Orochimaru froze. "The Senju Clan... still has descendants in your village?"
Torifu waved a hand. "It's not that the clan survived—it was never wiped out in the first place. My master and Lord Tobirama are both still alive, and the Senju Clan remains Konoha's foremost clan."
Silence fell over the room.
"L-Lord Hashirama... is... still alive?" Inoichi Yamanaka stammered.
Apart from Minato Namikaze, everyone looked as though they'd just heard explosive news.
They were utterly stunned—especially Orochimaru.
His whole body began to tremble.
"Hokage Torifu, is that true?"
All of Orochimaru's research was based on Hashirama Cells. If Hashirama found out, the consequences could be disastrous.
That was why Orochimaru was so alarmed.
Torifu smiled in response. "Of course. If you'd like, you can go meet him this afternoon—or even in a little while."
The three Ino-Shika-Cho clan heads were more than happy to go! They'd never dreamed that one day they'd have the chance to meet the First!
Even if he was from a different world, he was still the First! The God of Shinobi! The legendary figure who founded Konoha!
To them, he was someone they'd only ever heard about in textbooks!
At last, they'd get to meet the real Lord Hashirama! The three clan heads could hardly contain their excitement.
"Lord Torifu wouldn't lie to us. There'd be no point. So Lord Hashirama really is still alive! Incredible!"
"Yeah, I never expected it either... But Lord Hashirama must be frail and elderly by now, right? He's over ninety, after all."
"Then when we go see him, we should be careful not to disturb him too much."
The three clan heads murmured among themselves. Torifu naturally heard them, but didn't bother to correct them.
They'd see for themselves soon enough. There was no need for him to waste