Uchiha Tomie looked at Tobirama, whose expression had drastically changed, and smiled.
"You're quite an interesting person... We only just met, yet you're actually feeling sad for me?"
Tomie said with a gentle smile: "You don't need to worry about me. Death would be a relief for me. Living is what's truly painful..."
After speaking, she coughed softly, covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief in a refined manner before discreetly slipping it into her pocket.
Tobirama's brows furrowed tightly.
When Izuna possessed him, the various abilities of his body would receive slight passive enhancement...
Combined with the moment the Uchiha danger radar had started blaring—
Tobirama had already activated a sensory technique to sharpen his five senses.
He smelled blood.
And at this distance, although Tobirama could not precisely sense the fluctuations of every bodily function the way Mito's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could—
he could still perceive the manifested imagery of chakra...
In Tobirama's perception, Tomie's chakra resembled a stagnant lake of death.
Calm and motionless on the surface, yet concealing profound darkness beneath.
"Izuna, what do you think?"
Tobirama could not help but feel a headache coming on.
"What exactly is wrong with Isshin? I absolutely need to criticize his work once we get back!"
No matter how much Tobirama believed Izuna's description of an "Uchiha landmine woman" was exaggerated... he still felt that a matchmaking candidate absolutely should not be someone like this.
This was far too abnormal...
And besides, how exactly was Isshin doing his job as a "Konoha committee member"?
How had such an obvious unstable factor never been recorded?
"This is no ordinary Uchiha woman anymore. We have to be cautious..."
Izuna said seriously: "Through your eyes, I saw emotions inside her as dry as firewood. If they ignite, the consequences could become terrifying."
"There are many forms of bloodline disease within the Uchiha Clan. They're especially common among geniuses who grow stronger too quickly, and once they erupt, they progress violently..."
"So she may not even be able to hold on much longer. Most likely, she won't become any kind of threat..."
Those words were extremely cruel.
The body was always the foundation of everything...
Although the Uchiha Clan possessed the trait of becoming more obsessive the stronger they grew, once a bloodline disease was added into the mix, even if they wished to commit some extreme act, their physical condition often could not support it.
Most would simply wither away while clinging to that obsession.
"This girl really is close to death, which is why all of this is surfacing. Before people die, they always want some kind of release..."
Izuna analyzed the situation for Tobirama: "This isn't Isshin's fault. You've only been among the Uchiha for a year or two. There are many things you still don't understand..."
"Aside from congenital cases, bloodline diseases are often triggered by excessive negative emotions erupting over a short period of time. This is deeply tied to the Uchiha bloodline and the mechanisms of the Sharingan."
"There are many forms of negative emotion... In Tomie's case, her desire for destruction isn't particularly strong. Instead, she's desperately seeking death as a form of release. Most likely, she's fallen into confusion."
Izuna continued: "If we ignore her, I don't think she'll bring destruction upon the village or the clan..."
"But she will definitely die."
Inside the mental space, Tobirama slowly nodded.
Speaking with Izuna...
Putting aside the fact that the man was a rabid dog, communicating with him really was comfortable. He understood how to grasp the key points...
And he also understood the logic behind solving problems and analyzing situations.
Tobirama suddenly thought of Danzō.
In Tobirama's eyes, Danzō's approach to researching Wind Release chakra mode was nothing but a tangled mess with no structure whatsoever.
A hammer blow here, a random sweep there. No wonder he'd spent one or two years making zero progress...
"So what do you think we should do?" Tobirama asked thoughtfully.
If it had been his former self, he most likely would have assigned the ANBU to monitor this girl around the clock until the day she died.
Cold and merciless, certainly.
But back then, the relationship between the Uchiha and the village had been tense. It had simply been the most efficient choice possible.
There had been little room for humanity or the Will of Fire...
"If it were the old me encountering a clansman like this, I would have placed her under surveillance until her bloodline disease deteriorated beyond saving. Only then would I find someone to repair relations with her in order to preserve my reputation..."
Izuna said something shocking, words completely at odds with the public image of him as someone who deeply loved his clan: "She carries blood debt connected to me. There is no room left for reconciliation. Trying to repair relations with a clansman like this would affect the bigger picture, and there might not even be a good outcome..."
