"Sensei, you…"
Hiruzen felt the Nine-Tails' chakra emanating from Naruto's body and sharply drew in a breath. The intensity of it was so overwhelming that the average temperature in Konoha dropped by 0.1 degrees…
The vast and surging Nine-Tails chakra was now flowing under tight control and order, looking as though it had already been tamed…
Even the ferocity and ominous aura it usually carried could now only be faintly sensed.
The Nine-Tails—a mighty tailed beast that required the Fourth Hokage to sacrifice his life just to barely seal it away. A fearsome weapon capable of shifting the tides during a battle between two legendary shinobi. Konoha's ultimate trump card…
Yet unfortunately, throughout history, not a single jinchūriki had ever truly mastered it. Not even the strongest sealing kunoichi, Uzumaki Mito, had fully controlled it.
For a long time—
The Nine-Tails had been both Konoha's greatest asset and a volatile time bomb buried within the village. A final weapon that made enemy hidden villages wary—but one that consumed massive village resources just to keep its host stable.
This powerful Nine-Tails, when viewed from a weapon's perspective, ended up becoming somewhat of a burden due to Konoha's weakness…
Because no one could control it—no one could truly harness its power.
After all, if the Nine-Tails hadn't been quite so powerful, perhaps Konoha could have found a shinobi capable of bearing its strength and nurtured a jinchūriki ready to enter the battlefield.
But now, today—
That problem had been solved.
Senju Tobirama had taken over Naruto's body—a body only seven years old, not yet in rapid development—yet he could manipulate the Nine-Tails' power as if it were an extension of his own limbs…
Once this body matured, around sixteen or seventeen years old—
Just the existence of a jinchūriki capable of fully bearing the Nine-Tails' power would be enough to make Konoha fearless against invasions from any other hidden village in the entire shinobi world…
And on top of that, one must factor in Senju Tobirama's own genius, as well as his grand plan of gathering every kekkei genkai under heaven—
Including but not limited to: Hashirama's cells… the Sharingan…
In today's shinobi world, where both Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama no longer existed—
Hiruzen was suddenly struck by a terrifying realization.
Even if his former sensei was now trapped in the body of a seven-year-old child—even if the current Third Hokage were to disregard all emotion and try to take down Tobirama by force…
It was already an impossible task.
With the Nine-Tails at his side, Tobirama didn't even need to discuss combat strength—just from the perspective of tailed beast equilibrium alone, he had already established an invincible position within Konoha's ranks…
And as for Hiruzen's last resort—the Dead Demon Consuming Seal…
He couldn't afford to send the last remaining half of the Nine-Tails into the Shinigami's belly too!
Konoha was already weak enough as it was…
If the Third Hokage and the Nine-Tails were to vanish together, then the village's destruction would be an inevitable outcome following the next great shinobi war.
There simply wasn't a single Kage-level force left that could bear the burden.
So…
Even if Tobirama had truly strayed into a dark path—if, with no one to restrain him, he went further and further like an ultimate version of Orochimaru, pursuing forbidden arts like immortality—
Hiruzen would still have no way to stop him, all for the sake of Konoha!
This… was an open conspiracy.
A completely blatant one.
Tobirama's possession of Naruto came at the most perfectly calculated time. And the reason he gave, on the surface, was flawlessly aligned with the Will of Fire—
To end the age of chaos and usher in peace!
However…
With decades of experience as Hokage, Hiruzen's intuition was now screaming at him in alarm—this Tobirama, who had suddenly revived and taken over Naruto's body, absolutely wasn't acting for those noble reasons…
There was an overwhelming chance that he wasn't doing this for the Will of Fire—or for Konoha at all!
Tobirama, who had once given his life for the village, had returned in a second life. And now, to Hiruzen, he felt as if his former sensei had finally cast off all chains—racing forward on a dangerous road, completely abandoning all worldly morals and constraints. He had finally unleashed his true self!
He had even possessed Naruto… knowing full well he was the son of the Fourth Hokage…
And yet, despite all that—
This version of Tobirama still matched Hiruzen's exact image of what his sensei would become if he ever fell into darkness.
Compared to him…
Hiruzen's beloved student, Orochimaru, now seemed like nothing more than a poor imitation forever living in his predecessor's shadow…
Their actions might have followed similar patterns, but Tobirama struck with a masterstroke—merging both overt and covert tactics into a fatal move. In one fell swoop, he had bound Konoha's future and the Nine-Tails to himself, leaving Hiruzen with no room to maneuver.
Even if he wanted to oppose Tobirama's methods… all he could do was watch helplessly. In fact, he'd probably have to follow his orders.
"Sensei… you… you feel like a stranger to me now!"
Hiruzen clenched his fists and said in a low voice, "Are you really tying Konoha's entire fate to yourself?"
