"Whoosh—"
Minato flew back. He had already taken Naruto and Kushina to safety.
He just wanted to hurry back and find out why the First and Second Hokage-sama were here—and who exactly Natsu Yuu was.
But he discovered that Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had already arrived, and seemed to be getting "reprimanded" by Tobirama?
Minato couldn't butt in.
He could only sneak closer and listen in silence.
"Monkey, I know about Kagami. But since the Nine-Tails went berserk, why didn't you allow the Uchiha Clan's ninja to join the fight? You should know their Sharingan has a special effect on Tailed Beasts."
"Well..."
Hiruzen stumbled over his words. This hadn't been his decision alone.
It had been a collective decision by Konoha's High Council. They all thought it would be better not to let the Uchiha fight the Nine-Tails, in case they secretly took control of it...
But given Hiruzen's character, he wouldn't betray Danzo and the others at a time like this. He could only grit his teeth and say:
"The Nine-Tails was being controlled by the [Sharingan]. I was worried the Uchiha..."
Before Hiruzen could finish explaining, Tobirama swore at him:
"Are you an idiot? Even if an Uchiha ninja was controlling the Nine-Tails, could things possibly get any worse?"
"Uh..."
Hiruzen froze, then gradually came to his senses.
Whether or not an Uchiha ninja from the village was controlling the Nine-Tails, sending them to intercept it couldn't make things any worse.
The Nine-Tails was already under someone's control.
Maybe they could even wear down a few of the Uchiha's hawkish faction and weaken the clan's overall strength...
How had he overlooked that?
Oh no, had he just made himself look like an idiot?
Watching the bewildered old Hiruzen, Tobirama frowned with growing displeasure.
Thirty-four years ago, Hiruzen had been incredibly brave. He hadn't even feared going to his death alone.
Why had he become so timid and hesitant now?
How had he ended up like this?
It was true that people grew more cautious as they got older, and could lose the courage they'd once had. But as Hokage, he shouldn't have lacked even that much resolve and backbone.
"I made a poor judgment!"
Facing Tobirama, Hiruzen could only admit his mistake.
"But who exactly controlled the Nine-Tails? Controlling it—even with the [Sharingan]—would require incredibly powerful ocular prowess..."
Minato immediately answered.
"A mysterious man wearing a tiger-striped mask. He really does have the Sharingan."
"He's also extremely powerful and mysterious, and he wields a special kind of space-time ninjutsu."
"He can kill several of the Third Hokage's Direct Anbu, pass through the highest-level barrier, know that the Nine-Tails' seal weakens when a Jinchuriki gives birth, undo the Eight Trigrams Seal and control the Nine-Tails—and even pass through the village's barrier freely..."
This time, Minato hadn't used the [Reaper Death Seal], so he could finally tell Konoha what he knew about Obito.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was shocked.
"Impossible! How could there be a ninja like that?"
Ninjas who met even two of those conditions were exceptionally rare, let alone someone who met all of them.
Someone like that could hardly exist!
Just the fact that he could freely pass through Konoha's barrier proved he wasn't a ninja from another village. It was simply unbelievable!
"It's possible! As far as I know, someone in history could have met those conditions!"
"Minato, are you talking about Madara Uchiha?"
"Yes. He's the only one who fits every condition."
"Even more impossible! He—he died long ago! The First and Second Hokage-sama both know that..."
Hiruzen refused to believe it. He knew all too well how powerful and terrifying Madara was.
"That wasn't Madara!"
"If it had been Madara, he wouldn't have needed the Nine-Tails to destroy the village with me gone."
Hashirama spoke, ending the debate.
No one in the world knew Madara better than he did. A single glance had been enough for Hashirama to conclude that Obito was definitely not Madara.
If it really had been Madara, Minato couldn't have defeated him...
"Elder Brother is right about that. The man wasn't Madara. Most likely, he's an Uchiha ninja, and he should be very young..."
Tobirama was equally certain. He was probably the second person who knew Madara best.
In fact, in some ways, he knew Madara even better than his elder brother. The many Forbidden Jutsu he'd developed to counter the Uchiha were proof enough.
"How could that be? What kind of young Uchiha could know so many secrets and possess such strength?"
Hiruzen was shocked again.
He even wondered if Fugaku, as Clan Head, had secretly been grooming a hidden trump card!
"Don't bother guessing. That man is Uchiha Obito."
Natsu Yuu couldn't be bothered to drag things out and conceal the information. He pulled Obito's pants down in one go.
He wanted to use Fourth Hokage Minato to unify the [Fourth Hokage World], not to clean up after Obito.
Besides, once Minato knew all of Akatsuki's secrets,
perhaps Minato alone could wipe out the entire Akatsuki organization as it currently stood!
"My student, Obito?"
"Yes."
Minato and Hiruzen were both stunned, silently wondering how it could be possible.
Hashirama and Tobirama, however, had never met Obito and didn't recognize him at all.
"Impossible! Obito died in battle!"
"Did you find his body?"
Minato fell silent. After the [Battle of Kannabi Bridge], they had indeed searched for Obito's body.
But they found that the battlefield had been scorched by fire, leaving only a charred corpse that couldn't be identified. Since it could have been an act of vengeance by the Stone Ninja, Konoha hadn't paid it much attention.
They had simply gathered the charred bodies and buried them beneath gravestones.
Thinking back now, there had certainly been room to tamper with things.
"But the masked man's build is very different from Obito's. They don't look like the same person."
"And Obito had no reason to attack me..."
With Madara's modifications and the support of White Zetsu cells, Obito's voice, build, strength, and appearance had all changed completely.
Unless Minato had been given X-ray vision, how could he possibly have recognized Obito?
Besides,
Minato couldn't even imagine that Obito, who had died a hero, would suddenly turn against him and attack him and Kushina.
"I've told you the truth. How you verify it is up to you. I'm not a magic box that answers every question."
Natsu Yuu said coolly. He had to maintain the dignity of a Sage.
That would make it easier to keep Minato in line in the future.
"Fine. I'll find a way to verify it!"
Minato didn't press the matter. Natsu Yuu and the others had just saved him and his wife, and they had no reason to lie to him.
Now that he was alive, he could slowly uncover the truth later.
"Hmph. These evil Uchiha really are a nuisance!"
Tobirama snorted again, still disliking the Uchiha.
Hashirama frowned and shouted, "Tobirama!"
Tobirama immediately changed the subject and asked Minato:
"Fourth, where are your Anbu?"
They'd watched the whole thing, but hadn't seen any Anbu come to support Fourth Minato. How could the dignified Fourth Hokage be left looking like a lone commander?
"I haven't been Hokage for long, so my Direct Anbu are still being assembled..."
Minato scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
That was one reason, but not the main one. Clearly, the clever Minato knew what he could say and what he shouldn't.
Tobirama turned and gave Hiruzen a long, meaningful look. He'd already guessed what was going on.
How could a Hokage take office without even having a team of Anbu ready to serve him?
The [Third Shinobi World War] had just ended, and every village had suffered heavy casualties.
But surely things weren't so bad that they couldn't put together even a few elite Anbu squads.
When they'd fought the Nine-Tails just now, Hiruzen's Anbu had charged in to their deaths in wave after wave...
"Hiruzen, assign a group of Anbu to serve the Fourth for now."
"Yes!"
Hiruzen immediately agreed, not daring to hesitate.
Forget Hiruzen—even if Danzo had been there,
he'd have been waiting for Tobirama to kick his ass. How could he dare say no?
Before you continue