"What are you rambling about, Tobirama?"
Uchiha Seiji stood on the mountain peak, hands in his pockets, the crisp high-altitude air stinging his lungs in a way that felt… refreshing. His gaze lingered on the Hokage Rock in the distance, lips curved into that lazy, dangerous smile he wore so well.
"Didn't you catch what I said to Asuma? I already told him—don't blindly follow my words. I'm just some random academy kid, nothing more."
Seiji tilted his head, eyes narrowing with mock innocence. "All I did was tell him to look with his own eyes, think with his own mind. That's a crime now? Or would you rather I—an Uchiha—personally teach the Hokage's son how to be a loyal Konoha shinobi?"
He chuckled. Tobirama Senju, ever the stone-faced skeptic, said nothing. Because technically… Seiji wasn't wrong.
From start to finish, Seiji had never pushed his own answers onto Asuma. He'd prodded him with questions, guided him to doubt, to reflect, until Asuma's conclusions were entirely his own.
That was the problem.
If Seiji had blatantly manipulated the boy, Tobirama wouldn't be so uneasy—manipulations can be caught, schemes can be exposed. But when the boy chooses belief? When conviction blooms from within? That's an enemy far more dangerous.
Asuma Sarutobi now trusted Uchiha Seiji absolutely. More than that—he'd begun using his own identity and resources to smooth Seiji's path.
The "privilege" of being tied to the Hokage line. The elusive "ticket" the Uchiha had yearned for across decades, denied to them time and time again.
Seiji had secured it without lifting a finger.
He hadn't begged, hadn't schemed. He simply let his fire burn. And the Hokage's son had come running, practically begging to stand by his side, pleading shyly for Seiji to accept him as a comrade.
No one could question it. Not even Sarutobi Hiruzen himself. Because Asuma's loyalty was genuine, heartfelt.
Tobirama drew in a sharp breath. Was it Seiji's overwhelming charisma… or the dark truths Asuma had uncovered about Konoha? His heart felt tangled, heavy.
His eyes drifted toward the Hokage Rock. His own stone face stared back at him, distant and unblinking. A flash of memory struck him: the days he had first united the clans, extending the flame of the Will of Fire through action, not words. Even the Uchiha had welcomed it, rejoicing when Uchiha Kagami became his student.
Was this… history repeating itself?
"Don't stress yourself out, Tobirama."
Seiji's voice cut through his thoughts, casual but razor-sharp.
"I've never lied to you. My goals are simple: let good people live better, let the guilty pay the price, make the village and shinobi world a little less broken. You've seen everything I've done with your own eyes. So tell me—does my Will of Fire fall short of your standards?"
Tobirama scoffed, a sound caught between a growl and uncertainty. His lips opened, then shut again. Because… dammit, the brat had a point.
And yet—he had to be wrong. An Uchiha brat had to be rotten somewhere.
"Seiji, I'll keep watching you," Tobirama snapped. "Sealing me inside your body is the greatest sin you've committed. I'll strip away that façade of yours and expose the truth!"
Seiji grinned. Did this old man just gaslight himself?
"Tobirama, are you saying… you're kinda okay with staying sealed inside me?" His expression grew mock-thoughtful, as if truly pondering it. Then he stepped back, subtly but deliberately. "Y'know, you're starting to feel like a roommate who overstays his welcome. I'm beginning to doubt your motives here…"
Tobirama's mouth twitched. Damn brat—why did he almost sound convincing?
"Enough chatter, boy!" Tobirama snapped, forcing the topic elsewhere. "What you told Asuma—that's nothing more than you amplifying the village's flaws!"
He straightened, voice dropping low. "Don't forget our wager. You claimed that within two years, the Will of Fire would scorch the innocent. If you're wrong, you owe me one condition. My demand is simple: you will never act against Konoha's interests!"
The words were firm, but his eyes… drifted. Because if Seiji truly mirrored him, then his morals might also be "flexible" when it suited him. Oaths meant little in a world where ninja sold their souls for missions.
But then Seiji did the unexpected—he nodded, serious.
"I gave my word. I won't break it. Like you once said, Tobirama—even Uchiha shinobi are not bargaining chips to be thrown at the enemy for a truce. I stand by the same belief. I'm a Konoha shinobi. The village's interests are mine. Why would I harm them?"
Because Konoha's future is mine, Seiji thought privately, lips twitching. Why would I wreck my own toy? I'm not senile like you.
Tobirama searched his eyes, then gave a reluctant nod.
"By the way, Tobirama," Seiji added with a playful pat to the old man's shoulder, "mind if I ask you something? If one day, for Konoha's sake, I need your strength—would you lend it?"
Tobirama blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "…For Konoha? Then yes."
He must mean my wisdom, Tobirama reasoned smugly. Finally, someone who recognizes true value.
Seiji's smile widened at the answer. "Good. Then when you lose our bet, I won't make you grovel. Honestly, I'd feel bad. You were, and still are, one of my idols…"
[From Target Tobirama Senju: You have acquired the jutsu Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!]
"Hah! Shameless brat," Tobirama barked, waving him off with mock contempt. "Konoha doesn't need your mercy. My faith lies with the village and my students—not with you."
But the faint electronic chime of the system betrayed him—Tobirama's heart, begrudgingly, had softened just a little.
A few days later, deep in Konoha's underground shadows…
Danzo Shimura sat in his Root chamber, reading over Seiji's intel. A cruel smile twisted across his lips.
"With Wood Release already in my hands, if I gain the Sharingan as well… who else but me could sit in the Hokage's chair?"
And in the heart of the village, basking in the sunlight…
In the Hokage's office, Asuma Sarutobi knelt before his stunned father, regret and pleading in his eyes.
Light and shadow—Konoha's two cores.
And both, now, were turning because of Uchiha Seiji.