Orochimaru, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
While the Fourth Raikage and others were holding a three shadows meeting,
inside Konoha, there was also a three kages meeting taking place.
The difference was that the three kages of Konoha were all Hokage.
The resurrected Second Hokage.
The already abdicated Third Hokage.
The newly appointed Fifth Hokage.
"I understand the situation."
Senju Tobirama sighed.
"I didn't expect Konoha to be forced to this extent."
"On the brink of destruction."
"This proves that the path chosen by my elder brother may have been wrong."
"The state of many ninja villages building the ninja world together is fundamentally unhealthy and unstable."
Orochimaru caught onto Senju Tobirama's meaning and his eyes brightened slightly.
"What Tobirama-sama said is true."
"After the ninja world entered the era of ninja villages, the number of wars has indeed decreased."
"This is the achievement of you predecessors, Tobirama-sama."
"However, wars still cannot come to an end."
"And the scale of destruction and the number of casualties have increased even more."
"There are far too many examples."
"The extermination of the Uzumaki Clan."
"The First Ninja World War, the Second Ninja World War, and now the Third Ninja World War."
"There are too many conflicts of interest between ninja villages."
"The large ninja villages compete for benefits."
"The small ninja villages are dissatisfied with their status and seek development."
"When the desires of many people combine in the form of ninja villages, they become even more terrifying."
"Even within the ninja villages, it is the same."
"The Hozuki Clan and Kaguya Clan of Hidden Mist Village have both been exterminated."
Senju Tobirama glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"By right, as a being of the afterlife, I shouldn't interfere in the affairs of the ninja world."
"But I cannot stand by and watch Konoha be destroyed and disappear from the ninja world."
"I want Konoha to follow the correct path."
At first, Senju Tobirama was dissatisfied with being brought back by Impure World Reincarnation.
But upon hearing about Konoha's dire situation, Senju Tobirama's feelings for Konoha outweighed his dissatisfaction.
Now, after learning about the history of the ninja world from the First Ninja World War to the present, Senju Tobirama couldn't help but develop an idea.
That is, Konoha, on the brink of destruction, proves that the path Konoha has taken before was wrong.
Thus, Senju Tobirama wanted to find a correct path suitable for Konoha.
Or perhaps a path suitable for the ninja world.
Senju Tobirama had a goal.
"Tobirama-sama, the correct path you mentioned, is it to end the era of coexistence among ninja villages?"
This piqued Orochimaru's interest.
Senju Tobirama did not answer immediately but instead looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, what do you think?"
After thinking for a while, Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Tobirama-sensei, perhaps you are right, but achieving that is too difficult, not to mention the strength of other ninja villages."
"Just the complex relationships between other ninja villages and their respective countries are difficult to handle."
Senju Tobirama frowned slightly.
"Hiruzen, this doesn't seem like your character."
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a wry smile.
When he was younger, Sarutobi Hiruzen was indeed not like this.
But after sitting in the position of Hokage for so long,
he had grown old.
Having gone through so much,
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't know when he had changed.
Senju Tobirama continued, "Konoha is the Konoha created by so many of us together."
"And the purpose of establishing ninja villages was for the peace of the ninja world."
"But now, the peace of the ninja world has not been maintained."
"Konoha's situation has also deteriorated to this extent."
As he spoke, Senju Tobirama sighed.
"This proves that what we did before was wrong."
"To achieve true peace in the ninja world and to ensure that future generations of Konoha do not experience these things again, we must take a different path. As for the difficulty of the matter, in this world, what isn't difficult?"
"Just because it's hard, we won't do it?"
"Hiruzen, this is not our ninja way."
Senju Tobirama looked up.
"Where the leaves dance, the fire shall also live on endlessly."
"As predecessors in the ninja world, it is our duty to create a peaceful and stable environment for the younger generation."
"And right now, we do have such conditions."
"With Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, we can summon lost souls."
"It's equivalent to bringing out the accumulation of Konoha over the years all at once."
"The only thing that can counter Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu is Sealing Jutsu."
"But Hidden Mist Village, Hidden Rock Village, and Hidden Cloud Village are not very skilled in Sealing Jutsu."
