Chapter 165: Nonsense About the Will of Fire
"Uh, I don't know. Maybe Shizune is just kind by nature."
Tsunade looked awkward.
Of course she knew why Shizune was heartbroken.
At this moment, Shizune felt that her future was completely dark.
She knew Tsunade would definitely find other people to share the workload, just like how Tsunade had already delegated parts of the Hokage's duties to others.
But the problem was that no matter how many people Tsunade found, Shizune's own workload would inevitably always be the heaviest.
Tsunade patted Shizune on the shoulder.
"All right, don't be sad. You're still young. This is the time to struggle and work hard… hmm, Shiromo, how old is that Mizukage this year? Isn't she about the same age as Shizune?"
Tsunade wanted to use Terumi Mei as an example to persuade Shizune to work harder.
"Oh, Terumi Mei is indeed the same age as Shizune, but she's already started worrying about whether she'll become an older leftover woman."
"..."
The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched.
Was that sabotaging her?
Sure enough, when she turned to look at Shizune, Shizune's already dejected expression completely collapsed again.
Originally, Shizune hadn't thought that far. Shiromo's words directly reminded her.
Thinking about how she spent the first half of her life following Tsunade around gambling and losing money, and how the second half of her life would be spent endlessly helping Tsunade handle government affairs, Shizune felt that her life was already hopeless.
"Wait, let me say a few words first."
Senju Hashirama, who had only just come back to his senses after arriving at the hot spring inn, anxiously stepped in front of his younger brother Senju Tobirama.
"Tobirama, how could you do something like this? This goes against the Will of Fire…"
"Don't mention the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire is nonsense."
A sentence drifted over from the side.
Who was it, questioning the Will of Fire?
Senju Hashirama looked over unhappily.
Oh, it was Shiromo. Then it was fine.
As someone who was about to become the founder of another new era, Shiromo was qualified to say something like that.
Still, Senju Hashirama wanted to argue a little.
"The daimyō of the Land of Fire is dead. At this point, even the title of 'Hokage' feels somewhat inappropriate…"
"Big brother, I endured everything you said earlier and stayed silent out of respect, but I really can't hold this one back."
"The names 'Hokage' and 'Konoha' weren't they decided back when you and Madara were flirting, bickering, and vowing your lives to each other? What does that have to do with the daimyō of the Land of Fire?"
Senju Tobirama couldn't hold back anymore. He ruthlessly exposed Senju Hashirama's old history and, as a firsthand witness, gave everyone a lesson in ninja world history.
Uchiha Hikari immediately showed a look of disdain when she heard this. She then walked over to Shiromo and tugged at his sleeve.
"Now that things are done, let's leave quickly. Just thinking that this village's name came from something like that makes me feel sick."
"Alright."
"..."
Senju Hashirama wanted to say something more, but upon hearing Uchiha Hikari's words, his face instantly became awkward.
"Big brother, things have already come to this. There's no way to undo it. I blew the entire Daimyō family into scraps with explosive tags. There's not even any material left to use Impure World Reincarnation…"
Tobirama smiled faintly.
"That's not right. Isn't there still the technique that turns the illusion into the real to obtain materials?"
At this moment, Senju Hashirama's intelligence suddenly performed above average.
"To turn the illusion into the real requires Uchiha Hikari's Tsukuyomi and Shiromo's amplification. Do you think those two would help you?"
Senju Tobirama's expression stiffened for a moment, but in the next second he relaxed and smiled again.
What use was it even if Kurama Yakumo alone agreed?
"Tobirama, I understand your reasoning, but people have countless reasons why they deserve to die. The one reason they absolutely should not die for is their birth…"
Hashirama sighed and said heavily.
"First Hokage, I think you should say those words to Itachi instead."
"Itachi, who inherited the Will of Fire and understood sacrifice and protection, did not think that people shouldn't die because of their birth when he dragged Uchiha children out from hiding between floorboards and beheaded them."
Shiromo's words instantly rendered the First Hokage silent.
There was no doubt that Uchiha Itachi had gained Senju Hashirama's approval.
However, during the night of the massacre, everyone had overlooked the details Shiromo was talking about.
Itachi didn't merely stop a rebellion. He didn't just kill the radicals. He truly exterminated his own clan.
That included the elderly grandmother whom the warm-hearted youth Uchiha Obito often helped across the street.
Obito would probably say to the clan's grandmothers that when I was young, I was late so many times just to help you, and now it's time to pay back my life.
It also included many children who had never been involved in the clan's conflicts at all.
There might even have been some who, just the same, hoped to stand on the village's side.
And even infants who couldn't recognize characters and couldn't even speak yet.
At the Valley of the End, Senju Hashirama killed his beloved friend Uchiha Madara with his own hands for the sake of the village.
So he believed that Itachi's massacre was the same as his own actions, sacrificing beloved clan members for the village.
But in reality, Itachi didn't love his clan that much.
When his parents died, when Izumi died, Itachi might have felt some pain.
But when the others died, that was harder to say.
"Thinking about it like this, the Will of Fire does seem to have some problems."
Tsunade rubbed her chin and expressed her agreement.
"So does that mean when I used to curse the Hokage, I wasn't actually wrong?"
"Don't forget that you yourself are the Hokage now. And when you curse someone, just curse big brother alone. Don't curse everyone."
Senju Tobirama glanced at Tsunade and reminded her.
He was a little surprised by Tsunade's change.
Before he could even developed a control technique, Shiromo had already adjusted Tsunade… ah, taught her properly?
"Impure World Reincarnation. Right. Impure World Reincarnation!"
Shizune, who had been squatting there quietly for a long time, suddenly sprang up as if possessed, ecstatic with joy. She grabbed Tsunade's hands.
"Lady Tsunade, if there aren't enough people, we can have Orochimaru use Impure World Reincarnation. We can call everyone back out…"
"Shizune! Impure World Reincarnation is a technique that desecrates the dead. Calm down!"
Tsunade scolded her sharply.
"…Then the Third Hokage, who has already been revived by Impure World Reincarnation, can't be released. He's already been desecrated by Orochimaru anyway. It would be a waste not to use him."
Shizune shrank her head.
Actually, when Tsunade had just taken over as the Fifth Hokage, her workload hadn't been that heavy.
After all, there was the Third Hokage, an experienced elder who had served as Hokage for the longest time in history, helping her handle most of the documents.
But later, the Third Hokage died.
And now, unexpectedly, he had been brought back through Impure World Reincarnation.
This was a good thing.
Back when the Third was handling documents, Shizune had often taken on extra work herself out of concern that his old age meant he would tire more easily.
Now it was different.
Impure World Reincarnation meant infinite chakra and no fatigue. Wouldn't that mean…
Oh, right.
Besides the Third Hokage, there were also the other two previous Hokage.
Thinking of this, Shizune looked at the First and Second with hopeful eyes.
"This old man is going to the Amegakure Village to assist Orochimaru with research, to counter the invasion of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
Seeing what Shizune was thinking, Senju Tobirama rejected her righteously.
Shizune then turned her gaze toward the First Hokage.
"If you want big brother to help handle government affairs, you'd be better off finding a dog from the Inuzuka clan that's relatively intelligent."
Tobirama mercilessly shattered Shizune's fantasy.
"Child, who do you think handled the paperwork back when big brother was Hokage?"
(End of this chapter)