Tobirama's Death, the Hokage Position Passed to Kagami Uchiha!

"Knock, knock."

Two faint knocks came from outside. An Anbu wearing a white porcelain mask silently pushed the door open and knelt on one knee. His voice was low but grave. "Lady Mito, the heads of the major ninja clans and every Jonin in the village have arrived."

Mito Uzumaki took a deep breath and forced back the last trace of tears in her eyes. She turned, walked steadily to the bedside, and bent close to Tobirama's ear.

"Tobirama," she said softly, her words unmistakably clear, "the village's Jonin and the heads of the major ninja clans are all here."

Looking at his bloodless face, she asked, "What do you need to tell them? Shall I let them... all come in?"

Tobirama's lashes trembled. Slowly, with great effort, he moved his eyes around the small room.

"Let the clan heads... come in."

His voice was barely audible, but his tone left no room for argument.

Mito nodded at once. Straightening, she told the Anbu outside, "Send word. Invite the clan heads into the room. Everyone else is to wait outside. Leave the door open."

"Yes!" The Anbu withdrew at once.

Moments later, the door opened gently. Tokuma Hyuga, Shikata Nara, Inuzuka Ten, Shimei Aburame, Uchiha Rei, and the other clan heads filed in with grave expressions. They softened their footsteps and even stifled their breathing, afraid to disturb the man barely clinging to life on the bed.

Mito stepped aside to make room beside the bed.

Kagami Uchiha remained kneeling on one knee before it. He looked up at the clan heads filing in, then back at Tobirama's paper-white face.

Tobirama looked at the faces before him, each representing a pillar of Konoha. His chest rose faintly. With effort, he lifted his thin hand and laid it over Kagami's, as though drawing on one last bit of strength.

Then he slowly turned his head, sweeping his clouded red eyes over everyone present.

"Everyone..."

He spoke so softly his voice seemed ready to vanish on the wind, yet every word struck their hearts.

"I, Tobirama Senju..."

He struggled to say the words, his chest heaving. With the last of his strength, he looked at every face in the room.

"My time has come... I can no longer carry Konoha's burden."

The room fell deathly still. Even breathing seemed to stop. Everyone waited for the great Hokage's final arrangements.

But Tobirama did not look at Hiruzen Sarutobi. Inch by inch, his gaze turned toward the young man who had remained kneeling beside the bed, holding his hand.

"Kagami..."

At the sound of his name, Kagami shook. He jerked his head up, disbelief filling his dark eyes.

Tobirama looked at him. Though his voice was weak, his resolve was absolute. Each word landed heavily in the silence:

"From this day forward... you are Konoha's Third Hokage."

The words exploded through the cramped room like thunder!

"What?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no expression, as though he had known all along. Shimura Danzō's pupils contracted, and shock flashed through his eyes. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu drew sharp breaths.

Even Uchiha Setsuna, whose face had remained cold, stared wide-eyed at Tobirama on the bed as though he had heard something absurd.

An Uchiha as Hokage?!

Have you finally gone senile, Tobirama Senju?

"Don't be surprised..." Tobirama gasped for air, each breath rattling deep in his lungs. He looked at Kagami with unprecedented solemnity. "This is an order... and a trust I place in you."

He struggled to turn his eyes toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others. His words came haltingly, but each carried immense weight:

"Hiruzen... Danzo... Homura... Koharu... Torifu..."

"You are... Konoha's foundation... Kagami is young... Support him... Protect the village..."

"The Will of Fire... is not one person's obsession..." He drew a deep breath, as though pouring a lifetime of conviction into his final words. "It is a flame... passed from generation to generation..."

His gaze passed over the clan heads again and came to rest on Uchiha Rei. His voice held both the authority and the earnestness of a Hokage.

"And... all of you clan heads..."

"Konoha... is a home shared by the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans... every clan..."

"After I'm gone... put aside old grievances... work together... and support the new Hokage..."

Those words exhausted the last of his strength. He sank into his pillow, the movement of his chest growing fainter.

He turned toward Mito Uzumaki, who had stayed at his bedside. His lips strained to form what might have been a relieved smile for family.

"Sister-in-law... thank you for everything..."

As the words faded, the fingers of the hand holding Kagami's twitched once. Then all strength left them, and his hand fell limp.

His red eyes, once sharp as a hawk's and always filled with cool reason, took one last look at everyone. Then his gaze passed beyond them to Tsunade, who had cried herself to sleep beside him, and slowly closed.

Big brother, Madara, I'm coming. Izuna, you must have been waiting a long time...

His breathing ceased.

Deathly silence filled the room. Even the air seemed to stop moving.

Mito Uzumaki bit hard on her lower lip as tears slid silently down her cheeks. Kagami Uchiha remained on one knee, his forehead resting lightly against the back of Tobirama's hand, now utterly cold. His shoulders shook, but he made no sound.

Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konohagakure, was gone.

