He wanted to see just what kind of trick this teacher of his was playing.
"Hokage-sama!"
Uchiha Itachi also felt that Sarutobi Hiruzen was acting a bit abnormally.
But being alone with Orochimaru...
Uchiha Itachi was a little worried that Orochimaru would do something harmful to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The only Hokage who could tolerate a rogue ninja like him returning to the village was probably Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He didn't want anything to happen to the old man.
"No need to worry, go support the village in resisting the invading enemies," Sarutobi Hiruzen looked toward the nearby ANBU ninja waiting for his orders, then turned his gaze to Uchiha Itachi.
"Itachi, escort the distinguished guests from Kirigakure back to the inn. Apologies for letting them be startled today as well. Make sure to treat them well."
"Yes…", Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen so insistent, Uchiha Itachi couldn't say anything more.
"Hmph, no need for you Konoha people to trouble yourselves!"
Watching the master and disciple pair who were just fighting to the death a moment ago now seemingly walk together in peace like they had reconciled. Thinking again of Sunagakure's attack on Konoha, Terumi Mei couldn't help but associate it all with an earth-shattering conspiracy.
Could this master and disciple have intentionally set up a trap for Sunagakure?
And probably allied with their Kirigakure to prevent unexpected events from occurring.
Truly insidious and cunning Konoha, and the extremely sinister Hokage.
No wonder Master Gen had warned her to be especially careful with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
'Damn it!'
Unable to take revenge on that masked man, and now realizing that Kirigakure might have been used by Sarutobi Hiruzen as a pawn, Terumi Mei was both angry and increasingly apprehensive.
This won't do, if Konoha intends to wage war on Sunagakure and even conquer it, then wouldn't Kirigakure become extremely awkward in the ninja world afterward?
Not only unable to gain any benefits from Konoha annexing Sunagakure, but also likely to be suspected and hated by other ninja villages…
She had to hurry back to Kirigakure.
And she must not be detected by the Hokage of Konoha, otherwise, if their party was detained by Konoha's people, that would be even worse.
At that thought, Terumi Mei had no choice but to temporarily put aside Uchiha Kage.
She had to leave Konoha immediately.
———
"Senju Tobirama, you never thought you'd one day fall into my hands, did you?"
After listening to Yūhi Kurenai vividly describe a situation he already knew, Uchiha Kage finally had time to return to his dream space.
The first thing he did upon arriving was to revive the soul of Senju Tobirama, who he had captured.
"You… You really are Kage… Why aren't you dead?"
Seeing the familiar face revealed after the other removed his mask, Tobirama, newly revived, didn't even have time to be shocked at regaining his body, he was stunned by the scene before him.
"And this space… How did it become like this…? Your pupil space wasn't this realistic before!"
What had happened?
The flowers, grass, and trees, the distant buildings, the sky, this was nothing like the desolate place from before.
Knowing Uchiha Kage's Mangekyō Sharingan abilities well, Senju Tobirama couldn't believe his eyes.
"Didn't you say it yourself? When the Uchiha are emotionally stimulated, their ocular power increases, the greater the stimulus, the stronger the power. So this is all thanks to you."
While enjoying Tobirama's shocked expression, Uchiha Kage casually spouted nonsense.
Though indeed, it was thanks to the other's actions that he inexplicably traveled through time and even gained the dream space cheat.
"Now, just as you said, I'll become the most evil Uchiha… destroy Konoha, destroy the title of Hokage. And Tsunade… I won't let her go either!"
"Little Tsunade is innocent, she doesn't know anything…"
"It's fine. While she knows nothing, I'll thoroughly inject the most evil Uchiha genes into her, swell her belly, and let this descendant of the Senju clan give birth to a bunch of wicked Uchiha!"
"You-you can't do that, you clearly know how Tsunade feels about you…"
The thought of his granddaughter being played with like that by the Uchiha boy before him made Tobirama feel a wave of dizziness.
"Right, you probably don't know, Tsunade is the only remaining descendant of the Senju clan. At least on the surface."
"What?"
'Only Tsunade left of the mighty Senju clan?'
Even if they gave up the surname and integrated into the village, there should still be some alive, right?
Senju Tobirama began to break into a cold sweat as he recalled the scene when he was summoned by Edo Tensei.
He indeed hadn't sensed any other Senju bloodlines in Konoha.
"What about Nawaki? And Nawaki's parents?"
"Of course they all died in battle. And Nawaki was only about ten years old when your fine disciple Sarutobi Hiruzen sent him to the frontlines. Yet somehow, the Sarutobi clan still had over a thousand ninja left, while your Senju clan didn't leave behind even one descendant."
Uchiha Kage lightly spread a conspiracy theory about Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sure enough, it pushed the already distrustful Tobirama further into suspicion.
"Tut tut, just thinking about the last heir of the Senju clan being pregnant with my evil Uchiha child, it's thrilling."
"You-you weren't like this before, Kage… You were always a good kid, never did anything bad. I know you're just mad at me now and pretending. You can vent your anger however you want, but Tsunade truly is innocent…"
Trying to placate the Uchiha youth before him with kind words, Tobirama was also secretly activating his Flying Thunder God Technique.
