Senju Tobirama was not alive.
After Uchiha Yoru returned home from Root's secret chamber with the Flying Thunder God Technique, he immediately used a captured researcher as a sacrifice and performed the Impure World Reincarnation, summoning Senju Tobirama from the Pure Land.
Only after binding him in his basement with sealing techniques did Yoru respond to the Third Hokage's summons and rush off to Root.
Reanimated Tobirama's skin was pale and dull. His face and body were covered in cracks that kept splitting open and slowly merging back together. Now, the cracking speed had already surpassed the recovery speed.
Yoru saw that dust was starting to fall from Tobirama's body, which was why he said, "Your time is running out."
The reanimated body's repair speed could no longer keep up with the living world's erosion. That meant the sacrifice's vitality and chakra were about to run out.
Yoru regretted it slightly. If he had known ordinary people were this fragile, he would have chosen a Root ninja.
But after thinking about it, he rationally gave up that idea.
As the creator of the Impure World Reincarnation, Senju Tobirama understood this technique deeply. If the sacrifice had not been too weak to let him extract even basic chakra, he might have broken free the moment he was revived.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was no saint.
If he broke free and regained his freedom, who knew what he would do?
Although his time was extremely limited, before Yoru secured a sufficiently hidden, safe, and durable new lair, this weak and powerless version of Senju Tobirama was the best.
In any case, Yoru still had several ordinary researcher captives, enough to use for a while.
Even if he ran out, it did not matter. During wartime, all kinds of villains were everywhere. He could casually catch a large group.
Yoru had been able to return safely from the Land of Hot Water to Konoha only because he was a jonin-level ninja. The only ones capable of troubling him were enemy ninja.
If an ordinary person made the same trip from the Land of Hot Water, dying seven or eight times would be perfectly normal.
Although the Shinobi World War was a conflict between ninja, and large-scale attacks that destroyed civilian life like those in the Land of Rain were indeed rare, that did not mean ordinary people at the bottom were unaffected.
Ninja fought large-scale wars, but they still received mission pay. That money could only come from the daimyō of the Five Great Nations.
And the daimyō did not produce anything themselves. Their money came from taxes collected from ordinary people.
War consumed enormous resources. Daimyō only raised taxes. Then raised them again.
Because prices soared, and the daimyō and nobles refused to live hard lives, the farmers and small merchants below could only suffer.
Worse still, despite rising prices, farmers could not sell grain at a good price. The daimyō wanted money, not goods, so they could only sell grain cheaply to merchants in exchange for cash, then pay taxes that had increased more than tenfold.
Calculating everything together, farmers' burdens had increased nearly a hundredfold. Bankruptcy was only natural.
When basic laborers went bankrupt on a large scale, they transformed from producers into destroyers. Bandits and mountain thieves appeared everywhere.
And they could not be killed cleanly or suppressed completely.
In truth, they were pitiable too. Yoru sympathized with farmers who escaped taxes and survived through production.
But toward those who suddenly adapted to killing and indulged in violence, he would not be stingy with blades.
In short, in this chaotic shinobi world, low-quality Impure World sacrifices would never be lacking.
Senju Tobirama stared fixedly at Uchiha Yoru. His impression of this Uchiha boy was extremely complicated.
There was none of the familiar madness unique to the Uchiha clan.
Nor was there Uchiha Kagami's visible loyalty and purity.
There was also not the slightest respect toward Konoha's Hokage.
Tobirama had only met Uchiha Yoru for the first time a few hours ago, but through the Sharingan projection, he had seen the jonin meeting from Yoru's perspective.
At first, Tobirama focused on the issues being discussed in the meeting. He hated Danzo Shimura so much his teeth itched, wishing he could drag that fool out of the Pure Land and beat him to death again to vent his anger.
Soon, Tobirama discovered that Hiruzen Sarutobi, that foolish disciple of his, had changed.
Twenty years ago, Hiruzen had clearly been so brave and responsible. Yet today, not only had he become long-winded, but every word he spoke was full of shirking responsibility. His delaying tactics were endless.
