The blue giant had wings on its back and held a katana across its body. Just standing there, it looked like a walking disaster.
On the other side, Hashirama clapped his hands together.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Rumble!
The earth split open.
Countless enormous trees burst from underground, and a wooden Buddha so immense it blotted out the sky rose up.
Its thousand hands spread out in layer upon layer, as though they could crush the entire world.
Hashirama stood atop the wooden Buddha's head, smiling.
"Madara, come on!"
Madara stood on the Susanoo's forehead and laughed aloud.
"Hashirama! Now that's more like it!"
The next second, the Perfect Susanoo swung its blade down.
The wooden Buddha's thousand hands thundered up to meet it.
In front of the screen, Zhang Yu sat in a chair in the hall with a cup of hot tea beside him, utterly at ease.
What an experience!
Other people watched anime; he watched it live.
In ultra-high definition, with no delay, and an exclusive showing of the Shinobi World's greatest.
Izuna stood beside him, watching Madara on the screen with his fists clenched and his face full of pride.
"Brother's power is still unmatched."
Tobirama said coldly, "My elder brother's Wood Release isn't just for show, either."
Izuna immediately looked at him.
"Are you saying my brother will lose?"
Tobirama replied calmly, "I'm merely stating a fact."
Zhang Yu raised a hand.
"Stop."
"Don't you two repeat the breakfast scene in the hall."
Izuna snorted softly and turned his head away.
Tobirama said nothing more either. He simply watched the battle on the screen, his gaze growing increasingly grave.
The Dispute Arena really was terrifying.
Combatants on Madara and Hashirama's level were fighting at full strength, yet not even a leaf had stirred in the real world.
Just as Zhang Yu was enjoying the show, a system notification suddenly sounded.
[Ding!] [Guest arrival detected.] [Revenue from guest entering the tavern: gold coins +100.]
Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow.
"A guest?"
Who would come at this hour?
He stood up and looked at Tobirama and Izuna.
"You two come greet the guest with me."
Izuna immediately nodded.
"Yes, boss."
Tobirama glanced at the screen, then looked toward the entrance.
"Understood."
The three went to the front hall.
The wooden door was pushed open.
An old man wearing a Hokage robe walked in.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had brought neither Kakashi nor the Anbu this time. He still carried his pipe, and though he looked composed, his steps were much slower than last time.
The Scroll of Seals had been stolen the previous night, there had been a fire on the mountain behind the village, Zhang Yu had warned him in advance, and there were those two attendants who might have been figures from legend.
All of it weighed on his mind and had kept him from sleeping well all night.
He had returned today to probe further into the Undead Tavern.
Zhang Yu saw him and greeted him with a smile.
"Lord Third, back again?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly froze.
He had seen the white-haired man beside Zhang Yu.
Short white hair.
Red eye markings.
A stern face.
He knew that face all too well.
He knew it so well that even after decades had passed, even though time had etched wrinkles all over his own face, he could never mistake it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted sharply. He looked as though he had been struck by lightning, and his pipe nearly slipped from his hand.
"T-Teacher?"
His voice was already trembling as he spoke.
Tobirama Senju.
The Second Hokage.
His teacher.
The Second Hokage, who had died on the battlefield long ago, was standing right there beside Zhang Yu, alive and well!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's composure completely fell apart at that moment.
He had considered that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha might be products of a forbidden jutsu, and that Zhang Yu might have even more terrifying secrets behind him.
But he had never imagined that he would see Tobirama Senju here.
That was not a portrait.
It was not genjutsu.
And it certainly was not the Transformation Technique.
That cold, stern gaze, that oppressive presence, that familiar bearing of the man who had once stood in the Hokage's office and scolded them-Hiruzen Sarutobi would never forget them for as long as he lived.
Tobirama looked at him, frowning slightly.
"Hiruzen."
Just one word.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's body shuddered violently.
It really is Teacher!
Zhang Yu watched the scene, delighted.
Last time, he had swindled the Third into paying a painful hundred thousand ryo for erguotou.
This time, he had brought the Third face-to-face with his revered teacher.
That was far more shocking than the price of the liquor.
Just then, the system notification sounded again.
[Ding!] [Special character relationship detected.] [New mission triggered.] [Mission name: A scolding from a staff member.] [Mission requirement: Have an employee of the Undead Tavern retort to and scold Hiruzen Sarutobi.] [Mission description: The harsher the retorts and the sterner the scolding, the greater the gold coin reward.] [Base reward: 500 gold coins.] [Reward limit: Increases according to the effect.]
Zhang Yu nearly burst out laughing.
The system really knew whom to pick for this mission.
Have Tobirama Senju scold Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Wasn't that right up his alley?
In the entire Shinobi World, who was more qualified to lecture the Third Hokage?
Others might not be qualified enough.
But Tobirama Senju certainly was.
Zhang Yu leisurely sat down in a nearby chair and picked up his teacup, settling in to watch the show.
"Since you're here, Lord Third, have a seat."
But Hiruzen Sarutobi did not sit.
His eyes remained fixed on Tobirama Senju, and not a trace of the composure expected of a Hokage remained on his face.
Zhang Yu looked at Tobirama and spoke casually.
"Tobirama, an old acquaintance is here."
"Ask him whatever you want."
"Don't hold back."
Tobirama did not speak immediately.
He simply looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his sharp eyes seeming to scrutinize his former student anew from head to toe.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's throat tightened.
He was no longer the boy he had been back then.
He was the Third Hokage.
He had governed Konoha for many years, experienced war, power, and sacrifice, and been revered by countless people as the Shinobi Hero.
But before Tobirama Senju, he was still the student his teacher had singled out for a lecture.
He did not dare put on the airs of a Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly put away his pipe, lowered his hands in front of him, and bent his back slightly.
"Teacher."
"Hiruzen... pays his respects, Teacher."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before Tobirama Senju, his head bowed and hands lowered, his bearing utterly respectful and humble.
Tobirama Senju did not tell Hiruzen Sarutobi to straighten up.
Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his head lowered and his hands at his sides, beads of sweat already appearing on his forehead.
The Third Hokage, who had governed Konoha for many years, now stood before Tobirama Senju looking every bit like the student his teacher had singled out for a lecture back then.
Zhang Yu sat nearby and took a sip from a small cup of erguotou.
Uchiha Izuna stood at his side and, seeing that his cup was running low, immediately picked up the flask and refilled it.
"Enjoy, boss."
"Mm."
Zhang Yu felt utterly content.
This is the life.
He was drinking while watching the Second Hokage scold the Third Hokage, with Uchiha Izuna personally pouring his drinks beside him.
Who else in the entire Shinobi World got this kind of treatment?
Tobirama Senju stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his voice cold and hard.
"Hiruzen, how many years have passed in Konoha since I died?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's throat tightened.
"Teacher, it's been about sixty years since Konoha was founded."
"Sixty years."
Tobirama repeated the words, his gaze growing colder.
"Then start from when I died in battle."
"What major events have happened in Konoha over the years, how the village has been governed, how the shinobi clans have been settled, what losses were suffered in war, and how talented people in the village have been trained."
"Don't leave out a single word."