The moment Tsunade finished speaking, Tobirama Senju flicked her hard on the forehead, making her yelp in pain.
The Second Hokage said in exasperation,
"You? You want to become Hokage?"
"Unless all your classmates—even your juniors—die off, leaving you as the last Kage-level shinobi in Konoha, who would dare let you become Hokage?"
"Are we supposed to wait for you to gamble the entire village away at the betting table?"
Tsunade clutched her forehead and asked,
"If even I'm not suitable, then who do you want to become the Fourth Hokage, Grandpa Tobirama?"
Tobirama Senju snorted angrily.
"I don't care which one of you becomes the Fourth Hokage."
"I only require one thing: Uchiha Kagami's grandson, Uchiha Shisui, must become the Fourth Hokage's disciple."
"As for whether an Uchiha becomes the Fifth or Sixth Hokage after that, I don't particularly care."
Tsunade stared at him as if she were looking at a monster.
She could not help asking,
"Are you really my Grandpa Tobirama?"
"Weren't you the one who hated the Uchiha clan the most?"
"I remember you even said, 'The Uchiha clan is inherently evil.'"
"So how can you now…"
Tobirama Senju let out a long sigh and helplessly replied,
"I still believe the Uchiha clan is inherently evil."
"But reality is stronger than people."
"I already told you just now. Uchiha Yoru has become too powerful."
"Inside Konoha, there is no longer any possibility of restraining him."
"As long as he is still willing to remain a Konoha shinobi, Uchiha Yoru himself has already become part of Konoha's 'big picture.'"
"Tsunade, the big picture comes first!"
The moment Tsunade heard Tobirama utter those words, her mood became terrible.
Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage.
She had been born during Konoha's founding era and had grown up during the village's vigorous development.
She loved Konoha deeply.
The reason she had helplessly abandoned Konoha and wandered outside alone was precisely because, after she had been hurt, she had heard the same four words over and over again from her teacher:
"The big picture comes first."
Tsunade's efforts had been denied by those words.
Her grievances, sorrow, and hatred had likewise all been denied by those words.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been her teacher, yet he had wielded those words like a weapon, beating Tsunade until her teeth were scattered across the ground.
Then she still had to pick up those broken teeth, stuff them back into her mouth together with the blood, and swallow them.
Only by swallowing everything—
Swallowing it with a smile—
Could she preserve the big picture and remain a good shinobi of Konoha and a good disciple of the Third Hokage.
She had been unwilling.
But she had also been helpless.
So she had exiled herself and numbed herself with alcohol.
That was why Tsunade hated the phrase "the big picture comes first" more than anything.
But after that familiar disgust rose inside her today, Tsunade suddenly realized something.
This time was different.
Previously, the "big picture" had been the Third Hokage's big picture.
But now, the "big picture" belonged to that Uchiha… whatever his name was.
An Uchiha.
Those bastards were the hardest-headed people imaginable.
Did that mean all those things the Third Hokage had forcefully suppressed in the past could be dug up again?
Would the Fourth Hokage stand on the same side as the Third Hokage?
Impossible!
She did not want to become Hokage.
No need to consider that.
That idiot Jiraiya would not become Hokage either.
He lacked both the qualifications and the desire, so there was no reason to consider him.
Orochimaru was the most likely candidate for Fourth Hokage.
He had the desire to become Hokage.
He lacked neither prestige, strength, nor political backing.
And if Tsunade supported him, filling in the final weakness on the noble side, who could possibly compete with him?
No one!
Orochimaru was certainly no easygoing pushover.
But he would definitely be willing to tear open the old wounds of the past and squeeze out all the pus festering in Konoha's darkness so that the village could move forward unburdened.
Once Tsunade figured all this out, her mood suddenly became excellent.
She jumped up and cheered excitedly.
"Great! No problem!"
"I'm definitely going back to help Orochimaru make some noise!"
Tobirama Senju had no idea that his grandniece had thought through so much in a single instant.
But his objective had obviously been achieved, so he finally relaxed.
During the remainder of their time together, Tobirama did not discuss any specific plan for overthrowing the Third Hokage with Tsunade.
Instead, the two simply sat together and talked about what each of them had experienced recently.
When Tobirama heard that Tsunade was still gambling and drinking excessively, he flew into a rage and wanted to discipline her properly in Hashirama's place.
Tsunade fled while clutching her head, repeatedly shouting,
"I'll change! I'll change right now!"
