"So you really came to save me?"
Senju Mori's answer even puzzled Tobirama, but Mori did not hesitate to repeat himself.
"I came to bring your body back. You are a respected elder of our clan. The Senju bloodline must not be defiled. I will not allow your corpse to rot in the wild or become Kumogakure's experiment fodder."
"Nonsense."
Tobirama's judgment was as sharp as ever. "You didn't come for my body. You came for the Third Hokage's seat."
"Heh… cough, cough. Even if I order it so, it won't change the fact that those brats failed to protect their Hokage and fled back to Konoha alone."
"As long as you deliver my corpse, you'll be the brightest hero of all."
"No wonder you dropped everything and rushed here the moment you heard. It's the chance of a lifetime. How could a brat like you let it pass?"
"You started plotting back when I refused to take you as a student, didn't you?"
"Ha, Nobu, Genma, Sōji, Makoto, Enji, Gennosuke… even that kid Tao has made jōnin, hasn't he?"
At that, Tobirama actually showed a faint, unreadable smile.
"You're a calculating one."
He glanced at Uzumaki Chizawa. "Is he part of your plan too?"
"No. Chizawa is a true friend. In fact, we met thanks to you."
Mori grinned wide, a face Tobirama found intensely punchable.
"Do you remember? Back when Lord Hashirama was still alive, you invited shinobi from the Land of Whirlpools to visit Konoha. Chizawa came with Uncle Chihaya…"
From Tobirama's look, Mori could tell he hadn't noticed a kid like Chizawa back then.
"You do know how to seize chances…"
Even Tobirama was speechless.
When his elder brother was still alive? An Uzumaki visit to Konoha?
Those were ancient memories.
How old was Mori then? How precocious could one brat be?
A born schemer, perhaps?
And who knew how much truth lived in that mouth. From one meeting alone, they became true friends? Worth risking life to accompany you here?
This brat must have slipped off to the Uzumaki plenty during missions, building ties in secret.
Tobirama's faint smile vanished. His face went blank again.
"Must you fight for it?"
"Unless you return to Konoha yourself, the Third will be mine."
Mori's answer was solemn.
"Three Hokage in a row from the Senju—will any other clan ever get the chance? Is that a new village or just an expanded Senju compound? Have you thought about that?"
Tobirama's features stiffened.
"In my view, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Mori actually smiled.
"All my brother and I have worked for will be wasted by your selfishness."
"Your and Lord Hashirama's work? To dismember the Senju?"
"In my view, I'm correcting your mistake and restoring your honor. I'm hauling the Senju back from the cliff's edge and setting our people on solid ground."
"Our people? Do you care nothing for the Senju who will die for this?"
Tobirama's tone grew calm, as if something had clicked.
"No one dies for nothing. I will care for every clansman as best I can. I will teach, temper, and drive them until the Senju are truly first among clans, not a hollow title."
"In time the Senju will become a towering tree. Its branches will cover Konoha's sky and shield the village from wind and rain."
Sensing the resolve in Mori that would not bend, Tobirama lost all interest in talk. He closed his eyes and leaned there in silence.
He did not move.
Mori was in no hurry. He sat down as well.
In unspoken accord, the two Senju waited together—for Tobirama to breathe his last.
The eerie quiet did not bother either of them. Mori even hummed in his head, swaying a little, which only made Uzumaki Chizawa more uneasy.
Seeing it, Mori sent Chizawa to collect the Gold and Silver Brothers' treasured tools.
After Ginkaku's death, likely for convenience in combat, Kinkaku had carried only the Seven-Star Sword and the Banana Fan that fanned five chakra natures.
As for the Red Gourd, Golden Canopy Rope, and Amber Purifying Bottle, it wasn't clear whether he hadn't brought them or had dropped them along the way.
Fortunately, for an Uzumaki sensor, such chakra-laden artifacts were easy to find.
Time passed—one minute, three, ten?
Chizawa returned carrying a large scroll.
Following the trail of battle scars and lingering chakra, he easily found Ginkaku's corpse, along with the Golden Canopy Rope and Red Gourd beside it.
They still hadn't located the Amber Purifying Bottle, but Mori was satisfied.
Tobirama's last breath clung longer than expected, but Mori could wait. He had waited over twenty years already; what was twenty minutes more?
Suddenly Tobirama seemed to recall something. "Do you intend to marry Tsunade?"
"I intend to marry an Uzumaki. Tsunade is not yet ten. She isn't suitable for me."
Mori refused without hesitation.
Tobirama closed his eyes again.
Bastard.
He had gotten the answer he wanted, yet he still wanted to curse.
Bastard.
Because he understood Mori's meaning in an instant.
Tsunade was too young.
If he chose her, he would have to wait years. By then both Hashirama and Tobirama would be dead. Marrying Tsunade would gain Mori little in timely, valuable power.
By contrast, once both brothers were gone, Hashirama's wife, Uzumaki Mito, would be the strongest and most revered figure in Konoha. Marrying into the Uzumaki would be the most valuable move.
In fact, compared to the Senju's old preference for in-clan marriage to preserve bloodline, joining with Uzumaki blood might produce more gifted heirs.
And by tying with the Uzumaki, he could draw them closer still, gaining more support and manpower against Hiruzen's faction…
Look at that Uzumaki kid's grin. It was about to split his face.
Another ten minutes crawled by. Tobirama went utterly still, as if asleep. Mori remained sitting where he was.
Though their talk had seemed successful, peaceful, even… harmonious,
Mori knew they had broken completely.
Once he took the Third's seat, he would not merely reject Tobirama's policies—he would rewrite them wholesale, overturning eighty percent.
Under his lead, Konoha would build a clan-dominant system with the Senju at its core, a future Hashirama and Tobirama had never desired.
Tobirama was simply too weak now to jump up and thrash him.
If that vicious white-haired ghost tried a final trick in death—faking it to slap a multiplication tag on him—well, that would not be funny.
From the Warring States to today, every shinobi who underestimated Senju Tobirama had died very, very badly…
Mori had no desire to join them.