Tobirama fell silent for a moment after hearing him out. Hibari's assessment was close to what he had been thinking.
They had yet to secure solid evidence, but they could already make a pretty good guess at who was stirring things up behind the scenes.
"Then what do you think..." He raised his eyes to Hibari. "What exactly are they looking for?"
Hibari grinned and picked up the thread. "What else? Odds are they're after Uncle Hashirama. After all..."
"After all, his health problems stopped being a secret a long time ago."
Sarutobi Sasuke leisurely chimed in. "He hasn't done much of anything for over half a year. Who wouldn't start wondering? It's only natural they'd suspect he was on his last legs."
There was no hiding the earth-shaking battle between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. The other villages must have received word almost immediately.
If Hashirama had fought anyone else, they might have laughed it off. But his opponent had been Uchiha Madara, whose reputation had matched his for years-and Madara had died in battle.
What did that mean? It meant the two had fought a desperate battle to the death. Since Madara had died on the spot, Hashirama could not possibly have escaped unscathed. His resignation as Hokage soon afterward only lent that speculation more weight.
After watching him for over half a year, the villages had noticed that Hashirama rarely ventured out and kept a very low profile. Lately, they had finally lost patience and begun sending spies to uncover the truth.
The peace among the Five Great Nations depended largely on the deterrent of Senju Hashirama's name. Though friction had been constant since the villages were founded, none of them had truly broken with the others and launched an all-out war.
Back when Konoha had a