When she heard Tobirama relay Hashirama's greetings, Tsunade cried like a three-year-old child and burrowed into Tobirama's arms for comfort.
When she heard that Tobirama Senju had actually been working himself to the bone for Uchiha Yoru, Tsunade ground her teeth in anger.
She clenched her fist and secretly swore that she would find an opportunity to properly teach that bastard Uchiha a lesson.
[Screw the damn big picture!]
[This lady specializes in beating up the big picture!]
After all, the "big picture" was no longer Hiruzen Sarutobi, whom she shared deep emotional ties with.
What did Tsunade-hime have left to worry about?
Only after the two had run out of things to say did Tobirama Senju prepare to leave.
Naturally, Tsunade was extremely reluctant to part.
Tobirama comforted her.
"Don't be sad. We'll still have chances to meet again in the future."
"Haven't we already met twice now?"
"In the future, even my brother might have a chance to come see you."
Tsunade was overjoyed and shouted in disbelief,
"Really?"
Tobirama Senju nodded.
"Yes."
"Uchiha Yoru has a god hidden behind him."
"He calls himself the 'Heavenly Emperor.'"
"I've only just come into contact with Him, but I can already sense that He is arranging something unimaginably vast."
Tsunade's brain nearly shut down.
She stared blankly at her Grandpa Tobirama and listened numbly as he continued explaining his thoughts.
"What I want to tell you is that He may help us dead people return."
"He may even resurrect us outright and use us dead people as His hands and feet in the shinobi world."
"This deity's affairs are far too significant."
"I cannot estimate what sort of existences may ultimately become involved."
"So, Tsunade, don't investigate Him."
"Don't get involved either."
"It's enough for you to simply know this in your heart."
Tsunade nodded violently, indicating that she understood.
Tobirama noticed that her expression looked somewhat strange.
But that was normal.
Who could suddenly come into contact with matters concerning gods and not feel confused?
He comforted Tsunade once more.
"Live well."
"There will be hope."
"Everything will have hope."
After saying this, Tobirama Senju used the Flying Thunder God Technique and returned to the distant Land of Demons.
After he left, Tsunade suddenly lost all strength and collapsed onto the floor.
She covered her eyes with both hands and muttered,
"Grandpa Tobirama…"
"You warned me way too late."
"I'm already tangled up with the Heavenly Emperor."
"What am I supposed to do now?"
Tsunade did not believe for a single moment that the so-called Divine Court Meeting was something she could simply refuse to participate in.
What equal exchange?
That was merely a fig leaf.
An organization that dragged people into meetings like forced conscription—how could it possibly lack coercive power?
What virtue or ability did she, Tsunade, possess that could let her escape from the grasp of a god planning to revive the dead?
This was a being she might not even be able to escape after dying.
"Forget it."
"Since I'm already involved, I might as well accept it."
"Next time, I'll be more proactive and work harder."
"I'll put on a good performance."
"Hehe…"
"Maybe I can win the Heavenly Emperor's favor."
"And then ask Him…"
"Ask Him to…"
"Resurrect Nawaki?"
"Wait, if Nawaki comes back, would he accept Dan?"
"Maybe… it would be better to resurrect Dan first."
"He would definitely support me resurrecting Nawaki."
"Perfect!"
"…"
"What the hell am I thinking…"
Tears flowed from beneath Tsunade's hands.
They streamed freely down her delicate cheeks.
Yet she pressed her hands even more tightly over her eyes, as though if she simply refused to uncover them, then she was not actually crying.
"What the hell am I thinking?!"
"Isn't this hope?"
"Why the hell should I accept fate?!"
"If the dead truly could never return, then fine, I'd have to accept it."
"But now there's a chance."
"So why the hell should I accept anything?!"
"It's just Teacher."
"One lousy old man."
"Just watch this lady throw him straight off his chair."
"At his age, he should go home and discipline his son."
"Tell his son to hurry up and have a grandson."
"Then he can focus on playing with his grandkid!"
"Hurry up and retire for me."
"Otherwise…"
"Otherwise…"
"You're really going to die…"
"Teacher."
At some point, Tsunade wiped away the tear tracks on her face.
Her beautiful eyes shone brightly.
There was not the slightest swelling left from crying.
She walked outside, slapped the railing, and called over an inn worker.
"Alcohol!"
"Bring me ten huge jugs!"
"Today, I'm drinking to my heart's content!"
After shouting, Tsunade casually pulled out a large bag of money and threw it straight into the worker's arms, knocking him backward.
