Chapter 118: Your Eyes… They're Like His~
"Um… Uchiha-senpai. Although it was the Senju and our Sarutobi clan who sealed you back then, this time I also contributed to unsealing you. I was the one who provided Shiromo with the location of the seal."
Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't expected the person his clan's predecessors sealed to be such a young girl. After a brief moment of shock, he hurriedly tried to explain himself.
"Your clans sealed me, and now you helped a bit to unseal me, what, do you expect me to thank you for that?"
"By that logic, if I killed your parents and then helped you fight someone afterward, should you be praising me for how cool I am?"
Hikari snorted and turned her head away.
"Once we're done here, we'll go to Konoha. Whatever you want this old man to do, teach Shadow Clones or Flying Thunder God, or even assist Orochimaru in developing new jutsu, I can do it."
Tobirama's voice came from the side as he walked over to Hiruzen, who was still kneeling, and spoke to Shiromo.
All three Hokage understood the situation clearly.
The Ōtsutsuki were everyone's enemy. Shiromo and the others were definitely going to fight them, the only question was when.
They could very well wait until Konoha had suffered massive casualties before stepping in.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, had been assassinated. Who in Konoha could possibly avoid it?
If the Ōtsutsuki wanted to, someone could die every single day.
"Of course we're going. I already had White Zetsu send a message to Tsunade. I don't know whether she's received it yet."
Shiromo shrugged slightly.
In short, Hiruzen's kowtow had been for nothing.
After receiving intelligence from Konoha, Shiromo's original plan had already been to head there after dealing with the Dragon Vein.
Once future Sasuke and Boruto appeared, it wouldn't be long before Urashiki arrived as well.
"Is that so? Then… thank you."
Tobirama paused briefly but did not take back his promise.
If Tsunade embodied the flaws of both him and his brother, then Shiromo seemed to embody both of their strengths.
A broad vision, and wisdom with strategy.
Assisting someone like this was beneficial both to the ninja world and to Konoha.
"Second Hokage, I can't control you. You could completely use Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha and handle this personally."
Orochimaru whispered provocatively from the side.
"Orochimaru, do you think I'm stupid? Since you've already said the Ōtsutsuki can absorb ninjutsu, how much difference could I really make by going back?"
Tobirama shot Orochimaru a glance.
"Hehe."
Orochimaru chuckled and said nothing more.
It was just a small test.
"Then, Sensei, you should return to the Pure Land and rest for now."
Orochimaru formed seals and dispelled Impure World Reincarnation.
If Tobirama could still provide some help against the Ōtsutsuki, then the Third Hokage was of no help at all.
As a master of all five chakra natures, he was nothing more than a rechargeable battery for the Ōtsutsuki.
Besides, resurrecting the Third Hokage had been done purely for Shiromo's experiment in the first place.
The Third Hokage's Edo body began to crumble, turning back into White Zetsu.
Shiromo stepped forward and pressed his hand onto the remains. A few seconds later, White Zetsu truly sprang back to life.
"As expected, a soulless creature like White Zetsu is truly fascinating. It can be revived so easily."
Orochimaru sighed in admiration.
"Is that… medical ninjutsu?"
Hashirama looked at the scene with confusion.
"It's closer to a 'rule.'"
Tobirama frowned deeply, clearly trying to figure out what Shiromo's ability really was.
Just touching a White Zetsu that had already died brought it back to life instantly.
But what was the cost?
Did such a heaven-defying ability really have no price at all?
"It's time to get down to business."
Shiromo walked over to Nagato. By now, Nagato was able to walk on his own.
But it wasn't because he'd recovered through absorbing chakra. Rather, Orochimaru had used White Zetsu, Hashirama cells, and part of Nagato's own cells to cultivate and create a new leg for him.
Yes, just like Naruto's new arm in the original ending.
"Good thing we had you absorb the Eight-Tails' chakra in advance, Leader. Otherwise, we'd still have to wait."
Shiromo brought Nagato in front of the Dragon Vein's root system and began explaining.
"The chakra here is extremely similar to the chakra that should exist inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Absorbing it shouldn't be a problem."
"And with Hikari's Yachihoko as a safety net, there's no need to worry about danger."
Exactly how much chakra the Dragon Vein contained was an unknown number.
After all, the legend of the Dragon Vein's 'endless chakra' was, in the end, just a legend.
For ordinary ninja, tailed beasts had endless chakra, and so did Senju Hashirama.
In the original story, when Hashirama saw Naruto cloaking the Allied Shinobi Forces in Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, he made the curious remark: "So much chakra… it's almost on par with mine."
"The Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Not long after being resurrected, the Senju brothers had already seen Nagato, but they had tacitly avoided commenting on the Rinnegan at the time.
"First Hokage, come over here for a moment."
"Huh? Coming!"
Hashirama, who had been wearing a serious expression just moments ago, trotted over to Shiromo cheerfully. "What's up?"
"Brother, are you a summoned beast or something?"
Tobirama covered his face with one hand as he looked at his utterly undignified brother.
But then he thought about himself, and felt even more despair.
"First Hokage, take a look at Nagato. Don't you feel a sense of familiarity?"
Shiromo pointed at Nagato.
"Familiar?"
Hashirama froze.
If Shiromo said that, there had to be a reason.
Could it be that this Rinnegan user was a descendant of someone he knew?
"Hmm…"
Hashirama stared at Nagato for a while, his expression growing increasingly strange.
"Big brother? What is it?"
Tobirama's voice came from behind.
He personally couldn't see anything familiar at all.
If he had to say something, the red hair was a characteristic of the Uzumaki clan.
"Wife?"
"..."
The two words that suddenly slipped out of Hashirama's mouth sent a chill through everyone present.
Nagato felt something clench in the back and hurriedly took two steps back.
Uchiha Hikari, who was watching the spectacle, felt even more disgusted seeing the naturally "deserved" Senju old man call a man "wife."
"No, no, you've misunderstood!"
Sensing the universal disgust around him, Hashirama hurriedly waved his hands to explain.
"Didn't Shiromo ask if he felt familiar? I just thought this kid's red hair looked a lot like Mito's."
"Then, First Hokage, would you call this person 'wife' too?"
Shiromo took out a photo of Karin.
"...Of course not!"
Hashirama denied it immediately.
She was just a little girl, how old was she?
Calling her wife?
Was he a pervert?
(Everyone else: Aren't you?)
"Oh."
Everyone felt even more horrified.
So he only calls men 'wife,' but can't say it to women?
"Wait, no! I get it now!!!"
Hashirama suddenly shouted, staring straight into Nagato's eyes.
"Your eyes… They're like Madara's. No wonder…"
"So that's why you called him 'wife,' right?"
Tobirama said sarcastically.
(End of this chapter)