"Madara is actually still alive? And you’re only telling me this now?"
Tobirama Senju, who had already come to terms with his own resurrection and believed that no news could shake him emotionally anymore, finally broke his composure after hearing this from Kagetsu.
If there was anyone who could stir up his emotions, it would undoubtedly be his elder brother.
But aside from him, the Uchiha brothers—who stood on equal footing with the Senju siblings—definitely counted as well.
Especially Uchiha Madara.
As the one directly responsible for his elder brother’s severe injuries and shortened lifespan, Tobirama harbored an intense hatred toward him.
The once-stable system of the Hidden Villages began to collapse after that battle, and after his brother’s death, the peaceful dream they had built together was lost.
Now, hearing from Kagetsu that Madara might still be alive, Tobirama’s first reaction was disbelief.
He had personally confirmed Madara’s death.
The only flaw in that conclusion was that the body had vanished sometime afterward.
But the man had clearly died. With no further leads to investigate, Tobirama had been forced to give up the matter back then.
"Are you certain? Did you see him with your own eyes?" Tobirama stared seriously at Kagetsu, his voice more solemn than ever before.
He even felt the urge to bring his elder brother back from the Pure Land right away.
Originally, like Tsunade and the others, he had agreed that reviving his brother could wait a while longer.
But no one else could stop Madara.
That was the simple truth.
As much as he disliked Uchiha Madara, Tobirama still respected his strength.
Only his brother could stand against that man.
That conviction had been ingrained in him through countless battles with the Uchiha.
"I haven’t seen him personally," Kagetsu replied, "but that he’s alive—or rather, that he never truly died—should be something we can confirm."
"Evidence! You don’t understand," Tobirama Senju said coldly.
"There are still many Uchiha who admire and idolize Madara. It might be them—using his name in the shadows to do things they don’t want seen. Have the ANBU been assigned to monitor the Uchiha?"
"Investigate the Uchiha? That might be a problem," Kagetsu shook his head, sighing quietly. "The Uchiha have completely cut ties with Madara now. Besides, the current Uchiha have two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan. That’s a considerable force."
As expected, no matter how intelligent someone is, when they’re just brought back to life, even if they accept they’ve been dead for a long time, they still can’t help but let their old experiences influence their thinking.
"Two Mangekyō pairs? How did you manage that? How could the Uchiha awaken two Mangekyō? Is the village doing well?"
For a moment, Tobirama was stunned.
The news caught him off guard. But then he thought of Tsunade, and his emotions quickly calmed.
Perhaps reviving him—and even his older brother later—was done because of the pressure the Uchiha posed?
But in the next moment, Kagetsu’s explanation shattered that guess.
"The current head of the Uchiha clan is Tsunade-sensei’s assistant, and also my teacher—Fourth Hokage Orochimaru’s trusted aide. He is one of the Mangekyō users.
His eldest son, Itachi, is my student. Dıscover more novels at N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
The other Mangekyō belongs to a descendant of Uchiha Kagami. He, too, is completely loyal to Konoha.
As for the Uchiha’s Kekkei Genkai issue, the Technology Development Department has nearly solved it.
They’ve developed a more stable and safer way to awaken the Sharingan—one that no longer requires extreme emotions like love and hatred as triggers.
Today’s Uchiha are loyal to the village and are an essential source of strength. Your old views... may need to change."
"You solved the Uchiha’s Kekkei Genkai flaw?" Tobirama’s eyes widened slightly, then narrowed with approval.
"It seems you’ve done well. Better than I expected."
He clearly understood what Kagetsu meant—and how difficult it was.
It was nothing short of rewriting the chakra traits of a Kekkei Genkai.
Just based on this alone, the technology from the Technology Development Department was already on par with his own back then—or perhaps even beyond it.
At the very least, he hadn’t been able to solve this problem at the time.
Or rather, given his identity back then, this problem had been difficult for him to handle.
Based on past experience and attitudes, the Uchiha probably wouldn’t have trusted him—even if they had obeyed his orders back then.
"It seems I’ve really fallen out of touch. Since you’re certain that the Uchiha won’t rebel and there’s no issue with them for now, I’ll go along with your judgment—at least until something actually goes wrong."
"Now then, let’s talk about Madara. How did you confirm that he’s still alive?"
Tobirama Senju didn’t want to keep arguing over a topic that had no clear resolution.
Both sides had their own beliefs and principles. That wasn’t something that could be changed overnight.
When it came to the Uchiha, he always remained cautious.
A few words from Kagetsu weren’t going to make him drop his guard.
Still, as the former Second Hokage, he was capable of putting aside personal feelings and judging the situation clearly.
The current administration was under the Fourth Hokage. "Sarutobi" he once knew had already stepped down.
And as things stood, he had no intention of playing power games with Orochimaru.
The village’s problems were now the Fourth Hokage’s responsibility.
What Tobirama cared about most at the moment was the issue of Uchiha Madara. That man truly posed a threat to Konoha.
"This brings us to your former student, Shimura Danzo. He came into contact with a creation of Madara—a humanoid being, a kind of plant-like creature that could move and had limited thinking ability. They even cooperated for a time."
Kagetsu began by throwing Danzo into the pot—figuratively speaking.
Next, he brought up Jiraiya’s three disciples from the Land of Rain, the Rinnegan, the Uchiha clan’s stone tablet...
And just to be thorough, he even let Tobirama Senju examine the dissected body of White Zetsu in the Technology Development Department.
The sheer amount of shocking information hit Tobirama like a tidal wave.
He realized something all at once—he had died far too early.
In the decades since his passing, even the legendary Rinnegan had appeared.
And it had been awakened by none other than Uchiha Madara himself.
Granted, he needed the help of Hashirama’s Wood Release cells to do it.
For the first time, Tobirama understood that combining the power of the Senju and Uchiha clans could lead to such terrifying results.
What stunned him even more was the discovery that both clans descended from the sons of the Sage of Six Paths.
They were literally blood brothers—two branches of one ancient tree.
Of course, that part didn’t matter much to Tobirama anymore.
It was a history buried under a thousand years.
"The Rinnegan must be protected at all costs! That Nagato guy..." Tobirama’s instincts kicked in immediately. "We must secure those eyes. I don’t care why Madara gave them away—but we can’t let him take them back."
"They’re currently allies of Konoha," Kagetsu replied. "And they’re disciples of Jiraiya-sensei. If needed, we can send support to them right away."
"What about Madara’s whereabouts?" Tobirama narrowed his eyes. "Don’t tell me you still haven’t found him."
"We’ve discovered what seems to be one of his hideouts," Kagetsu said. "It’s underground, near the Kannabi Bridge in the Land of Fire. But it was completely empty—a temporary base at best."
He paused, then added, "The only place we still lack intel on... is the Land of Water."
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