Madara has a lot of difficulty with negotiating his relationship with public opinion.
mainly bc he was an individualist who let others make their own decision but why he became power hungry and controlling bc of loss, and distrust, madara valued human lives over everything, that's why he can easily fell in despair or lose hope after witnessing so many deaths, he isn't like hashirama who would do anything for his vision even killing,
On these two pages, Madara seems to feel that the enmity between their two clans is far too high of a hurdle to pass, so they'll never get peace. Peace becomes a "pipe dream", something impossible, because Madara can't see a way of breaking down the barrier of the two clans' grudges.
"You are Senju... I truly wish it wasn't so," shows that it's especially because Hashirama's a Senju that they can't cooperate, can't trust, can't "show [their] guts to each other," because the history between their clans is this huge gulf that Madara can't see a way to cross.
He can't see a way of changing people's minds. And because of his difficulties with trusting people, he probably wouldn't believe anyone who did change their mind anyway. So the public opinion that 'Senju and Uchiha are enemies' becomes this unassailable wall to Madara that he can't see any way of changing.
From what can i say madara is a realist and mature not idealist like hashirama, madara has lost and seen more deaths and even killed adults than hashirama, he saw how deep their grudges were especially when they kill each other so easily that it became normal and peace is illusion, madara valued near people's life where hashirama's valued symbol of peace, that's why it's hard for madara to hope for peace.
he can't change people's mind mainly bc of his loss and growing up in warfare that him to have little hope and and not to trust, hence why he tried to find solace in hashirama after izuna's loss, he would believe in anyone like he did with hashirama if he can confirm with their true guts or conviction. its understandable that he can not see uchiha-senju conflict ends mostly bc he was a realist who has seen brutality of warfare and not like hashirama who can control his emotion for his vision.
Madara doesn't seem to be very good at seeing the nuance within public opinion. He seems to see things through an 'all or nothing' lens, so even though clearly some of the Uchiha would be open to peace, or at least to not fighting the Senju anymore (since they go so far as to defect to the Senju), Madara can't see any further than that the enmity between their clans still exists in the broad strokes of public opinion. So peace is still impossible, because he can't imagine that people who are enemies like their clans are could trust.
He also can't seem to recognise the influence he does have when Hashirama tries to point it out.
Madara cared about public opinion hence why he never showed bitterness towards public or clan opinion of him but towards only hashirama and tobirama and thought of not protecting the clan that his brothers died for in order for it to survive, he did want peace but izuna blocked that path, and after izuna's death he does not care about anything for a brief and he convinced uchiha would not trust him as he abandoned them when izuna died and surrender to senju easily without fight who killed their brethren but witnessing hashirama's guts he regained from his grief and started to dream and have confidence about protecting the clan again which was izuna's last wish, he trusted hashirama bc he believed hashirama would protect his clan and children and he can change people's mind, that's why madara started to have faith in trusting others too slowly slowly, also uchiha started to defect when madara abandon them after izuna's death
I'm convinced that the main reason the treaty went through is because he accidentally made it a personal matter rather than a public one. It became a matter of Madara trusting Hashirama, rather than the Uchiha trusting the Senju. And then I imagine the treaty happened very quickly after that, before Madara could get knocked back down to reality and remember that he trusts literally none of the other Senju, especially Tobirama, the 2nd in command of the clan.
it was not personal, it was public otherwise madara would have committed suicide, madara came for revenge for izuna's sake, that's why he came to fight alone with no other uchiha and wished to die but still want to protect the uchiha, that's why he tested hashirama and confirmed his guts, madara was honest with the village and thought hashirama would solve everything and found a solace in new brother and believed in hashirama's vision and moreover if leader trust anyone they would, senju-uchiha both trusted each other, there was rumor but no one paid attention, it was tobirama's doings bc tobirama was the one who was arranging and communicating with everyone from elders, councils, daimyo and other clans and creating shinobi functions meaning his uchiha and madara bias would influence others just how daimyo and his councilors easily swayed by danzo, tobirama is like that who even manipulated someone like hashirama in whom madara found new hope, he trusted hashirama and believed hashirama has the power to change everything as he showed his guts and same sentiment of brotherhood, could have changed tobirama's view but he also concede to tobirama's bigotry.
