Tetsuya was thoroughly depressed. He felt the Damn System had screwed him over again.
The Damn System had drained every last bit of his money.
It claimed he had to make a hundred pulls to unlock the premium recruitment feature.
And after those hundred pulls, all he got was twenty Izuna fragments.
To resurrect Izuna, he needed to collect a hundred fragments.
"System, you really are a bastard! A hundred pulls and only twenty fragments? Nothing but the guaranteed minimum!!! Give me back my hard-earned money! Aaaaaah!!!"
[Oh, come now, master. Think bigger. Money is just a worldly possession. As long as you work for it, there will always be more. For someone with the Evil God Immortal Body like you, time means nothing. Saving up money should be a piece of cake, shouldn't it?]
Although Tetsuya knew the Damn System was right—that time meant nothing to him and, by extension, neither did money he could earn simply by spending time—it was merely a matter of sooner or later.
But he was still pissed off.
He had finally managed to save some money by selling ramen and Cup Noodles, only for the Damn System to swindle it away again.
Ugh, what a lousy mood.
Still feeling utterly disgruntled, Tetsuya opened the shop for business as usual.
The days that followed seemed to settle into peace.
Every day followed the same routine as he watched customers come and go in the ramen shop.
Jiraiya and his two teammates occasionally came to eat, while Tsunade stopped by every so often to take ramen back for Tobirama and Mito.
This also brought Tetsuya and Tsunade closer.
Whenever he saw Tsunade, Tetsuya marveled at how this washboard princess would one day become famous throughout the Shinobi World for her enormous breasts. Who would have thought?
Orochimaru also visited often, always asking whether there was anything new. He was invariably interested in the Chiba Ramen Shop's latest offerings.
The days passed, one after another, until that day arrived.
Inside the Hokage Office.
Tobirama was working through official documents when he suddenly felt his vision blur.
"What's happening to me?"
Tobirama set down his pen and looked out the window. The scenery outside had blurred as well.
Suddenly, he understood. His time had come. It was time for his soul to return to the Pure Land.
No, more accurately, his soul should have returned to the Pure Land long ago. If not for what had happened back then...
"Is it time?"
Tobirama struggled to reach the window and looked outside, but sadly, everything was a blur.
"Izuna, I won't get to see the moment you return to the village after all. I hope you won't attack the village when you come back.
"If I find out you've attacked the village after my death, I won't let you off, even if I have to crawl out of the Pure Land!"
As he spoke, he felt his body grow weaker.
"Is this the end? But there was still so much more I wanted to do for the village. I can't fall like this yet. At least, at least..."
Clinging to his last breath, Tobirama performed a Secret Technique.
The blurred scenery before his eyes became clear again.
"Someone, summon Monkey and the others, along with the heads of all the major clans."
"Yes, sir."
The Hokage's personal ANBU immediately sprang into action.
That day, all of Konoha mourned.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama, had returned to the Pure Land. Even in his final moments, he had been thinking of the village.
Before he fell, he summoned the heads of the village's major shinobi clans and its senior officials. In front of everyone, he appointed the Third Hokage: his student, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He did this to prevent the previous situation from repeating itself.
He wanted to stop disputes over the Hokage position from tearing the village apart.
After being named the Third Hokage, Hiruzen did not rush to assume the position. Instead, he held a funeral for his teacher, the village's previous Hokage.
As though to reflect the sorrowful atmosphere, rain fell on the day of the funeral.
Everyone stood before the Second Hokage's grave in silent mourning. The Hokage had worked tirelessly for Konoha, dedicating his entire life to it without even leaving behind a single descendant.
Tsunade stood sorrowfully beside her teacher, gazing at the gravestone with tears filling her eyes.
Today, she had lost another relative who loved her.
The senior officials did not stay long. After stepping forward to pay their respects, they left. After all, there were still many matters in Konoha awaiting their attention.
Once the senior officials and the representatives of the major shinobi clans had left, Konoha's villagers stepped forward of their own accord to bid him farewell.
Tetsuya had stayed at the very back of the crowd. Only after everyone else had left did he approach Tobirama's gravestone. Looking at the name engraved on it, Tetsuya took a bowl of ramen from his food carrier and placed it before the gravestone, which was already laden with offerings. Tsunade had told him this was Tobirama's favorite flavor.
"Ah, I thought saving you from Kinkaku and Ginkaku would let you change your fate. I never imagined you'd still leave us."
Tetsuya shook his head with a sigh. It seemed Tobirama had already exhausted all his potential back then. Lasting this long was impressive in itself.
[Oh, master, why be sad? Death means jack shit to you.]
Hearing the husky's voice, Tetsuya couldn't help rolling his eyes.
"Which of your eyes saw me being sad? The two in front, or the one in back? I'm just feeling a little wistful."
[There's no need to be wistful, master. You can simply resurrect him again, can't you? As long as you've got the money, anything can be arranged.]
Tetsuya's face darkened at those words.
"What are you getting at? Don't tell me Tobirama is the premium recruitment after Izuna?"
[Congratulations, master! You got it right! Of course, if you want, I can arrange someone else afterward. How about Hashirama? Or Asura? Indra? Madara Uchiha?] [Uh, Madara Uchiha won't work for now. He isn't dead yet, so I can't resurrect him. But once he dies, I can arrange it for you right away.]
"Just shut up."
Tetsuya rolled his eyes, turned, and left.
Still, he really was considering resurrecting Tobirama and having him work for him alongside Izuna.
Hmm, having those two together would definitely be interesting.
What's that? Would they listen to me?
Don't be ridiculous. Who knew how long it would be before I actually resurrected them?
By then, never mind how many good things I might pull, the Weasel Burial Mound's Senjutsu alone would probably put me among the Shinobi World's top fighters. Strength decided everything.
Besides, the husky had told him from the very beginning that anyone he resurrected, no matter how powerful they had been in life, would be unable to hurt him. That alone was enough.
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