After the worker scrambled away in a panic, Tsunade smiled and whispered to herself,
"Starting tomorrow…"
"I'm never drinking again."
…
Uchiha Yoru woke from a half-conscious sleep.
By now, his physical stamina had recovered.
All the abnormal conditions in his body had disappeared.
Even his spirit had recovered considerably.
What woke him was the convergence of an enormous amount of faith power.
Strange phenomena had already begun appearing above the shrine.
Because this enormous faith power currently had no guidance and no recipient, it naturally decayed into subtle spiritual fluctuations.
Uchiha Yoru immediately rolled to his feet and entered the shrine.
Along the way, every priest and shrine maiden who saw him respectfully bowed.
Clearly, Miroku had already given them instructions.
Uchiha Yoru proceeded unobstructed all the way to the Miko's residence, then directly entered the side hall on the right that was still undergoing rapid construction.
Workers inside were applying lacquer to a newly completed statue to protect the colors that had just been painted.
In only three short days, they had renovated the side hall, carved the statue, painted it, and reached this stage.
The craftsmen had truly done everything they could.
But truthfully, the schedule was still far too rushed.
Because of that, they had been unable to use more durable oil-based pigments and had instead used less adhesive watercolors.
Thus, a final layer of transparent lacquer was necessary for protection.
When Uchiha Yoru entered, he saw Miroku and Tobirama Senju each busy with their own work.
He asked,
"Second Hokage, has the sealing formation been fully arranged?"
Tobirama Senju replied,
"It's finished."
"We were just waiting for you to perform the final activation."
He lifted his head and glanced toward the roof.
Although his line of sight was obstructed, the spiritual fluctuations produced by decaying faith power easily passed through the building.
Tobirama said,
"I truly didn't expect faith of this scale to gather."
"The power of waterworks is certainly impressive."
Uchiha Yoru looked at Tobirama Senju, whose condition had become visibly more exhausted, and nodded.
"I didn't expect this much faith to gather in only one day either."
"It seems the people of the Land of Demons really were suffering badly from water shortages."
"Second Hokage, your condition is getting worse."
"Let's begin now."
"Good."
Yoru then looked toward Miroku.
"Miko, are you ready on your side?"
Miroku gently shook her head.
"No."
"We still need two more coats of lacquer before it's finished."
Uchiha Yoru shook his head.
"No need."
"Have the workers leave."
"This idol is real."
"It doesn't require so much decoration."
Thus, the workers who had still been busily working were all dismissed.
Only Uchiha Yoru, Miroku, and Tobirama Senju remained.
Uchiha Yoru took out the Faith Stone he had retrieved from the Land of Gloom.
After confirming one final time that all the faith threads previously attached to it had vanished, he walked toward the statue.
He reached out and lightly tapped the statue near its feet.
The wooden statue suddenly seemed to come alive.
The dense wood twisted open, revealing a narrow fissure.
Uchiha Yoru placed the Faith Stone inside.
Then the wood moved again.
The fissure rapidly healed, sealing the stone within.
And it was not merely sealed beneath the surface.
The changes inside the statue were far greater.
Tiny tubes resembling human meridians formed one after another.
Following Tobirama Senju's research, they outlined a densely packed network of rune structures.
Enormous changes occurred inside the statue.
But Uchiha Yoru's control was so precise that almost nothing could be seen from the outside.
Tobirama Senju's eyes narrowed.
He understood immediately that Uchiha Yoru's control over Wood Release had improved tremendously.
This was the most direct reward he had gained from pushing himself to the limit for two consecutive days and nights.
The Second Hokage became even more uneasy.
During this period, Uchiha Yoru had been right in front of him.
And Tobirama could visibly see the young man becoming stronger with each passing day.
Although he had already learned quite a lot about Uchiha Yoru, Yoru was not a brother he had grown up with since childhood.
Tobirama could never trust him the way he trusted Hashirama Senju.
More importantly, Uchiha Yoru's mind was far too sharp.
He was perceptive to an almost frightening degree, yet his thoughts were as deep as an abyss.
Tobirama Senju could not understand what he was thinking.
He did not know what Uchiha Yoru truly wanted.
He only knew what Uchiha Yoru intended to do.
That was completely different from Hashirama Senju, whose thoughts were as transparent as crystal.
That was why Tobirama naturally felt uneasy as Uchiha Yoru's power increased so rapidly.
This was actually a perfectly normal reaction.
Great power inspired fear.
