"As expected of Konoha's Hokage, even across history. Truly powerful."
Hashirama looked down at the three figures below, his gaze lingering on Minato with genuine admiration. "And you've even mastered the Nine-Tails' chakra! Like father, like son!"
Minato could only manage a wry smile at the praise from the First Hokage. "I hope you won't hold my son's misbehavior against him."
"Ah, and the Third Hokage as well," Hashirama sighed. "I never imagined the Third had accomplished so much after my passing."
Minato had already been briefed by Tobirama and Jiraiya about Naruto and Menma. They hadn't held anything back, telling him everything about the chakra he'd left behind and Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions. After all, with so many people aware of the truth, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Yet Minato's reaction had deeply surprised Tobirama. He'd expected the Fourth to be consumed by the same anger and resentment that filled his lingering chakra—full of hatred toward Konoha. Instead, Minato had spent the entire time apologizing, even insisting he would bring both Naruto and Menma back to the right path.
It was outrageous!
As they spoke, Minato's body moved on its own once more, launching an attack against Hashirama above the wooden dummy. Tobirama and Jiraiya immediately followed suit, bombarding the wooden figure before them.
"Hahaha! He didn't act recklessly. Menma is a very talented young man—the future of the shinobi world..." Hashirama insisted, completely self-deluded as he loudly laughed while trading blows with Minato, who'd suddenly appeared before him. Simultaneously, he controlled the wooden dummy to brutally pummel Jiraiya below, effortlessly dodging Tobirama's Water Release Ninjutsu.
"In the end, this is all your fault, little brother!" Hashirama declared. "You didn't teach your disciples properly, and now look at the rotten apples they've produced!"
"BIG BROTHER!" Hashirama's words ignited Tobirama's fury.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, didn't dare utter a word. He silently endured the wooden dummy's blows—he'd already been killed by his own disciple, a humiliation that left him with nothing to say.
"Stop talking nonsense, big brother!" Tobirama snapped. "Our bodies have been completely hijacked. We can't even perform release seals anymore. Just use Wood Release Ninjutsu to restrain us already, then seal us with Adamantine Lock!"
Tobirama spoke of sealing, but his hands were already unleashing a torrent of exponentially multiplying Explosive Tags. If these didn't kill their target, they would keep spawning and stacking infinitely. In an instant, they engulfed the wooden dummy, erupting in a massive blast!
The ground trembled violently, as if an earth dragon churned beneath it.
Seeing the tags multiplying out of control, Hashirama immediately tried to form hand seals to stop them—but Minato, fighting him at close range, interrupted him.
With no other choice, he shouted, "Stop, Tobirama! Do you want to destroy the village?!"
Tobirama, now visible only from the neck up, was equally furious. "Brother, are you an idiot?"
Hashirama then remembered the grim reality: all three of them were being controlled by an unseen mastermind.
He sighed helplessly. "Then I have no choice but to use my ultimate move."
"The First Hokage has an ultimate move?" Minato asked, actually brightening up as he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge Hashirama's hand seals.
Hashirama nodded. He gathered energy in his core, unleashing a sonic boom that dwarfed the explosion.
"Menma! Get over here! Your old home is being robbed!!"
Tobirama: "..."
Minato: "..."
Jiraiya: "..."
"Brother, there's a limit to how stupid you can be!!" Tobirama roared.
"If Menma were nearby, he would've sensed this battle already. We wouldn't need you to shout—" Tobirama began, but stopped mid-sentence.
A dazzling sword beam, like a waterfall cascading from the heavens, descended from the sky. It skimmed the ground, slicing cleanly through their bodies before vanishing into the distant horizon.
The very void seemed to freeze.
The explosion of the stacked tags vanished instantly in the sword beam's wake, like snow beneath a blazing sun. The bodies of the four men disintegrated with a deafening crack, then reformed on the spot in a shower of sparks.
This terrifying, precise strike left the four still-reforming figures utterly speechless.
Meanwhile, Menma descended silently from above, wielding a golden blade nearly a hundred meters long, etched with black patterns.
"That last attack... you've gotten stronger again," Hashirama sighed, watching Menma land. He knew that even at his peak, he wouldn't stand a chance against him now.
"This is my descendant..." Minato felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity at first glance. Pride and honor swelled within him.
"Menma..." Tobirama and Jiraiya wore complicated expressions. Especially Jiraiya—he'd been killed by Nagato, and the mastermind behind it all was Menma.
Tobirama quickly shook his head, breaking the silence. "I don't know why my brother chose to side with you, but I trust him." He raised his voice. "Menma, seal us now while we're still regenerating, before the mastermind can control us again!"
As a die-hard brother-complex, Tobirama cared more about Hashirama than the village itself. If Hashirama didn't care about Konoha anymore, then neither did he.
Menma, however, ignored him. He simply activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and swept his gaze over the three of them.
Meanwhile, far outside Konoha—
Orochimaru's vision was suddenly filled with a six-pointed star pattern. He staggered back two steps, sweat beading on his forehead as he gasped for breath.
"Lord Orochimaru! What's wrong?!" Kabuto rushed forward to support him.
"I'm fine... Menma just appeared," Orochimaru pushed Kabuto away, trembling as he stretched out his tongue to lick his face. "If the plan succeeds, I'll obtain Menma's body..."
Just imagining it made Orochimaru flush and his heart race—he felt like he was about to reach his peak! But he quickly suppressed his excitement and turned to Kabuto.
"Kabuto, go tell Obito to move quickly. The Wind Void can't hold out much longer."
"Yes." Kabuto nodded and vanished.
---
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