The crisis in Konoha wasn't over, but the immediate tension had subsided. At least they didn't have to stay on edge anymore.
Hashirama's hands remained pressed together, his Sage Chakra active, ready to place another seal on the restrained Emiya Shirou at a moment's notice.
"So… what do we do now?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, looking from Shirou, who was half-crouched under the torii gate, to his teacher, the Second Hokage. "Should we release the Impure World Reanimation on Lord Emiya? Let his soul return to the Pure Land to rest?"
"It's useless," Tobirama said, shaking his head. "The Reanimation on him is out of control. The last time I revived him, he had already mastered how to break free. He can act independently of the caster."
Crack!
Suddenly, the sound of a torii gate splitting echoed through the clearing, and everyone tensed once more. Hashirama quickly formed another seal, summoning more gates to pin Emiya Shirou back down.
"So we're just going to keep him in a stalemate like this?" Jiraiya asked, feeling uneasy.
"Other sealing techniques probably won't work," Tobirama said, his eyes fixed on Shirou.
He could sense the terrifying soul hidden within the reanimated body. Emiya Shirou's soul was frightening; even the Shinigami of the Pure Land wouldn't dare confront it directly.
Still, the Shinigami wasn't entirely useless. At the very least, it could force Shirou's soul out of his body. Tobirama was sure of it. His Dead Demon Consuming Seal hadn't fully succeeded last time, but it had forced Shirou's soul back to the Pure Land.
"There's still only one jutsu…" Tobirama recalled what he had witnessed just before his own death. "We use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to push his soul back."
But the jutsu required a sacrifice. Once used, the caster's soul is devoured by the Shinigami, with no hope of freedom unless someone like Orochimaru came along to break the seal.
Fortunately, a Hokage never fears sacrifice. Every Kage present was willing to lay down their life, even Tobirama, who was known for his calculated pragmatism. It was a responsibility, a resolve they had all awakened to long ago.
"Let me do it." Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly stood up, his voice calm. "I've been ready for this day."
Besides, he was the only one who could perform the jutsu. Those revived by the Impure World Reanimation were technically dead; only the soul of a living person could attract the Shinigami.
"Lord Third!"
"Old man!"
Minato and Jiraiya were immediately on edge.
"Hiruzen…" Hashirama and Tobirama looked on with pride. The boy they had once believed in had become a proper Hokage.
Hiruzen turned to his student. "Jiraiya, from this day forward, you are Konoha's Fifth Hokage." As of now, there was no one more suitable for the role.
"Huh?" Jiraiya was caught completely off guard. He instinctively glanced at Tsunade. "Isn't Tsunade also a good choice?"
Of course, Tsunade would be a good choice. But she wasn't in a good state right now.
When Emiya Shirou's status had shifted, Tsunade's heart had shattered. Hiruzen wasn't sure she could bear the weight of the Hokage title.
"I suggest we make Tsunade the Fifth Hokage," Jiraiya insisted, giving a solid reason as he looked at the broken woman. "If Tsunade has the responsibility of protecting Konoha, she might find her strength again."
He had his own reasons.
First, he didn't want to be tied down by the title of Hokage. He needed to focus his energy on mentoring Naruto and finding a way to guide his other students, Nagato and Konan, back to the right path.
Second, he didn't want Tsunade's future to be hopeless. He knew how much Shirou meant to her, and if that void could be filled with a new purpose, she might be able to recover.
In the past, Tsunade had carried Emiya Shirou's will. Now, that will was shattered. She needed a new one to drive her forward. And in this world, nothing fit that role better than the Will of Fire, passed down from one Hokage to the next.
Hiruzen thought about it for a while, weighing Konoha's interests. He realized Jiraiya's suggestion might actually be what was best for the village. It wasn't pleasant to admit, but perhaps Tsunade really couldn't face anything related to Emiya Shirou now.
Her entire life was marked by him, and her current mindset wasn't fit for a medical ninja, let alone a proper shinobi. If Jiraiya's idea worked, and Tsunade recovered as Hokage, her strength would be vital for Konoha. The only question was whether she could truly recover.
"Maybe… it's for the best." Hiruzen glanced at the others for their opinions. "Lord First, Lord Second, Minato, what do you think?"
"This is a problem for your generation," Hashirama said, waving it off, before a thought struck him. "Wait, if Tsunade becomes Hokage, she won't gamble the village away, will she?"