And when such power rested in the hands of someone sunny and straightforward, people naturally felt more at ease than when it belonged to someone whose thoughts could not be read.
Uchiha Yoru did not know what Tobirama was thinking.
Even if he had known, however, he would never have opened his heart to the Second Hokage.
If a ruler is not discreet, he loses his ministers.
If a minister is not discreet, he loses his life.
If important affairs are not kept secret, disaster follows.
Uchiha Yoru's thoughts and desires could be considered the greatest secrets of his life.
Compared with failing to gain another person's complete trust, he was far more concerned about the unpredictable dangers that could arise if his true thoughts were exposed.
After all, this was the shinobi world.
Its depths were impossible to measure.
There were far too many giant predators lurking beneath the surface.
Gamamaru, the White Snake, and Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo were all genuine thousand-year-old monsters.
Even the seemingly simple-minded Slug Sage had motives that Uchiha Yoru could not fully determine.
Then there were Hamura Ōtsutsuki's descendants on the Moon who dreamed of destroying the world.
There was Isshiki Ōtsutsuki hiding somewhere in the shinobi world.
And there was the Ōtsutsuki clan, who could descend from the heavens at any moment.
The shinobi world was truly filled with danger.
Sometimes Uchiha Yoru even felt that it would have been better if he had never known the plot.
With his present immortal cultivation achievements, he could confidently say that he was invincible in the shinobi world.
After some more time, he might even dare proclaim:
Below the Six Paths, all are ants.
Even super-Kage-level powerhouses like Uchiha Madara and Nagato would merely be somewhat stronger ants.
If Uchiha Yoru were truly unrivaled beneath heaven, then of course he could peacefully wander the shinobi world with his little cat.
He could live the carefree life of an immortal—traveling wherever he pleased, seeking beautiful and secluded places, occasionally descending among ordinary people for amusement.
While wandering freely, he could explore truth and the Great Dao and attempt to establish a Heavenly Dao belonging to himself.
How carefree and fulfilling such a life would be.
Unfortunately, he knew far too much.
Since he knew that the shinobi world could face annihilation at any moment, and since he understood that no egg survives beneath an overturned nest, there was no way he could relax.
In fact, the stronger he became, the stronger his sense of crisis grew.
Because he had already become one of the tallest people in the world.
If the sky collapsed, he would be among the first to be crushed.
That was why Uchiha Yoru felt that even the Three Burrows he had painstakingly prepared were not safe enough.
He had even picked up the identities he had casually created in the past and was now using the divine path to construct a secret organization of his own, preparing to scour the shinobi world for resources.
Everything was for the sake of accelerating his growth.
He needed to convert his cultivation realm into actual combat power as quickly as possible and accumulate more methods to protect his Dao.
But no matter how urgent he felt inside, he absolutely could not allow others to know.
An alien invasion.
A world-ending disaster from the Moon.
Matters that sounded this hopeless could not be casually discussed with other people.
Even someone like Tobirama Senju, after hearing such things, would either think Uchiha Yoru had gone insane or believe he was deliberately exaggerating threats in order to carry out some hidden scheme.
Then would come suspicion.
Precautions.
Vigilance.
Everyone would become uneasy.
In short, everything would eventually turn into more trouble.
That was simply human nature.
Those who foretold disaster had never been popular.
Even someone capable of seeing deeply into the future and publicly pointing out a path for everyone could still be repeatedly cast down because of this very reason.
Uchiha Yoru felt that his small body and small heart certainly could not withstand the predicament of having the entire world as his enemy.
Other than Miwa Masayo, whom he had acknowledged as his Dao Companion, he would tolerate no one peering into his heart.
Thus, even if he knew Tobirama Senju remained wary of him, he would not care.
Uchiha Yoru raised his hand.
"Alright."
"Let's begin."
Miroku and Tobirama Senju nodded simultaneously.
Then all three began moving at once.
Tobirama Senju and Uchiha Yoru formed hand seals in perfect synchronization.
Again and again, they pressed their palms against the statue.
One sealing technique after another unfolded across its surface before transforming into mysterious symbols.
Miroku did not form any hand seals.
Today, she wore the most traditional Miko attire.
Her upper body was dressed in a pure white hadajuban under a white kosode.
Below, she wore vivid crimson hibakama.
White tabi covered her feet, paired with straw sandals tied by red cords.
Her long hair was wrapped in white danshi paper and tightly bound behind her head with hemp cord.
She looked exceptionally gentle and beautiful.
At the same time, she radiated an ethereal and sacred aura.
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