Elsewhere, Minato Namikaze was likewise devastated when he learned that his disciple Obito had delivered his wife to the Imperial Palace.
Yet he still did not hate Obito. Instead, he was consumed by guilt.
Minato felt that he had focused only on Kakashi's physical injuries while neglecting the wounds to Obito's heart after Rin's abduction, allowing Obito to fall into darkness and commit such a betrayal of his master and lineage.
"Obito is innocent. He simply lost his way!"
When Hashirama appeared again and urged him to eliminate Obito, Minato still refused.
Unlike before, when he had wanted to keep Hashirama from worrying and had concealed his intentions behind a vague agreement, Minato Namikaze was now so distraught over losing his wife that he had no room to consider any of that.
"..."
Innocent how, exactly? I'd really like to know.
Hashirama truly had no idea what to do anymore.
How were this father and son cast from the exact same mold?
"Besides, revenge only breeds more hatred. It does nothing to undo what has already happened. My first priority now isn't getting revenge on Obito, but finding a way to rescue Kushina as quickly as possible!"
"Fine, then. Figure it out yourself."
Hashirama sighed helplessly.
To be fair, although the first half of that speech had made his skin crawl, the latter half did make sense.
In principle, rescuing her really should come first.
Moreover, after learning that the emperor had executed Madara, Hashirama kept feeling that there was a conspiracy behind it. It was remarkably similar to Madara faking his death in the Real Shinobi World.
He wondered whether Madara had realized he was still alive and, unwilling to remain exposed while his enemy lurked in the shadows, had also chosen to fake his death, disappear from public