The contrast between Tobirama and Danzō's expressions couldn't have been more obvious.
One looked utterly grim, while the corners of the other's mouth kept creeping upward.
Tobirama's expression was so dark because he had always placed his Flying Thunder God marks in extremely well-hidden locations.
And there weren't just one or two of them.
He had planted large numbers of marks across the front lines, arranging them into a network that formed a continuously accessible "escape route"...
Ever since Tobirama had developed the Flying Thunder God Technique, no one had ever wiped out his marks on such a large scale.
Or rather, only one person had ever managed it before.
Erasing a Flying Thunder God mark required an extraordinary mastery of Fūinjutsu, along with sensory abilities even stronger than his own. Only then could someone go from passively discovering the marks to actively hunting them down one by one...
'Who the hell is it?!'
A sense of unease welled up inside Tobirama.
The Flying Thunder God, the technique he had always relied on and which had never failed him, had suddenly stopped working. Even he couldn't help feeling profoundly insecure.
This wasn't the same as when the Gold and Silver Brothers had ambushed him.
Back then, he simply hadn't expected Kumogakure to be so unstable internally, resulting in him being severely wounded by the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths and having his chakra sealed...
He had still been able to sense his Flying Thunder God marks. Activating the technique had simply been difficult, making it impossible to evacuate with his entire Hokage Guard Platoon and forcing him to stay behind alone.
'The last time someone discovered the Flying Thunder God marks I'd planted and uprooted nearly all of them...'
'Was fifty years ago!'
Back then, Tobirama had considered Uzumaki Ashina's forbidden technique, the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, far too dangerous. He believed its principles needed to be analyzed before the technique was sealed away...
So when he went to Uzushiogakure with Hashirama and Mito to negotiate, he had secretly planted numerous Flying Thunder God marks, planning to sneak back in someday and steal the old man Ashina's records...
Yet only a few days after returning to Konoha, when Tobirama immediately seized an opportunity to put his plan into action, he was shocked to discover that nearly every Flying Thunder God mark he had planted had stopped working...
Only one remained, far out in a remote area.
When Tobirama teleported there, however, he found a sign erected by Ashina:
Uzushiogakure: Senju Tobirama and dogs are forbidden from entering!
Tobirama had been absolutely livid.
It had also given him an even deeper appreciation of just how formidable the Uzumaki Clan's sensory abilities were, as well as how profound their understanding of Fūinjutsu was...
And Ashina had only stopped at putting up a sign out of consideration for Hashirama and Mito. Otherwise, he would have brought out his Adamantine Sealing Chains and whipped Tobirama across the face with them!
The current situation was uncannily similar.
Tobirama rubbed his brow as his unease continued to deepen.
A cold, sinister ocular power stirred within his Sharingan, almost as though warning him that something bad was about to happen...
'Hiruzen encountered strengthened Impure World Reincarnations of Hōzuki Gengetsu and Mū. Could that mysterious powerhouse from the Warring States Period be Uzumaki Ashina?'
'Faking his death to research forbidden techniques would make sense. After all, his Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal was rejected by both Konoha and Uzushiogakure...'
'It wouldn't be difficult for Uzumaki Ashina to practice the Strength of a Hundred Seal either. Maintaining himself in a certain condition would be possible, and dismantling my Impure World Reincarnation isn't out of the question. He's also dealt with my Flying Thunder God marks before...'
Tobirama's heart tightened.
Who else would that old madman bring back with Impure World Reincarnation?
With sensory abilities as powerful as his, finding the graves of the Kage from the various villages wouldn't be difficult.
Kirigakure and Iwagakure had already been covered. That left Sunagakure and Kumogakure...
'Don't tell me he brought back the Gold and Silver Brothers too?'
Tobirama could practically feel how heavily this entire situation was targeting him as one shinobi after another flashed through his mind.
However, he didn't believe Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama would be reincarnated.
One of them had been personally buried by his elder brother. Hashirama might normally have been easygoing, but once he became serious, no one could stand against him...
And his elder brother himself was already lying inside his coffin, serving as Konoha's ultimate safeguard.
Even if someone else tried to reincarnate him, they could never break through Uzumaki Mito's seal...
In the end, just as everyone always assumed Tobirama was behind anything bad that happened, Tobirama—who considered himself the Senju who understood the Uchiha best—had a very strong preconceived image of Madara as well.
That man would never become some so-called mastermind lurking behind the scenes, much less fake his death and escape his elder brother's notice.
'What's this guy trying to accomplish?'
'He's trapped Danzō and me behind Iwagakure's lines. Judging by the fact that he knows how I've deployed my Flying Thunder God marks, he clearly possesses the ability to monitor an enormous area...'
'Then he could also be feeding intelligence to Iwagakure and Kumogakure.'
'Is he trying to get us captured? Right. Capture Danzō and me, force Hiruzen to negotiate peace with these two villages, and delay Konoha's continued progress across the shinobi world...'
'Fortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to do this earlier. Konoha's forces have already gone through a full cycle of tempering, and they've fought shinobi from both Kirigakure and Amegakure...'
Tobirama's gaze darkened.
He absolutely could not become a burden to Hiruzen!
Even if they were surrounded now, he wasn't in the same condition as when the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths had left him gravely wounded.
He still possessed tremendous combat strength.
Besides, Izuna was inside him.
{Seisui, there's no need to panic!}
{With you and me here, along with Danzō's Wind Release Chakra Mode, Yashiro, Shikuro, and the other Root members, this elite squad of ours can hold out until reinforcements arrive...}
Izuna's expression was every bit as grim as Tobirama's.
{That bastard Senju Tobirama must be pissed because you're an Uchiha who mastered the Flying Thunder God! After all, your face resembles mine, so I can understand what he's thinking...}
{I can actually understand why he chose this moment. He probably thinks Konoha has fought enough and should sound the retreat, head home, and focus on developing its strength...}
{He isn't trying to start some massive war. He's using this opportunity to teach you a lesson while also using the reincarnated Kage under his control to seize control of Kumogakure and Iwagakure...}
{So you don't need to worry. No matter what, he's still one of Konoha's Hokage. Even if he's making things harder for you because you're an Uchiha, he won't actually try to get you killed. He'll leave you a way out...}
Izuna's analysis was completely different from Tobirama's.
Yet strangely enough, if the "Tobirama" in his explanation were replaced with "Madara," he would have guessed almost the entire truth!
{There's more...}
Izuna's gaze grew deep. "This is also a test from an old Flying Thunder God user to a young one. He wants you to understand that this technique isn't invincible either."
{He's learned that lesson the hard way himself...}
{And Danzō is right beside you. He has always been haunted by what happened when he failed to volunteer to stay behind. Now that he's been given another chance to make that choice, this is another test Senju Tobirama has arranged for his second disciple.}
{Then there's Obito...}
{That brat definitely isn't dead. Senju Tobirama must have taken him in. This whole spectacle is probably meant to serve as Obito's trial for awakening his Sharingan!}
{And finally, there's Hiruzen.}
{Everything has gone smoothly for Konoha up until now. So if an unavoidable crisis suddenly strikes, can he handle it properly as Hokage? This is meant to serve as a warning...}
Izuna couldn't help sighing in admiration.
{What a Senju Tobirama! One situation, yet he's using it to test four different things at once...}
{Even I have to give him credit. As expected of my lifelong rival!}
Tobirama listened in silence.
Wait...
That actually sounded pretty reasonable.
So that was how Izuna interpreted it? Maybe he'd been a little too impulsive just now!
Even Senju Tobirama himself had to admit that the logic checked out.
Whether it was the Flying Thunder God, Danzō, Obito, or Hiruzen and Konoha, every aspect matched his usual methods perfectly.
The problem was...
He wasn't the one doing it!
Tobirama quickly adjusted his assumption that he was being specifically targeted. This seemed more like a typical Warring States-era test.
Had Uzumaki Ashina really become this cunning?
Tobirama reconsidered the matter and narrowed his eyes.
Mito was still alive, and Hiruzen had practiced the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal. As the head of the Uzumaki Clan—the clan whose emblem was displayed on Konoha's flak jackets—it made sense for Ashina to put the village through this sort of test.
{Damn it. Typical Warring States shinobi thinking!}
Tobirama couldn't stop himself from cursing.
He was Uchiha Seisui now, a shinobi of Konoha's new era...
He wasn't familiar with Senju Tobirama.
Or rather, even if he wanted to be, he couldn't afford to be anymore. He really had to distance himself from that man!
{Hey, who are you talking about? What's wrong with Warring States shinobi?} Izuna complained indignantly.
{Sure, it doesn't exactly conform to the Will of Fire, but the payoff is enormous! I'm telling you, he's also pushing Hiruzen to act, giving him a reason to proactively whittle down Iwagakure and Kumogakure's forces...}
{Just watch. Iwagakure and Kumogakure definitely know where we are by now. They'll absolutely send their core combat forces to make sure we're captured.}
{But at the same time, they'll have to dispatch some of their elites and a huge number of rank-and-file shinobi to hold off the village's reinforcements while their main force comes after us. Given the size of Iwagakure's forces, once Kumogakure joins in, there could easily be more than ten thousand of them!}
{Once Hiruzen wipes those shinobi out, Iwagakure and Kumogakure will be crippled. From then on, they'll be reduced to nothing more than background players for Konoha...}
{They'll serve as harmless 'foreign enemies and external threats'!}
{So what we need to do now is hold out until Hiruzen finds us...}
Tobirama and Izuna settled on their plan.
But at that moment, Danzō, who had been struggling to suppress his smile off to the side, suddenly decided to get sentimental.
He slowly turned around and stared at Tobirama, his eyes filled with determination.
"Seisui, I'll stay behind!"
"Yashiro, Shikuro, go with Seisui. As the Hokage's advisor, I'm the biggest target here, and with my Wind Release Chakra Mode, I can hold them off for a long time!"
