"The roots of the plants growing here are deeper than anywhere else... their vitality is far more tenacious than I imagined!"
Hashirama squatted in the middle of the desert, crouched down with great interest as he studied a few small plants on the ground.
He reached out and gently brushed the plants with his fingers. As chakra poured in, the plants quickly began to grow, blossoming into clusters of small purple flowers.
Only after doing all this did Hashirama stand up cheerfully.
Renya stood silently beside him, watching without comment, inwardly feeling a bit helpless.
"Hashirama-san, what's so fun about this place?"
He looked around. Aside from the blazing sun overhead, all that was left was endless yellow sand and the occasional appearance of animals or plants.
With an environment like this, it was no wonder the Land of Wind was the poorest among the Five Great Nations.
Hashirama gazed into the distance at the sea of sand, saying nothing.
Tanihana lay limply on his shoulder, sticking out her little pink tongue and letting out two weak meows, clearly overwhelmed by the heat.
Seeing that Hashirama didn't answer, Renya irritably kicked the sand at his feet, stirring up a cloud of fine dust that obscured their vision.
He crossed his arms and spoke with some impatience.
"Hashirama-san, when are we going back to Konoha?"
Before his words had even finished, a gust of scorching wind swept by, blasting a mouthful of sand straight into him.
"Blegh, pfft, pfft!" Renya spat repeatedly, trying to get all the sand out of his mouth.
"Haha, little Renya, you shouldn't speak against the wind, you know."
Hashirama chuckled at the scene.
He had cleverly turned his back to the wind, so the sand couldn't get into his eyes or mouth.
Renya rolled his eyes at Hashirama, exasperated, and continued.
"Hashirama-san, when are we going back?"
They had been in the Land of Wind for three days already.
Except for the first day when they stayed in town, they had spent the last two days hiking through the desert.
He couldn't understand it—there was nothing out here but sand and more sand. What was there even to see?
They would've been better off going back to train.
"Little Renya, do you want to go back already?" Hashirama asked.
Renya nodded.
"Hashirama-san, we've been out for a while. It's time to head back."
It had been nearly three months since they left Konoha. It really was time to return.
Upon hearing this, a hint of reluctance flashed in Hashirama's eyes.
He looked at Renya and asked tentatively.
"Can we stay a few more days?"
"Hashirama-san, we've already wandered through the whole Shinobi World." Renya reminded him.
"Alright then."
Hashirama understood what Renya meant and agreed with a disappointed look.
"I was hoping to enjoy a few more days out here..."
Renya snatched the map from Hashirama's hands and started leading the way without looking back.
"Hashirama-san, we'll still have time to travel again in the future."
Hearing that, a hint of sadness flickered in Hashirama's eyes as he muttered softly.
"But... do I really still have time?"
As he spoke, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing a thin, long wound on his arm.
It had been caused two days ago by accidentally getting scratched by a plant, yet it still hadn't healed at all.
In these past three months, he had traveled across the entire Shinobi World, just to take one last look at the peaceful world he had helped create.
"Meow~"
Tanihana licked Hashirama's face.
"Haha, did I worry you?"
Hashirama rolled his sleeve back down, his cheerful expression returning as he walked quickly to catch up with the distant Renya.
"Little Renya, let me lead the way. You're going to get us lost again."
"Hashirama-san, trust me. This time, we'll get to Konoha smoothly for sure."
"Alright, I'll trust you one last time."
...
Konoha Village, Senju Tobirama's Laboratory.
Senju Tobirama stared coldly at the struggling ninja tied to the ground, his expression unreadable.
"You spies only have one purpose left—to serve as sacrifices for my experiments."
"Flesh as the medium. Soul as the contract."
Tobirama formed hand seals with both hands.
"Edo Tensei no Jutsu!"
He slammed one hand onto the ground, and complex sealing patterns spread toward the restrained ninja. The blindfolded man continued struggling and let out a chilling scream.
White dust began to rise from the formation, slowly enveloping the ninja.
Before long, his entire body was covered, leaving only a human-shaped white silhouette.
"Using a living person as the vessel for a dead soul..."
Tobirama narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Looks like I succeeded."
Just as he finished speaking, the white dust on the ninja's body quickly faded.
Strangely, when the dust vanished, what appeared wasn't the original ninja, but a different one—this one clad in armor.
"Where... am I?"
The newly revived ninja looked around in confusion.
When he spotted Tobirama, he froze, shocked.
"Tobirama-sama? Is that really you?"
For once, the stern Tobirama allowed a rare smile to show.
"Kaede, it's been a while. Sorry to disturb your rest..."
The one he had summoned was once one of his trusted subordinates, who had tragically died during the war.
"Tobirama-sama, what's going on?"
Senju Kaede looked down at himself.
"I thought I died?"
"This is a jutsu I've been researching..." Tobirama began to explain.
"As expected of Tobirama-sama—you actually created a technique this powerful!"
Kaede's jaw dropped in amazement, then he couldn't help but praise.
"If the clan head knew about this, he'd be overjoyed!"
By "clan head," he meant Hashirama.
Upon hearing that, Tobirama's mouth twitched.
He didn't respond.
That was exactly who shouldn't find out about this!
Messing with the souls of the dead was an unforgivable taboo...
Kaede was about to say more, but saw Tobirama's hands forming seals again.
Before he could react, Edo Tensei was released.
He could only stare in shock as his reanimated body slowly began to fade.
"Tobirama-sama... goodbye..."
Tobirama snapped.
"Can't you say something a little more auspicious?"
"Haha, sorry, Tobirama-sama."
As Kaede's body vanished, the lab once again fell into silence.
Tobirama pulled out a scroll and began taking notes, then rolled it back up.
"Edo Tensei is complete. Next, I need to develop jutsu that pair well with the reanimated body..."
The reanimated form was unbound by the limits of normal life—possessing infinite chakra, never tiring, never hungry, never needing rest.
If used in war, it would be an unstoppable undead army.
And if they could be taught specific jutsu, their power would only become more overwhelming.
The more Tobirama thought about it, the more excited he became. He pulled out paper and began scribbling down ideas.
With his big brother gone from the house, there was no one left to stop him from researching forbidden jutsu.
He hoped Hashirama would stay out there a while longer—ideally until he finished his work.
Just as he was deep in his research, Tobirama suddenly sensed a familiar chakra approaching.
His hands froze mid-stroke, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Why is Big Brother back now?!"
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