As the mentor of the Third Hokage, Danzo, and the others, the Second Hokage had poured an extraordinary amount of effort into nurturing his disciples. In the end, he had even stayed behind alone to hold off the elite pursuit force led by the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure, sacrificing himself to ensure his disciples could escape. Ultimately, he had exhausted his strength and died on the way back to the village.
Thus, when Danzo’s familiar face entered his sight, the Second Hokage’s attention was immediately drawn to him.
"Mangekyo Sharingan?!"
Noticing the crimson glow in Danzo’s eyes, the Second Hokage was momentarily stunned. Then, his brows furrowed.
"No, that’s not the Mangekyo Sharingan. It’s the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"
The First Hokage also turned his gaze toward Danzo and nodded slightly.
"Mm, indeed. Just like Madara, those are the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"
Unlike ordinary shinobi, the First and Second Hokage, who had personally dealt with Madara—the greatest genius in the history of the Uchiha clan—understood the Sharingan no less thoroughly than the Uchiha themselves.
This was especially true of the First Hokage.
Having once fought a fierce battle against Madara’s Complete Body Susanoo, he could easily determine, merely by looking at the dark-red Susanoo projected around Danzo, that the eyes in Danzo’s sockets were indeed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, on the same level as Madara’s eyes back then!
Moreover, for some inexplicable reason, the First Hokage felt that Danzo’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan seemed even more sinister than Madara’s had been.
It was as though those eyes were overflowing with violent killing intent and the pungent stench of blood!
After receiving the First Hokage’s confirmation, the Second Hokage’s expression immediately turned solemn. He questioned Danzo sharply.
"Why?! Why do you possess those eyes that bear an endless curse?!"
The Second Hokage’s prejudice against the Uchiha and their Sharingan was deeply ingrained.
Therefore, upon seeing his beloved disciple possessing a pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan that did not belong to him, he was both astonished and furious.
In his mind, his prized disciple must have lost himself in the pursuit of power, strayed from the Will of Fire, and become obsessed with the sinister power of the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan. That was why he had resorted to some means to obtain this pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Atop the ruins of the ritual altar.
Danzo panted heavily as he turned his gaze toward the Second Hokage in the distance.
Looking at that familiar, comforting figure, a trace of nostalgia appeared in his eyes, and he murmured to himself:
"Is... is that you, Sensei?"
Evidently, the appearance of the First and Second Hokage’s reanimated bodies had allowed the berserk Danzo to regain a faint trace of his rationality.
"Honorable Hokage predecessors, perhaps you should save the reunion for later!"
Orochimaru smiled, speaking in his uniquely hoarse yet captivating voice.
The First and Second Hokage’s reanimated bodies turned simultaneously to look at Orochimaru.
However, their gazes did not contain the uncontrollable fury Kagami had anticipated.
On the contrary, both the First and Second Hokage appeared remarkably calm. Although there was some irritation in their expressions, what stood out more was curiosity—a desire to investigate Orochimaru’s identity.
Pointing toward the delirious Danzo in the distance, Orochimaru explained:
"The man before you first used a conspiracy to force the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, out of office and seize the position of Hokage. Then, through forbidden techniques, he murdered over a thousand Konoha shinobi outside this cavern to obtain those sinister Sharingan. To eliminate this enormous threat to the shinobi world, I had no choice but to summon you two back from the Pure Land."
Standing beside him, Kagami’s expression stiffened.
"Orochimaru really has the nerve to say all that! Isn’t he afraid the First Hokage will turn around and slap him to death?!"
After hearing Orochimaru’s explanation, the Second Hokage’s expression grew increasingly gloomy.
He stared at Danzo and the blood-soaked Susanoo enveloping him. Sensing the sinister chakra emanating from the Susanoo, he demanded:
"Danzo, is all of this true?! Did you really make a move against Hiruzen?!"
The First Hokage performed a brief sensory check and confirmed that there were indeed over a thousand Konoha shinobi outside the volcanic cavern.
Moreover, the vast majority of them had extremely weak life forces and were hovering on the brink of death.
His expression also turned solemn.
"S-Sensei, you’re the one who’s wrong! Hiruzen isn’t worthy of becoming Hokage! I’m the one best suited to be Hokage!"
Constantly battered by murderous intent and madness, Danzo could barely maintain even the most basic level of rationality.
He was utterly incapable of organizing his thoughts well enough to refute Orochimaru’s insidious accusations.
Besides, not everything Orochimaru had said was a false accusation.
Quite a few of those claims were actually true.
The First Hokage gently patted the Second Hokage on the shoulder and said:
"Tobirama, this disciple of yours has already lost his rationality. We absolutely cannot allow an ambitious man like him to become Hokage. We must stop him!"
Evidently, Orochimaru’s words had achieved their intended effect.
Compared to Orochimaru, who had dared to manipulate the dead, an Acting Hokage like Danzo, blinded by ambition and consumed by his pursuit of power, was the true threat to Konoha and the shinobi world.
He was the problem that needed to be dealt with first.
Back then, for the sake of Konoha and the shinobi world, the First Hokage had even been willing to kill Uchiha Madara, a man he regarded as a brother.
Let alone Danzo, who was clearly no longer in his right mind!
The Second Hokage fell silent.
He had never imagined that a day like this would come.
Orochimaru smiled.
"That is indeed the responsibility of you two former Hokage!"
The First Hokage glanced at Orochimaru before shifting his gaze toward Kagami, who stood beside him.
With a somewhat gratified expression, he remarked:
"Another pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan? Hmm, this pair seems relatively normal. You must be the current patriarch of the Uchiha clan, right?"
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Kagami’s eyes, just like Madara’s, had been obtained by fusing two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan belonging to blood relatives.
This was the most orthodox method of obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Therefore, unlike the pair Danzo had acquired through the Bloodline Fusion Ritual, Kagami’s eyes did not possess that same sinister quality.
At this moment, the Second Hokage also turned his head and examined Kagami for a moment before reminding the First Hokage:
"Big Brother, her outfit is the same as that fellow with the gale-patterned mask who fought us last time. They should belong to the same organization!"
During the previous battle at the Uchiha ruins, although Orochimaru had suppressed the consciousnesses of the First and Second Hokage, they were still perfectly aware of everything they had done.
In particular, Furin’s formidable strength had left a deep impression on the Second Hokage.
The First Hokage scratched his head.
"Is that so...?"
Undoubtedly, the rather carefree First Hokage did not have much of an impression of their previous battle.
And in his eyes, Furin had not been powerful enough to leave a particularly lasting impression on him, either.
"This arrogant Uchiha had better not let anything slip!"
Orochimaru also turned his gaze toward Kagami, a faint trace of worry appearing in his eyes. He was afraid that Kagami might accidentally reveal something he shouldn’t.
Although Orochimaru appeared to have everything under control, he was actually feeling extremely uneasy.
After loosening the restrictions on the First and Second Hokage’s reanimated bodies, he had essentially lost every means of controlling them.
The only thing he could still do was release the Impure World Reincarnation and send the First and Second Hokage back to the Pure Land.
Therefore, if the First and Second Hokage discovered that everyone inside the cavern was actually one of the masterminds behind this Bloodline Fusion Ritual...
Things would certainly get interesting!