"…"
Everyone's eyebrow twitched.
"She won't," Jiraiya said, shaking his head at the joke. He looked quietly at Emiya Shirou, still pinned under the gates. "Actually, she hasn't gambled in a long time, and she's almost stopped drinking."
All of that was thanks to Shirou. But Shirou himself showed no reaction.
"Lord Emiya," Jiraiya said, his mood heavy. He needed an answer. "Why do you insist on using such extreme measures to create your idea of peace?"
"If you could do it yourselves," Shirou said, looking up at him, "I wouldn't need to go this far."
"…"
Jiraiya's throat tightened. He wanted to argue. "But someone else can do it, like Naruto! Didn't you believe in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy? Don't you believe Naruto is the Child of Prophecy?"
"If we're talking about Gamamaru's prophecy," Shirou replied, his eyes on Jiraiya, "how do you know Nagato isn't the prophesied child?"
"…"
Jiraiya was speechless. Both Nagato and Naruto were his students, and Nagato already had his own ideas for changing the ninja world. But those ideas came from Emiya Shirou. Jiraiya believed they were both Children of Prophecy, but he couldn't accept this path.
He had to find a chance to change Nagato's mind. Once Hiruzen used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and sent Shirou's soul back to the Pure Land, Jiraiya would seek out Nagato and persuade him to stop the Akatsuki's plan.
"Jiraiya," Shirou interrupted his thoughts calmly. "Gamamaru told you many things. That's why you've always been wary of me, isn't it?"
"Yes…" Jiraiya nodded, his curiosity getting the better of him. "There's something I find strange. The Great Toad Sage told me you once took extreme measures for peace in the ancient era. Was that the Akatsuki's war weapon plan?"
"If you want to know, I don't mind telling you." Shirou shook his head, his expression unchanged, and simply recounted his actions. "Back then, I simply wanted to kill every disciple of Ninshu—including everyone with chakra—to prevent it from escaping into the world."
A chill ran down Jiraiya's spine. Even the First and Second Hokage were visibly shocked.
To kill everyone with chakra… that meant their ancestors.
This ancient medical ninja had harbored such an extreme plan. This was a secret no one had ever heard. Frankly, compared to Shirou's plan for an indiscriminate massacre, the Akatsuki's war weapon plot almost seemed mild.
"I… I really didn't expect…" Jiraiya knew Shirou wouldn't lie about this. He could only sigh. "The medical sage, revered in the ninja world for a thousand years, had this kind of past…"
"To achieve lasting peace, there is nothing that can't be sacrificed. It is just as you say: 'do whatever it takes for Konoha.'"
"But…"
"Asura," Shirou said, looking at Hashirama as if seeing an old friend. "The ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki clans. He convinced me to give up that idea."
"…"
Everyone relaxed slightly. Even though they knew Shirou hadn't succeeded, hearing that someone had convinced him to stop eased their anxiety over their ancestors' perilous fate.
"Asura promised me," Shirou continued, "that if people could understand one another, there would be no more war. I believed him."
He touched his face, feeling the Rinnegan. "I used the Rinnegan to bring back every Ninshu disciple I had killed, and I allowed chakra to spread through the world again."
"…"
A cold sweat broke out on Jiraiya's forehead. Even the Hokages were unsettled. Hearing this, they finally understood Shirou's position in the history of their world.
A thousand years of war, three great ninja wars… the current era had surely been a deep disappointment to this ancient predecessor.
"Really… I am sorry," Hashirama said, bowing earnestly to Shirou, apologizing for being unable to uphold his ancestor's promise.
Hiruzen and the others could only stand in silence, feeling no words were adequate.
Tobirama felt a pang of guilt, but then his mind latched onto an important detail. "Wait… the Rinnegan can resurrect the dead!"
"Lord Emiya, something has happened to Nagato!"
Just as Tobirama had this realization, a voice piped up from near Shirou's feet. A two-toned creature with a black and white face emerged, reporting the news Emiya Shirou had been waiting for.
"Danzo has stolen Nagato's Rinnegan!"
"Danzo?"
"Danzo!"
Shock appeared on everyone's faces. Hiruzen, in particular, was filled with a mix of shock and rage. He never imagined that while they were all risking their lives—while he himself was prepared to sacrifice everything—Danzo Shimura was secretly stealing the Rinnegan.
That bastard… What in the world is he planning at a time like this?