Chapter 93: Master and Disciple
"…Tobirama, teacher? Is that you?" "Mm." "Then why…" "Why do you think Konoha has become like this? Because before this, I had already been revived for quite some time. I simply wasn't in Konoha." "Not… in Konoha?"
Staring at the Second Hokage standing before him, arms crossed with an unshaken expression, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his mind go blank.
What did he mean—not in Konoha?
Tobirama was the very foundation of the village—the man whose contributions outshone even his brother, the God of Shinobi. It was he who had refined Hashirama's ideals, built Konoha's education system, and developed countless forbidden techniques that had secured the village's supremacy. He was the one who forged Konoha's true prestige, turning it into the strongest hidden village in the world.
A man like that, now standing before a Konoha on the brink of collapse, saying it could be left to crumble? Impossible. A man who loved the village more deeply than anyone—how could he say such words when civil war was at its doorstep and the threat of invasion loomed from all sides?
"…Impure World Reincarnation manipulates the brain and mind, doesn't it, Lord Second?" "Yes. It's a technique I once paired with the Multiplication Detonation Talisman. I am well aware of how it works." "Then… are you speaking from your own will?"
"…"
The downpour grew heavier. The black rain seemed to swallow Konoha whole.
Lightning flashed faintly behind the clouds, illuminating a village suffocating under its own tension. Battles raged in the distance, invisible but unrelenting. Even the Hokage's summons could no longer halt them.
Clan against clan. Brother against brother.
Each side wielded their secret techniques, their weapons of research and bloodline—tools sharp enough to match the Uchiha's eyes. Even the Mangekyō Sharingan had its limits; not every user was another Uchiha Madara. Those newly awakened struggled to maintain their skeletal Susanoo forms, barely sheathed in flame, while the clan ninjas countered them with forbidden tools and experimental technology.
Reverse summoning had long been banned except under Hokage command, but there were always other ways to send messages. It wouldn't be long before word spread across the battlefield.
The Uchiha were outnumbered, pressed on all sides, and without proof of Aizen's death, their eyes had yet to awaken their next evolution.
This was no longer just rebellion—it was a race against time.
The faster they acted, the greater their advantage. And Tobirama's sudden appearance—his words—were shifting the balance.
If even the Hokage were gone, the last thread of unity among Konoha's clans would snap. Without leadership, the village would fall into total chaos.
So why… why would the Second Hokage say such things?
There was only one answer.
"You've been hypnotized," Hiruzen said quietly. "Your mind has been tampered with after being revived by the Impure World Reincarnation. Someone's controlling you, forcing you to act for Konoha's enemies, to deceive me, to manipulate this war from the shadows. That's it, isn't it?"
"…"
Tobirama's eyes narrowed. "Heh. I can see it in your face. You truly believe that." He paused, then continued, "But you're wrong, Monkey. This is my own will. A decision I reached after reading the scroll Aizen Sosuke showed me."
Hiruzen's hand tightened on his staff, water streaming from its tip.
The Second Hokage, hair wild from the rain, met his gaze squarely and spoke in a low, commanding tone:
"Every one of us is a slave to chakra. We live in a world governed by its flow. No matter how hard we struggle, we are bound to it. We are chakra—both our pride and our weakness are born from it. Because of this, we can be noble and ruthless, compassionate and cruel. We can cut down our own comrades without hesitation, and still shed tears for them afterward."
He looked up into the storm.
"At our core, we are not human—not truly. We are soldiers shaped by chakra, trapped in an endless, meaningless cycle. I've seen it with my own eyes. My brother's ideals were noble once, but they've stagnated. It's time to change the way we live."
"The truth must be known," he continued, voice steady despite the thunder. "But it cannot be handed out carelessly. It must be earned—through blood and through fire. Only then will it have meaning."
"…Master Tobirama."
In the heavy rain, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Senju Tobirama, who stood before him with his arms crossed. A flicker of disappointment passed over his weary face.
