The Old Place Is Gone, but the People Are Still the Same / If You Won't Become Hokage, No One Else Can!

Because he finds others in his way.

The ANBU guards, also hidden in the shadows, dared not disturb Senju Tobirama he immersed himself in the ocean of technology.

It was also because of this factor that Uchiha Shingen never had the chance to truly call him "Second Brother".

Even though he knew perfectly well that Senju Tobirama had already seen through his identity.

He could fool everyone but Senju Tobirama.

Senju Tobirama was looking at the culture tank in front of him.

The organisms, immersed in the culture medium, occasionally bubble up, demonstrating that they are still alive.

It doesn't contain people, but rather various animals.

Although Senju Tobirama appears cold-blooded and ruthless, and is a complete experimentation fanatic, he actually rarely uses people directly for experiments.

"You've arrived." Senju Tobirama without turning his head.

"Second Hokage," Uchiha Shingen walked to his side, also staring at the incubation tank in front of him, "It seems it's still unsuccessful."

"Hmm." Senju Tobirama nodded. "That junior named Orochimaru has some very good ideas; it's a pity he became missing-nin."

Although Shimura Danzō is gone, everything related to Wood Release experiments left behind by Root during the Great Purge was preserved.

Despite the liquidation process, everyone understands the value of these things.

"It's no pity, he's not mentally sound," Uchiha Shingen said.

"That's why I said it's a pity," Senju Tobirama said.

Judging from what he left behind, he felt that Orochimaru was a truly brilliant and resourceful individual, a real talent in biotechnology, the kind that comes along only once in a century.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen and his team didn't know how to protect such talent.

The path Orochimaru chose was perfectly natural to Senju Tobirama.

He's a tech guy himself, so he understands that kind of thought process.

And speaking of this...

Senju Tobirama turned to look at Uchiha Shingen.

"Didn't you try to learn your older brother's Wood Release technique?"

"We didn't have the means back then, Second Hokage," Uchiha Shingen said truthfully.

We genuinely didn't have the means back then; now that we do, there's no need to go through all that trouble.

"That's true." Senju Tobirama felt a pang of regret.

Both he and Senju Hashirama taught this younger brother a great deal, including their most essential Ninjutsu.

Therefore, the only obstacle for Uchiha Shingen to learn the Wood Release technique was his physical condition.

Since there was no practice, this is the only possible reason.

"Shingen," Senju Tobirama suddenly said, "Do you have anything else to do with the ANBU today?"

"As long as no one reports an emergency, everything will be fine," Uchiha Shingen said.

He had already taken care of everything before he came out.

"That's good." Senju Tobirama nodded. "Come out with me later; my brother and I both have something to say to you."

Chapter 44 The place is gone, but the people are still the same.

Senju Tobirama continued working on his experiments.

Judging from the way this guy from his past life is seriously conducting experiments, he's quite different from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru were driven by self-interest; all his experimental results served his own interests.

Senju Tobirama hand, was interested in developing Ninjutsu that most people could use, or in researching the weaknesses of enemies; he had little interest in conducting experiments himself.

An excited expression was impossible to see on Senju Tobirama's face; he didn't enjoy this method of research.

The Wood Release experiment was the project that Senju Tobirama lifetime, yet failed to produce any results.

It wasn't that Senju Tobirama's abilities were lacking, but rather that he set his goals very high.

He hopes to develop a jutsu that ordinary people can use to counter the Tailed Beasts.

Just like how he developed the Shadow Clone Technique based on the Wood Clone back then.

His bottom line is that he will not allow his unique bloodline to become a limiting factor. Even if he needs some unique talents, they must be the kind of talents that would appear in the general population.

The Flying Thunder God Technique is the one that requires the most talent among all the Ninjutsu he developed.

However, the Wood Release's ability to suppress Tailed Beasts has always been an obstacle he has been unable to overcome.

Wood Release is not difficult. Senju Tobirama had already figured out the basics of Wood Release and left behind a complete Ninjutsu manual for its use.

However, that Wood Release technique had no suppressive effect on the Tailed Beasts whatsoever; it was just an ordinary, unremarkable jutsu.

During the Third's era, unable to trust the power of the Uchiha Clan, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō decided to urgently create a batch of usable Wood Release fighters through live transplantation in order to ensure Leaf Village's control over the power of the Tailed Beasts.

The failure was even more devastating, Senju of the Forest to officially decide to retire from the entertainment industry.

Later, with Orochimaru's help, Shimura Danzō continued his secret experiments. The only successful experiment was purely by chance.

When the Fourth Hokage came to power, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the Hokage Building eased, and they were no longer at odds. Leaf Village also abandoned this path and settled down to rely on the Uzumaki Clan and Uchiha Clan's technology to master the power of the Tailed Beasts.

The Uchiha Clan even brought the complete set of Perfect Jinchuriki techniques from Kumogakure to the Hokage Building, which further highlighted the value of the Uzumaki Clan's abilities.

But for a perfectionist like Senju Tobirama, the Wood Release experiments were no longer simply a project to enhance the village's strength.