But no matter how he sensed, he couldn't detect the mark of Flying Thunder God on the other, or anywhere nearby.
Impossible, he had definitely engraved the mark on this guy long ago, it couldn't have vanished…
Could he actually be just a dead man?
"I did originally intend to assist Tsunade, to build up Konoha well, but that's all in the past now. Wasn't this all your choice? Senju Tobirama!"
Uchiha Kage didn't have memories of his past life from birth, he recovered them bit by bit.
So even while being experimented on by Tobirama in the basement, he still had hope, for Konoha, and for Tobirama.
Even when his memories fully returned, he still wondered how to convince Tobirama to stop the experiments, how to grow Konoha together with Tsunade. He even thought about warning Tobirama in advance about the dangers of Kumogakure, to prevent his death at the hands of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
But that very day…
When he was joking around with Jiraiya and Orochimaru to make Tsunade laugh, he never imagined Tobirama would suddenly change, not even giving him a chance to speak, he thrust a blade into his heart.
Then he used explosive tags to blow up the entire lab and reduce him to ash.
"The former Uchiha Kage is dead. The current Uchiha Kage is the real Uchiha Kage. I'll let you see Konoha destroyed with your own eyes, see the Hokage title reviled by all, see the Senju clan become the Uchiha clan."
"You… you can't do that! Kage, I may have killed you, but I also died. The hatred between two dead men should vanish into smoke…"
"Revenge between dead men is indeed boring. That's why I resurrected you, so you can feel true pain."
Dead and it's all over?
Uchiha Kage couldn't help but sneer.
Senju Tobirama was truly skilled at such ridiculous sophistry.
"No way… I was killed that badly… how could I be…"
Tobirama pinched his arm and suddenly realized, he could actually feel pain.
Pain from a real body.
"Your… your eye technique can actually resurrect people?"
That was too unscientific.
Realizing that he had truly been brought back to life, Tobirama's shocked pupils trembled violently.
But the revival also gave him a stronger will to survive.
He had to escape. Only by escaping could he have a chance to deal with Uchiha Kage.
"My pupil power evolved, because of my hatred for you."
Noticing Tobirama's small movements, Uchiha Kage slowly drew his long sword.
"What? Trying to use Flying Thunder God to escape or attack me, but can't sense your coordinate?"
"You… what did you…"
Thud!
Just as Tobirama was about to ask how the Flying Thunder God mark disappeared from Uchiha Kage, he found a long sword piercing through his own chest.
"Feels good, doesn't it? The taste of Flying Thunder God Slash. Once the mark is engraved, you have nowhere to hide, unless your reflexes are several times faster than mine."
"Ugh!!"
Tobirama gripped the sword piercing through his heart in pain.
"You… how do you know my Flying Thunder God…"
"Your fine disciple Sarutobi Hiruzen gave it to me. He personally handed me the ninjutsu scroll for Flying Thunder God."
"You…"
Shhh!
As he pulled the sword out, Tobirama's body gushed blood like a fountain.
"The blood of a nemesis, such a delicious taste, wouldn't you agree?"
Uchiha Kage stuck out his tongue and licked the blood that had splashed onto his face.
Then he squatted down to properly enjoy Tobirama's expression of regret and agony.
"This expression… this face filled with resentment, wanting to kill me but utterly powerless! But Senju Tobirama, this is only the beginning."
"I'm sorry, Kage… but I had my reasons for killing you. It wasn't on a whim, nor because of the so-called Uchiha evil theory, it was because…"
Though stabbed through the heart, Tobirama was revived again through Uchiha Kage's restoration.
Realizing the other had engraved a Flying Thunder God mark on him, he knew he could no longer escape directly, so he resorted to playing on emotions again.
"I was in pain too… like my big brother, I treated you like my own child. That day, I only killed you because I had no choice."
Back then, Tobirama was gravely wounded by the Kinkaku Force in Kumogakure. On the brink of death, he used Flying Thunder God to return to the village.
Just to eliminate Uchiha Kage, an unstable factor.
He knew that once he died, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzō would never be able to control someone like Uchiha Kage, possibly even making things worse.
If that happened, Konoha would be destroyed, and even the entire ninja world could cease to exist because of Kage's power.
So to protect the village, he had to kill Uchiha Kage in the cradle.
"I already guessed such a ridiculous reason long ago."
Uchiha Kage was unmoved by Tobirama's explanation. Before he even finished speaking, Kage nailed his mouth shut with the sword.
"Only you, Senju Tobirama, only someone like you could shamelessly spout such utter nonsense with a straight face."
"Mm…"
Tobirama spat out his bloodied tongue, his mouth now torn into eight flaps.
"The truth is, your killing me is what led to my revenge on Konoha. Just like how your oppression of the Uchiha led to the emergence of evil ones, not just Uchiha Madara, but also Uchiha Itachi. Really, they all became that way… because of you."
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