If Hiruzen had been like this back then, Tobirama would never have chosen him as the Third Hokage.
Danzo Shimura was even worse. If Tobirama returned to twenty years ago, he would beat him to death directly.
He wanted to be Hokage?
Dream on.
Today, Tobirama also saw Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. They had become useless watchdogs guarding the house.
Only Akimichi Torifu, sitting among the crowd, was still as steady and honest as back then.
Unfortunately, an honest ninja with no aggressiveness was not suitable to become Hokage.
Uchiha Kagami…
What a pity.
If he had been fine back then, he would have been the most suitable Hokage candidate.
From Uchiha Kagami, Tobirama naturally thought of the Uchiha boy who had summoned him. He gradually shifted his attention to the changes in perspective reflected by the image, sensing Yoru's mentality and attitude toward the ninja present.
Tobirama unexpectedly discovered that Yoru was full of hostility and disdain toward Uchiha Setsuna.
Toward Fugaku, who should be the Uchiha clan head, he was full of contempt and vigilance.
Toward Elder Uchiha Yūmiya, his attitude was appraisal.
Most interestingly, when he looked at Uchiha Ryūnosuke and Uchiha Yūichirō, his perspective was condescending, like a superior looking at subordinates.
And the two elders' feedback was actually obedience and respect.
This shocked Tobirama.
Clearly, this boy was extraordinary. Tobirama had no choice but to re-examine everything related to him.
Then he discovered that Uchiha Yoru was an unusually perceptive boy.
He understood all of Hiruzen Sarutobi's rhetoric and showed great disdain for it.
He despised jonin who did not go to the front line yet pointed fingers from behind, yet he respected every ordinary Konoha villager he encountered.
For some reason, Tobirama suddenly felt that this Uchiha boy was actually a better Hokage candidate than Uchiha Kagami.
The reason was simple: comparison kills.
Uchiha Kagami had clearly been a good candidate, but compared with this boy, he seemed not smart enough, and too pure and childish.
But what moved Tobirama the most was after Uchiha Yoru returned from the meeting and discussed the new application methods and development details of ninjutsu with him.
During the discussion, their thoughts aligned, their thinking rhythm matched, they inspired each other, and quickly completed the framework design of a ninjutsu.
That clash of minds, that equal exchange of wisdom, and that sense of accomplishment in developing ninjutsu all made Tobirama enjoy it greatly. He felt immense satisfaction on a spiritual level.
Compared to this Uchiha boy, his elder brother, who only clapped his hands roughly and crushed everything with chakra, was purely a brainless fool.
Just thinking about it made him feel disdainful.
As his body collapsed, Tobirama knew his time in the living world was over.
Before disappearing, he said his final sentence:
"If only you weren't an Uchiha."
Uchiha Yoru smiled and replied, "Being an Uchiha is pretty good. At least it's better than having a surname like Senju, which has already completely vanished."
With just one sentence, Senju Tobirama completely broke.
His face turned black as the bottom of a pot.
Yoru laughed so hard he could barely contain himself.
The Second Hokage's face grew even darker, and his pitch-black eyes seemed almost ready to spit fire.
After that, neither of them spoke.
The Impure World body continued collapsing and vanishing until Senju Tobirama completely returned to the Pure Land.
Yoru looked at the remnants of Impure World dust scattered across the floor. The corner of his mouth curled slightly as he said with an unclear meaning:
"We'll be seeing each other often from now on, Second Hokage-sama."
"After all, you are so smart. Your ability to develop ninjutsu is unmatched under heaven. You are the best resource in the shinobi world."
After a long silence, Yoru began cleaning.
The floor was full of Impure World residue, and cleaning it was extremely troublesome.
If he was even slightly careless, it would scatter everywhere, drifting through the air without falling back down, making one's mentality explode.
Yoru patiently cleaned everything up, sealed it tightly in a trash bag, and only then left the basement.
That night, he could not help complaining to Miwa Masayo:
"Impure World Reincarnation isn't that convenient either. It leaves garbage everywhere at every turn."
Miwa Masayo laughed until she rolled around.
