[Hashirama Senju: Hiruzen is still Hokage? Aside from the Fourth, does Konoha not have anyone else?]
[Ōnoki: Hahaha, Lord Hashirama, perhaps you should ask your Third Hokage that.]
[Fourth Raikage (A): Don't forget—besides the Third Hokage, other senior officials also made "great contributions."]
At that moment, Konoha's "F4" felt their hearts tremble—especially Hiruzen Sarutobi.
A few years ago, he had already been severely lectured once in this livestream. He did not wish to relive that experience.
[Tobirama Senju: Hmph. Konoha's affairs are not for you to meddle in.]
[Hashirama Senju: Tobirama, what exactly is going on?]
[Tobirama Senju: Just watch the screen.]
In the footage—
Nagi explained that the Fourth Hokage had died during the Nine-Tails' Attack.
Tobirama frowned.
The Nine-Tails…
To call it powerful? After the battle at the Valley of the End, his elder brother had dragged it back to Konoha like a captured chick and sealed it into his sister-in-law.
To call it weak? Its immense chakra and Tailed Beast Ball were hardly something ordinary shinobi could handle.
"…It seems Konoha's later generations have a poor understanding of the tailed beasts."
Since Kurama had been sealed within Kushina Uzumaki, and the other tailed beasts distributed among the Five Great Nations, Tobirama had little opportunity to research them further.
He returned to the present.
"What is your name?"
" Nagi, Lord Second."
"The Shiranui clan… I see."
After a brief pause, Tobirama said calmly,
"Do as I instruct. You should then be able to enter and exit this mental space freely."
"Yes."
When it came to soul-related techniques, Tobirama Senju stood at the very pinnacle.
With Nagi's extraordinary talent, it did not take long for him to master free access to his own mindscape.
Even Tobirama was momentarily stunned by the boy's aptitude—before allowing himself a faint smile.
"Konoha's younger generation is… interesting. As long as he is not a naturally evil Uchiha."
Nagi soon regained consciousness.
Genma was staring at him anxiously.
"Nagi! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Brother Genma."
Genma let out a long breath of relief. If anything had happened, how could he face his late uncle and aunt?
"Good… good. So—how did chakra refinement go?"
"I've successfully refined chakra."
"Oh, don't worry, refining chakra isn't something done in a single da—wait. What? You've already succeeded?!"
Less than half an hour had passed.
Could the earlier blue light have been the reason?
Inside the mindscape, time had stretched like a dream—but in reality, barely thirty minutes had elapsed.
Genma's shock was justified.
Chakra refinement sounded simple. In truth, it was anything but.
The process generally required:
Sensing and mobilizing one's spiritual energy.
Controlling that spiritual energy to extract physical energy from the body's cells.
Combining physical and spiritual energy to form chakra and circulate it internally.
Storing the refined chakra within the body.
For most, success required about a week.
Even prodigies needed two to three days.
Thirty minutes?
That was monstrous.
Across the shinobi world—
No one could sit still.
[Hashirama Senju: Uh… Madara, how long did it take us to refine chakra?]
[Madara Uchiha: How should I know about you? Ask your brother.]
[Tobirama Senju: My brother and I both required less than a day.]
[Ōnoki: Thirty minutes? That's absurd!]
Ōnoki immediately ordered intelligence on Nagi to be gathered.
Other hidden villages did the same.
Such talent, yet unheard of in Konoha?
Either his strength was mediocre—unlikely.
Or—
The Second Hokage had deliberately concealed him, nurturing him in secret.
The more Ōnoki thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
If not for the livestream exposing him, perhaps by the time he matured, it would already be too late for the rest of them.
But Orochimaru remained calm.
[Orochimaru: No. The Second Hokage likely played a role. His chakra—or rather, his lingering soul—entered the boy's body and guided the refinement process.]
[Rasa: I see…]
[Fourth Raikage (A): That explains it.]
Later, Genma warned Nagi not to tell anyone.
He feared that Danzō Shimura would forcibly recruit him into Root.
Even major clans like the Yamanaka and Nara had members within Root—let alone smaller clans like the , who had no leverage to refuse.
From then on, Tobirama observed Konoha through Nagi's senses, occasionally offering guidance.
Yet the more he taught, the more delighted he became.
Nagi grasped concepts almost instantly.
Sometimes his ideas were bold and unconventional—yet logically sound.
A sensible genius was always likable.
Tobirama considered taking him as a disciple—but refrained for now.
He wished to observe the boy's character further.
And he also wanted to see what kind of Konoha Hiruzen and the others had built.
If the village had remained peaceful for so long, perhaps they had not failed entirely.
The day before Academy enrollment—
Nagi was out shopping when he saw Naruto Uzumaki walking down the street, face full of excitement at the thought of making friends tomorrow.
Then—
The villagers' expressions changed instantly.
"The demon fox…"
"What rotten luck, running into him."
Vegetables, eggs—even stones were thrown.
Naruto laughed loudly, shouting,
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm going to become Hokage someday!"
The mockery intensified.
Nagi stood silently, fists clenched.
He had long known Naruto was kindhearted—carefree and loud, but a good person.
Inside the mindscape—
Tobirama's brows furrowed.
"What is this…?"
"Why would villagers treat a child so mercilessly? And 'demon fox'…?"
He extended his perception toward Naruto—
And his eyes widened.
"That chakra… the Nine-Tails?!"
"So the boy is the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki."
As villagers continued cursing—and several children even moved forward to strike Naruto—
Tobirama felt his eyelid twitch.
In his mind, this was like lighting fireworks beside a pile of explosive tags.
Were they tired of living?
"Nagi. Take that child away—now!"
Chakra burst beneath Nagi's feet.
In an instant, he appeared before Naruto.
Before Naruto could react—
The white-haired boy in glasses scooped him up—
And vanished from the street.