"Konoha has always held the view of coexisting with multiple ninja villages."
"But Konoha has been pushed to the brink of collapse; they have gone too far."
"Now, Konoha has ample reason to take action against them."
"No one can say a word against it."
Since other ninja villages can annihilate Konoha, then it becomes reasonable for Konoha to destroy other ninja villages as well.
No one can criticize Konoha from a moral high ground.
"Orochimaru, where do you think we should start?"
Orochimaru replied, "Tobirama-san, I think we should focus on defeating one ninja village first."
"Once the three of them join forces, the difficulty of dealing with them will increase exponentially."
Senju Tobirama nodded.
"Which ninja village do you think is a suitable target?"
Orochimaru began to analyze.
"Either Hidden Cloud Village or Hidden Mist Village."
"Choosing Hidden Mist Village as the first target is because of the Zanpakuto."
"The existence of Zanpakuto has greatly enhanced Hidden Mist Village's strength."
"Previously, we in Konoha considered seizing some Zanpakuto for research."
"But unfortunately, we all failed."
"If we can defeat Hidden Mist Village first, we will uncover the secrets of the Zanpakuto."
"Additionally, as time passes, the number of Zanpakuto in Hidden Mist Village will continue to grow. Eliminating Hidden Mist Village early on will allow us to deal with a potential massive threat."
"If we choose Hidden Cloud Village, it is due to geographical reasons."
"Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Rock Village are extremely far apart, so the difficulties they would face in forming an alliance are bound to be greater."
"This is different from Hidden Cloud Village."
"Tobirama-san, what do you think?"
Senju Tobirama raised his chin slightly.
"Orochimaru, your analysis is not far from mine."
"Zanpakuto are indeed a threat."
"But as you said, Hidden Mist Village needs time to gain more strength,"
"Time is on the side of Hidden Mist Village."
"But at the same time, it is also on our side."
"The more time we have, the more ninjas we can summon through Impure World Reincarnation."
"We don't need to worry too much."
"In comparison, creating opportunities for Konoha to defeat them one by one is more precious."
Orochimaru hesitated for a moment.
"So, Tobirama-san, shall we act now?"
"The sooner, the better."
Senju Tobirama said, "With the three of us, plus Jiraiya and Dan Kato, a total of five, we can definitely eliminate the core ninjas of Hidden Cloud Village."
"If they die, Hidden Cloud Village will be thrown into chaos."
"They won't be able to pose a threat to us in Konoha anymore."
As Senju Tobirama's words fell, the three of them quietly left Konoha.
Senju Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sarutobi Hiruzen lagged behind.
Looking up at the two figures ahead, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a twinge of jealousy.
He was clearly Senju Tobirama's disciple.
Yet now it seemed that Orochimaru and Senju Tobirama were closer.
Orochimaru's attitude was radical.
To achieve his goals, he was indifferent to using means that were immoral, unjust, or dark.
Senju Tobirama's attitude was also radical.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to develop techniques like Impure World Reincarnation and Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
It was possible that he was just suppressed by Senju Hashirama during his lifetime.
But now, upon hearing the news that Konoha was on the brink of destruction, Senju Tobirama felt that the path chosen by Senju Hashirama was ultimately too idealistic and unrealistic.
Therefore, Senju Tobirama discarded the "conservative" thoughts he had harbored before.
He reverted back to his true radical attitude.
Additionally, there were still techniques that could be exchanged between Senju Tobirama and Orochimaru.
This was something Sarutobi Hiruzen did not possess at present.
Upon arriving at the front lines, Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly found Jiraiya and Dan Kato.
"Sarutobi-sensei."
"Lord Third."
Sarutobi Hiruzen gestured.
"Follow me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen led the two to face Orochimaru and Senju Tobirama.
"Hokage-sama."
"Lord Second."
Dan Kato had a good impression of Orochimaru.
Dan Kato remembered that back in the day, Orochimaru was leading Nawaki as his teacher.
Because of Nawaki's death, Orochimaru had blamed himself for a long time.
And it was also because of Nawaki's death that he gradually became closer to Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama, I knew you would definitely become Hokage."
Dan Kato came to Orochimaru's side.
