Chapter 99: True Several Thousand Hands
"Hey, monkey, are you awake?"
"…"
"When you wake up, don't just lie there. Get up."
Standing in front of the dazed Hiruzen, arms folded, the Second Hokage, Tobirama, spoke coldly.
The tone of command embedded deep within Hiruzen's instincts made him immediately stand at attention, though his aged body resisted the motion. As soon as he straightened, a sharp pain struck his waist, forcing a quiet groan from his lips. Still, he endured it and stood before Tobirama, staring at the man who felt both foreign and familiar.
Tobirama glanced at his former student clutching his back, then found a stool, sat down, and tossed another toward Hiruzen.
"You're old, monkey."
"It's just a sudden strain… nothing more."
"That means you're old," Tobirama replied flatly. "Minato is doing a fine job. You should pass the title to him when the time comes."
"…"
"Or are you clinging to power now?" Tobirama asked, his sharp gaze cutting through Hiruzen's silence. "You've really reached that stage, haven't you?"
Hiruzen's expression twisted slightly, but Tobirama said nothing further. He simply nodded in faint understanding and leaned back in his chair.
The two didn't exchange many words. Their battle earlier had already said everything. With the combined power of the Blut Arterie and Blut Vene, Hiruzen had managed to overcome his former teacher.
However, Tobirama's later display of a new and unprecedented ability—what he called Shikai—remained beyond Hiruzen's understanding. Tobirama hadn't elaborated, but it was clear enough: the power of Shikai originated from Aizen. And Tobirama himself now served under him.
His master, once proud and unyielding, now wielded power that surpassed the very concept of ninjutsu. The whispers that the Raikage had been defeated in a single instant—those must have been true. Neither the strongest shield nor the strongest spear in the shinobi world could withstand Aizen's might.
But what exactly was Aizen pursuing in Konoha? What was his purpose in reshaping the world this way? Hiruzen could only speculate. Yet, seeing his teacher now walking the same path, he could only assume… it must serve a greater good.
"Monkey, what do you think this world is?"
Tobirama's voice broke the silence. His crimson eyes, sharp as blades, fixed upon his old disciple.
"What do you see before you? To you, what is the nature of this space we stand in? What structure does it have?"
"…Ruins."
"This," Tobirama said quietly, "was once Aizen's Seireitei. A great war broke out here after Aizen's supposed death."
As he spoke, Hiruzen's eyes wandered over the shattered scene surrounding them. Tobirama sat calmly on his chair, gazing out at the fractured walls, the exposed beams, and the eerie blue sky beyond.
It wasn't difficult to imagine what this place must have once looked like: a courtyard of peace and elegance, ponds lined with cypress and pine, tatami rooms illuminated by gentle sunlight—a world reminiscent of heaven itself.
Now, however, the once-beautiful space lay in ruins, scarred by countless traces of ninjutsu. Yet even in its decay, one could still sense the meticulous craftsmanship that had built it. The wooden floors were perfectly fitted, the beams precisely joined, and the tatami arranged with care.
Still, the atmosphere was bleak and hollow—too quiet, too lifeless. It felt as though no one had ever truly lived here. Outside, the pond had turned black with mud, and the koi that swam within occasionally surfaced belly-up. From beyond the shattered walls came distant screams—inhuman roars that echoed faintly through the desolation.
As Tobirama sat with his arms crossed, a word flashed unbidden through Hiruzen's mind.
"…It looks like hell."
Tobirama smirked. "Indeed. But just three days ago, this place was heaven on earth."
He leaned back slightly and continued in a calm, detached tone.
"Those who survived were sent beyond these walls to continue one of Aizen's plans. Those who died remained here, unaware of the truth, sealed within the Seireitei."
He pointed toward the ravaged courtyard.
"Here, shinobi of every conviction clashed—those loyal to Aizen, those desperate to escape, those who wanted order, and those who sought chaos. Their conflict became a miniature shinobi war. In the end, the entire Seireitei was destroyed."
"Theoretically, such a war should have been impossible," Tobirama said, his voice low. "Aizen Sosuke was too cunning, too prepared. He always had layers of contingencies. Many of these men had already tasted death once before, so to believe Aizen was truly gone was absurd. Yet they believed it anyway… and they fought."