And then Madara overhears this conversation, where Tobirama's being suspicious of him, and saying that no one would vote for him to be Hokage. And Madara wakes up from the dream-like happiness he and Hashirama had been feeling after the treaty. He remembers that he doesn't actually trust any of these people aside from Hashirama, and he realises that public opinion has changed, and has now turned against him.
your statement is wrong, he was angry that hashirama concede in tobirama's bigotry without supporting madara and uchiha, madara does not care about being hokage, what he cared the vision of both of them and believed everything would be all right even public opinion would change as long as he had hashirama's back and thus he can protect uchiha and children both, he has no problem with hashirama becoming hokage or if he first did not trust other senjus but his problem is with tobirama a person who is in charge of so many things and interacting with so many important people whom tobirama would influence regarding uchiha and him thus there will be no mutual trust, even hashirama conceded to tobirama's manipulation, hashirama a person who implemented a wishful thinking of forming a alliance by showing guts to madara now that same person losing hope and became like madara when madara thought uchiha-senju alliance was wishful thinking and twisted the trust and bonds he had with madara bc of tobirama's bigotry,
another thing just like how tobirama influenced hiruzen generation, madara thought even i show merits and win the trust of the village, prejudice spreading through tobirama would affect everyone as tobirama created the shinobi function and even has the power to control his brother hashirama, so madara becoming hokage would be facade where he had to go by the tobirama's willful bigotry just like how hashirama had to which he did not like
Madara spends this whole conversation being very fatalistic. When Hashirama tries to convince him that the villagers will eventually recognize his merits, Madara ignores the possibility that he could actually invest effort into changing public opinion of him, saying that Tobirama will be 2nd Hokage, presumably because Tobirama is currently thought of more highly than he is.
konoha is not democracy it's go by the council and hokage's wish, they create who will be positive and negative in konoha and daimyo and his council's eye and tobirama was the one who was controlling everything even his powerful brother, even madara would win public opinion, but tobirama's bigotry would influence others in the long run similar to how elders did not consider fugaku's effort in war in shinden novel, so becoming hokage would not create peace for madara where a still person exists who still ha problem with him and uchiha, bc conflicts will arise and it's not equal, and his brother did not die that he and uchiha to be a tobirama and senju's slave in the village based on equal footing and cooperation, that's why he said uchiha would be in disadvantage position bc tobirama's belief in rumors, who knows he would influence next gen and the village then new silent form of conflicts would in the name of cooperation, so in this context becoming hokage is meaningless bc he can not protect children or uchiha if anything negativity happen to them anymore.
And this fucking panel. This says so much about his character. Madara never really learnt conflict resolution skills (and to be fair, I don't think either of the Senju brothers did either), so this conflict he's having with, well, all of Konoha over his public image and over whether trust is possible, is something he can only imagine resolving by force. He can't see that a softer way of resolving things is possible.
So he made it a fight. He made it a battle with winners and losers, and he ended up planning to use force on the entire world to see his dream come true. And a fair part of why he ended up there is because he couldn't grasp the idea of changing society any other way.
So yeah, in conclusion, Madara wasn't very good at seeing how he could change other people's minds in any way other than by force. This shaped his decisions to turn away from Hashirama, both when they were kids and again when they were adults, and also shaped his decision to enact the Moon's Eye plan.
he did not actually believe in resolving anything by force, he tried to achieve by force after reviving by edo tensei where he believed end justifies the means that he learnt from hashirama how hashirama killing peope to save village where village was created to protect the village, conflict resolution skills would only worked if madra slowly regain from trauma of losing his brother, more than his public image he was concerned with uchiha's position bc of tobirama and hashirama's subtle betrayal and fake vision of peace, how he can resolve in softer way when tobirama think of uchiha genetically hateful, madara becoming more like eren and itachi day by day that chaos what he can only see and there hashirama whom madara trusted the most who was not honest with his interactions anymore,
he made it winners and losers after reading tablet plus how would he change a society whose base formed by fascist person like tobirama and hashirama conceded to fascism, he believed in hashirama in his lowest time where he regaining his view of changing people's mind, but if the main brain of the system creation tobirama if keep being fixated on uchiha evil and hashirama conceded in then how would madara can change others mind, he went by force when revived as edo madara bc of how hashirama would kill his relative to save village, he stay away from hashirama bc of hashi's betrayal, bc he lost his only hope who first help to rebirth to believe in public opinions buttobirama and vote fight created the circumstances that he believed peace only achieved through force and like konoha it's for greater good and end justified mean type belief
