He leaned against the last Wood Style branch he had created, arms crossed over his chest, head bowed and eyes closed, with a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, as though he were dozing.
The first thing Tobirama did after Kabuto's control over his consciousness broke was withdraw all his Water Style techniques. He did not disappear, but walked over to stand beside Hashirama, hands behind his back, looking down at the puddle flowing toward the drain beneath his feet.
Residual golden arcs from Flying Thunder God still flickered occasionally across Minato's body. He stood behind Hashirama and Tobirama, still holding the Flying Thunder God Kunai whose handle Tenten had wrapped in threads. He studied the Chakra Threads wound around it for a while, then looked up toward the other end of the passage, where Konoha's Genin and Jonin were emerging from the shattered Wood Style debris and puddles.
Without a supply of chakra, the three Hokage's bodies began crumbling at the edges.
Gray-white dust rose from their fingers and the hems of their clothes. Fragments drifted through the air, looking like gray-white snowflakes falling upward under the glow of the Emergency Red Lights.
Before he crumbled completely, Hashirama opened his eyes and glanced toward the operating room.
He saw Guy, a Konoha Taijutsu ninja he did not recognize, kneeling on one knee in the water. His right arm hung limp, and white steam still rose from his fist after the Gate of Wonder had subsided.
Hashirama nodded to him.
It was not a Hokage's nod to a subordinate. It was the acknowledgment of a predecessor who had entrusted Konoha to those who came after him, who had seen a younger man defend Konoha's will in his own way-an acknowledgment that transcended death and time.
The three Hokage