"Why? Even if they simply lived here—or returned to Konoha—it would have been a good thing. Why did they have to start fighting like this?"
"Because this is the destiny of chakra."
"…"
Are you serious? That sounds like something a cult leader would say.
Hiruzen wanted to voice his thoughts, but after glancing at Tobirama, who stood before him with his arms crossed and that cold, commanding air, he hesitated. Considering the vast difference between their levels of understanding, perhaps it was his own perception that was lacking.
Yet, the more he looked at Tobirama's calm certainty, the more unsettled he became. If this really was the "fate of chakra," then did that mean true peace was fundamentally impossible? What, then, had been the purpose of everyone's struggles and sacrifices all these years?
Of course, Tobirama couldn't read minds. He had no way of knowing what doubts had taken root in his disciple's heart. He merely sat back in his chair and spoke in that same firm, analytical tone.
"I believe you already understand chakra signals," Tobirama began. "The tailed beasts are also aggregates of chakra—chakra given will. They can be resurrected infinitely because they exist as part of this world. In time, their will always condenses back into chakra form. You know this much. But what we've never asked ourselves is—what happens if there exists a supreme authority that wants us gone?"
"…"
"The Seireitei and the current shinobi world are both parts of Aizen's experiments," Tobirama continued, his voice steady and cold. "He sought to determine whether there are guiding signals influencing the shinobi world—and the conclusion is clear. There is indeed a signal. A signal that drives all shinobi to unconsciously turn against one another."
Hiruzen's face darkened as Tobirama crossed his arms, his words shaking the very foundation of what the shinobi world believed to be true.
"The experiments conducted within Konoha confirmed one thing: pure chakra produces no such signal. However, there is a source of chakra on the moon that emits an inducing wavelength—spreading a killing impulse across the world."
He looked up toward the faint light filtering through the cracks in the ruined ceiling.
"In other words, under the moonlight, we all gradually lose our sanity. We become restless, violent, unable to bear peace—just like what happened here in the Seireitei. After studying the original moonlight signal and its chakra composition, many subjects displayed extreme behavioral changes: madness, agitation, irritability, and a rejection of tranquil life."
"To rule out margin-of-error, we conducted controlled experiments—observing shinobi under exposure to moonlight signals and other energy frequencies, across multiple periods. The final conclusion…" Tobirama paused briefly, then said firmly, "…is that chakra has an owner. And that owner despises this world. Perhaps this being manipulates us indirectly—through chakra itself."
"We confirmed this when we deceived Uchiha Madara into cooperating as a test subject."
"Uchiha Madara?" Hiruzen muttered in disbelief.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Tobirama said flatly. "That stubborn fool is still alive. After committing countless atrocities, he's descended even further into obsession. The current development of Moon Dream is evidence enough of his survival—it's a preliminary experiment for his so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi."
He stated the horrifying truth with an unnerving calm, as if it were no more significant than a weather report.
"That man has lost all reason. But even in his madness, he maintained a degree of logic when facing Aizen. Whatever he's doing now is likely another phase of his screening process. Still, the signal surrounding him feels wrong. When he finally dies of old age, we'll retrieve his body and study it. Until then, we avoid direct confrontation. There are too many unknowns—perhaps even a hidden entity protecting him."
"…I see," Hiruzen replied numbly, his voice weak. His thoughts were too clouded to process everything at once.
Tobirama, however, returned to the main point without hesitation.
"Now, think about the wars that have swept through the shinobi world until now," he said. "Everyone is trapped in an endless cycle of hatred and revenge. Killing feels natural to them—but it isn't. It's induced. There's a signal guiding it all. Which means peace is not a political problem, but a technical one. And technical problems must be solved by technical means, not through diplomacy."
He looked out at the ruined landscape, his voice low and steady.
"Konoha, to me, is what my brother was meant to leave behind—a sanctuary, and a foundation. That's why I asked him to stay here. He has the knowledge—the data, production methods, and technical reserves that can keep Konoha strong for years to come. But for the immediate future…" He turned his gaze back to his disciple.
"…it will depend on you, monkey."
Tobirama stood up, his figure illuminated by the faint light filtering through the cracks in the ceiling.
"We'll be leaving soon. Once we've confirmed Konoha's stability, we'll move to a better environment—one more suited for our research."
His voice softened slightly, though his tone remained distant.
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