Tobirama stepped forward and delivered a heavy kick to Hiruzen Sarutobi's stomach.
Thud—
The Konoha shinobi present were dumbfounded as they watched the elderly Third Hokage get sent flying, rolling twice along the ground.
"Uh…" Hiruzen felt a faint ache in his abdomen and his mood sank.
That kick… he deserved it.
Before Danzo could gloat, Tobirama turned and drove his knee into Danzo's stomach.
"Teac…her…" Danzo's face was full of shock. Even without the sensation of pain, he doubled over like a shrimp, unable to stand steady.
"Useless. I entrusted Konoha to you, and this is how you repay me?"
Tobirama walked over to Hiruzen, expression fierce, and grabbed him by the collar.
Koharu Utatane stayed silent, head lowered—she knew full well she should be on the receiving end of a kick too.
"So… you're hoping we can handle this?" Tobirama asked coldly.
"Sensei, if you and the First Hokage don't take action, Konoha will… inevitably fall today."
Hiruzen knelt down, bowing his head to the ground again and again, pleading desperately.
"Tobirama… you're being too extreme, let's talk this through," Hashirama's expression shifted, and he hurried to pull his younger brother back.
Danzo also knelt and said helplessly:
"Sensei, only the two of you can save Konoha. Surely you don't want to watch the village you worked so hard to build be destroyed by Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure?"
"You—!!"
Tobirama's fury surged, but Hashirama held him back.
With a sneer, Tobirama said, "Rely on us? Feel for yourselves—how much of my strength is left after I just struck you with all I had."
Hiruzen and Danzo looked down in surprise, touching their supposed wounds, only to find the pain was gone entirely.
"The Edo Tensei you used is only my version designed for integrating with explosive tags. The reanimated body's own power is negligible."
Tobirama explained in a low voice.
The three were stunned.
"No matter. Let's go take a look outside. I believe those other shinobi from the villages will give me some face," Hashirama said, scratching his head awkwardly.
Tobirama fell silent in thought.
A moment later—
"Sensei, Lord First Hokage, this way…" Hiruzen said with renewed spirit, leading Tobirama and the First Hokage quickly out of the Root base toward the front lines.
Danzo, Koharu, and Homura Mitokado—who had just returned from the front—followed behind.
The group climbed onto the roof of a safe structure.
By now, over half of Konoha's buildings were destroyed. Streets lay in ruin.
The corpses of shinobi littered the shattered remains of the village.
This battle's devastation clearly surpassed even the Nine-Tails' attack.
"Am I seeing things? That's the First and Second Hokage—and Lord Danzo!"
"Konoha is saved!"
"The shinobi world has hope again!"
The Konoha ninja, seeing Hiruzen respectfully following behind the God of Shinobi and the Second Hokage, cried out in excitement.
Despairing clansmen now felt a fire of hope rekindle within them.
But just as Hashirama and Tobirama stepped onto the high building, a massive explosion erupted in the direction of the Hokage Rock.
Boom—
Stones tumbled in waves.
Hashirama looked up, faintly hearing countless screams and shouts.
The shinobi of the Three Great Villages had already launched their assault toward the shelter beneath the Hokage Rock.
When Hashirama turned back and saw the devastated village—nearly half destroyed—
"This…"
Even after being dead for so long, Hashirama's expression was one of disbelief, and a pain gripped his heart so sharply it was hard to breathe.
Had they been revived any later… Konoha would surely have been lost.
His smile vanished, his face darkening as his fists clenched.
"Big brother…"
Tobirama's eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed something was wrong. He turned to glance at his elder brother.
"If I remember correctly, beneath the Hokage Rock should be the shelter… but why isn't there a single Konoha shinobi there?"
Hashirama looked up, his calm gaze shifting toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō.
Hiruzen suddenly felt an inexplicable, overwhelming pressure flood his entire body.
He stammered, "In order to ensure the Edo Tensei for you and Lord Tobirama would succeed… we had no choice but to…"
Before he could finish—
"Abandon the villagers? Those are Konoha's future—its hope!"
Hashirama's face turned cold, his words echoing Tobirama's earlier tone.
He raised his leg and kicked Hiruzen with full force.
"…"
Hiruzen's face darkened; this time, before the eyes of everyone present, Hashirama sent him flying ten meters, utterly shaming him.
"Lord Third!"
The Konoha shinobi could only watch as Hiruzen flew past them—they dared not help him.
Sensing things were going badly, Danzō tried to react, but before he could, Hashirama unleashed Wood Release. Vines coiled around Danzō's ankle and slammed him hard into the street.
Boom—
Dust billowed.
Danzō was embedded into the ground, his expression one of shock as he realized Hashirama stood at the roof's edge, seemingly ready to strike again.
That last blow—if he survived—it would have broken several ribs for sure.
Seeing Hashirama's unstable mood,
"Big brother, calm down! Let's talk this through!" Tobirama quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Sigh… Tobirama, you're right. They aren't capable of managing the village. Even in my time, I could never bring myself to make the decision to wipe out the Uchiha."
Hashirama's voice was heavy with guilt.
But big brother, you could make the decision to give away all the tailed beasts… Tobirama mocked in his heart.
After a pause, he asked, "Brother, how much of your strength has returned?"
"Twenty percent. I can't enter Sage Mode."
"That's enough. Buy me some time—I need to modify Edo Tensei." Tobirama's tone was calm.
"I'll try my best." Hashirama gazed at the current Konoha, deep in thought.
—On the front lines—
The shinobi of the three great villages also spotted Hashirama and Tobirama on the rooftop.
"Is that truly the legendary God of Shinobi?" a Cloud shinobi said gravely.
"Looks like him, at least somewhat."
"Could this be some elaborate trick by Konoha?"
The Sand and Stone shinobi began retreating.
Upon receiving the news, Ōnoki, the Raikage, and Rasa immediately leapt to a high vantage point, gazing toward the direction of the Root organization's base.
In a flash, the Raikage appeared beside Ōnoki, exclaiming in surprise, "Old man, you've lived the longest—look! Those two… are they the legendary God of Shinobi and the Second Hokage?"
Ōnoki squinted into the distance and shook his head. "Can't be sure. Let's send some shinobi to test them first."
Only now did he truly understand what Uchiha Yu had meant back at the Valley of Sanctions when he said they were late. So, besides the Nine-Tails, Konoha still had such a trump card—
Edo Tensei!
The famed jutsu of the Second Hokage that once shook the shinobi world… but after the Second's death, with time, even Ōnoki had nearly forgotten about it.
…
On Konoha's eastern front, the battle was drawing to a close. The entire squad of Sand puppet masters led by Maki had been annihilated, leaving only Maki himself, badly wounded and cornered against a wall.
Just as Hayate raised his ninja blade to give Maki a swift end, both Maki and the Konoha shinobi in the street suddenly turned their heads toward the mouth of the street.
"Uchiha…"
Beneath her mask, Uzuki Yugao's eyes widened in disbelief. She shifted her stance to face the newcomer.
"Cough… cough…" Hayate said coldly, "Prepare for battle!"
°°°
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