Don't Revive Tobirama—He's Anti-Uchiha

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"Hehe! It's nothing! I learned it all from Lady Mito!"

Kaito scratched the back of his head and laughed.

"Oh? Mito taught you?"

The First Hokage, Hashirama, turned to Uzumaki Mito with a surprised look.

"Yeah, right!"

Mito waved her hand dismissively and said, "This kid's just freakishly talented. He picks up anything super fast. It's got little to do with my teaching."

"Though, I admit, I did teach him a bit about sealing techniques while mentoring Kushina."

"But Kushina's current sealing skills are nowhere near his level."

"He's mostly self-taught."

"In fact, I suspect this kid's sealing technique skills might already surpass mine!"

"He's a little monster, that's for sure."

As she spoke, Mito didn't waste any more time. She began performing Adamantine Sealing Chains to capture the White Zetsu.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Naori also got to work, summoning Susanoo to grab the White Zetsu one by one and throw them into the spatial void of the Time-Space Gate.

Once inside the gate, whether the White Zetsu were activated or not, they were instantly suppressed as time came to a standstill.

There was no need to worry about them starving in there, either.

Though they weren't exactly human, they still required nutrients and photosynthesis.

Honestly, calling them "plant people" would be more accurate.

"Huh?"

Hashirama looked at Kaito in surprise, clapping him on the shoulder. "Mito doesn't hand out compliments lightly. Looks like you've got real talent, kid!"

"And with such power at your age, it's no wonder you have big ambitions."

"Keep it up! I hope the shinobi world really can achieve peace under your leadership."

His own methods had failed, but he still held onto hope that Kaito could succeed.

War was never a good thing.

"It definitely will!"

Kaito smiled confidently. "Once this situation is resolved, I'll return to Konoha with the frontline troops and take over as the Fourth Hokage."

"At that point, I'll begin major reforms in Konoha!"

"You'll witness firsthand how I'll develop Konoha into something stronger and better, eventually uniting the entire shinobi world and achieving true peace."

"So, what do you say? Would you like to stick around and witness it all?"

Hashirama scratched his head with a smile as he met Kaito's eager eyes. "You really want me to stick around to see all this?"

"And you're about to become Hokage already? You're so young!"

"By the way, who's the Hokage right now? What's Tobirama's situation? He's not still alive, is he?"

If Tobirama were still around, he'd never accept a Uchiha becoming Hokage, let alone seeing them grow this powerful.

"Exactly! Exactly!"

Kaito nodded repeatedly. "I'd love for you to witness the true peace I'm about to bring."

"So, why don't you stay in the shinobi world for a while longer?"

"If we ever go off track, you can guide and correct us, right?"

"Besides, don't you want to contribute to achieving peace yourself?"

"As for Tobirama, well… he's been gone for over a decade now in a war. There's no point in bringing him up."

"If you have any questions, once we're back in Konoha, I'll revive him, and you can ask him yourself."

Watching Kaito trying to convince Hashirama, Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Naori exchanged knowing smiles.

They both figured that when Hashirama eventually discovered Kaito's real reasons for wanting him to stay, he wouldn't be nearly as cheerful.

"Is that so? Let me think about it. After all, I am technically dead," Hashirama said hesitantly. "And Tobirama... I didn't realize it's been so many years since he passed, and during a war no less. That's just… sigh."

As the elder brother, he felt he hadn't done enough.

If he'd listened to Madara back then and chosen to unify the shinobi world, would the Great Shinobi Wars have been avoided?

Would Tobirama still be alive?

The very reason he had founded Konoha was to prevent young children, like his own brothers, from being sent to war and dying needlessly.

Yet even after founding Konoha, he hadn't been able to change that.

He really had been wrong all along.

Kaito realized he couldn't let Hashirama refuse. He needed him to stay. So, he pressed on, saying, "Being dead or not isn't really the issue here!"

"Honestly, even if you wanted to return to the Pure Land, I wouldn't let you!"

"Because there's a certain manipulative mastermind, Uchiha Madara's shadowy puppet master, still lurking in the background."

"That guy's a thousand-year-old monster, and he's definitely mastered Edo Tensei."

"If you go back to the Pure Land, I'm worried he'll use Edo Tensei to resurrect you and control you, causing chaos in Konoha and sparking another war in the shinobi world."

"And that's the last thing I want to see!"

"So not only will I prevent you from leaving, I'm also planning to revive more of Konoha's deceased ninjas."

"I want to eliminate the possibility of them being resurrected and exploited by enemies."

"That includes Uchiha Madara."

"I'd like you to help me manage these revived individuals. What do you think?"

Kaito needed all the "tools" he could get to reform Konoha, unify the shinobi world, and then focus on the pirate world.

How could he accomplish all that without reviving more people?

The bodies created by Edo Tensei were immortal and tireless.

They could be worked to the bone without worry.

"Such useful tools would be a waste if not brought back and used."

