) his parenting/ideology potentially led to Madara's inverse radicalization (I'm giving some leeway here since we don't know the innerworkings of the Uchiha during this time and maybe some other event/relationship pushed Madara into his subversive beliefs, but I think given all the 'mirroring' going on between the two clans it's not a drastic stretch), 2.) he was completely willing to kill one of Butsuma's children/didn't seem to hesitate in employing this strategy (this is presented as a brutal tactic meant to sway the enemy and it's something Hashirama's narration implies was simply cold calculus and maybe even normalized), and 3.) he showed strong approval when Madara awakened his sharingan, seeing it as a boon to their clan/family rather than a potentially traumatic event that was clearly important enough to Madara that his correlating emotions triggered the activation.
Personally, I almost think it would be interesting to explore how Butsama and Tajima's parenting styles might have differed in some ways, but, in any case, still inevitably led to their sons coming to the same conclusions that the shinobi world was fucked and children were deserving of safety/protection.
So, while it's clear Butsuma was very harsh and physical with his children, maybe in contrast Tajima was more gentle in his mannerisms. Regardless, the end result would remain the same: both Madara and Hashirama develop feelings/beliefs that stand in opposition to that of their fathers.
Tajima could have been a kind(er) father, someone who was respectful of (most of) Madara's opinions/ideas and gave him praise, yet, at the end of the day, he still chose to arm his children (even knowing he might have to bury them one day) and expected his sons to fight with the intent to kill - a reality full of contradiction that Madara would have been forced to contend with. That Tajima had to bury three of his other children and was still prepared to arm Izuna/bring him into dangerous conflicts and was coming to rely on Madara as a warrior in his own right, would have (imo) stirred some complicated feelings.
Lol, idk we barely have any info on Hashirama/Madara's era and here I am trying to peak into an even less explored era with Tajima and Butsuma...
I just think it's fascinating that they raised the most radically minded children of this generation who literally went on to fundamentally transform the shinobi world.
How did they get this way? Did they ever question what they were doing to their sons? How did they, as parents, continue to justify burying the children they had nursed and raised? Was it all completely 'normal' to them, to the extent feelings surrounding the 'wrongness' of the situation never materialized?
I think framing it this way/from their perspective also further highlights/reinforces just how dangerous/challenging Madara and Hashirama's thought process was.
The risk of betrayal in toying with this idea of 'peace' would have been incredibly high during such an untrustworthy period of history...
And how do you even begin to talk about peace when the ground is still soaked in fresh blood? Where do you draw the line of who will be 'properly' avenged and who will continue having their killer roam free under this new banner of armistice? I know I'm always bringing stuff back to Sasuke, but I think his character really captures these questions well and, honestly, right or wrong you can absolutely understand how certain people (from their perspective) come to the conclusion that there is simply no way for them to ever excuse certain losses, especially when it relates to loved ones.
Even so, Madara and Hashirama were playing around with those ideas as children who were witnessing the worst of humanity and the consequences that accompanied it. I don't think either of their fathers would have ever seen a path to peace and an end to the violence the way they were.
Lol, anyways... just more food for thought (and I don't know about anyone else, but I really want to know more about Tajima and Butsuma/their history).
Also here's my sketch without all the gore. Lowkey, it kind of looks like the Uchiha family is just out for a nice little trip to the market haha.
