"Where is this place?"
The memory of death instantly surged back into his mind. He had lured away Kinkaku and Ginkaku's elite squad alone in order to cover Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku really were monsters. They could even briefly enter a Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Otherwise, perhaps he might have...
Tobirama felt a trace of regret inside. He clearly knew that he was already a dead man.
But now, where exactly was this place?
And this state of his...
This was Reanimation Jutsu!
As the creator of Reanimation Jutsu, he was naturally more familiar with it than anyone else. In just a few moments, he fully understood his own condition.
He had to figure out the situation first.
Always cautious, Tobirama began carefully observing his surroundings.
The moment he looked up, he saw Haru standing there in the Hokage robe, a smile on his face as he watched him.
A sharp light flashed through Tobirama's eyes. He stared fixedly at Haru, while stormy waves were already crashing inside his heart and his expression turned gloomy.
How could this be?
Why was the Hokage robe on Haru's body?
Tobirama remembered Haru clearly. He was an Uchiha just like Uchiha Kagami.
An Uchiha like Kagami, someone who had vision beyond the narrow boundaries of clan and who was wholeheartedly devoted to Konoha.
Because of that, Tobirama had even once extended an olive branch to Haru and offered to accept him as a disciple.
"Hello there, Second Hokage."
Haru greeted Tobirama, but his friendly tone was met with no response at all.
"Uchiha brat, born evil by nature, this old man will execute you on the spot!"
"You dare use this kind of technique to defile my soul!"
Tobirama's hands moved through seals at an astonishing speed. The moment he acted, it was already a killing move, aimed at directly killing Haru.
Haru gave a helpless bitter smile and quickly formed a seal with one hand. Tobirama immediately froze in place, his body locked upright and unable to move at all.
"Tobirama-sama, why bother?"
"I came to meet you with good intentions."
Tobirama's body had lost control, but the killing intent in his eyes was completely undisguised. If looks could kill, Haru would already have been cut into pieces.
"Shut up!"
"Do you think I can't see through it?"
"Everything you did before was just an act. I truly never expected that after hunting hawks my entire life, I would finally have my own eyes pecked out by one."
The hatred in Tobirama's heart burned fiercely. How had he failed to see through Haru's disguise back then? He had thought he could see loyalty and treachery clearly, judge good and evil accurately, understand people's hearts, and keep the Uchiha firmly under control.
And yet even then, one tiny gap had been enough.
"Tobirama-sama, now that's really unfair. I never pretended to be anything. I truly have been wholeheartedly devoted to Konoha."
Haru's smile widened, pure and innocent to an almost ridiculous degree.
Yet to Tobirama, that innocent smile looked deeply evil.
From Haru's smile, Tobirama felt a profound malice, along with a smug, mocking ridicule.
In Tobirama's eyes, Haru was practically taunting him face-to-face.
"Traitor! Villain!"
Tobirama felt a chill run through him.
An Uchiha who had disguised himself for years, who had even deceived him... beneath that false, virtuous exterior, what sort of twisted and evil soul was hidden?
How had such a terrifying monster appeared in the Uchiha clan?
Could it be that heaven truly intended to destroy Konoha?
As those thoughts continued, Tobirama suddenly remembered Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
Haru was wearing the Hokage robe.
But Tobirama had clearly passed the title of Third Hokage to Hiruzen Sarutobi...
A dreadful thought rose in Tobirama's mind.
He looked at Haru and asked through gritted teeth,
"Where is Hiruzen?"
"What did you do to him?!"
Tobirama grew more agitated by the second. The unease in his heart became stronger and stronger. He wanted nothing more than to pry open Haru's mouth and find out exactly what had happened to Konoha after his death.
How could this be?!
How could Haru have become Hokage!
Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi could not defeat Haru, there was still Mito.
Mito knew perfectly well what Tobirama thought about the Uchiha clan. She would never allow an Uchiha to become Hokage.
According to Tobirama's arrangements and expectations, Hiruzen should have gone to find Mito immediately. Mito should have helped Hiruzen become Konoha's Third Hokage.
Could it be that Mito had met with disaster too?
Tobirama hardly dared continue guessing.
Mito was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. Even he himself had never been fully confident that he could defeat her.
Mangekyo Sharingan!
Haru had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!
Tobirama felt he had grasped the truth. Only the Mangekyo Sharingan could defeat Mito in her position as the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Madman!
Tobirama added another label to Haru in his mind.
Every Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan was a madman.
Not in the sense of being mentally insane, but because any Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan must have gone through an unimaginably dark experience, leaving their way of thinking fundamentally different from normal people and making them obsessively extreme in certain ways.
As someone who had studied the Uchiha deeply, Tobirama understood that better than anyone.
An Uchiha who was exceptionally good at disguising himself, overwhelmingly powerful, and mentally a madman had now become Hokage.
Tobirama was nearly in despair.
Konoha was doomed sooner or later.
Haru would definitely drag Konoha into some nameless abyss. Perhaps even the entire ninja world would be thrown into chaos by him.
No!
Tobirama would never allow that to happen.
His elder brother had fought through endless hardship to found Konoha. Tobirama himself had worked day and night his entire life, adding brick after brick to Konoha's foundation. The efforts of their two brothers over a lifetime absolutely could not be wasted.
"You mean Hiruzen Sarutobi?"
"He's dead."
Haru answered Tobirama's question calmly.
Just as I thought.
A trace of sorrow passed through Tobirama's heart. Even though he had already guessed Hiruzen's fate, actually hearing that Hiruzen had been killed still hurt.
Tobirama had placed great hopes on Hiruzen. Otherwise, he never would have passed the office of Third Hokage to him.
But this was not the time to grieve.
He had something even more important to do.
He had to escape.
He absolutely had to escape.
Then he would find a chance to kill Haru, choose a new Hokage for Konoha, correct the mistake he had made, and drag everything back onto the proper path.
And after that, he would completely settle accounts with the Uchiha.
The Uchiha truly were too dangerous.
He had already been careful enough, cautious enough, wary enough of the Uchiha, and yet he had still slipped up and allowed someone as terrifying as Haru to emerge among them.
Calm down.
Tobirama forced himself to calm down.
He needed to endure. He needed to wait.
He had to wait for the moment Haru let his guard down.
At this moment, he was like fish on a chopping board, ready to be butchered, with no room to resist at all.
(End of Chapter)
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