"You were never this talkative before," he said quietly. "If this were the past, you'd have scolded us for our ignorance, then led by example and taught us what to do."
"If you spend enough time around Aizen, you start to speak like him," Tobirama replied. "That man has a way of explaining things that makes sense. Stay with him long enough, and his manner of speech rubs off on you."
"Again with Aizen Sosuke?" Hiruzen's brow furrowed. "Was all of this his plan from the beginning?"
"Yes."
"What is he after?"
"To transcend this world entirely," Tobirama said calmly. "But like me, he cannot do that—not on this twisted planet."
"…"
Thunder rumbled overhead, echoing across the drenched village as rain poured relentlessly down. Hiruzen's robes clung to his aging frame, but he barely noticed.
This was his teacher—the same man who had once been a model of cold precision and unmatched intellect. The familiar arrogance in his tone, that unyielding pride in his craft, was unmistakable. Yet everything he spoke of now shattered the foundations of Hiruzen's understanding.
Each word struck his mind like an explosion, breaking apart his beliefs one after another.
He had always seen the world as something pure and simple. Enemies were merely other nations—other shinobi. The conflicts of the great villages were the limits of the battlefield. If there were deeper secrets hidden in this world, they were of no concern to Konoha. With time and development, perhaps chakra would one day unite all people, allowing humanity to reach the stars and finally find peace.
But now—his resurrected master spoke of truths far more terrible.
This world was never meant to know peace. A vast conspiracy was woven into the very essence of chakra itself. Humanity was caught in its current, unable to break free. No matter how many wars they ended or treaties they signed, nothing would change.
War was merely being replaced with another kind of war. Death with another kind of death. That was the world's true form—an endless loop of conflict, driven by chakra's invisible will.
If chakra dictated human thought, if it molded their emotions, then everything they had done—their sacrifices, their ideals, their dreams—was meaningless.
The First Hokage's vision, Tobirama's reforms, Hiruzen's leadership, even Aizen's grand deception… all of it, just fragments of a cycle they could never escape.
"…I'm sorry, Master Tobirama," Hiruzen said at last. "But I won't yield."
"Oh?" Tobirama's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you saying you intend to fight me?"
"Perhaps." Hiruzen gripped his staff tighter. "I've always wondered just how vast the gap truly is between my strength and yours. Whether I've ever surpassed my master."
"Hmph." Tobirama gave a short laugh. "If a student's achievements do not exceed his teacher's, then the teacher has failed."
He unfolded his arms and glanced around—at the storm, at the burning glow of Konoha through the mist, then back at his old pupil.
"Fighting here would only cause unnecessary destruction," Tobirama said. "Let's go to the Forbidden Forest. I'll suppress my power to the level I had when I fell in battle. If you truly wish to prove yourself, Monkey… defeat that version of me and show that your path was the right one."
"I don't want to destroy your ideals, nor do I need your acknowledgment," Hiruzen replied, voice steady.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
I just want peace of mind.
When he opened them, Tobirama had already leapt into the distance, his figure vanishing into the forest beyond the rain.
Hiruzen looked back once more at the village he had devoted his life to protecting.
He had to follow. Whether he wanted to or not.
The Second Hokage's challenge was, in its own way, an act of respect—a final lesson between master and disciple.
After all, Aizen controlled nearly every research project in Konoha. If he had wished, he could have easily planted a virus, a seal, even poison within him.
This duel, then, was a form of resistance. A way to reclaim his dignity.
He needed to prove—to himself—that he could still fight for what he believed in. To fight, even in futility, was better than standing idle while everything he cherished crumbled.
Hiruzen turned toward the storm, gripping the Ruyi staff tightly.
"You must be patient and restrained, all of you," he murmured under his breath. "Don't do anything you'll regret."
Then, after one last look at the village bathed in lightning, he closed his eyes.
When they opened again, they burned with fierce determination.
And without hesitation, Sarutobi Hiruzen—the Third Hokage—rushed into the rain, toward the Forbidden Forest.
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