Inside the Hokage building, Masahiko was smiling, looking at Tobirama's solemn expression.
"Well, don't you think that there's something wrong with your plan? So obviously, you wanted to use this joint exam to deter the Shinobi world, but it seems like you've completely ignored the fact that the other villages will also show their powers!"
Tobirama nodded, "It's due to our success in the war that I ended up underestimating them."
Masahiko shook his head, "What are you going to do now? That Hozuki Hangetsu seems very strong."
The Kirigakure representative is called the Hozuki Hangetsu. When Masahiko first saw him, he thought this kid was Mangetsu. Later, he thought of it again and felt like it was a little bit earlier.
According to Masahiko's induction, this guy is also capable of Hydration technique, so basically, physical attacks are useless against him, and this could become a problem for Maito Duy, who can only use Taijutsu.
Tobirama then shook his head, "The Hozuki Hangetsu is not really a problem, although Taijutsu is not completely useless against, he can be damaged to some extent. The real trouble is the Sunagakure Shinobi."
"The Sunagakure Shinobi?" Masahiko was surprised, "Chiyo's son? He isn't that strong, I think Tsunade or Jiraiya can handle him."
"No, I'm not talking about him, I was talking about the dark blue-haired boy, and his name is Masaki. As far as I know, he's qualified to be a Jonin. But Chiyo insisted that the boy has not been given the Jonin rank from Sunagakure yet. Thus he's still able to join the Jonin exam."
Masahiko nodded, "So she wants to play dirty, huh? They really did it, but don't worry, I don't believe he can fight with Dai when he uses the Sixth Door."
Tobirama looked dignified, "He has a Kekkei Genkai, and he can use the Magnet Release. According to the intelligence, he's very strong, and he should have already reached the elite Jonin rank."
"Magnet Release?" Masahiko pondered and fell into deep thought for a while.
"Can he be the next Third Kazekage? No, it doesn't feel like it at all? Did Sasori make a puppet out of him? Dark blue hair color…" Masahiko couldn't remember.
Looking at the uneasiness in Tobirama's eyes, Masahiko shook his head, "They are cheating… And how about you? You said Sakumo is also a Jonin? Or is it only Orochimaru? Or should this Grandpa use the transformation technique and enter the exam?"
Tobirama froze for a while.
"Second Grandpa, are you trying to bully them? If you're saying so… I think it will be better to consider Orochimaru and Sakumo."
"You don't have to be so pessimistic, just wait until this Grandpa is done with these five kids."
Tobirama then nodded, "Okay, I'm counting on you then." And didn't mention what he's gonna do about Sakumo and Orochimaru.
Masahiko froze for a moment, and felt like he got kicked out of the equation…
Before he could talk, Tobirama said, "The other villages are coming one after another."
Masahiko smiled and said, "The other villages are not qualified to make you worry, Lord Hokage."
Tobirama shook his head, "Not long ago, I received a reply from Takigakure, saying that the Takikage will come."
"Takikage?" Masahiko was stunned and somewhat confused, "Didn't the Tsuchikage kill him? So the new one who has just got selected, is not busy stabilizing his village, and will come here in person?"
Tobirama nodded, "Takigakure situation is a little bit weird. They almost got destroyed by Iwagakure. At the crucial moment, according to the intelligent, they used half of the village's savings to hire an elite shinobi to protect the village, this mercenary shinobi is said to be quite strong, but until today we have not yet detected his true identity."
"After the First War, Takigakure actually continued to hire him and even gave him permission to act on behalf of the Takikage. Even I was surprised when I first heard about this.
Masahiko was also surprised and pondered for a while.
"Maybe, this Shinobi is originally from Takigakure?" Masahiko secretly said, "In the original, there shouldn't be such action from the village afterward, because Kumogakure was stronger at the time. But since we have weakened Kumogakure, Takugakure became ambitious, so even when their village has almost got destroyed, they still…"
Masahiko didn't really say anything to Tobiram about his speculation, but his suspicion was confirmed half a month later.
"You…" Masahiko was stunned.
"Senju Hashirama's little brother, Senju Tobirama, Bounty 80 million Ryo, and Elder Uzumaki Masahiko, Bounty reward 0 Ryo."
Masahiko was initially smiling upon seeing someone from the same generation still alive, but a particular sentence made that smile on his face stiff.
"My bounty is zero?" The black market thought that Masahiko will die naturally…
"Second Grandpa, this guy has actually dared to show his face again in front of us. This time we can't let him escape!"
Kakuzu smirked then spoke, "Lord Hokage, I'm here because I've accepted this mission from the Takigakure, I come here not to assassinate you, I came on behalf of Takigakure."
However, as he was explaining, it sounded to Tobirama more like, "I'm not here to assassinate you, so you can relax…"
Masahiko then laughed and said, "Forget it, you know how humiliated he was when he fails to assassinate your brother? He's become a laughing stock of every Netizen…"
"Netizen?" It was clear that Tobirama didn't understand what Masahiko has said.
Masahiko then asked Kakuzu, "You came here on behalf of the Takigakure? Where is your team?"
Kakuzu shook his head, "Currently, in Takigakure, there's no Shinobi eligible enough to join the Jonin exam."
Tobirama clenched his teeth, then said, "You really came to die then!" Tobirama still bore grudge at Kakuzu because he tried to assassinate Hashirama, and when it comes to the latter, he always loses his sanity…
"Please calm yourself, Lord Hokage." Kakuzu looked really restrained, "I'm here to inform you that Takigakure will be my village in the future, and we will go to wars, and even do assassination missions for Konoha, as long as the price is sufficient, I will even do it myself."
Masahiko was puzzled, thinking, "How could this be?"
"In the original story, Kakuzu is a lone wolf, who loves money… So when he accepted that mission to protect Takigakure, he found out how much they can make money faster than he makes alone?
Masahiko has mixed feelings thinking that this must be the reason.
"So Takigakure has turned into a mercenary village? Maybe this is the biggest change in the First War. In this case, Kakuzu might not join the Akatsuki… Uh, if Nagato stays in Uzumaki Clan, I don't think there will be familiar faces in the Akatsuki. In other words, there a chance that there will be no Akatsuki."
While getting lost in his though like usual, Masahiko suddenly realized that Tobirama was still arguing with Kakuzu.
Masahiko sighed helplessly, then said, "Okay, we received your message."
Kakuzu didn't say anything and just looked at Tobirama.
Tobirama looked back at Masahiko, he hesitated for a long time, then he nodded.
With this, Kakuzu left, but Tobirama couldn't help but ask, "Second Grandpa, why did you…"
Masahiko waved his hand, and interrupted, "He's strong, and maybe Konoha will need his service in the future. The key is that he has the guts to dare to assassinate anyone."
Tobirama didn't know how to respond to this…