Root Organization Base.
Inside a dark room.
The monitor screens flickered with a dim bluish glow.
After listening to the ninja's retelling, Tobirama fell into deep thought, his face maintaining its usual calm.
He turned his head toward his elder brother standing behind him and said calmly:
"This kid wants to walk a path that you never took."
"Unify the ninja world, you mean?"
Hashirama sighed.
That was indeed a path he had never explored. He wasn't sure if it would truly work for the shinobi world, but ever since the Warring States era transitioned into the village system, the great villages still waged endless wars. The path he chose back then seemed to have been the wrong one.
So… what about this other path?
Tobirama's gaze suddenly shifted toward Koharu Utatane, his voice cold:
"Was it you who manipulated that Uchiha Itachi into slaughtering the entire Uchiha clan?"
"Y-yes!" Koharu's old face showed helplessness as she lowered her head, replying nervously.
Then, in a small voice, she explained: "B-but… Itachi did it of his own will as well, for the Will of Fire… for the village."
"The Will of Fire?" Tobirama said coldly. "Your so-called beliefs have nothing to do with the Will of Fire anymore."
Koharu fell silent, unable to speak further.
Hashirama's brows knitted tightly.
Even with his usually gentle temperament, at this moment he felt deep disgust toward the disciples Tobirama had once personally taught.
Tobirama had once told Hashirama when speaking about his own death in battle:
"If I had known Konoha would be ruined by them like this, I should have let them die back then. At least then, the village wouldn't have gone down such a wrong path."
Hashirama thought those words were absolutely right.
But sadly, in the shinobi world, though the dead could be summoned with Edo Tensei, time itself could never be reversed.
"Let's proceed with the original plan."
Tobirama no longer spared Koharu another glance and left the dark room together with Hashirama.
"Ah…"
Koharu stood frozen in place, her aged, clouded eyes heavy with fatigue.
She stared at the two figures walking away until they disappeared from sight.
Then she turned her gaze toward the monitoring equipment, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
Since Tobirama's Edo Tensei revival, not a single moment had been wasted—he had been modifying forbidden techniques, refining Edo Tensei, and personally drafting strategic directions.
Compared to Tobirama, Hiruzen Sarutobi's competence and efficiency were worlds apart.
Koharu furrowed her brow.
She thought to herself, it wasn't even fair to compare Hiruzen with Tobirama. A single Tobirama utterly crushed the entire current Konoha leadership.
No wonder Konoha had been in decline ever since the Second Hokage.
And they—the so-called Konoha elders—remained completely ignorant of it.
---
At the entrance of the Root Organization base.
Tobirama and Hashirama stood in the shadows, watching as the dark red light spilled across the streets outside.
The world seemed to be split apart by that crimson glow.
"Tobirama, even if we do all this… once we're gone, they still won't be able to survive in the current shinobi world," Hashirama said quietly.
He turned his head toward the great clan leaders gathered in the Root hall.
Right now, they stood bewildered and helpless, completely powerless in the face of the fully manifested Susanoo outside.
Tobirama replied:
"Mm. Then let's just consider it repaying the debt for their loyalty to us back then."
Hashirama sighed.
"Ah… to think even in death I still have to worry for them. Konoha has fallen to this state—it's no different from being destroyed."
"They brought it on themselves," Tobirama said coldly.
At this moment, in the shelter—
All the Konoha civilians stood frozen in shock.
The images of Uchiha Itachi and the masked man slaughtering Uchiha civilians flashed vividly before their eyes, overturning the version of the story they had always believed.
Wasn't Itachi supposed to be a hero?
Yet here, the so-called hero was nothing but the butcher of his own clan, while the S-rank missing-nin who defected was the one who preserved the last ember of their people.
What a bitter irony.
And so, Uchiha's revenge against Konoha finally made sense.
As for Uchiha taking control of Konoha, that in itself was not something they could not accept.
But Uchiha Yu, under the name of Konoha, directly declaring war on the entire shinobi world—this was equivalent to pushing them all into a blazing pit of fire.
Even the First Hokage had never considered such a grand, reckless act.
This was nothing less than a war doomed to be lost. Thinking of this, many pessimistic civilians had already resolved that once the war ended, they would find a way to defect and escape.
On Konoha's rooftops and streets, ninjas from other villages who heard Uchiha Yu's declaration of war also thought it was madness.
And yet, none of them laughed.
Because they were truly being controlled by his ocular genjutsu.
And that colossal, dark-red Complete Body Susanoo—what difference was there between it and a god?
---
Beneath the wall of gold sand.
After hearing Yu's declaration recounted by the Cloud shinobi under the Yasakani's control, the Raikage's face turned dark as iron, his fists clenching tight.
"We absolutely cannot just hand Konoha over to the Uchiha so easily!" the Raikage barked furiously. "Don't tell me Uchiha Yu can really maintain this state forever?"
Rasa stood silent beside him.
The Sand, already crippled by the Wind Country's sanctions and military expenditures, was teetering on the brink of survival.
If they gave up on Konoha now, what meaning would there be in Rasa leading this great army to war?
Cloud, Sand—even Iwa—had all invested vast, irreversible costs.
But Iwa had already withdrawn. Ōnoki simply said the word and left without hesitation.
The Raikage and Rasa could not swallow this insult. They exchanged a glance, but neither could yet decide.
Then suddenly—
Beyond the golden wall, the dark red Susanoo reached the limit of its Yasakani technique. The glow that had flooded the rooftops and streets gradually faded, until the skies returned once more to gloom.
Rumble—
And yet, that colossal Susanoo still strode forward like a mountain, step by step approaching the Root base, now almost at its front.
Beneath the golden wall—
Just as the Raikage and Rasa fell into silence, two black figures suddenly appeared in an instant.
"…"
The Raikage and Rasa, standing on the same side, fixed their cold gazes forward—and then their eyes widened in shock.
Nearby Cloud and Sand shinobi, alarmed, instantly rushed to shield their two Kage.
"No need to be tense, young ones. This time, we've come seeking cooperation."
Tobirama's cold eyes swept across the Raikage and Rasa as he continued:
"As you can see, we've already decided to abandon Konoha. At this moment, we no longer have any conflicting interests."
"Cooperation?" The Raikage stared straight at Tobirama, still wary, every nerve on edge, ready to fight at any moment.
The Edo Tensei of the Second Hokage had already shaken the shinobi world back when the Raikage was a child.
Of course, during the Second's reign, relations between Konoha and the Cloud had not been bad.
That alone gave the Raikage a slightly better impression of Tobirama—certainly better than the disdain he felt toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Indeed. Since we've already chosen to relinquish Konoha, it doesn't matter to us who claims it in the future," Tobirama said in a low voice. "But as things stand, even if you allied together, you'd hardly be a match for Uchiha Yu. Add my brother and me, however, and then… the outcome of the battlefield may not be so certain."
"…And why should we believe you?"
Rasa questioned coldly.
In his eyes, the Second Hokage of Konoha was nothing less than a cunning old fox with wisdom bordering on the supernatural.
Tobirama swept his gaze across the Raikage and Rasa.
He answered calmly:
"Simply because Uchiha has declared war upon the entire shinobi world, not just against us alone."
°°°
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