With Orochimaru out of danger, everyone's attention shifted to the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, who was also lying unconscious there.
Earlier, in the cave, Orochimaru's curse-mark body had explained what had happened to his original body.
Hashirama, who had not been present at the time, asked curiously, "Who is this young man?"
Kabuto Yakushi said, "Kakashi Hatake, Konoha's Sixth Hokage."
"Oh! So it's a descendant of the Hatake Clan's turn to become Hokage now! Wait!!! You said... which Hokage????"
"The Sixth," Kabuto Yakushi repeated.
Six???
Hashirama counted on his fingers. After confirming that six was five plus one, he lowered his hands, his expression solemn.
"I remember... when Orochimaru first brought me back through Impure World Reincarnation, I met Monkey, who was still alive. In the blink of an eye, we're already on the Sixth Hokage??"
"Yes."
Orochimaru's curse-mark body looked back on the past.
"To my senses, it's only been a year or so."
Come to think of it... why are there two Orochimarus?
Hashirama kept that remark to himself, however, and asked aloud:
"Who were the Fourth and Fifth?"
Orochimaru's curse-mark body smiled faintly. "The Fourth was Minato Namikaze. He died young, and Teacher Sarutobi took power again for over a decade... so after my teacher died in the line of duty because of me, the Fifth took office. That was your granddaughter, Tsunade!!!"
"W-what!?"
Hashirama nearly jumped out of his skin. Remembering Tsunade's notoriously troublesome childhood, he asked despondently, "Th-then... is Konoha still standing???"
Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses.
"Unfortunately, you guessed right. Konoha... is gone."
Hashirama burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha! Young man, you really know how to joke. You shouldn't make jokes like that..."
But as he saw everyone's solemn expressions, his smile gradually faded.
"It's really gone?"
"Gone. But its core forces remain, and they've chosen