The ease of the ambush far exceeded Senju Mori's expectations. Uchiha Kagami's weakness—and his vigilance while gravely injured—were both shockingly low.
Kagami might not have been born in Konoha, but he had grown up beneath the Hokage Rock, and he believed in the Will of Fire championed by Senju Hashirama with absolute conviction.
More importantly, he even allowed Mori to treat him with Medical Ninjutsu.
Accepting a comrade's treatment sounded natural, but it had only been some twenty years since the Uchiha and Senju stopped killing and hating each other. Many veterans with blood feuds still lived.
And the reason Medical Ninjutsu was rated A-rank was not just "pour chakra into a wound." Its principle was to inject chakra into the meridians and precisely stimulate a portion of the patient's cells, activating and rapidly dividing them.
If the healer harbored ill intent and injected excess chakra or altered its flow, the consequences went far beyond damaged meridians.
A shinobi whose inner circulation was disrupted would collapse instantly, even die on the spot.
In that hazy state, Uchiha Kagami lost his life.
Since Mori already practiced Medical Ninjutsu, he personally removed Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan.
People joked that Sharingan were "hot-swappable parts," but with the chance available, Mori still preferred to preserve the meridians and nerves as intact as possible while taking the eyes.
Moments later, a wide-mouthed glass vial rested in Mori's hand.
He held it up to inspect it. Two scarlet eyeballs, each with black tomoe, bobbed in nearly transparent nutrient fluid.
He had obtained the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.
No uncanny Izanagi. No desperate Mangekyō counter.
Meanwhile, Uzumaki Chizawa rolled up his enormous scroll again and lashed it firmly to his back.
Kagami's eyeless corpse was sealed within. Only the traces of his battle with the Kumo-nin remained on the ground, along with several dark, dried pools of blood.
"Next, we find our Hokage…"
Mori looked north, as if his gaze pierced the dense forest.
…
Southern Land of Lightning.
From high above, one could see the country's signature mountains and hills recede here, while lush forests grew dense.
This quiet woodland carried a sudden, killing chill today.
A kunai lay stuck slantwise in a patch of green grass, as if casually discarded.
In the next instant a white-haired, red-eyed man with red markings on his cheeks and jaw appeared and plucked the kunai from the ground.
Space–Time Ninjutsu.
There was no doubt. This was Konohagakure's Second Hokage—Senju Tobirama.
He did not linger. After recovering the marker kunai, he sprinted southwest toward the Land of Frost.
After half a day of fighting, Tobirama still had not fallen. The Kumo jōnin who had stayed to aid the Gold and Silver Brothers were nowhere to be seen.
Short-range Flying Thunder God did not consume much chakra, yet its threat was enough to tie any opponent in knots.
Compared to the future "Yellow Flash" Namikaze Minato's overly single-track attack style, this "White Flash" was more terrifying still.
You never knew what a master of Forbidden Jutsu might leave on your body once he got close.
If given a choice, most would rather take a solid Rasengan than be tagged with an exploding tag that could be summoned and detonated again and again—or worse.
From behind, angry shouts rolled across the forest.
"Senju Tobirama! Is running all you can do as Hokage?!"
"You pathetic coward!"
"Give it up!"
"My men have already caught up with your disciples. Not one of them will make it back to Konoha!"
"Damn him…"
Kinkaku's face was dark as he pursued.
Their six treasured tools, invincible in the past, had lost their edge in this battle.
Though they had forced word-spirit out of Tobirama, they could not trick him into saying the word they wanted.
Apart from an opening exchange, Tobirama had kept slipping away with Space–Time Ninjutsu again and again.
As slippery as an eel.
"Use that move, Ginkaku! We don't have time to waste!"
Staring at Tobirama's vanishing back, Kinkaku roared to his brother.
With one last hateful glance at the two characters on the Seven-Star Sword, Kinkaku abandoned the plan to seal the Second Hokage with the treasured tools.
He had to kill Tobirama fast and race back to stabilize the village.
Where Kinkaku was furious and anxious, Ginkaku stayed exuberant. He burst out laughing.
"Hahaha—good! Kinkaku! Let's tear him apart with the Nine-Tails' claws!"
Red chakra surged from the brothers at once, saturated with hatred and ill omen.
In an instant it cloaked them both.
They hunched low, dropping to all fours like beasts, as several chakra fox tails bored from their backs and lashed restlessly.
Having once been swallowed by the Nine-Tails, the brothers were half-jinchūriki.
By devouring the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood, they had gained prodigious chakra and the power of partial tailed-beast transformation.
The transformation granted them speed, strength, and senses far beyond before.
"Found him!"
Eyes snapping open, Kinkaku grinned. Beast-wrapped limbs drove him forward, and he vanished.
"Hey! Hey! Wait for me, Kinkaku!"
Ginkaku, also transformed, blasted after him. His powerful hind legs gouged two clear pits in the ground.