"I'd be failing myself if I didn't make full use of them." Kaito gave a nod to himself.

It's perfectly fine to push these "tools" to their limits without worry.

"Is that so?"

Hashirama clearly didn't realize the devious intentions behind Kaito's words. After some thought, he finally nodded solemnly, saying, "Alright! I agree!"

"I'll stay here for now and assist you. However, once we've dealt with the mastermind behind all this, I hope you'll release everyone we've brought back to life and allow their souls to return to the Pure Land."

"Otherwise, disrupting the balance of life and death wouldn't be good for the world's natural order."

Seeing Hashirama's serious demeanor, Kaito couldn't help but admit that while Hashirama might seem simple-minded at times, his moral compass was incredibly strong when it came to major decisions.

Even so, Kaito didn't plan on following Hashirama's wishes entirely. Instead, he intended to devote the next few years to mastering and upgrading the Edo Tensei Jutsu to overcome its side effects.

Eventually, he aimed to develop a technique that could genuinely resurrect people, allowing Hashirama and the others to return to life permanently.

For now, though, he had no problem feeding Hashirama false hopes. With a nod, he said, "Deal! I respect others' wishes more than anything!"

In truth, this was the perfect opportunity to raise Hashirama's trust and loyalty, making him an even more valuable ally.

By the time the truth came out, it'd be too late for Hashirama to turn back. He'd be stuck working for Kaito forever—An Eternal Employee.

"Hehe, what kind of changes will come with a contract with the undead, I wonder?" Kaito couldn't help but muse to himself.

"Haha! Then it's settled!" Hashirama laughed heartily.

Truth be told, the idea of witnessing Konoha enter a new era, seeing Kaito unite the ninja world, and bringing peace to the land sounded quite intriguing to him.

"Oh, by the way!"

Suddenly, Hashirama remembered something and quickly said, "You mentioned that you're going back to Konoha to take over as the Fourth Hokage, and you're planning to resurrect Tobirama. I suggest you don't rush to bring him back just yet."

"Wait until you've fully assumed the role of Hokage and consolidated your authority before reviving him."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid he might cause trouble."

"That wouldn't be good!"

"Though I hate to admit it, Tobirama has some pretty deep prejudices against the Uchiha. I doubt he'd be happy to see an Uchiha becoming Hokage."

"I've always disagreed with him on that point. In fact, I think Konoha owes the Uchiha a Hokage. After all, the village was built together by the Senju and the Uchiha."

Hashirama sighed, his expression darkening.

"Back then, I promised Madara he could be Hokage, but because of Tobirama, I went back on my word."

"By the time I stepped down, the tension between the clans had already escalated. There was no choice but to let Tobirama take over."

"And with Tobirama's personality, there was no way he'd let an Uchiha become Hokage."

"In hindsight, that was a mistake. The Uchiha would never truly integrate into the village as long as they carried that resentment."

"It was bound to cause trouble."

"It's not like we could just exterminate the Uchiha, right?"

"I understand."

Kaito nodded, his impression of Hashirama improving even more. With a smile, he said, "Lady Mito has already reminded me about this."

"If it weren't for that, I might've revived both you and Tobirama already. But knowing his bias against the Uchiha, I held off."

"As for reviving him later, whether he agrees to help with research or not won't matter. By then, the Senju and Uchiha will already be allied—even through marriage."

"And with Lady Mito and you around, I'm sure we can convince him."

"I see!" Hashirama nodded in understanding. "If Mito is involved, then I have no objections."

"Oh, by the way, who was the Third Hokage?"

"And what happened to him? Did he sacrifice himself during the war?"

As a Hokage, leading from the front during wartime wasn't unusual. It wouldn't be surprising if he'd died in battle.

"He didn't die in battle," Kaito replied, shaking his head. "The Third Hokage was Sarutobi Hiruzen, one of Tobirama's students. You should remember him."

"Oh! The monkey!" Hashirama immediately understood, his brows furrowing. "If he didn't die, then something must've gone wrong. What happened? What did he do?"

Hashirama's sharp instincts instantly picked up on the issue.

Kaito then proceeded to explain everything Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo had done over the years.

From embezzling funds to enrich their own families, to suppressing the Senju, targeting other clans' geniuses, persecuting the Uchiha, and conducting forbidden human experiments...

"They deserve to die! As Hokage and village leaders, this is how they governed Konoha? This is how they treated their comrades?"

"What the hell was Tobirama teaching his students?"

"Back then, the monkey and Danzo weren't like this at all!"

"Just what happened after I died?"

Hashirama was furious, his face red with anger.

This wasn't what being Hokage was supposed to mean.

This wasn't what Konoha's leadership was supposed to be.

This was worse than their enemies!

If Tobirama were here right now, Hashirama would've grabbed him by the collar and demanded answers.

Hashirama would even beat him, asking him to 'look at the disciplines he taught.'

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