"Fifth Hokage."
Hashirama Senju rubbed his stomach. The wound where the [Chakra Black Rods] had pierced his abdomen was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What ninjutsu was that?"
"The Yin-Yang Release Technique. I call them [Black Rods]."
Uchiha Minamoto raised his right hand, casually created two [Chakra Black Rods], and tossed one to each of the Senju brothers.
"A very convenient ability."
Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju caught the [Black Rods], feeling them over and examining them.
"This [Black Rod] looks a little familiar."
Holding the [Black Rod], Tobirama Senju looked at Uchiha Minamoto and asked with a hint of puzzlement.
"Were those outlandish black accessories on the Six Paths of Pain we encountered earlier these things too?"
Tobirama Senju might have dispatched the Human Path Pain cleanly and efficiently.
But the existence of the Six Paths of Pain had still left a very deep impression on him.
Those were, after all, the [Rinnegan] that only the Sage of Six Paths possessed!
"That's right."
Uchiha Minamoto nodded, making no attempt to hide Nagato's secret from the Senju brothers.
"Nagato, the one controlling the Six Paths of Pain from behind the scenes, uses [Black Rods] to control the six puppet bodies remotely."
The Six Paths of Pain, Nagato, the [Rinnegan]...
Tobirama Senju looked at Uchiha Minamoto's calm face. He wanted to ask whether the Fifth Hokage had awakened the [Rinnegan] too.
But when the words reached his lips, Tobirama Senju ultimately left them unspoken.
Information about this ability was simply too important!
So important that even the Second Hokage could not casually inquire about it.
However, according to Tobirama Senju's research into the Uchiha Clan's [Sharingan], its evolutionary pinnacle should have been the [Mangekyō Sharingan], or the "eternal eyes" Madara Uchiha had spoken of.
The [Rinnegan] should