Kisame eventually went back with Itachi, and someone couldn't help but ask Senga,
"Hokage-sama, those two seem to be Rogue Ninja. Are we just going to let them leave Konoha like this?"
Senga glanced sideways at the speaker and said calmly,
"Kisame is Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure, what does that have to do with Konoha? As for Itachi, he's not Rogue Ninja at all. He's been carrying out secret missions all these years, and now he's just returned to his own village."
The man seemed unwilling to give up and continued to press for answers.
"Taking in rogue Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure will definitely displease Kirigakure, what if they..."
Before he could finish speaking, a suction force pulled him toward Senga.
Senga grabbed his neck and said coldly,
"I don't care about Kirigakure's attitude, but you seem quite dissatisfied with me as Hokage!"
As he spoke, Senga's eyes narrowed, and he used the Human Path ability from his Rinnegan to extract his soul.
Through the memories in his soul, Senga learned that this person was an Anbu Commander he had killed, which explained why he dared to question him.
Having discovered this, Senga directly absorbed the man's soul, then tossed his corpse aside like trash.
The others fell silent at the sight. Senga glanced at the collapsed houses around him, stomped his foot, and rows of wooden houses instantly appeared on the ground around him, looking quite beautiful.
This move once again stunned everyone. Tsunade, standing in the crowd, exclaimed in surprise.
"This is Grandpa's Wood Release!"
Yamato looked at the houses that appeared, and the shock he felt was no less than that of Tsunade.
He could be considered a Wood Release ninja, but from the houses Senga created, he could sense a surging vitality, which was precisely the biggest difference between him and the First Hokage.
The First Hokage's Wood Release was not simply composed of Earth and Water Chakra; it also contained powerful Yang Release. Therefore, his Wood Release cannot be considered Kekkei Genkai; it should be called Kekkei Tōta.
However, Yamato was unaware of this; he believed that he was unable to unleash the full power of Wood Release because he lacked the massive Chakra reserves of the First Hokage.
The ordinary villagers of Konoha don't care about Wood Release or anything Wood Release; they only know that the Hokage-sama provided them with shelter so they wouldn't have to sleep on the streets.
They felt only gratitude towards Senga, which subtly enhanced Senga's prestige as Hokage.
After all, this kind of concrete action is far more powerful than any "Will of Fire."
After completing all of this, Senga left directly, leaving the remaining cleanup work to a group of Konoha Ninja.
The next day,
Inside the Hokage's office, Senga smiled at Itachi and asked,
"Itachi, how did you sleep last night?"
Itachi's complexion had become much rosier, and he replied with a smile.
"Thanks to the Hokage-sama, I slept very well last night. I haven't slept so soundly in a long time!"
"Hehe, that's good. You should get some rest during this time. By the way, how's Kisame?"
He's staying with me temporarily.
"Oh? He doesn't intend to go back?"
"No, he said he's currently a prisoner and can't leave easily."
Hearing this, Senga couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. Kisame's actions were truly in line with his "honest man" persona.
Itachi suddenly bowed to Senga and said,
"Thank you again, Hokage-sama, for sparing Kisame's life!"
Senga waved his hand dismissively and said...
"No need to be so polite. I quite admire Kisame. Since he's not planning to leave, when you take over as Anbu Commander, you can keep him by your side."
"Yes! If he agrees..."
Itachi pondered for a moment, then spoke with a serious expression.
"Hokage-sama, I have another important piece of information I haven't reported to you yet. There's a man within Akatsuki who calls himself Uchiha Madara, and he seems to be the one behind Akatsuki!"
"Uchiha Madara? Oh, you mean him."
Itachi paused for a moment, then asked,
"Does the Hokage-sama also know of his existence?"
"Yes, of course I know. I also know that he's not Uchiha Madara at all!"
"Then who is he?"
"Heh, you should remember him too, his real identity is Obito Uchiha."
"Obito Uchiha!? Didn't he die in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge?"
"He didn't die. He was rescued and even awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, though only one."
"So Kakashi's is also...?"
"Hmm, these Mangekyō Sharingan have Awakening a space-time Dojutsu called Kamui, which is quite troublesome."
Itachi nodded. Spatial abilities are indeed difficult to deal with; just look at Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique—it's practically a bug-level ability.
Senga slowly rose from his chair, looked out the window, and said softly,
"Your sudden disappearance with Kisame has probably made him restless. He might come to Konoha soon."
Amegakure
As usual, Deva Path Pain stood atop a statue at the highest point of the village. Suddenly, the space behind him distorted, Obito emerged from it.
Pain didn't turn his head, and said calmly,
"Uchiha Itachi and Kisame went to Konoha, and we've lost contact with them now."
Obito nodded and said in a deep voice,
"I already know, damn it! I told you not to mess with Konoha!"
Pain snorted and said,
"What's the point of saying all this now? If those two get caught by Konoha, our intelligence will probably be leaked!"
"Hmph! I know Kisame, no need to worry. As for Uchiha Itachi... I think this whole thing is related to him."
"You mean Uchiha Itachi betrayed us?"
"He was never loyal to Xiao, so how could he have betrayed him?"
"Since you knew he harbored ulterior motives all along, why didn't you just kill him back then?"
Faced with Pain's attempt to shift the blame, Obito's Obito, hidden behind his mask, revealed an expression of utter disgust, cursing inwardly.
"It's just a puppet, what's with all the swagger?"
However, wasn't Obito himself a puppet? Not only him, but even Uchiha Madara was treated as a puppet by others, truly a nested doll situation.
Obito had his eye on Itachi's Mangekyo, since the Mangekyō Sharingan is the father of the Tailed Beast, and having an extra pair of Mangekyo would be very beneficial to his plan.
But what has happened now has completely disrupted his plans, and he can no longer wait and see.
He paused, then said in a deep voice,
"It seems I'll have to go to Konoha myself!"