A faint ripple stirred the void—
and Uchiha Soren stepped back into the world.
The clash of jutsu slammed into him immediately.
Flashes of fire and lightning strobed through the forest.
Explosions shook the trees.
"Enemies here too!"
A dark-skinned shinobi with the accent of the Land of Lightning froze mid-step.
The handsome, samurai-like youth who had appeared out of thin air—
this pretty-faced stranger clearly wasn't one of theirs.
His eyes widened. His scalp tingled.
"It's him—Uchiha Soren! The pretty-faced demon!"
Soren sighed.
"You Cloud ninjas really have no manners."
He drew a spare sword from a scroll, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning lazily.
A few unlucky Kumogakure shinobi rushed him—
and were casually cut down like weeds on the roadside.
Soren didn't bother lingering.
He had more important prey.
From earlier observation, he'd determined these Cloud shinobi were part of Kinkaku and Ginkaku's rebel group—pursuing the Sarutobi escort unit.
Not many in number, but each was an elite jōnin or higher.
Dangerous, but not worth his personal time.
Konoha reinforcements would inevitably clean them out.
Besides, the chaos caused by Torifu's giant had already drawn attention.
If Tobirama Senju discovered the escort was annihilated, he wouldn't keep negotiating—
he would pursue Kinkaku and Ginkaku with murderous resolve.
If Tobirama slipped away now, Soren's plan to claim the Third Hokage position would crumble.
(Another round of Konoha–Kumogakure conflict only benefits me.)
(If I kill Tobirama—and return with the heads of Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and the Second Raikage—I'll have the strength and credentials to take the Hokage seat.)
(My only concern is Tobirama's Flying Thunder God. I must force him into single combat.)
Cold light flickered in Soren's eyes.
Tenchō Risshon hadn't just gifted him devastating ocular jutsu—
it had deepened his compatibility with spatial techniques.
Within ten kilometers, no spatial fluctuation could hide from him.
At a pace of two hundred meters per second, he sensed an approaching distortion within minutes.
The battle-hardened shinobi sensed him as well.
"That chakra… icy and malevolent—an Uchiha!"
"Water Style: Twin Water Dragon Barrage!"
Tobirama Senju—white-haired, red-eyed, and wearing his iconic mask-like forehead guard with the three cheek stripes—wiped blood from his lips.
He launched two massive water dragons to push his enemies back.
In front of him stood Kinkaku and Ginkaku, panting, yet brimming with violent chakra.
Tobirama pressed a hand to the earth—
sensing the battlefield for hundreds of kilometers.
(Torifu made a scene. The ape clan is dead.)
(A battle erupted at the forest edge.)
(No outsiders except… the incoming Uchiha.)
His face hardened.
The chakra scent told him the truth—
his entire escort unit had been slaughtered.
Slaughtered by the Uchiha.
"Oh? If it isn't the Second Hokage. How ragged you look."
Soren approached, Mangekyō blazing.
He took in Tobirama's burned armor, scorched fur collar, the ash and blood smeared across him.
Tobirama erupted.
"Uchiha Soren! You possess those cold, guilty eyes!"
"I should have killed you years ago—rank be damned!"
Soren smiled, frost in his gaze.
"Old fool—blame your rotten beam for the crooked rafters."
"Still calling us 'born-evil' like some relic from the Warring States."
He kicked Danzō's scattered remains deeper into the underbrush.
"I hadn't even planned to kill Hiruzen and the rest, but they learned your barking— not your wisdom."
"Too bad you missed their final little whimpers."
He leaned in, voice cruel.
"Especially Koharu. She tried to seduce me before she died—she had some charm."
"If I wasn't busy killing you, I'd let you watch the 'born-evil Uchiha brat' rise as Third Hokage."
Tobirama's eyes blazed.
"My disciples would never break honor!"
"Konoha will NEVER allow an Uchiha to claim the Hokage's mantle!"
"Your clan is unfit for leadership!"
Before Tobirama could form a seal—
A thunderous roar cut the air.
"Hey! We're not dead yet!"
"Tobirama! You're fighting US!"
Two colossal figures burst through the twin water dragons—
Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Horns on their heads.
Whisker-like marks on their cheeks.
Purple sleeveless shirts beneath Kumogakure armor.
Relics of the Sage strapped to their backs.
And swirling around them—
a roaring cloak of Nine-Tails chakra.
Tailed-beast chakra shook the forest.
"Where's the Second Raikage?" Soren asked, scanning the battlefield.
Kinkaku snorted.
"That pathetic fool who wanted peace with Konoha?"
"We blasted him with tailed-beast chakra first."
Ginkaku grinned hungrily.
"Uchiha brat—come die for us."
"Those strange eyes would make a fine trophy."
"Fine! Let's kill them all!" Kinkaku shouted.
Their combined bloodlust pushed the air into a storm.
Soren's expression turned cold.
He looked at the three—
Tobirama, Kinkaku, Ginkaku—
all snarling, arrogant, loud.
"You're all rude fellows," he said quietly.
His Mangekyō spun.
"Perfect companions to follow each other into Yomi."