The moment Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama opened their eyes, they were greeted by the sight of the Nine-Tails locked in combat with a fully-formed Susano'o.
Konoha lay in ruins. Corpses littered the streets, homes burned to ash, and wounded villagers cried out in terror. The devastation was overwhelming—"catastrophic" barely scratched the surface.
"What happened here?"
"How did Konoha end up like this?"
"Is this another Nine-Tails rampage?" Hashirama and Tobirama's expressions darkened. Then they noticed the crimson Sharingan—with three tomoe—gleaming in the Nine-Tails' eyes. And more importantly, they realized that the jutsu used to reanimate them had been cast by someone from the Uchiha clan.
Their suspicions solidified.
The Uchiha have rebelled?
They considered taking immediate action before their bodies could be fully controlled.
But just as they prepared to move, a voice full of grief and rage rang out:
"Sarutobi Hiruzen! Why?! Why are you forcing me like this?!"
"Even with the First and Second Hokage dead, you still won't spare the Senju clan?!"
"What grudge—what hatred—do you bear that you'd stoop to this? Even using the dead?!"
"You desecrating bastard... you deserve to die!"
Hearing this, Hashirama and Tobirama froze.
Was there more to this than they thought?
They turned toward the source of the voice—and saw Sarutobi Hiruzen trapped, his body entangled by a figure with moss-green hair and ghastly white skin.
The brothers frowned. They sensed something familiar from the stranger—Wood Style chakra.
"Uchiha Itachi! Why are you helping a tyrant?!" the white-haired man cried out. "Why are you following Hiruzen's orders? Why would you desecrate the bodies of the First and Second Hokage like this?!"
"Is your Uchiha clan so eager to follow the Senju and Uzumaki into extinction?!"
The grief in his voice sounded real—anguished, furious, and utterly tragic.
Hashirama and Tobirama were stunned.
What do you mean—'follow into extinction'? What happened to the Senju and Uzumaki clans?!
"I haven't placed either of them under control," Itachi replied coldly. "And just who are you? What's your connection to Danzo? One moment you claim to be of the Senju, the next of the Uzumaki. Who are you really—and why are you trying to destroy Konoha?"
"Whoever he is, we've got more urgent matters," Tobirama snapped. "We need to save Hiruzen and stop the Nine-Tails before more civilians die."
Right now, the priority was halting the battle between Kurama and Susano'o—and rescuing the wounded. As for this mystery man? They could capture and interrogate him later.
"Agreed," Itachi nodded.
Without hesitation, Hashirama dashed toward the Nine-Tails.
Danzo, still battling Uchiha Fugaku, saw Hashirama charging toward him—and his blood ran cold.
The name alone carried a legend. In his prime, Hashirama Senju had been known as the God of Shinobi. Even at a fraction of that strength, he could still easily subdue the Nine-Tails—and kill Danzo in the process.
Panicked, Danzo activated the Flying Thunder God seal he'd placed on Orochimaru earlier, preparing to teleport out.
But his amateur grasp of the jutsu meant it had a delay.
And in that brief delay—Hashirama's hand landed on Kurama.
"Hokage Style Elder Jutsu: Tenth Edict On Enlightenment!"
He'd used this technique before to suppress the Nine-Tails—it had never failed.
A large "座" seal symbol flared on his palm as he slammed it down on Kurama's body.
Danzo closed his eyes, resigned.
A seal spread across Kurama's body. The Nine-Tails' eyelids drooped—it looked like it was about to fall asleep.
"Is that really the First Hokage?!"
"Was he brought back with Edo Tensei too?!"
"Wait—does this mean… we've won?!"
Just as hope began to bloom—
Kurama's eyes snapped open. With a furious roar, it raised a claw and smashed Hashirama into pieces.
Splat. Hashirama's body shattered and turned to ash.
The villagers: "…"
The Yang half of Kurama inside Naruto: "???"
Since when was Hashirama that weak?!
Or maybe… I'm just that strong now?
"..."
That's it? That was the legendary First Hokage?
Danzo suddenly had second thoughts about fleeing. He wanted to stick around—just to see how White Zetsu was going to finish off Hiruzen.
"Flying Thunder God Jutsu!" At the same time Hashirama attacked, Tobirama teleported beside White Zetsu, attempting to rescue Hiruzen.
But dreams rarely matched reality.
The moment Tobirama appeared—White Zetsu punched straight through his chest.
"Wood Style: Piercing Vines!"
Spikes of wood exploded out of Tobirama's wound, impaling him further.
Whoosh!
Tobirama flickered back to his original position, now covered in wooden skewers. His expression twisted in frustration.
I'm… not even one percent as strong as I used to be?!
What kind of Flying Thunder God was that? Even my basic Body Flicker technique used to be faster than this…
Yanking out the wood spikes from his reanimated body, Tobirama turned to White Zetsu with a dark expression.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Why capture Hiruzen?"
"Why attack Konoha?"
"What's your real goal?"
"Lord Second… don't you recognize me?" Zetsu's face twisted in mock sorrow, tears streaming theatrically.
"I'm the descendant of the Uzumaki and Senju clans."
"And the reason I'm doing this? Because it was Sarutobi Hiruzen who got the Senju and Uzumaki clans destroyed!"
"What's my goal?" he sneered. "Revenge. I'll annihilate this filthy village—avenge my clan! Avenge the loved ones you let die!"
"Blood debts must be paid in blood!"
Tobirama: "…"
Itachi: "…"
Kakashi: "…"
Meanwhile, Hashirama, who had just reformed his Edo body after being smashed by Kurama, finally caught up with the conversation.
"What?! The Senju Clan is gone?! Mito's Uzumaki Clan too?!"
Kushina spoke up, her tone icy:
"Thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Uzumaki have only one survivor left—my son. And your Senju clan has exactly one descendant left: Lady Tsunade."
"But this isn't the time to talk. First I'm going to seal the Nine-Tails, then kill Danzo, and then have a nice, long talk with that bastard Hiruzen."
"Damn right," Minato agreed. He flung a kunai marked with his Flying Thunder God formula toward Danzo. As his eyes closed and reopened, dark markings crept across them—Sage Mode activated in an instant.
Behind him, chains erupted from Kushina's back—her Adamantine Sealing Chains, lashing out toward Kurama.
Minato zeroed in on Danzo atop the Nine-Tails.
Hashirama looked unimpressed.
What a joke. Same Edo body as me, yet I couldn't seal Kurama, and you think you can?
And that blond kid over there—just because you've got Sage Mode, you think you're hot stuff? Please. Useless!
But the next second, Minato teleported to Danzo's side and slammed a Rasengan straight into him.
BOOM.
Danzo vanished, and the Rasengan smashed into Kurama's head, staggering the beast.
At that moment, Kushina's sealing chains reached Kurama and pinned it to the ground—securing its limbs and all nine tails with terrifying precision.
Hashirama: "???"
The Yang Kurama inside Naruto: "…"
I hate the Uzumaki clan. I hate Minato. Seriously.