"The Hokage really knows how to act! A Susanoo over a hundred meters tall got punched and coughed up blood. Is that even humanly possible?"
"Hahaha, they'd clearly only met twice, but they talked like they'd known each other for decades."
"But why put on an act? Our people really did die!"
"Why are you just like Uchiha Jinyan?"
"Bastard! Say that again!"
"You still won't admit you're stupid. Look, are those people buying wedding supplies still around? Did you really think they came to buy wedding supplies?
"If those two who died weren't spies from other villages, I'll eat shit standing on my head."
"Shh! Don't say that. They were our comrades!"
"Right, right, my mistake!"
"Wow! I was wondering why there were people buying wedding supplies everywhere. So they came to gather intelligence out in the open. How underhanded."
"Did it do them any good? They still slunk away, didn't they?"
"..."
With Kirigakure no longer standing in his way, Uchiha Yan stepped up preparations, while production of Scientific Ninja Tools continued.
Intelligence also came from Sunagakure and Kumogakure. Both had finished their preparations, and Ninja out on missions were beginning to return to their villages one after another. It seemed they intended to gather all their forces and then sweep through everything.
That day, Tobirama brought some good news. Uchiha Yan knew the time had come.
"Kid, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear?"
"The bad news!"
"Orochimaru isn't dead!"
Tobirama clicked his tongue in wonder. "That fellow must have mastered Living Corpse Reincarnation from the Scroll of Seals. Hiruzen's student really is something else.
"I'm starting to suspect that if he'd become Hokage, he might have mastered all my Forbidden Jutsu."
"Impossible. Never mind the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, even