A Dazzling Entrance

"Hehehe, it's only death."

Kakuzu turned his head aside, looking utterly indifferent to the prospect of dying. Of course, it was just an act to deceive them. He wouldn't truly die—he still had hearts inside his body. As long as he acted convincingly enough, he might be able to fool them.

As for Hidan beside him... that guy seemed even stranger than he was.

"Then kill them. We can have Jiraiya go gather intelligence afterward. I doubt we can dig up any interesting clues from these two."

Hashirama Senju said impatiently. They were already close to the village, and he desperately wanted to go back and take a look. Last time, he'd appeared too abruptly and had been sealed away before he could properly admire the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Come on! Give me a quick death already! Get this idiot away from me!"

Hidan shouted, wishing this group would hurry up and put him out of his misery.

All he had to do was let a kunai stab into his chest and fall over with the momentum. What was so hard about playing dead? It would hurt a little, but that was no big deal. Those idiots would never guess that he couldn't die! Hahaha!

Swish! Swish!

Two flashes of blade light swept past as Tobirama Senju cleanly slit both their throats.

"Roar—"

Crack!

Kakuzu's body convulsed violently. Before long, a black tentacled monster burrowed out of him. With a miserable roar and the shattering of its mask, Kakuzu's head drooped limply.

Compared to Kakuzu's exaggerated performance, Hidan seemed rather amateurish. His eyes widened, a low growl escaped his throat, veins bulged across his forehead, and then he tilted his head to one side, sticking out his tongue as far as it would go.

"Let's hurry on. There may be plenty of matters waiting to be dealt with."

Tobirama Senju said coldly. These two clowns were merely minor characters. Judging by their clothes, they likely belonged to some organization.

Jiraiya had also noticed that Hidan and Kakuzu wore the same clothes as Itachi, whom they'd encountered a few days ago. He had already formed an idea in his mind.

Uchiha Sen scratched his head. These two had died differently from the villains in movies.

[Ding! The Immortal Duo has been detected playing dead. Kakuzu still possesses four hearts within his body. It is recommended that the host kill him four more times in succession. Hidan possesses an immortal body. It is recommended that his head and body be separated and buried in distant locations.]

"Lord Sen~ If we don't leave now, we'll fall behind the main group."

Haku urged from behind. Sen snapped out of it, glanced at the two men tightly bound by branches, then resumed walking forward with cheerful steps.

At the very front of the group, Tobirama Senju moved close to Hashirama Senju again and whispered:

"Big Brother, did you see that? That brat really isn't simple. He noticed it too. That's why I keep saying Uchiha Clan members can't be trusted. That kid is obviously pretending to be crazy and playing dumb. We need to think of something."

Hashirama Senju frowned.

"Tobirama, how many times have I told you? Don't be so hostile toward the Uchiha Clan. They're people of the village too. Didn't you hear what that blond brat said? Even the little monkey trusts that kid greatly. We shouldn't interfere too much. Trust Tsunade to handle everything properly."

Thus, the group returned to the Hidden Leaf Village, each burdened with their own thoughts.

"F-First Hokage!"

"S-Second Hokage...!"

"My heavens..."

Because the Impure World Reincarnation Sen had performed was a perfectly enhanced version, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju bore no traces of being formed from paper. They looked exactly like living people.

The entire Hidden Leaf Village was stunned.

Meanwhile, beneath Root's underground facility.

Bang!

"How is this possible?! How could the First Hokage and Second Hokage have appeared?!"