Something's Off with Tobirama

Twenty minutes later.

Still, Sen really was lucky. How could he draw the Thirteen Orphans? That was seriously impressive.

Hashirama Senju lay sprawled on his back, staring at the ceiling. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was deep in thought.

"Big Brother..."

Tobirama Senju couldn't sit still anymore. His big brother hadn't said a word for twenty minutes. He'd probably gotten sidetracked again. Ah, I hate Libras! (P.S. Records show that Hashirama Senju was a Libra.)

"Alright, alright, I more or less remember now. Go on."

His thoughts interrupted, Hashirama stopped dwelling on it and waved for Tobirama to continue.

"Big Brother, the clan archives once recorded that the Uchiha Clan possessed a ninjutsu that sacrificed one eye to turn reality into a dream. There aren't any detailed records, but it happens to match the one-eyed ninja we mentioned..."

"There'd be no need to deliberately wear a mask to cover one eye. That leaves only one question: was he really Madara Uchiha... or some stand-in Madara Uchiha found?"

Hashirama, beside him, shook his head.

"That doesn't make sense. Even if he survived that battle, his body shouldn't have been able to sustain him until the Fourth Hokage's era. There were at least several decades in between. Even if he really lived that long, he'd have been nothing but a decrepit old skeleton. How could he possibly defeat the Fourth Hokage? Though the Fourth does look like he isn't all that impressive..."

Minato Namikaze: Was that really polite, sir...

For a moment, they were back where they started, everyone frowning deeply.

"I can sense it. It's far away, but it still exists!"

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

"The Flying Thunder God Technique's formula won't disappear. Is it possible that person is already dead, and their body was preserved through some special method?"

Tobirama put forward his guess, silently thinking that even if the other party wasn't Madara Uchiha, he was likely some Uchiha clansman who'd awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan during the war. The bare minimum requirement for controlling the Nine-Tails was the Mangekyō Sharingan!

"Probably not, because I can sense... that mark is moving..."

As Minato Namikaze said that, even he felt a chill run down his spine. Twelve years had already passed since his death... Just what kind of monster was this?

"Then we can directly rule out Madara Uchiha. But that person knows about Madara Uchiha. Perhaps someone is pulling strings in secret, or perhaps it's something else..."

Tobirama paused, feeling that this discussion could end here. As long as he remained in the Hidden Leaf Village, everything would eventually be verified.

"Then there's another matter. After the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, many Sharingan went missing. Do you know anything about that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused. He knew about the Uchiha Clan's massacre, and he knew the eyes had gone missing, but Danzo Shimura had been in charge at the time. He didn't know the details.

"That matter was handled by Root's leader, Danzo Shimura..."

"I knew it..."

A look of sudden realization appeared on Tobirama's face. Sure enough, he hadn't been wrong back then. Danzo Shimura wasn't suited to be Hokage. He was ambitious, but lacked the sense of responsibility to match that ambition. Everything he did was only for his own sake...

"As long as we bring Danzo Shimura here, the truth will come to li—"

Before the Third could finish, Tobirama raised a hand and cut Hiruzen off.

"Enough, no need to say more. On the second day after we returned to the village, that man left. The official explanation was that he left to carry out a mission, but he took all of Root's forces with him."

"What?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face changed drastically. With his keen political instincts, he immediately understood Tobirama's implication.

Danzo Shimura had defected from the village, fleeing out of fear of punishment...

There had to be something even he hadn't noticed...

"I'm sorry, Teacher... This was my failure."

It was too late to say anything now. Taking the initiative to admit his mistake might still earn him some leniency.

"Forget it. For the next while, properly deal with the Hidden Leaf Village's piled-up administrative work. You've been revived too, so it'll save me, at my age, from having to hunch over documents in the office every day. And keep an eye on little Tsunade while you're at it. That girl is incredibly lazy."

"He's already defected, so let the Fourth Hokage go capture him. He knows the Flying Thunder God Technique. Ordinary ninja aren't his match, and even if he runs into an encirclement, he can escape easily."

Tobirama didn't say much more. They were all people who'd died once; there wasn't much left to say. They could decide everything after bringing Danzo Shimura back.

"Understood, Second Hokage. I'll leave immediately."

Whoosh!

Worthy of the Yellow Flash—he flashed away the moment he said he would.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a miserable expression...

He really didn't want to sit at that desk again. Everyone had died for the first time, so why was he the one with such rotten luck? He still had to work after dying!

And so...

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward Tsunade Senju, who was peeling fruit nearby. It seemed Tsunade had inherited his position as Hokage after his death. Not bad at all.

"Since that's the case, Tsunade, starting tomorrow, come to the office with me every day to handle administrative work."

Plop...

A half-peeled orange fell to the floor...

Weren't they just discussing Madara Uchiha and Danzo Shimura? How had she ended up with work to do too...

"I didn't say anything, did I??"

Tsunade's eyes were vacant, as though she were making one final struggle.

"But you're the Hokage. The current Hokage."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a disdainful smile. What a joke. Her granduncle was his teacher, so he couldn't refuse him—but she was his student! This was what they called making the granddaughter pay her grandfather's debts!

"I..."

Tsunade still wanted to fight for herself.

"We old folks already have one foot in the grave. Don't tell me you really want us to handle all this administrative work?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a fox-like, cunning smile. He was plainly telling her: refusing would be unfilial! The choice was hers.

"Fine..."

After they finished discussing matters, it was already late. Once everyone used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves, they arrived at a residence.

Although it was dusk, they could see thick smoke billowing out of the house from far away...

"My god, Sen didn't get so carried away that he set the house on fire, did he?!"

Jiraiya raised a hand to peer into the distance. Tobirama, who was proficient in Water Release, had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the residence ahead of them. After a moment, he flashed back, but his expression was rather hard to read.

"What is it, Tobirama? Has it burned through already?"

Hashirama asked with a grin. It didn't matter whether the house burned down or not—he could build another one with a wave of his hand.

"No... It's just... forget it. You'll know once you go back. I suddenly remembered I left a document at the office, so I'll head to the Hokage Office Building first. Um, Big Brother, do you want to come with me?"

"Hahaha, you're already this old and still pulling that routine? Go by yourself. I'm thinking about getting back to eat barbecue."

Hashirama patted Tobirama on the shoulder, looking every bit like an older brother cheering him on, then swaggered toward the residence...

Watching everyone's retreating figures, Tobirama muttered:

"Big Brother... I can only help you this much..."