Just as everyone present was staring at the two coffins in front of them, completely baffled, Hoshiyomi's expression suddenly changed. Surely Madara hadn't become this arrogant, had he?
As Hoshiyomi was thinking this, Madara ignored Black Zetsu and Tobi's attempts to stop him and casually gestured in the air with his right hand. An invisible repulsive force instantly acted upon the two coffins.
The coffin lids were blasted open, revealing the two bodies laid inside.
These two were none other than Konoha's First and Second Hokage—Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama.
The moment everyone saw the bodies, they were completely stunned.
The people of Konoha were utterly incredulous, unable to understand why the remains of two former Hokage would appear here at this moment.
As for Tobi and Black Zetsu, they felt nothing but exhaustion. They had gone through immense trouble to obtain these two bodies, originally intending to increase their side's odds of victory—only for their boss to hand them over to the enemy without a second thought.
A real headache.
Meanwhile, after the initial shock, Hoshiyomi felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Madara had actually become so full of himself that he sent over Hashirama and Tobirama's bodies just to raise the difficulty of his own "game."
Honestly, that was exactly the kind of thing Madara would do.
And when you thought about it, it was entirely reasonable. Tobirama was fiercely hostile toward Madara, and Hashirama was an upright man through and through. After being resurrected via Edo Tensei, there was no way either of them would join Madara's side.
Even if Madara tried to forcibly control them, with the strength of their souls, while they might not be able to pull off something as absurd as reversing Edo Tensei to revive themselves, breaking free of control and ascending on their own was absolutely possible.
Madara was practically handing Hoshiyomi extra firepower, and Hoshiyomi had no reason to refuse. In the original Fourth Great Ninja War, the contributions of these two Hokage were far from insignificant.
Even if they slacked off later on, against the hundred-thousand White Zetsu army and the Edo Tensei forces, they were undeniably powerful.
Tools this useful would be wasted if not used.
Hoshiyomi was confident he could handle Six Paths Madara himself. Now Madara had even sent him two bodyguards to help protect Konoha's younger generation—how could he not be delighted?
He certainly wasn't going to act like the overconfident protagonists in novels from his previous life who would scoff at such help. Hoshiyomi kept his eyes down and his presence low, practically wishing he could activate Transparent Release just to reduce his sense of existence.
At this point, Madara still lacked a full understanding of Hoshiyomi's strength, so he truly overlooked him. Looking down at the Konoha group, Madara calmly began forming the hand seals for Edo Tensei.
As he did, the two bodies inside the coffins were suddenly wrapped in large amounts of paper-like white fragments. When the fragments dispersed, Hashirama and Tobirama slowly opened their eyes, cracks visible across their faces.
After assessing their condition, the two exchanged glances, both filled with disbelief. On the other side, the people of Konoha were completely dumbfounded.
The First and Second Hokage had actually been resurrected via Edo Tensei—and from Madara's tone, it seemed he was just giving them away for free?
Madara theatrically landed on the ground and sat down on a massive boulder, looking as relaxed and comfortable as if he were seated on the Fire Daimyō's throne rather than an ordinary rock.
"Ha, long time no see, Hashirama. And Tobirama... one look at you makes me want to hit you."
And this wasn't just talk. As he spoke, Madara casually raised his hand and fired a black rod straight through Tobirama's forehead.
Of course, Tobirama was now an Edo Tensei body and could not truly die. Although his forehead was pierced, it quickly regenerated.
Hashirama, ever thick-nerved, even cheerfully greeted Madara when he saw him:
"Oh? Isn't that Madara? It really has been a long time. Hmm? What's wrong with your eyes? Those circles look really ugly. I still prefer your original eyes."
…
Silence.
The air itself seemed to freeze from the sheer awkwardness.
The people of Konoha stared at the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—whom they had heard about since childhood—standing right before them. Yet instead of excitement, they felt only one thing:
This First Hokage… seemed a bit not very smart.
Tobirama, standing off to the side, said with a helpless sigh:
"Big brother, if you're going to reminisce, at least get a grasp of the situation first."
"Huh? Oh, right! I was just about to ask—wasn't I dead? How did I come back to life?"
Hashirama tilted his head, wearing a completely 'I don't get it' expression. Compared to the First Hokage, the Second Hokage was clearly far more reliable.
Shaking his head helplessly, Tobirama said:
"This should be the Edo Tensei technique I invented back then. A jutsu I personally developed and personally sealed, only to have it used on myself one day—how ironic.
To think someone could summon us… Who exactly is the caster? What? Madara, you summoned us? That's impossible. Didn't you die a long time ago?
And you're not an Edo Tensei body either. What exactly is going on here?"
Madara frowned in irritation and casually raised his hand, blasting Tobirama's head clean off with a Shinra Tensei:
"As expected—no matter how many times you're resurrected, I still can't help wanting to kill you again."
Tobirama's blown-off head turned into white fragments and reformed back onto his neck. He glared at Madara, clearly furious about what had just happened.
At that moment, Hashirama, however…
"Bwahahaha! Brother, your whole head just got blown off! This is the first time I've seen you look so pathetic! It actually looks kind of fun. Let me see if I can try it too.
Anyway, this body can't feel pain."
A vein bulged on Tobirama's fully restored forehead. Without hesitation, he smacked Hashirama on the head with a sharp knock.
"Big brother, knock it off already!"
Hashirama watched as the spot he'd been hit turned into white fragments and slowly regenerated, his eyes filled with excitement and curiosity. But when he noticed the murderous look on his brother's face, he obediently quieted down and muttered dejectedly:
"Sorry~"
The people of Konoha all had black lines on their foreheads. Hoshiyomi, too, couldn't help complaining internally—these weren't the First and Second Hokage at all. They were clearly the shinobi world's version of "Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Scatterbrain."
The Konoha group was utterly speechless. Madara, on the other hand, looked quite entertained. After laughing for a bit, he spoke:
"I really do miss those days, Hashirama. If I could, I'd love to fight you right now. But I have more important matters to attend to.
As for why you and your foolish little brother are here, you can ask those Konoha juniors over there."
With that, Madara turned to Hoshiyomi and the others:
"I'm giving these two to you. I've already released my control over them. As for whether you can get them to cooperate—that depends on your abilities.
I'll give you one final month. One month from now, I will rule the entire shinobi world. I hope you can make things interesting enough that I won't get bored."
After saying that, Madara casually brushed himself off and flew away, leaving behind the people of Konoha staring wide-eyed at the "Grumpy and Scatterbrain" brothers.
...
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