"Don't cry, don't cry."
"Be good, Tsunade."
"…"
Uzumaki Mito gently wiped the tears from Tsunade's face, coaxing her patiently until her emotions finally settled.
But standing off to the side, Senju Tōma looked as though he'd been struck by a bolt from a clear sky. He stood there stiffly, unmoving, still unable to process the shock.
Second Uncle… dead?
That was impossible.
His second uncle possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique and wielded countless powerful forbidden jutsu. If Tobirama wanted to leave, who in the shinobi world could possibly stop him?
Yet reality lay right before him.
No matter how unwilling he was to accept it, the truth could not be denied.
Tōma's eyes shimmered with tears as memories of his time with Senju Tobirama surfaced. Ever since his father, Senju Hashirama, had passed away, Tobirama had taken on the role of a father figure—teaching him, guiding him, treating him like his own son.
"Tōma," Mito said softly, "now is not the time to grieve."
"I know."
Tōma wiped his tears away, took a deep breath, and followed Uzumaki Mito into another room.
Despite the sorrow, a tense anticipation welled up in his chest.
She had summoned him back from the front lines so urgently—this had to be related to the Third Hokage.
Tōma had already prepared himself to take on that role.
"According to Tobirama's final will," Mito said calmly, "the candidate for Third Hokage is Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"What?!"
Tōma stared at her in disbelief.
Sarutobi… Hiruzen?
Who the hell was he?
Just because of the Sarutobi clan behind him, he thought he was qualified to covet the Hokage seat?
If Tobirama had passed the position to Uchiha Kagami, Tōma would've forced himself to accept it.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen?
Wait—wasn't Hiruzen Tobirama's guard?
If Tobirama died, how did he make it back alive?
A conspiracy.
This had to be a conspiracy!
"That's impossible!!"
Tōma completely lost his composure. He questioned Mito again and again, refusing to believe her—until the repeated confirmations finally forced him to accept reality.
"Mother," Tōma said coldly, "you didn't summon me back just to help Sarutobi Hiruzen take the seat… did you?"
He couldn't understand Tobirama's decision.
No matter how the Hokage title was passed down, it should never land in the hands of a minor clan like the Sarutobi.
Even if the Senju swallowed their pride and accepted it—
The Uchiha never would.
This was going to cause trouble.
Mito sighed.
Born into a great ninja clan herself and well-read in history, she understood all too well the filth and strife hidden within elite families.
People could tear each other apart over a clan head position—let alone the seat of Hokage.
If she openly supported Sarutobi Hiruzen—
Her own son might turn on her immediately.
Tōma was the Senju's young clan head. By default, he had already become the clan leader. If he raised his arm and called for action, the Senju could place her under house arrest in an instant.
Was she really going to fight her own son?
For Sarutobi Hiruzen?
Don't be ridiculous.
"How could that be?" Mito said at once. "Of course I support you."
Those words were like a stabilizing pill.
Tōma visibly relaxed, his expression easing.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen is just a small fry," Tōma said, nodding. "The real opponent is the Uchiha."
He hadn't taken Hiruzen seriously at all.
If he wanted, with the Senju's power, Hiruzen could be found tomorrow with five shuriken in his back—officially ruled a suicide.
The Uchiha, however—
They were the real threat.
"Now that the Uchiha have produced a future powerhouse," Mito continued, "someone who may one day rival Uchiha Madara—he's awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
At the mention of Madara's name, an image instantly surfaced in Tōma's mind—
Madara riding a colossal Susanoo across the battlefield.
In the entire shinobi world, no one had ever been worthy of standing against Uchiha Madara—
Except his father, Senju Hashirama.
Now the Uchiha had produced someone like that again?
Tōma clenched his fists.
He was nothing like his father.
He hadn't inherited the Sage's Body.
No Wood Release.
No instant Sage Mode.
Compared to Hashirama, he was painfully ordinary.
Even among elite shinobi, he only possessed a bit more talent, a bit more chakra, a bit more recovery.
That wasn't nearly enough.
Not even close.
"Don't belittle yourself," Mito said slowly. "He's only shown a hint of potential so far. Someone like Madara doesn't appear so easily."
"I'm just reminding you—don't lose sight of who the real enemy is."
Seeing Tōma's confidence shaken, she spoke with measured calm.
Throughout the Uchiha's thousand-year history, every few generations produced a genius capable of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. Correspondingly, the Senju would also produce talents capable of standing against them.
It was almost a pattern.
Madara was an exception.
The Uchiha before him who awakened the Mangekyō were nowhere near his level. Their Susanoo manifested rarely and incompletely.
The reason Mito held Uchiha Nan in such regard was simple—
Nan had already demonstrated Susanoo.
But even that did not make him invincible.
She recalled Tobirama's research.
Madara's abnormal strength had ignited Tobirama's scientific obsession long ago.
According to Tobirama's hypothesis, the Mangekyō Sharingan carried a fatal flaw—continued use inevitably led to blindness through the depletion of ocular power.
The only way to overcome that flaw was to transplant the Mangekyō of a close blood relative.
Madara had done exactly that—replacing his eyes with his brother Izuna's—triggering a qualitative leap in power.
It was still a hypothesis.
But if Tobirama believed it, it was hardly groundless.
For all anyone knew, Madara's grave had already been dug up once—and his body placed on Tobirama's dissection table.
Uchiha Nan's parents had died young.
He had no siblings.
The odds of him obtaining another Mangekyō were practically nonexistent.
"Tōma," Mito said thoughtfully, "don't you think Sarutobi Hiruzen is useful right now?"
"Since Tobirama chose him, let him stand in front first. We don't need to act at all—the Uchiha won't let him off."
"Use him to measure that Uchiha's strength. Gather intelligence."
What a brilliant idea.
Tōma's eyes lit up.
In shinobi warfare, the value of intelligence was beyond question. The shinobi world was filled with bizarre and dangerous jutsu—many jōnin had died simply because they lacked information.
"Then I'll follow Mother's plan," Tōma said, a sly smile spreading across his face.
As expected of Mother—always calculating, always thinking for his sake.
Mom really does love me the most.
Seeing her son accept her reasoning, Mito nodded in satisfaction.
Hiruzen… don't blame me.
At least when it comes to dealing with the Uchiha, the Senju and I are on your side.
If you can handle them, the Senju won't stand in your way.
As for her earlier promise to help Sarutobi Hiruzen deal with the Uchiha—
Mito had already selectively forgotten it.
Times had changed.
Back then, the Uchiha hadn't produced a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder.
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