It also relates to his dignity as a tech enthusiast. This person, who single-handedly raised the bar for Leaf Village's Ninjutsu system, is not one to accept projects that are insurmountable.

The primary reason he and Senju Hashirama Impure World Reincarnation now is that their Wood Release experiments were not yet successful.

He wanted to continue working on this project, while Senju Hashirama was simply there to keep his brother company and because he was worried about Madara.

Senju Hashirama wasn't there today; instead, Uchiha Shingen was with him.

He worked on it until almost dinnertime before Senju Tobirama stopping his experiment.

He had a sour expression.

He turned his attention back to Uchiha Shingen, who was now incredibly bored.

"Shingen, you've worked hard."

"I didn't suffer at all," Uchiha Shingen said truthfully. "Speaking of which, Second, the Wood Release experiment can actually be considered a success."

Even if it can't suppress the Tailed Beasts, Wood Release isn't entirely useless. It's just that Senju Tobirama's perfectionism was well inherited by the Third's group, who also believed that Wood Release was useless without the ability to suppress Tailed Beasts.

But actually, Wood Release itself is quite effective at suppressing Water Release and Earth Release.

If it were replaced by a Jinchūriki who possesses both water and earth Chakra Nature Transformation, that would be a formidable fighting force.

Despite being touted as a successful Tenzo, Tenzo's ability to suppress the Tailed Beasts was actually quite limited.

This really isn't a technical issue.

It's a question of whether it's hung up or not.

"It's always good to have another way," Senju Tobirama said.

He never really trusted the Uchiha Clan, and as for the Uzumaki Clan, he hadn't directly participated in the founding of the village.

Senju Tobirama also possessed a unique pride belonging to the Senju of the Forest.

Even though the Senju of the Forest is gone, he still hopes that the Senju of the Forest's fame can continue in another way.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's go."

He tidied up the laboratory, then invited Uchiha Shingen to leave.

The Impure World Reincarnation experiment has a major drawback—they are essentially just a lump of dust, their clothes and such are fake, and if they get any smell on them, they can only wait for it to dissipate on its own.

The Impure World Reincarnation themselves cannot smell it.

In his previous life, Uchiha Shingen only used the newly created Impure World Reincarnation body to launch surprise attacks.

Stepping out of the laboratory, Senju Tobirama immediately started bouncing around.

Uchiha Shingen followed him. Although the second brother hadn't said anything, if he slipped away now, the second brother would definitely run back and ask why he hadn't followed his instructions.

He's really hard to please.

Soon, the two of them emerged from Leaf Village's high walls and ventured deeper into the forest.

Uchiha Shingen felt that he knew where his boss was.

Soon, the sound of water came from ahead, along with a cool breeze that could only be generated by a large body of water.

The once dense forest suddenly vanished, as if it had been erased from the scene.

What comes into view is a lake that has nearly doubled in size.

The Valley of the End has become the Lake of the New Era.

The best activity at this lake is diving – because at the bottom, you can see huge, broken, and buried statues, giving it a strong sense of historical significance.

However, the craftsmen of Leaf Village will no longer erect statues here.

They're not stupid; they're working themselves to the bone only to have their work torn down one day. Besides, this time it wasn't just the two founders fighting.

After a great leap, Senju Tobirama landed by the lake.

The lake surface was flat, and the wind pushed the water wave by wave to the muddy shore and then back down, but the wind felt very comfortable on people.

Of course, Senju Tobirama couldn't sense it.

He stopped here because of people.

Ahead, a person is standing by the lake, gazing at the water.

Senju Tobirama walked over.

"Big brother."

The man turned around and spoke his first words.

Where is the kite?

Senju Tobirama: "And then what? Come to think of it, isn't there something you've forgotten?"

"Ugh, watching you slaughter a pig is so boring. You told me to give you advice, but you never say a word and leave me here all day."

I had a question I wanted to ask you today, but you weren't here.

"Then ask Yuan, didn't he learn that too?"

"He didn't learn it! He couldn't even learn the Flying Thunder God back then!"

"Your Flying Thunder God technique is so complicated, it's normal that you can't learn it. I haven't learned it either, and I can tell you if you ask me."

Senju Tobirama was unhappy; he felt that his boss was just making excuses to slack off again.

When you were the Hokage, you said you weren't slacking off but were always keeping an eye on the village's situation, and I tolerated that.

Now that you're unemployed, you're still trying to find excuses?

And you actually criticized my Ninjutsu for being difficult to learn?

Senju Tobirama decided to roll up his sleeves.

You thought he only beat up the third brother? No, he beats up the eldest brother too!

Chapter 45 If you don't Hokage, no one else can!

Every village has its bully.

The village tyrant of Leaf Village's first year was named Senju Tobirama.

He not only effectively managed the village, but he also held positions such as the Hokage, the head of the ANBU, and the second-in-command of the Ninja Academy.

Although you don't feel anything when you're attacked by someone Impure World Reincarnation technique, it has one advantage: you don't have to hold back your power.

Thinking about this, Senju Tobirama felt a little excited.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared.