"Who else?"
Araki's voice echoed across the battlefield, and it struck hard at everyone's heart like a heavy hammer—especially the hearts of Konoha's ninja.
Who else? They were just as lost inside.
Araki and Senju Hashirama's battle had not lasted long, but the shock it brought them was beyond compare.
The title of First Hokage carried a meaning far beyond that of merely Konoha's founder.
It was no exaggeration to say that his existence, his deeds, were the source and foundation of all the pride Konoha's ninja possessed.
But today, this man they had regarded as a god had been dragged down into the dust right before their eyes by another person.
As they looked at Senju Hashirama, pinned to the ground by Araki's sword, his body broken and yet unable to repair itself, countless Konoha ninja heard a "crack, crack" sound ringing in their hearts.
That was the pride and confidence they had always held fast to.
Those things established from the time of the First Hokage through the efforts of generation after generation of Konoha's mighty warriors—things that could even be called the bearing of an overlord—had completely shattered today.
What had been born because of Senju Hashirama had likewise perished today because of Senju Hashirama. In a sense, this could also be considered a kind of cycle.
Who asked Konoha to go all these decades without producing a single figure who could stand shoulder to shoulder with, or even surpass, the First Hokage?
Compared to the other great ninja villages, Konoha could be said to have been lifted by Senju Hashirama alone, right from the start, to a height that should never have belonged to them.
So after his death, Konoha had always had a hard time holding on to that position, and the village's overall strength