Kakashi stood in the center of the glowing lab chamber, surrounded by the four Hokage, all seated or standing near the circular console table.
Hashirama was cheerfully thumbing through a scroll that the Orochimaru clone provided, while Tobirama inspected the sealing matrix etched into the floor.
Minato observed everything with quiet awe, noting the technology, the chakra pathways, and the masterwork integration of science and fūinjutsu.
Hiruzen, however, sat silently, his posture composed, but his eyes heavy with something unspoken. Guilt, perhaps. Or unease.
Then Kakashi raised his wrist communicator and spoke, "Tsunade. Come down. There's something you should see."
Upstairs in the mansion, Tsunade had just returned from the Hokage Tower. She hadn't even taken off her robes, her long white cloak fluttered as she made her way to the private lift down to the lab.
Her heels echoed on the steel staircase as she adjusted her gloves with a sigh.
"Please don't let it be another broken seal or rogue clone," she muttered as the door opened.
She stepped into the lab and froze.
Her amber eyes widened.
Standing before her were four men she never expected to see again.
"G-Grandpa…?" she whispered.
Hashirama turned. His broad smile instantly lit up the room.
"Tsu?! Look how tall you've gotten!"
"Is that, Tsunade? So this is what you grew into…" Behind him, Tobirama's red eyes narrowed with confusion.
Then her gaze landed on Hiruzen.
All warmth fled her expression.
Kakashi saw it first, the subtle twitch of her knuckles, the flicker in her pupils.
Tsunade didn't speak.
She moved.
"YOU OLD BASTARD!!"
With a flash of chakra, green vines burst from her sleeves, transforming midair into glowing wooden tendrils, Wood Style: Wrathful Grasp!
"Wait! Tsunade?!" Hiruzen gasped.
But the tendrils wrapped around his body and slammed him into the lab wall. Before he could recover, Tsunade leapt into the air and drove her heel into his chest, splintering the floor beneath him.
"She can wield Wood Style?!" Minato blinked.
"Did… did she just use my technique?" Hashirama watched with his jaw agape.
"More importantly, why is she using it on him?" Tobirama didn't blink.
Hiruzen's Edo Tensei body reformed, misty and disjointed. "Wait, Tsunade, stop! I-"
He didn't get to finish.
Tsunade's fist buried into his stomach, then a backhand knocked his head clean off. It regrew instantly, but Kakashi could already sense the next blow coming.
Kakashi stepped between the others as the storm raged behind him.
Hashirama tilted his head. "She's angry. Really angry. Why is she angry at the old monkey?"
Kakashi didn't answer.
After another round of smashing, a glowing palm slammed down on Hiruzen's chest, pinning him in a crater of ruined floor.
Only then did Hashirama speak.
"That's enough, Tsu."
His voice was gentle but commanding, firm like stone worn by time.
Tsunade's breathing was sharp, fierce.
But she obeyed.
"He doesn't deserve to stand next to you."She turned to him with burning eyes.
The other Hokage looked between them in confusion.
"Explain. Now."Tobirama narrowed his gaze.
Tsunade stood, her Hokage robes fluttering around her like a war banner.
She faced the four men who had once been the protectors of Konoha, and now, its summoned ghosts.
"He used Danzō as a shadow puppet," she said coldly. "Gave him full freedom to operate in the dark. Assassinations. Human experiments. Genocide. All of it, under the excuse of 'maintaining order.'"
Hiruzen didn't speak.
Tsunade's voice grew sharper. "He let Danzō send Kato Dan to seduce me, not because he was good for me, but because the Sarutobi and Shimura clans decided the Senju line shouldn't continue."
Hashirama's jaw slowly closed, his chakra rumbling like distant thunder.
Tsunade stepped closer to Hiruzen. "He used mission assignments to isolate Nawaki, knowing he'd die. He allowed his ANBU to sabotage missions under the table."
"Why? Why would he?" Minato's brows knit.
Tsunade looked at Kakashi.
And Kakashi stepped forward.
"Because controlling a powerful family line like the Senju meant limiting it," Kakashi said. "And to ensure peace, Hiruzen prioritized stability over morality. He let the Root take the fall for his questionable choices, then buried the truth."
