"Saru, you never cease to surprise me," Tobirama remarked.
"At your old age, you cling to power and deny young talents a chance to shine," he continued.
"Or is it that under your leadership, Konoha lacks any noteworthy individuals?"
"But it doesn't matter. Now that the Fourth Hokage has been revived, the position of Konoha's Hokage will be handed over to him," Tobirama indifferently declared to the Third Hokage.
In Tobirama's heart, he no longer recognized Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō as his disciples. Even Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, if they were standing before him now, Tobirama would have certainly delivered a slap.
Simply put, they were worthless!
What contributions have they made by lingering around for so long? It would have been better if they had died earlier.
"Second Hokage, I..."
"First Hokage! Second Hokage!" Just as Minato was about to stand up and decline the position of Hokage to recommend Naruto, a sudden outburst of shouting from below interrupted him.
All eyes turned toward the source of the commotion.
"Imai? Okada? Aiba? Is it you?" Tobirama recognized a few familiar faces among the group below and exclaimed.
In response, a group of individuals leaped from the rooftop, gracefully landing in the practice field below.
Only the Third Hokage remained on the ground, with Asuma by his side for support.
"Father, we..." Asuma began to speak but was silenced by the Third Hokage's gesture.
"Let us descend," Hiruzen said, rising unsteadily.
Although he had been struck twice by Tobirama, the injuries were superficial. The more significant impact came from Naruto's sealing technique, which rendered his chakra sealed and reduced him to an ordinary individual, leaving him looking frail and feeble.
"Yes," Asuma replied quietly.
As he looked at his worn-out and disheveled father, Asuma felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he struggled to accept the actions of his father, and on the other hand, he couldn't deny the deep bond of family.
"You're still alive!" Hashirama and Tobirama gazed at their surviving clansmen with joy. They never expected that there were still members of the Senju clan who had managed to survive.
"First Hokage, Second Hokage! Help us get justice!" they cried out.
"Yes! The Senju clan has been completely wiped out under the reign of Sarutobi Hiruzen!"
"We were expelled from the Senju clan's land and it was taken over by the Sarutobi clan!"
"We had to change our names and relinquish the Senju surname just to survive!"
"And now he wants to eliminate us!"
More than a dozen elderly individuals with white hair wept before Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, causing a deep sense of discomfort within them.
"I'm sorry! It's all my fault! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this situation!" Tobirama apologized with a pained expression on his face.
At that moment, he felt an even greater sense of guilt as a sinner of the Senju clan.
"No! It's not the Second Hokage's fault!"
"That's right, it's all Sarutobi Hiruzen's fault!!"
"It's all that bastard Sarutobi Hiruzen!"
Asuma's interruption diverted their attention as he approached the Third Hokage, causing an uproar.
"Sarutobi! You bastard!"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen! What do you have to say in front of the First and Second Hokage!"
"Exactly! You still sent the Anbu to kill us all! Little did you know, we were saved by the Fourth Hokage!"
"Now comes the retribution!"
The group of people began to denounce the Third Hokage, hurling insults and curses at him.
"So...it was Minato?"
With two bright red handprints on his face, the Third Hokage stared blankly at the Senju members who he had once wished to eradicate. Hearing their words, he instantly realized why the operatives he had sent earlier returned empty-handed.
It was Minato who had saved them.
In other words, those rumors that had circulated before were part of Minato and Naruto's plan?
They were the ones pulling the strings from behind the scenes!
Third Hokage glanced at Minato and Naruto, but all he received in return were two indifferent gazes.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen!" Tobirama gritted his teeth and addressed the Third Hokage directly, abandoning the formalities.
"You have truly done a great job!"
"I hereby declare! Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura! You are no longer my disciples!"
Tobirama roared in anger.
"Sensei..." The Third Hokage looked at the Second Hokage in disbelief.
"Don't call me sensei! I don't have an apprentice like you!" Tobirama's anger was reaching its boiling point.
The surrounding ninjas also looked at the Second Hokage in astonishment.
They never expected the Second Hokage to be so decisive, expelling them from his lineage directly.
For Tobirama, the Third Hokage and Danzō's betrayal of their clan and their conspiracy against the Uzumaki family made them unworthy of being his disciples.
If it weren't for the sake of the greater good, he would have wanted to eradicate the entire Sarutobi and Shimura clans.
But he was fully aware that it was impossible. In the current era, if he were to take such action, the first to oppose him would be the major families of Konoha and the Jōnin standing before him...
Because Tobirama was alone, utterly alone.
"Sensei!"
"First Hokage, Sensei!"
At that moment, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, who had been following the news from the safety of their homes, finally arrived upon hearing that the First Hokage and Second Hokage had been reincarnated and regained consciousness, and Orochimaru had escaped.
What did they hear upon their arrival?
Hiruzen and Danzō had been disowned by their sensei?!
How could this be possible?
They had not been involved in those despicable acts with Hiruzen and Danzō!
The destruction of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, they did not know it was planned by the two of them!
They only now learned that it was Danzō who had caused the death of Uchiha Kagami and forced the White Fang to commit suicide!
Why should they be blamed for the mistakes of others?
They also saw the scattered papers on the ground and understood everything.
That's why they were confused.
"Don't call me sensei! You are not worthy!" Tobirama said coldly.
"But sensei... we didn't do those things!" Utatane Koharu felt unjust.
"Yes, sensei, we did not know about their actions," Mitokado Homura shared the same sentiment.
Why should they be implicated in the faults of others?
"Did you not participate? You didn't know?!" Tobirama looked at them coldly.
"Yes, we... we..." The two nodded guiltily.
Suddenly, Tobirama stepped forward, standing in front of them.
Snapped!
Snapped!
They felt a sharp pain on their faces as they were sent flying backward, the force much greater than Tobirama's earlier slap on the Third Hokage.
"Even now, you are still making excuses! You still want to absolve yourselves!"
"Do you know what? I truly regret accepting you as my disciples!"
"I repeat, from this moment on, the four of you are no longer my, Senju Tobirama's, disciples!"
"You are not worthy!" Tobirama declared his final verdict.
…