And his final decree was destined to unleash an upheaval unlike any Konoha had ever seen.

The corridor was deathly silent.

More than a hundred Jonin, the heads of the major ninja clans, the Anbu, the Medical Corps... everyone stood frozen as though under a paralysis jutsu.

"...What?"

Someone let out a faint, disbelieving murmur.

Then it was as though an Explosive Tag had been thrown into a still lake. The corridor erupted.

"Kagami? Kagami Uchiha?!"

"The Second Hokage... is passing the Hokage Position to an Uchiha?!"

"How is that possible?! Lord Hiruzen is the Second Hokage's direct disciple!"

Shock and disbelief filled the faces turned toward the black-haired young man kneeling beside the bed.

Kagami Uchiha did not move. His forehead remained against the back of Tobirama's cold hand. He did not look back; he simply knelt there, his back straight as a pine.

Inside the room, the clan heads' reactions shattered the brief silence.

Tokuma Hyuga, head of the Hyuga Clan, snapped his head up. Shock and wariness flashed through his pure-white eyes.

The heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans exchanged looks. Shikata Nara frowned deeply, worry and calculation in his eyes. The Akimichi and Yamanaka clan heads were visibly agitated, but disbelief filled their eyes too.

The Ninja Dogs brought by the Inuzuka Clan seemed to sense the dangerous political storm. They tucked their tails between their legs and let out anxious, frightened growls.

The Aburame Clan's ninja remained silent.

But the Uchiha Clan at the front of the crowd reacted most fiercely.

Uchiha Setsuna's habitually stern face now showed a tangled mix of astonishment and elation. Behind him, some of the Uchiha trembled with excitement, while others' eyes reddened.

They had waited far too long for this day.

Twenty years had passed since Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju joined hands to found Konoha. The Senju Clan had held the Hokage Position for two terms. Now... now it was finally the Uchiha's turn!

"Lord Hokage was wise!"

Uchiha Setsuna blurted it out, unable to contain his excitement. It was probably the most heartfelt, sincere thing he had ever said.

That scheming old bastard Tobirama Senju finally did one decent thing before he died!

Not far away, Tokuma Hyuga watched Setsuna's usually unreadable face contort with excitement. He could not help snorting. So now you think Lord Hokage was wise, Uchiha Setsuna? Shameless.

But even as he mocked Setsuna inwardly, Tokuma's expression darkened with deep concern.

With an Uchiha as Hokage, will the other ninja clans still have a say in Konoha?

He turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi. By seniority and experience, Hiruzen had been the most qualified to inherit the position. Yet the Second Hokage's foremost disciple merely stood with his head lowered, saying nothing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the edge of the crowd like a clay statue emptied of its soul.

He kept his head down and said nothing. Others might have thought he was grieving over the loss of the Hokage Position, but only he knew what echoed in his mind: the grave charge Teacher Tobirama had given him alone in his final moments.

"Hiruzen... if the Uchiha Clan ever seeks to bring chaos to Konoha... then... you will be the blade that sets things right."

The words weighed on his shoulders like invisible shackles. He closed his eyes, hiding the turmoil and uncertainty within them. His teacher had made his choice, and he could only obey. Even if the future proved his teacher's fears right, he would step forward without hesitation and use that blade to cut away any shadow threatening Konoha.

Beside him, Shimura Danzō's face was calm.

He stared at Kagami Uchiha's back, shock and an indescribable tangle of emotions swirling in his lone eye.

He had never imagined that Tobirama Senju would choose the man Danzō respected most in his life—his closest friend. Without thinking, he glanced at his empty right sleeve—

There was no jealousy, no hatred. Danzō's throat simply tightened, his feelings too tangled to name. He knew what Kagami had taken on and how heavy the position was. Since Kagami had accepted the Hokage's hat, Shimura Danzō would become the sharpest blade in the shadows behind him and cut down every thorn in his path.

Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Torifu Akimichi were equally stunned and bewildered. They looked at Kagami Uchiha with complicated expressions, unsure how to react.

Just as that strange silence threatened to spread, a heart-rending cry burst from the back of the crowd.

"Granduncle Tobirama—!!"

The sudden uproar in the corridor had woken Tsunade. She rubbed her swollen eyes, then looked up to see the old man on the bed, utterly still.

Her small body threw itself toward Tobirama, tears pouring down her face. Her grief-stricken cries cut into everyone's heart like a blunt knife.

That cry shattered every political calculation in the corridor. The crowd came back to themselves. Seeing the girl sobbing inconsolably and Tobirama Senju lying lifeless on the bed, their eyes finally reddened.

"Second Hokage!"

"Lord Tobirama!"

"Lord Hokage..."

Someone choked out the first words, and then muffled sobs rose throughout the corridor. Many Jonin removed their Forehead Protectors and knelt on one knee, letting their tears strike the cold floor.

Grief finally engulfed the village that had just been shaken to its foundations.