Chapter 12: Return to Konoha
After waiting quietly for several more minutes—
confirming Tobirama's utterly lifeless expression, the complete cessation of heartbeat and breathing, and the total disappearance of his chakra from sensory perception—
Senju Morin could finally be certain.
Senju Tobirama was truly dead.
He immediately motioned for Uzumaki Chizawa to open the sealing scroll.
With a soft puff, Tobirama's body was sealed away.
Naturally, Morin didn't forget to seal up Ginkaku—long dead—and Kinkaku, now neatly cut in half, as well.
After all, these were extremely valuable experimental materials.
To be fair, Morin hadn't been speaking nonsense earlier.
Tobirama's accusation of "utter nonsense" had been a bit one-sided.
In Morin's view—
Other people experimenting on our evil white-haired old fox? Absolutely not.
Me experimenting on enemy golden-haired and silver-haired old monsters? Completely acceptable.
After all, the origin of the names "Kinkaku" and "Ginkaku" was literal—
the two really did have horn-like protrusions growing from their heads.
In the shinobi world, any bizarre physical trait meant one thing:
Unusual bloodlines.
Considering that the brothers could devour tailed-beast flesh without dying, wield the Sage of Six Paths' relics with ease, and were rumored to carry Hagoromo's blood—
Every abnormality screamed of immense research value.
"Quite the harvest…"
Morin couldn't help but sigh.
He did briefly wonder what the Third Raikage was doing.
So much time had passed, yet no pursuit force had arrived.
Even if he'd been deliberately sent away on a mission, learning of such a massive upheaval should have prompted him to rush back at all costs.
Unless—
Gold and Silver had additional arrangements within the village, and the Third Raikage was personally suppressing internal rebellion.
Morin shook his head hard, driving those thoughts away.
Regardless, Kumo not pursuing them was nothing but good news.
What mattered now wasn't Kumogakure—
It was returning to Konoha as fast as possible and contending with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others for the seat of the Third Hokage.
---
Two Days Later
"The Hokage is back! The Hokage is back!"
The calm streets of Konoha were shattered by excited shouts.
Shinobi and civilians alike poured out of their homes, staring at several genin sprinting through the streets while yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Hey! Brat!"
A middle-aged man wearing a green flak jacket called out sharply, stopping one of the genin.
"Wasn't the Hokage scheduled to return in three days? Where did you hear this? Did you see the Hokage while you were on a mission?"
"Uh… no, not exactly."
The genin looked momentarily confused, then suddenly lit up.
"But our squad leader said he saw members of the Hokage Guard Platoon and sent us back to report it!"
"Wait—weren't Hiruzen and the others traveling with the Hokage?"
"Report… what?"
The interrogating shinobi immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Every member of the Hokage Guard Platoon was an elite jōnin.
There was no way they should be slower than a group of genin—
Unless someone among them had been seriously injured.
"Damn Kumogakure!" the middle-aged shinobi snarled, clenching his fist.
"So this 'alliance' really was a trap! Once the Hokage returns, we'll restart the war!"
The surrounding shinobi echoed his anger, faces darkening in unison.
At that moment, several figures appeared at Konoha's gates.
At their head was Sarutobi Hiruzen, his face etched with urgency.
Hiruzen in his youth looked far more vigorous than the aged Hokage he would one day become.
Though he lacked the authority and gravitas that came with supreme power, his sharp, clear eyes burned with resolve, and an air of youthful determination radiated from him.
He wore dark inner garments beneath a deep-gray cuirass, stained here and there with blood and grime—marks that also streaked his resolute face.
Above, a Leaf forehead protector engraved with the spiral emblem held back his short dark-brown hair, which bristled upward at the ends.
On his back—
He carried his closest friend, Shimura Danzō, whose condition was nothing short of horrific.
"Quick! Get help—now!" Hiruzen shouted desperately.
"Danzō's about to die!"
This wasn't exaggeration.
The blood covering Danzō's face came from a deep slash that had torn across his right eye.
Looking further down, one would see that his entire right arm had been severed at the shoulder. Blood soaked through the hastily wrapped bandages, staining them a deep, ominous red.
Half his body looked like it had been dipped in blood.
The sight stunned everyone near the village gate—
then an uncontrollable uproar erupted.
"Get some people over here! Help me carry the wounded to Konoha Hospital!"
"Where are the medical-nin?! Is there a medic here?!"
"Hurry! Stop the bleeding first!"
Several shinobi burst from the crowd, swiftly lifting Danzō off Hiruzen's back.
Only after Danzō was properly tended did Hiruzen finally ease slightly—
but the barrage of questions that followed immediately darkened his expression again.
"Jōnin Sarutobi! Jōnin Mitokado! What happened exactly?"
"How did Danzō end up like this?"
"Was it a Kumogakure ambush?"
"Where's the Hokage?! Was he injured too?"
"Where is Lord Hokage now? How many enemies are there? Do we need to send reinforcements—"
The jōnin surrounded Hiruzen and the others, questions flying from all sides.
Hiruzen opened his mouth to answer—
then closed it again.
His eyes dimmed.
After a long pause, he finally spoke in a voice so low it seemed to weigh down the air itself.
"The Hokage… may have already fallen in battle."
"What?!"
---
Meanwhile
Regardless of the shockwave caused by Hiruzen's return—
One day after he reached Konoha, Senju Morin and Uzumaki Chizawa finally arrived deep within the Land of Fire. Konoha was now close at hand.
"This is where we part, Chizawa," Morin said, coming to a stop.
"Take care, Brother Morin."
Chizawa replied solemnly, his expression tinged with unmistakable tension.
And no wonder.
He was carrying far too many things that absolutely could not be seen in Konoha.
Uchiha Kagami's corpse.
The Mangekyō Sharingan extracted and preserved separately.
Several Sage of Six Paths' tools.
Ginkaku's body.
Kinkaku's corpse—split cleanly in two.
Even with the Uzumaki clan's famed sealing techniques, Morin wouldn't dare bring all of that straight into Konoha.
Instead, Chizawa would transport everything back to the Land of Whirlpools, where his far more reliable clan-head father could hide it securely.
Of course—
In the coming struggle with Sarutobi Hiruzen over the title of Third Hokage, Morin had no intention of leaving the Uzumaki out.
When the time was right, Chizawa would arrive in Konoha with a small Uzumaki delegation—
officially as visiting allies…
and unofficially to make their stance known.
But that was a matter for later.
After parting ways, the only things Morin kept on him were the Banana Fan and the sealing scroll containing Senju Tobirama's body.
With those in hand—
He headed straight toward Konoha.