Hashirama's laughter was gone.
His eyes now glowed softly, dangerously.
Kakashi felt it, his chakra was boiling, even if he looked composed.
Tobirama's face was a mask of restrained fury. He didn't need to say a word.
He moved instead.
Hiruzen stood shakily, only to be grabbed by his collar and punched hard enough to crater the floor again.
"I taught you better," Tobirama said, furious. "I taught you balance. Not cowardice."
"Grandpa," Tsunade said, "Kakashi… brought Nawaki back."
There was a long silence.
"What?"Hashirama blinked.
Tsunade nodded. "He's alive. Healthy. Strong. He's even been helping Konoha in secret."
Tobirama looked at Kakashi in disbelief. "That kind of resurrection, it shouldn't be possible unless…"
"That secret technique," the Orochimaru clone said with a sly grin. "Kakashi-sama's finest invention."
"You're terrifying." Tobirama blinked.
"You really… brought him back?" Hashirama turned to Kakashi and stepped forward.
Kakashi nodded.
"Thank you." Hashirama's large hands gripped his shoulders.
Behind them, Hiruzen's broken form began to reassemble again. But he was slower now, wearier.
"Black rods," the Orochimaru clone offered suddenly, walking over with a wicked grin. "I kept a few after the battle with Pain. Quite effective against regenerating Edo Tensei bodies. Want to try?"
Tobirama took one without hesitation.
Hashirama took another with a sigh. "This feels wrong. But it also feels… deserved."
"You're punishing me after death."Hiruzen looked up with bitter eyes.
"No," Tobirama growled. "We're punishing the shadow that you cast over your own people."
Then they beat him.
The rods pierced his body, locking parts in place. The clone even added seal tags to temporarily nullify regenerative segments.
"Should I stop them?"Minato winced.
"Let them."Kakashi shook his head.
Even Hiruzen, through the pain, didn't resist.
When it was done, he lay half-formed in a crater of his own guilt.
"I… I deserve this," he whispered.
"Danzo… Koharu… Homura?"Then finally, with labored breath, he asked.
Kakashi folded his arms, a soft smirk on his lips.
"Koharu and Homura were removed. Politely. Efficiently."
"You killed them?" Hiruzen blinked.
"Of course," Kakashi said in a casual voice. "And Danzō was taken care of by me and Sasuke. Poetic, don't you think?"
Hiruzen's hands clenched. His chakra flickered, but he didn't move.
Kakashi's tone sharpened.
"You and he were the ones who drove my father to suicide. Who turned Root into a den of monsters? Who let children be treated as weapons?"
His voice turned cold.
"You escaped judgment because of your title. Killing you then would've unraveled the political recovery Tsunade and I built."
Hiruzen swallowed hard, face pale.
"But don't worry," Kakashi added. "We recovered the wealth, property, and hidden vaults of the Sarutobi Clan. Everything you stole."
Hiruzen looked up.
"And I didn't kill your son or grandson. I'm not you."
There was silence in the room.
"Kakashi… what you've done for Naruto…"Minato exhaled quietly.
Tsunade glanced at him.
"He's safe," she said softly. "Living with Kushina. She's alive, too."
Minato's hands trembled.
"You brought her back?"
Kakashi nodded.
Minato turned away, his blue eyes shining faintly.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"What do you want to do with him?"Tobirama took a step back from Hiruzen's broken form.
Kakashi looked down at Hiruzen.
"Nothing," he said. "Let him sit there and think."
The room was quiet again.
Hashirama leaned back against the wall, eyes distant.
"Legacy," he murmured, "is heavier than I thought."
Kakashi looked at the four of them, then at Tsunade.
She was breathing slowly now, more in control, but still fierce.
"I'll take him upstairs later," Kakashi said. "He's not a threat. And we have work to do."
Tsunade nodded and stepped to his side.
"Can I… see Naruto soon?"Minato looked toward the lab stairs.
"He'll be happy to see you."Kakashi smiled.
"Well then! Hokage meeting, anyone?"Hashirama clapped his hands.
"He's always like this?"The Orochimaru clone whispered to Tobirama,
"Worse."Tobirama sighed.