"If Nawaki knew that his sensei became Hokage, he would definitely be very happy."
This name made Orochimaru fall into memories.
A distant name.
Long ago, Orochimaru's thoughts were actually similar to those of most ninjas.
Witnessing one after another of his loved ones die on the battlefield or during missions, Orochimaru couldn't help but ponder the meaning of life and death.
It can be said that the reason Orochimaru formed his current ideas was partly due to Nawaki's influence.
"Perhaps."
"By the way, Hokage-sama, is there any news about Tsunade in the village?"
Dan Kato had asked Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya's answer was that he didn't know.
Dan Kato didn't think Jiraiya would deceive him.
After all, Jiraiya was just a ninja.
There should be someone in Konoha who still had contact with Tsunade.
"Not yet."
Orochimaru shook his head.
"But I've already sent someone to look for her."
As he spoke, Orochimaru couldn't help but glance at Jiraiya.
With Dan Kato resurrected, Tsunade would likely return to Konoha.
This was a judgment made based on Orochimaru's understanding of Tsunade.
But Orochimaru didn't know how Jiraiya would feel about this.
Would he be happy that Tsunade was back in the village?
Or would he be sad to see Tsunade and Dan Kato together?
An ANBU ninja quickly approached.
"Hokage-sama, we have gathered intelligence on Raikage's location."
"Good, lead the way."
Orochimaru's eyes brightened.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Immediately, the six transformed into a small team and quickly headed toward the location of Raikage.
Before long, a building came into view for the six.
"Hokage-sama, Raikage and the others are inside."
"Previously, a Hyuga ninja took a distant look and confirmed it."
"However, Hidden Cloud Village also has strong sensing ninjas, so it's not suitable for Hyuga ninjas to come over right now; they would be easily detected. But we can confirm that only people from the outside have entered, and no one from the inside has left."
Orochimaru looked at Senju Tobirama.
"Tobirama-san, let my snake carry your Flying Thunder God Seal inside."
"That works."
Orochimaru waved his hand.
Soon, a small snake appeared.
Senju Tobirama pressed his hand onto the small snake.
A Flying Thunder God Seal was placed down.
Following Orochimaru's command, the small snake entered the building.
The Hidden Cloud ninjas on guard around seemed oblivious.
It wasn't until the small snake slithered along the corner and reached the conference room that it was noticed.
"Tobirama-san, it's done."
In the next moment, a blue light flashed around Senju Tobirama.
"Flying Thunder God Jutsu!"
Senju Tobirama's figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already in the conference room.
At that moment, the fourth Raikage, Yagura, and the Tsuchikage were discussing strategies against Konoha.
The sudden appearance of Senju Tobirama caught everyone in the conference room off guard.
"What?"
But Senju Tobirama was also taken aback.
Wasn't it supposed to be just the Raikage? Why were there also a Mizukage and a Tsuchikage?
Buy one, get two free?
Senju Tobirama didn't know if this counted as a surprise or a shock.
However, Senju Tobirama did not hesitate.
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
This was a Ninjutsu that ignored differences.
No matter how many people were inside,
No matter how many kages were present,
When a Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tag was deployed, all lives were treated equally.
"Senju Tobirama?"
"A detonating tag?"
"Run!"
But it was already too late.
In this situation, the people in the conference room had no chance of escaping unharmed.
After all, this was Senju Tobirama.
After all, this was Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
One figure was instantly killed under the fierce impact.
Another figure was heavily injured, froze in place, and then there was no further movement.
The successive explosions turned this person into fragments.
Senju Tobirama was the same.
But the advantage of the Impure World Reincarnation bodies lay precisely in this.
You can't kill them.
"That's Tobirama-san's Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow slightly.
"This Ninjutsu is indeed quite perverse."
"It pairs perfectly with Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu."
"And combined with Flying Thunder God Jutsu,"
"One impact, and as long as their guard is down a bit, even Kage-level Ninjas are doomed."
"It seems like it can also be paired with other Ninjutsu."
"For example, the giant snake I can summon."
With a tremendous sound,
"Boom!"
Nearby buildings collapsed in a deafening crash.
Figures scattered in all directions.
Orochimaru commanded,
"Kill!"
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