Bruised and Swollen, Open and Aboveboard

Senju Tobirama was born 28 years before the founding of Konoha and is currently 34 years old.

After marrying Senju Toka, Tobirama did not find the peace he had imagined. The scene of Toka's hands being severed remained like a nightmare in his heart, impossible to shake off.

He had been searching for a way to truly find peace.

Was it his eldest brother who suggested he learn medical ninjutsu from Toji?

No.

The Reverse Cursed Technique he and Toji developed together was indeed powerful, but it was not omnipotent.

When facing an opponent of overwhelming strength, one would still die before reaching the point of receiving treatment.

If a person is killed, they die.

This was the unchanging truth of the Ninja World for a thousand years.

Yet, ninjas were, by nature, existences that constantly broke the laws of reality. Since they could manipulate wind, fire, water, and earth, and could stitch skin and mend bones...

Could they not go one step further—

Break the boundary between life and death and bring the dead back to life?

That way, even if someone important to him or the village were to die unexpectedly, there would be a final safety net.

Such a twisted notion, blurring the boundaries of life and death, quietly sprouted in the depths of Tobirama's heart. From a tiny seed, it quickly took root and grew, in the blink of an eye, into a towering tree that blotted out the sky.

Tobirama began to put his plans into action.

He knew very well.

His eldest brother would never allow him to do this, so the matter had to be kept from Senju Hashirama.

He secretly set up a laboratory on the outskirts of the village, and whenever he was on leave after completing a mission, he would "flash his face" at the Konoha prison to take away prisoners.

Senju Hashirama was kind-hearted, but Senju Tobirama had never been a soft-hearted man.

He treated these people he brought in as experimental materials and began to develop the taboo in his heart—a technique capable of overturning life and death and twisting the laws of nature.

He named it—

Reanimation.

Immersed in his research, Tobirama did not go to the Hokage Building for the meeting, but instead went to his secret laboratory.

A burly man was tied to the operating table. The moment he saw Senju Tobirama, his face was instantly covered in terror, his body trembling violently and uncontrollably, while muffled roars escaped from his sealed mouth.

"Too noisy."

With a swift strike of his blade, Tobirama cleanly finished him off.

After a long and tedious preparation process, he placed his hand on the man's corpse and performed the hand seals in a low voice: "Summoning Jutsu!"

The summoning seal instantly covered the corpse, yet...

Nothing happened.

Tobirama withdrew his hand, his expression blank, though he was not discouraged.

If the boundary between life and death could be crossed in just a few attempts, it would be a miracle.

Tobirama was just about to dispose of the body, When he suddenly sensed something amiss. He jerked his head up to look at the corner of the laboratory and shouted coldly: "Who's there?!"

From the shadows.

Senju Hashirama, wearing his Hokage haori, slowly emerged.

Hashirama's face was terrifyingly grim: "Tobirama, you've grown quite bold."

"E-Eldest Brother..." Tobirama felt as if he had been struck by lightning, freezing in place. He stammered instinctively: "Listen to me, it's not what you think."

Tobirama had considered the possibility of his experiments being exposed, but he had not expected this day to come so soon.

Why did it have to be this way?

A trace of annoyance flashed through Tobirama's mind; it was likely his frequent absences from meetings lately that had aroused his brother's suspicions.

But he had no other choice.

He was already thirty-four years old.

How many thirty-year periods does a life have? For a ninja, reaching this age was considered a long life.

His peak had already passed, and his physical functions and energy were inevitably on the decline. Not everyone was like his eldest brother, Senju Hashirama, who only grew stronger after thirty.

Tobirama had to seize every day; only then would it be possible to develop Reanimation within his lifetime.

If only I were ten years younger...

If I were ten years younger, I would have had plenty of time, and I wouldn't have been discovered by my brother.

Tobirama thought to himself.

Regardless of his thoughts, Hashirama's reprimand came crashing down on him.

"You don't need to explain. My eyes may not be Sharingan, but I can still see."

Hashirama said with disappointment, "Tobirama, a year ago I told you to learn proper medical techniques from Toji and spend less time delving into these strange forbidden arts. We Senju shinobi should be upright and honorable."

"You simply treated my words as wind passing by your ears."

"Developing forbidden arts is one thing, but you actually dared to go even further and conduct this kind of human experimentation!"

Hashirama's gaze fell upon the test subject Tobirama had just slain, his expression growing increasingly grim. If it were merely the development of forbidden arts, he might have been able to turn a blind eye, but he could never tolerate crossing the line into human experimentation.

Once that line is crossed, a person will only continue to fall.

If he dares to target criminals today, he might dare to target ordinary villagers tomorrow.

If it truly reached that point...

Even Hashirama dared not imagine what he might do to his own brother.

"I really must take Father's place and discipline you properly."

Toji and Uchiha Chiru stood side by side not far from the Underground Laboratory.

Uchiha Chiru spoke up, "The Hokage is very angry. Elder Tobirama is likely in for a difficult time this time..."

"As he should be." Toji's expression was calm. "Regardless of the reason, human experimentation is an evil taboo. If it were me, I would never allow such a thing to happen in Konoha."

He said this without changing his expression.

If they could, no one would want to conduct forbidden experiments under the nose of the God of Shinobi. Yet, one had to admit that in this chaotic world, only Konoha possessed the stable conditions to support large-scale research.

That was true now, and it would be true in the future.

Soon.

A bruised and battered Tobirama was "dragged" out of the laboratory by Hashirama like a child who had committed a crime and was taken back to the Senju Compound.

Immediately after, another Hashirama walked out of the Underground Laboratory and headed toward the two of them.

"That was the Hokage's Wood Clone just now," Uchiha Chiru explained from the side.

Toji nodded, simultaneously noticing a massive scroll strapped to Hashirama's back.

Is that it? The prototype for the future Scroll of Sealing?

Toji speculated in his heart.

"Toji."

Seeing the two of them, Hashirama's expression softened slightly; he was not the type to vent his anger on others.

Toji responded, "Hokage."

Exposing Tobirama's human experimentation was not a whim, but a choice made after careful consideration.

For one, it was to cause Tobirama some trouble so he could "offer help in the snow" when the other party was in distress, thereby gaining favor. Secondly, he wanted to see how Hashirama would handle his own brother, so he would have a point of reference.

In his past life, Toji had watched Ultraman, which contained a plot like this—

[Father of Ultra's close friend, Belial, was exiled from the Land of Light for touching the Plasma Spark; yet when the Land of Light's own young master, Zero, committed the same mistake, he was merely confined to practice.]

And Tobirama was, likewise, the "young master" of Konoha.

Finally, Toji wanted to take the opportunity to see if there were any surprises in Tobirama's laboratory.

Hashirama sighed, "Your guess was correct. Tobirama was indeed hiding human experimentation and the development of forbidden arts from me. I gave him a sound beating and sentenced him to three months of confinement to reflect on his mistakes."