"Seisui..."
Danzō gazed at Tobirama, emotions surging within him as an obsession he had carried for years seemed to echo through his heart.
"Every time I see your face, I'm reminded of my sensei, Senju Tobirama. The two of you look far too much alike..."
"The great Second Hokage!"
Izuna's mouth twitched. He was barely holding it together.
Tobirama's second disciple really was something else!
Sure, there might be the slightest resemblance in their bone structure, but overall Seisui looked like he'd been carved from the same mold as Izuna. How could Danzō possibly look at that face and think of Tobirama?
He could even use this as a substitute?!
Uchiha Yashiro was completely dumbfounded.
It felt as though the advisor had fallen under some terrifying genjutsu and could no longer tell Young Clan Head Izuna apart from the Second Hokage...
"All these years, I've regretted more than anything that I couldn't stay behind in my sensei's place!"
"You were right. Even if I'd raised my hand before Hiruzen back then, my sensei still wouldn't have chosen me as Hokage. But even so, I still wish I'd done it..."
There was a profound sense of release in Danzō's voice.
"I'm inferior to Hiruzen. Far inferior! I might have been able to become an ordinary Hokage, but I could never have become a Hokage like Hiruzen..."
"Even if I surpassed myself, my absolute ceiling would only be reaching Tobirama-sensei's level..."
At first, Tobirama found himself slightly moved.
Danzō had finally come to his senses. He could finally examine himself calmly instead of letting his emotions dictate everything...
But what exactly was that last sentence supposed to mean?
Was he really using Hiruzen to put down his own sensei and their unbreakable sensei-disciple bond?!
{Deliberate. And that's an insult to Tobirama, isn't it?}
Even Izuna laughed. {That's selling Tobirama a little short! Objectively speaking, there's no way he's as good as Tobirama...}
"So I've finally figured it out."
"I'm done chasing Hiruzen's back. He's the absolute pillar holding Konoha together now. On a larger scale, if anything happened to him, the entire shinobi world would descend into terrible chaos..."
Danzō stared at Seisui.
"My advantage is that I can serve as Hiruzen's shadow! I can burn myself away for the sake of Konoha's future generations. For example, I can stay behind for you, Seisui..."
"You should go. I'll hold out until the Third Raikage and Ōnoki arrive, then find a way to use the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique against them and seal both Kage in one stroke!"
"This would be the best possible ending for me. To tell you the truth, I'm thrilled to have been given a stage like this..."
At that moment, Danzō seemed to become young again.
The other Root shinobi began looking at him differently...
Advisor-sama, what selfless resolve!
Tobirama's expression, however, only grew darker the longer he listened.
"First, I have to acknowledge the progress you've made, Danzō. You're far better than the man you were thirty years ago, when you didn't have the courage to sacrifice yourself."
Ignoring Tobirama's dark expression, Danzō was just about to continue his heartfelt speech.
Then Tobirama's tone abruptly changed, becoming low and stern. To Danzō, it was almost as though his teacher had possessed Seisui, his blood-red Sharingan reflecting Danzō's figure.
"But you're still a complete and utter fool!"
"Can you use your damn brain for once? Just because you hesitated once in the past, now whenever something happens, your first thought is to deal with it in the most extreme way possible instead of responding to the actual situation!"
"I can already guess exactly what you're thinking..."
Tobirama studied Danzō and gave a cold laugh. "You're like certain Uchiha who chase after that whole idea that 'a man's life should end with one grand finale'!"
"The difference is that they choose the right moment. You're just trying to use death to escape from living, hoping that by putting a definitive end to your life, you can hide the fact that you've lost the drive to keep going."
"Don't you simply think that if you stay alive, the gap between you and Hokage-sama will only keep growing?"
"You think I haven't noticed? Lately, you're always looking for excuses to head to the front lines. You've already completed your rotation, yet you deliberately keep taking missions behind enemy lines and expanding the boundaries of the controlled war."
"Back at Root, you've been studying the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique. You even tried to master the Tsuchigumo Clan's natural-energy kinjutsu, Fury, though you failed."
The sentimental mood Danzō had only just worked himself into was instantly and ruthlessly punctured by Tobirama's coldest, most merciless, most brutally objective words!
This wasn't an embodiment of the Will of Fire at all...
It was running away!
"You say you're going to take the Third Raikage and Ōnoki down with you..."
"Don't make me laugh. How could you possibly do that alone? Between Ōnoki's Dust Release and the Third Raikage's speed, the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique is so slow that you'd be lucky to seal half a crater."
"And do you think you'd be fighting them one-on-one?"
"Are all the other Iwa and Kumo shinobi in their allied force supposed to be dead? And even if the Third Raikage and Ōnoki died right now, does Konoha have the ability to govern the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth?"
"Those organized shinobi forces would scatter into roaming bands, and with their Kage killed in battle, they'd only become more determined. Their hatred for Konoha would spread everywhere like a cesspit exploding..."
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