After a day had passed, Uchiha Isamu quietly slipped out of the main camp while no one was paying attention.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others are probably being hunted by the forces of Kinkaku and Ginkaku right now," Isamu muttered as he sped through the forest.
"If I take care of a few of their subordinates, I can complete the mission. Maybe I'll even get to watch those two fight Tobirama Senju."
Moving swiftly through the forest, Isamu suddenly sensed people approaching.
Without hesitation, he activated Kamui, phasing through objects and hiding himself inside a tree.
Soon, he saw a group rushing past.
At the front was Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others. Behind them, Danzo Shimura followed with a gloomy expression.
Just from their expressions, Isamu could tell what had happened.
Tobirama has already appointed Hiruzen as the Third Hokage.
He watched them run past but made no move to reveal himself.
Once they were gone, Isamu quietly left the tree and ran in the opposite direction—the direction they had come from.
---
After traveling about three kilometers, he finally encountered the enemies pursuing them.
Cloud ninja.
Isamu didn't hesitate.
He activated Kamui and rushed forward.
The ordinary ninja were instantly killed. As for the dozen or so jonin, Isamu simply twisted off their heads using Kamui's spatial transfer ability.
Moments later, a pile of headless corpses lay scattered across the ground.
The scene was terrifying.
Just as Isamu finished dealing with them, a sudden wave of pain stabbed through his eyes.
Two trails of bloody tears flowed down his face.
"Damn it!"
"That hurts!"
Clutching his eyes, he crouched down.
"So the side effects are finally showing up…"
"I don't have the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, after all."
Opening his eyes again, he noticed his vision had started to blur.
In the original timeline, Obito Uchiha could use Kamui freely because Madara Uchiha had implanted half a body's worth of Hashirama Senju cells into him.
That gave Obito a partial Sage Body, along with the advantage of having only one Mangekyō Sharingan.
"I've got a lot to deal with now," Isamu muttered.
"I either need the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan or a Sage Body."
"Otherwise my eyes will eventually go blind."
---
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission.
Reward: 300,000 points.
Remaining balance: 451,000 points.]
Hearing the system notification, a smile appeared on Isamu's face.
"Perfect."
"I'm one step closer to the Eternal Mangekyō."
He opened the system shop and immediately searched for a way to restore his eyesight.
It cost 10,000 points to restore Mangekyō ocular power once.
Seeing the price, Isamu didn't hesitate.
"Ten thousand points to restore my Mangekyō? That's a bargain."
He immediately made the exchange.
With the remaining 1,000 points, he also exchanged them for a basic ninjutsu.
[Ding! Exchange successful.
Remaining balance: 440,000 points.]
After completing the exchange, Isamu set off again.
He absolutely didn't want to miss a Kage-level battle.
Especially one involving Tobirama Senju.
---
After traveling a little farther, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
Isamu looked ahead.
And saw them.
The Nine-Tails transformations of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Their bodies were enormous—like moving mountains.
Compared to them, Tobirama looked as small as an ant.
Under the brothers' relentless attacks, Tobirama could only keep dodging. The surrounding forest had already been completely flattened.
Watching from afar, Isamu casually sat down on a tree branch.
"It's not every day you get to see Tobirama getting beaten up."
"Facing those two in their Nine-Tails forms, he's really being suppressed."
"He's not like Hashirama, who could use Wood Release to suppress tailed-beast chakra."
"And he definitely doesn't have Hashirama's level of raw strength."
"How miserable."
Meanwhile, Tobirama was covered in sweat.
Where did those damn Kinkaku and Ginkaku get such pure Nine-Tails chakra?
I finally cracked the secrets of their strange ninja tools… and yet…
Tobirama sighed internally.
It seems unlikely that I'll leave here alive today.
I wonder if Hiruzen and the others managed to escape.
Forget it.
I'll just consider this my final contribution—eliminating two powerful enemies for the village.
With that thought, Tobirama began forming hand seals.
"Water Release: Great River of Water!"
In an instant—
The surrounding kilometer was flooded.
The battlefield turned into a vast ocean.
---
"Holy crap!" Isamu muttered.
"A Water Release on this scale is at least S-rank."
"It's even larger than my Majestic Destroyer Flame."
"If you factor in elemental advantage, this technique definitely surpasses mine."
He stared at the massive sea around them.
Could that legend actually be true?
It was said that Tobirama had formed a contract with the ocean, allowing him to manipulate water freely and earning him the title of the greatest Water Release user in history.
But Isamu quickly shook his head.
"That can't be right."
"Signing a contract with the ocean?"
"That sounds ridiculous."
"If that were really true, Tobirama wouldn't be struggling like this."
---
Standing atop the water, Tobirama glared at the two brothers.
Now that the battlefield had become a water world, the terrain heavily favored him.
"So what if you're in Nine-Tails form?"
"If you think you can defeat me, Tobirama Senju, you're mistaken!"
Kinkaku laughed.
"Oh really?"
"Today we brothers will become the strongest in the ninja world!"
"First we killed the Raikage—now we'll kill the Hokage!"
The two brothers immediately began forming a Tailed Beast Ball.
Blue Yang-attribute chakra and purple-black Yin-attribute chakra gathered in their mouths.
The chakra compressed rapidly.
A 2:8 ratio of Yin and Yang formed a dense sphere of destructive power.
Then—
They fired it.
Two Tailed Beast Balls shot toward Tobirama.
"Two lunatics…"
Seeing the incoming attack, Tobirama knew exactly how powerful it was.
Just before impact—
He used Flying Thunder God Technique.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
---
BOOM!
BOOM!
The two Tailed Beast Balls detonated where Tobirama had been standing.
Massive craters appeared across the battlefield.
"Damn…" Isamu muttered.
"Tailed Beasts really are weapons of war."
"No wonder every major village wants one."
"With power like that, who would dare face them head-on?"
Then he snorted.
"Tobirama actually used Flying Thunder God to run away."
"I thought he might try to tank the Tailed Beast Ball."
"He talks tough, gets beaten up, and runs the fastest."
Isamu openly mocked him.
Meanwhile, Kinkaku and Ginkaku burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"So this is the great Hokage Tobirama?"
"Nothing special!"
Seeing no trace of Tobirama in the crater, they assumed he had been destroyed.
But suddenly—
A voice sounded behind them.
"Water Release: Twin Dragons Rising from the Sea!"
Two massive water dragons surged up and slammed into the brothers from behind.
BANG!
BANG!
The powerful attack knocked both of them to the ground.
Tobirama stood behind them, calm but deadly.
"If you want to celebrate…"
"Wait until after you've defeated me."
"Damn it!" Kinkaku roared.
The two brothers stood up, glaring at Tobirama.
"Tobirama Senju!"
"If we don't kill you today, we're not men!"
They charged forward.
Their enormous bodies caused both the water and earth to tremble with every step.
Watching the ripples spread across the water, Tobirama knew something.
Running won't solve this.
This battle has to end here.
He quietly muttered to himself.
"Hiruzen…"
"Konoha is in your hands now."
"Protect the village well."
He raised his hands and formed five hand seals.
Then he slammed his palms onto the water.
---
In the distance, Isamu immediately activated his Sharingan.
"Oh?"
"Tobirama's about to go all out?"
"Let's see what this five-seal technique of yours can do."
He leaned forward slightly.
He wasn't about to miss a single moment of this Kage-level battle.