(The chance has come!)
(Cut him down before the Uchiha brat can form Susanoo!)
(One strike—just like Izuna was felled—one perfect strike!)
Timing it with merciless precision, Senju Tobirama struck the instant Uchiha Soren's previous chakra wave ebbed and the next surge hadn't fully formed.
Three Flying Thunder God–marked kunai shot from his waist, forming a three-pronged 品 pattern around Soren.
A lethal cage of trajectories—
his signature killing setup.
(Tobirama is closing in.)
Soren slashed obliquely, knocking aside two kunai.
His Mangekyō Sharingan captured every micro-motion of Tobirama—
each twitch of muscle, the tremor of breath, the sweat bead rolling down the old man's cheek.
All fed into his brain through Tenchō Risshon's left eye—the unblinking map.
Then Tobirama moved.
"Flying Thunder God!"
The final kunai arrived too quickly to parry.
As Soren shifted to dodge—
Tobirama vanished.
A murderous intent detonated behind him.
Soren's skin prickled; every hair rose.
"Flying-Thunder-God Slash!"
Unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan had blind spots.
From Soren's back-left angle, Tobirama appeared—expressionless—
his short blade flashing toward Soren's abdomen.
One cut.
Clean.
Surgical.
A finishing strike meant to end the battle, secure the body, and bind Soren into Edo Tensei forever.
But—
his blade sliced nothing.
Soren had vanished.
"You always strike at an opponent's opening with a single killing blow."
Before Tobirama's thoughts could catch up—
a cold blade whispered behind him.
He tried to teleport—too slow.
A severing pain tore across his nerves.
His left hand was gone—
cut clean at the wrist.
Blood geysered.
Shock slammed through him.
(He has space ninjutsu too!)
(This is bad—retreat immediately!)
He understood the truth in a single heartbeat:
He could not kill Soren.
He had to escape.
He gathered chakra, preparing another FTG jump—
But his lower torso vanished.
Soren's blade carved through him again, this time splitting him cleanly from hip to stomach.
The world spun.
Tobirama's consciousness dimmed.
The young Uchiha wiped the blade on the air, crimson eyes unreadable.
"So… it was myself who ended… myself…" Tobirama rasped.
"You… evil Uchiha brat…"
Soren granted him a final courtesy.
"Fire Release: Ash Combustion."
Flames erupted, consuming both halves of Tobirama.
The forest lit with a funeral blaze.
The Edo Tensei corpses collapsed into cinders, their souls dispelled.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku stared, stunned.
The entire exchange—
the shift from defense to offense—
had happened in a single blink.
By the time they processed it, Tobirama was ash.
Soren smiled calmly.
That terrified them more than Susanoo had.
An opponent with space-style ninjutsu controlled the battlefield.
Brute force meant little.
While confident they could win in prolonged combat, the brothers now weighed the cost—
and the rebellion's goals.
They exchanged a look.
Kinkaku folded away the Banana Palm Fan and called out:
"We killed our Raikage; you killed your Hokage. What now, Soren?"
Soren let the question hang.
He studied them.
Two high Kage-tier warriors, bearing tailed-beast chakra.
Each one worth a wealth of Ascension Points.
But politically?
Their survival benefited him more.
If they returned to Kumo after assassinating the Second Raikage, the village would plunge into civil war.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku vs. the rightful successor would fracture Kumogakure's unity—
perfect for a future Hokage Soren.
He spoke plainly:
"Do you have the Second Raikage's body? I'll trade you Tobirama's remains for it."
The brothers exchanged glances.
Ginkaku unrolled a scroll, revealing a half-charred corpse—
head intact.
He tossed it over.
"Take it. Useless to us."
A Kage-class corpse was a treasure—
something that could reveal kekkei-genkai secrets and forbidden insights.
Soren sent a Shadow Clone to retrieve it—
cautious even now.
The brothers respected that.
Soren sealed the body, smiled politely, and bowed.
"Then we part ways. You return as Kumo's avengers; I return to Konoha having slain the Second Hokage and avenged my household."
Kinkaku blinked.
"You can do that?"
He barked a laugh.
"Those Fire Country shinobi really are devious."
Ginkaku smirked.
"We killed the Second Raikage. Maybe next time we meet, it'll be as enemies on the battlefield."
"We look forward to it."
Soren turned away—
done entertaining rude Cloud savages.
His goal was crystal clear now:
With Tobirama dead
and the escort annihilated,
and carrying the trophies of both the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage,
Uchiha Soren would return to Konoha—
—
to claim the title of Third Hokage.