But she understood Uchiha Yoru far too well and directly asked back, "Yoru, you definitely aren't disliking Impure World Reincarnation because it's dirty, meow. Tell me, what's the real reason, meow?"
Yoru said seriously, "The key thing bothering me is the ownership of souls."
"Senju Tobirama's soul is in the Pure Land. From a certain point of view, the Second Hokage and First Hokage are both the Sage of Six Paths' private property."
"To be honest, my attitude toward Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo is not friendly. He can even be considered one of my future hypothetical enemies."
"If I don't find a way to change ownership, maybe one day he'll take everyone away from me, making me lose everything."
Miwa Masayo's eyes shifted as she said with shared hatred, "Then we really do need to think of a way to guard against him, meow. But he is the Sage of Six Paths, meow. He lives in the Pure Land. How can we compete with him, meow…"
Suddenly, the tabby cat's eyes lit up. She jumped up and shouted, "Yoru!"
"What is it?"
"I remember you said there are mental living beings inside the Purple Mansion world, right, meow?"
"Yes. Holey Octopus Little Ke is a mutated soul from a Root ninja, and there's also the crimson goldfish transformed from the river god… I understand what you mean."
"Whether it's a mutated soul or a divine incarnation, they're both souls."
"That's right, meow. You can think of a way to snatch them all into your Purple Mansion, meow."
"Right, right. Exactly. I'll snatch the First Hokage, Second Hokage, White Fang, and that Snow Clan leader into my Purple Mansion and make them my… divine envoys."
"What are divine envoys, meow?"
"I built a Cloudborne Divine Court in my Purple Mansion. The envoys dispatched by the Divine Court are divine envoys."
Miwa Masayo's attention instantly shifted.
Her eyes sparkled as she said, "Cloudborne Divine Court sounds so amazing. I really want to see what it looks like, meow."
Yoru rubbed his chin and chuckled. "There will be a chance. There will definitely be a chance."
…
After the jonin meeting ended and the jonin dispersed, the reduced Konoha F4—the Konoha Big Three—gathered in the Hokage's office and began another closed-door meeting.
Homura Mitokado asked, "Hiruzen, why did you announce when you would resign? You cannot resign. If you resign, who can become Hokage?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked helplessly and somewhat dissatisfied, "Homura, why are you so slow?"
"What Danzo Shimura did has stirred public outrage. As Hokage, I cannot escape leadership responsibility. If I had not clearly stated that I would resign today, the angry jonin would have immediately voted me down. I would have become the first Hokage impeached on the spot."
He glanced at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, then continued, "If that happened, your positions as Hokage advisors would not be preserved either. We would lose all our power."
Koharu Utatane asked, "Hiruzen, what you said makes sense, and what you did was correct. But the question is, what should we do next to reassure the jonin?"
The Third Hokage answered confidently, "This matter is not difficult. I will immediately recall Orochimaru and make him my deputy. I will have him take over the mess Danzo left behind and show the jonin that I am already preparing to step down."
"That way, they will feel at ease. With the efforts I made today, dividing the jonin into several camps, they should no longer be able to bypass me and convene a jonin meeting on their own."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression became unusually solemn.
There was even a trace of fear in his eyes.
He subconsciously lowered his voice and slowly said, "The biggest and most urgent problem we are facing right now is not this."
"It is finding the murderer who killed Danzo, killing him, and eliminating this threat at its root."
"That ninja who awakened the Wood Release kekkei genkai…"
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane both shivered.
A chill rose from their backs and rushed to the backs of their heads.
Danzo Shimura's strength was far above theirs.
His personality was also extremely suspicious, cautious, and sinister. His methods were forceful, and he never trusted others.
Danzo Shimura's personality was publicly acknowledged as the kind most suited for survival.
Yet Danzo had been killed in his own lair.
Even the entire Root base had been slaughtered.
Someone had forcefully broken into Root, carved through this mysterious department that was even more secretive and heavily guarded than ANBU, and finally killed Danzo Shimura.
They had inspected the scene.
There were only traces of Wood Release.