Kazuki chuckled softly, answering with casual ease, "Monkey, you're right… If I grow stronger, I can protect Konoha more effectively. As the Second Hokage, is there anything wrong with saying that?"
"Alright, remember what I said."
"As for the Uchiha clan—don't interfere. Just observe quietly… During this time, don't disturb me. Keep all nuisances away."
Tobirama spoke slowly: "Otherwise… for the sake of Konoha and the ultimate peace of the shinobi world, I'll have no choice but to eliminate certain sources of unrest in advance."
"You understand what I mean, don't you?"
Hiruzen took a deep breath and lowered his head.
Understand what?
As someone who had been both friend and rival to Shimura Danzo for so many years, how could Hiruzen not know exactly what he meant?
He had heard these kinds of words far too many times—
Whenever Danzo wielded the Will of Fire like a banner to coerce the shinobi of the village, this was always how he put it…
In simpler terms—whoever stands in my way, I'll eliminate them.
Hiruzen never imagined… that one day, it would be his own sensei threatening him in this way!
At that moment, multiple shadowy figures flashed through Hiruzen's mind.
With Tobirama at the center…
One by one, the images of Orochimaru, Shimura Danzo, and even his own reflection passed before him.
"So that's how it is… It was always like this," Hiruzen muttered with a bitter smile.
Within the lineage of Senju Tobirama's teachings—
Every remarkable disciple and successor seemed to carry a shard of their sensei's darker side.
Whether it was ideological extremism, ruthless execution, or cold pragmatism—each of them seemed to carry a piece of the original Tobirama.
Hiruzen's obsession with balance, Danzo's viciousness, Orochimaru's extremism and wild ambitions…
And when all of their traits were added together—multiplied by an overwhelming factor—that was Senju Tobirama.
"I… I understand, Sensei," Hiruzen exhaled heavily, his eyes full of conflicted emotion as he looked once more at the 'Naruto' before him. Then he turned and walked away in quick strides.
He needed space.
A quiet place where no one would disturb him—
Where he could carefully replay every detail of today's conversation with his sensei and figure out what he should do next…
The midday sun was warm.
But inside Hiruzen's heart, all was ice.
Confusion—confusion like he had never felt before.
"Hokage-sama, what's the status of the jinchūriki? Should we take any further action?"
A squad leader from the Anbu stepped forward, loyalty written all over his face, quickly asking the grim-faced Hiruzen.
"Relay my orders—"
Hiruzen stared straight at him and spoke in a deep voice: "From this moment on, all surveillance on the jinchūriki is to be lifted. No matter whether it's the Anbu, Root, or any other village department—unless they receive further instructions and approval directly from me, they are strictly forbidden from carrying out any actions involving the jinchūriki."
"Emphasize this especially—if the Hokage's advisors or Konoha Council issue any orders regarding the jinchūriki, all personnel from every division are to refuse execution and report to me immediately."
Behind his mask, the expression on the Anbu squad captain's face froze.
Cancel all operations concerning the jinchūriki?
This...
This was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki!
If anything were to go wrong, it could mean the terrifying return of the Night of the Nine-Tails!
Were they really going to go through with this?
But when he met Sarutobi Hiruzen's grave and unwavering gaze, the captain wisely chose not to ask any further questions. He simply nodded in silence, signaling that he understood.
Then, without delay, he began passing on the Third Hokage's command—the supreme order in Konoha…
"Judging by what I just heard, it sounds like there's some internal conflict brewing at the top…"
While on the move, the Anbu squad captain couldn't help but ponder the deeper meaning behind the order: "Is the Third Hokage clashing with the Hokage's advisors over control of the jinchūriki? Has it really escalated to such a heated level…"
"Lifting surveillance… is this a setup for the other side to take the bait?"
A chill ran through his heart, and he immediately stopped speculating.
Even in times of peace, the village was never truly safe…
As a veteran, he still remembered a man named Hatake Sakumo twenty years ago—
How one simple mission had brought disaster upon him, and how he died under a storm of condemnation and criticism.
As a screw in the machine of the village—or perhaps just a slightly larger one—
He had already learned the rules: don't listen, don't look, don't ask.
And in fact, the Anbu squad captain's suspicions weren't far off. He'd guessed right—just with a slight deviation.
This was indeed a power struggle within Konoha's top ranks.
But it wasn't a clash among Senju Tobirama's disciples.
It was a tug-of-war between the eldest disciple—Sarutobi Hiruzen—and his sensei, the resurrected 'Second Hokage' himself!
Had the Anbu captain known the truth…
He'd probably be breaking into a cold sweat by now, drenched and panicking about which side to stand with—
Instead of simply entertaining wild thoughts while his body instinctively remained loyal to the Third Hokage.
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