Tobirama Senju's blade-sharp eyes narrowed even further, disbelief etched across his face. Konoha's current predicament just didn't make sense. Judging by Danzo's age, it hadn't been that long since Tobirama's own passing—how could the village have squandered everything so quickly?
Truth be told, Tobirama had left Konoha with a massive inheritance. He and his brother had "sold tailed beasts" for a fortune, built up the Ninja Academy, ANBU, and the Police Force—institutions that set Konoha apart from every other village. Back then, the other villages were still running glorified protection rackets with their Kage acting as mob bosses.
Externally, Konoha's reputation kept rivals in check. Even the formidable Second Raikage had begged for a peace treaty. Why? Because Konoha was simply too strong. If the Gold and Silver Brothers hadn't gone rogue, two generations of peace would've been a lock.
But now? The enemy was literally at the gates. Tobirama couldn't believe how far things had fallen.
What had Monkey been doing all these years?
What about Danzo?
Was the entire Konoha leadership just gambling their days away?
He was about to lay into Danzo when Hashirama cut him off.
"Tobirama, let it go. The situation's urgent—looks like at least twenty thousand across from us. Let's deal with this crisis first."
Tobirama shaded his eyes, surveying the enemy formation, then glanced back at Konoha's own.
Numbers seemed about even.
"Danzo, after all these years, you still haven't learned. In a battle this size, don't hold back—bring up your reserves! Plains warfare with this few people is just begging for disaster. Look, they're in a wild goose formation—if they flank both wings, you'll be surrounded in no time."
"No reserves," Danzo muttered, sounding like a kid caught cheating on a test.
"What did you say?!"
"I said… there are no reserves. Every ninja in Konoha who can fight… is here."
"You…"
Hashirama stepped in before Tobirama could blow a fuse.
"Enough. No point dwelling on it. Fewer people, fewer problems."
Hashirama paused, then asked, "Who's leading the other side?"
Danzo pointed into the distance. "The blue-haired one—Third Kazekage, Jinghang."
Hashirama squinted. "Looks young. Tobirama, let's go meet him."
"Mm." Tobirama nodded.
The two Hokage strode toward the enemy lines, radiating such confidence that the Wind-Cloud Alliance's twenty thousand ninja might as well have been scenery.
Danzo hesitated, then hurried to follow.
Jinghang's heart pounded as the trio approached. The Senju brothers were coming to parley—he couldn't lose face.
From the moment Hashirama and Tobirama appeared, the Allied ranks buzzed with unease. "Dead men" on the battlefield—who'd ever seen that? And not just any dead men, but legends. Morale wavered.
Jinghang knew he had to stabilize the mood before chaos broke out.
"How about it, old man? Want to go greet these legends?" Jinghang called loudly to the Third Raikage.
"Hell yeah! We were born too late to see them in their prime. With a chance like this, how could we not test their strength?"
The Third Raikage caught Jinghang's drift, his booming voice carrying across the army. With their leaders so bold, the ninja's nerves steadied.
Jinghang and the Raikage gave a few quick orders to their officers, then strode toward the front. The Raikage had the Amber Purifying Pot strapped to his back.
As soon as the two sides met, Jinghang didn't wait for the Konoha trio to speak. He pointed at Danzo and unleashed a barrage of curses:
"Danzo Shimura! You filthy, shameless bastard! I'll—"
Hashirama, Tobirama, and Danzo were all stunned.
Kazekage were this crude now? Did someone dig up his family's grave or something?
"Jinghang, have some dignity—you're a Kage!" Danzo snapped, maintaining his Hokage composure in stark contrast to Jinghang's street-level rant.
But Jinghang wasn't about to let up.
"Dignity? I'm going easy on you! You dug up my wife's family grave—why should I be polite? Don't think I don't know what Edo Tensei is! I'm asking you—doesn't grave-robbing deserve a curse or two?"
Hashirama and Tobirama exchanged confused glances.
Danzo just looked miserable, suddenly remembering—Jinghang was Hashirama's direct grandson-in-law!
So… the cursing was actually justified.
Hashirama shook his head, trying to clear the mess of thoughts, then straightened and addressed Jinghang seriously.
"You're Sunagakure's Third Kazekage?"
Jinghang bowed politely. "Yes, Grandpa."
"Why are you attacking—wait, what did you just call me?"
Hashirama finally caught on.
Jinghang smiled and repeated, "Grandpa."
Hashirama looked Jinghang up and down, then turned to Tobirama, confused. "Do I have a grandson? Or is it you…"
"Big brother, I died without kids," Tobirama replied helplessly.
Jinghang grinned and explained, "No need to guess, Grandpas. My wife is Tsunade."
Hashirama and Tobirama's eyes went wide.
"You mean my granddaughter married you?!"
"Yes. The kids are already in kindergarten," Jinghang said, still smiling.
The whole scene went silent.
"Danzo, care to explain?" Tobirama asked, shooting Danzo a sour look.
Danzo cursed inwardly. Jinghang was too damn crafty—claiming family ties on the battlefield. If this kept up, the war would turn into a family feud.
To be fair, Orochimaru had left a loophole in the "Living Dead Project": he hadn't included the control talismans for the reanimated dead. Danzo had assumed that, faced with invaders, Hashirama and Tobirama would fight without hesitation. But without the talismans, the Edo Tensei subjects retained their own minds—and Jinghang had seized the opportunity.
The Third Raikage nearly burst out laughing. Grandson-in-law fighting grandpa—what a ridiculous scene.
But since Lord Tobirama had asked, Danzo couldn't dodge.
He braced himself and replied, "Yes, Jinghang is indeed Tsunade's husband."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━