Danzo Shimura had left no signs of battle at all. His Vacuum-style Wind Release ninjutsu had not been used, and his summoned beast had not appeared either.
Danzo Shimura had actually been killed instantly.
This was what filled the two of them with fear.
If Danzo Shimura could be killed instantly face-to-face, then what about them?
The Third Hokage was also frightened, but his thoughts differed from theirs.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had inspected the battlefield more carefully. Through various details, he could confirm that Danzo Shimura had died because he was careless and suffered a sneak attack.
So what he feared most was not the enemy's strength, but the enemy's identity and understanding of Konoha.
Being able to sneak attack Danzo Shimura inside Root meant this Wood Release ninja's understanding of Konoha Village was terrifyingly deep.
At minimum, he knew the exact location of Root's top-secret chamber.
Hiruzen guessed that this Wood Release ninja must have learned about the Wood Release experiments and launched a retaliatory action because of that.
In other words, he had an intelligence source inside Root.
That was unbelievable.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, Root's internal review and control over personnel were already overly strict, even to the point of severely damaging its combat effectiveness.
But aside from Root having a traitor, he could not think of any other explanation for how Danzo had been ambushed.
The Wood Release ninja's ambush on Danzo Shimura had been too perfect.
Without absolutely detailed and accurate intelligence, it would have been impossible.
Therefore, Hiruzen suspected that the Wood Release ninja was a villager of Konoha, perhaps even an active-duty Konoha ninja.
He or his parents may even have once been members of the Senju clan.
When the Third Hokage explained his worries, Koharu Utatane covered her mouth with both hands, while Homura Mitokado stuffed his right thumb into his mouth.
Only by doing so could they suppress their screams.
Could Danzo Shimura's death actually be the Senju clan protesting the Wood Release human experiments?
This was too reasonable.
Homura Mitokado bit his thumb until it bled and suddenly shouted, "Gag order! We must issue a gag order! We cannot let the villagers know the details!"
Koharu Utatane also screamed, "Yes! It must absolutely be kept secret!"
They all knew that if the full information about this matter spread, even the legitimacy of the Third Hokage would be widely questioned.
Their own situations would only become worse.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knocked out the extinguished ash from his pipe and said helplessly, "I already issued a gag order, but you should know very well how effective it can be."
"Too many people saw it with their own eyes this time. Even quite a few ordinary villagers directly saw the Wood Release trees tearing open the ground. It cannot be sealed."
"If we do not resolve the Wood Release ninja, he can cause major incidents again and again. The gag order will only have the opposite effect, making ninja and villagers think we are guilty."
Homura Mitokado finally heard the dissatisfaction in Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.
He woke up in time, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Hiruzen, tell us what to do. I will listen to you."
The Third Hokage nodded in satisfaction and said to Homura Mitokado, "Once Orochimaru returns, Konoha's daily work and Danzo's work will both be handed to him. I will focus on matters related to the war."
"And you two will be responsible for investigating the identity of this Wood Release ninja. Start checking one by one from Konoha's ninja roster."
Koharu Utatane froze and retorted, "Hiruzen, Konoha currently has over thirty thousand ninja. We do not have the ability to investigate all of them…"
"Koharu!" Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted her and said sternly, "This is a critical moment. It is time for you to change your lax habits!"
"Besides, you do not need to investigate thirty thousand ninja."
Homura Mitokado nodded and said, "I understand. First, the twenty-seven thousand ninja on the front line do not need to be investigated. They could not have traveled thousands of miles back to do these two major incidents."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded approvingly. "Correct. Among those twenty thousand-plus ninja, only the few who returned because of missions need to be checked."
"Also, ninja from clans do not need to be checked. Elder ninja who became famous before Sensei stepped down do not need to be checked either."
"You must focus on first-generation civilian ninja without surnames or family records, as well as small-clan ninja from the previous generation who married civilians."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then emphasized at the end:
"Especially civilian ninja who perform outstandingly, have large chakra reserves, and have mastered ninjutsu they should not have mastered."
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane lowered their heads and accepted the order.
"Yes!"
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