The dust from Orochimaru's invasion and the collapse of the Leaf Elders had settled, but a mountain of problems remained. The interrupted Chunin Exams were officially terminated. The smaller ninja villages that hadn't participated in the invasion scheme knew their place and packed up the next day.
The escaping villagers of Sunagakure found Fourth Kazekage Rasa dead on the road and naturally blamed Orochimaru, the mastermind behind everything. They claimed they had been deceived by an impostor posing as the Kazekage, forcing them to break the peace treaty and attack Konoha against their will.
They insisted that none of this was Sunagakure's true intention—they were victims of a missing-nin from Konoha. Since both sides were at fault, they didn't demand compensation from Konoha. In fact, they were willing to surrender, provided Konoha reinstated the previous peace treaty.
If only the Third Hokage were in charge, they thought. The Leaf Village would understand our situation and accept the apology.
But they weren't counting on Hashirama and Tobirama. The resurrected brothers hadn't vanished like in the original timeline; instead, they'd seized temporary control of Konoha.
Tobirama was furious when he read their statement. If Hashirama hadn't stopped him, he would have already declared war on Sunagakure right then and there.
In the end, the Second Hokage gave Sunagakure two choices: pay hefty reparations or face war.
Sunagakure, being dirt poor and currently lacking a Kazekage or their Tailed Beast, naturally refused. They sent back a message saying they had no money, only their lives, and were prepared to die together.
So, both sides launched large-scale military exercises while sending representatives to the negotiation table. It was a stalemate. Sunagakure, without their Kage or Shukaku, was intimidated. Konoha, though, had Hashirama Senju as their figurehead. Unless Sunagakure attacked first, Konoha wouldn't intervene.
However, the Sand Village couldn't launch an attack; they were the "misled" party. Orochimaru's Sound Village, on the other hand, was completely untouched.
Tobirama planned to use the destruction of the Sound Village as leverage in his negotiations with Sunagakure.
Hokage's Office
"Brother, antagonizing Sunagakure could ignite a world war," Hashirama warned, his brow furrowed.
"But Orochimaru, the traitor who plotted to destroy the Leaf, must be erased. We're taking out the Sound Village."
"Understood. I won't stop you." Hashirama understood Tobirama's logic. If he were alive and well, he might have hesitated, insisting they just kill the mastermind and spare the village. But after being resurrected, he felt different—he'd changed.
Seeing Hashirama agree so easily, Tobirama, who had prepared a counter-argument, was caught off guard.
"Hiss—Brother, have you gone senile?"
Hashirama blinked. "What?"
"Tobirama!" Hashirama's voice dropped an octave. "Do you even respect me as the elder brother anymore? I've been through so many wars. Do you really think I don't know that necessary sacrifices prevent greater losses?"
Hashirama rarely pulled the "big brother" card, but now his face scrunched up, radiating pure menace. His expression all but screamed, I'm terrifying.
"Hmph. So long-winded," Tobirama scoffed, arrogantly crossing his arms and turning his head away. He refused to admit he was wrong, but then he suddenly remembered something and looked back.
"By the way, Brother, this time we're leading the team together. My current strength isn't enough to suppress Orochimaru alone."
Seeing his younger brother needed him, Hashirama beamed. "No problem! I'll handle that little brat Orochimaru."
Although his current power was only a tenth of his prime, dealing with ordinary Kage-level opponents was no problem. He could even put up a fight against elite Kage-level shinobi. If Orochimaru hadn't been so reckless, Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't have held out until Menma arrived!
With Hashirama's support, Tobirama finalized the plan.
"This time, we'll deploy units from the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans to wipe out Sound Village. After all, they've taken advantage of the Leaf for too long; mere money won't cover the debt. Besides, it'll show Menma our sincerity..."
Speaking of Menma, Tobirama's head throbbed. He still hadn't found a solution. As acting Hokage, he'd learned of Hiruzen's profiling on Menma's dual personalities and the ongoing research into sealing or annihilating the dark side.
He was torn about whether to participate in the research. Menma's dark personality was too dangerous—capricious and lawless. Moreover, Naruto's kind personality seemed to be spiraling out of control, or rather, being allowed to run rampant.
"Sigh. What a shame about Hiruzen Sarutobi. If only that monkey hadn't made such a mess..." Hashirama sighed deeply, his resentment toward his former student plain. Hiruzen had been such a promising young man, but as Hokage, he'd let everything crumble.
Just as the two were lamenting, the door flew open. Danzo Shimura walked in, flanked by his Root subordinates.
"Tobirama!" Danzo's voice was calm, ignoring the First Hokage entirely. "Are you afraid I've forgotten to deal with Root?"
Tobirama frowned, glaring at his former student with intense displeasure. He had created Root to function alongside ANBU, but Danzo had twisted it into a personal army to undermine the Hokage. Danzo used it to cause trouble outside the village, instigate wars, and even assassinate the Hokage. Honestly, compared to Hiruzen, Tobirama wanted to crush Danzo—the bastard had never done anything good.
Danzo ignored the threat.
"First Hokage, Tobirama-sensei," he said, his tone detached. "You recall the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who massacred my Shimura clan and Sarutobi clan ninja, don't you?"
Before Tobirama could respond, Danzo stepped aside, revealing the corpses of Shimura and Sarutobi shinobi behind him.
"I'm simply here to show you something," Danzo stated. "A legendary figure has appeared again. Just like you."
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