"At that point, sacrifices have to be made."
Tobirama blinked.
No way...
The two of them were actually this synchronized?
A thought stirred in Tobirama's mind as he softly said: "But things are different now, aren't they? You're no longer the Young Clan Head. You're just a Warring States-era shinobi who died many years ago..."
"Back when you sat in that position, you could only view problems from a macro perspective and suppress your personal emotions. Even if some individuals had to be sacrificed, you could only grit your teeth and keep moving forward. That was the Warring States era..."
Izuna let out a sigh.
Those words truly struck at the core of his heart...
Being the Young Clan Head was not an easy thing.
For someone as emotionally intense as Izuna, it had been torment.
Once one stood in a position that carried ultimate responsibility for the collective, their primary identity became that of a leader in power—rather than an individual with ordinary human emotions and desires.
To maximize the interests of the collective, personal morality, guilt, and private grudges all had to give way to that central objective.
Once one wavered because of the tragedy of a few individuals, even more people would die to internal conflict, to war, and to the fragmentation of the clan.
And in truth, Tobirama's words were also drawn from his own experiences as Hokage.
"You... You truly were born to be a clan leader, Seisui!"
Izuna praised him sincerely: "Not just a clan leader—even the Hokage at your age might not have had your level of thinking..."
Izuna felt deeply gratified.
To return to the world of the living once more and meet a descendant like Seisui who matched him so perfectly...
It was simply wonderful!
Although Izuna was generally gentle toward his clansmen, he also disliked foolish people...
Communicating with them was exhausting!
Tobirama sneered inwardly.
How many shinobi had you even led? At most, the Uchiha Clan...
He had been the Second Hokage!
"So you've softened, haven't you, Izuna?"
Tobirama said quietly: "You're no longer the Young Clan Head. The hatred this girl carries isn't directed at you personally anymore, and your identity is no longer exposed before the public for endless scrutiny and interpretation..."
And those words were also Tobirama's true thoughts.
He was no longer Hokage.
Reaching out to help an Uchiha would not be viewed as a political incident anymore. It would merely be a young man sincerely wanting to help a fellow clanswoman...
"Yes... That's right..."
Izuna sighed. He felt that 'Seisui' had practically seen straight through him.
"And the era is different now. This is no longer the Warring States era where rapid decisions and overwhelming force were necessary to maintain stability..."
"I want to help this girl. Consider it a way of expressing some of my apology. I don't regret killing her grandfather, but in the end, this situation was still caused by me."
Izuna's thoughts were also Tobirama's thoughts.
Tomie's father had died consumed by grief and resentment?
Tobirama found it regrettable, but there had been no helping it.
Back then, Tobirama could never have released the Uchiha from the Police Force over the tragedy of one or two people...
He had to play the role of a cold machine that maintained the village's stability.
At that moment, Tobirama gained a new understanding of words Hiruzen had once said to him.
'Do some things you actually want to do. Live a new life without carrying the burden of being Hokage...'
"However, Seisui, I have to tell you something..."
Izuna spoke thoughtfully: "There are both advantages and disadvantages if you decide to help her."
"For Konoha, an Uchiha like this often possesses tremendous potential. She can practically be viewed as a Mangekyō candidate..."
"And you understand the abilities of the Mangekyō as well. Its dōjutsu can achieve effects beyond even ordinary forbidden techniques. Having a loyal Mangekyō within the village would bring endless benefits..."
Izuna, who considered himself half a Konoha shinobi, began weighing the pros and cons for Tobirama.
Tobirama nodded. He thought the same way.
If he could help produce another Mangekyō loyal to the Will of Fire for Konoha, why wouldn't he?
Isshin himself was proof enough...
When properly used, a Mangekyō could even allow Tobirama to deceive Mito together with the Nine-Tails...
It had even brought Izuna back from the Pure Land...
The possibilities were endless!
Tobirama also considered another angle.
The essence of Tomie's tragedy was the echo of the scars left behind by the Warring States era.
Within a single Uchiha girl were entangled two symbolic figures: Izuna and Tobirama.
If her problems could be properly resolved... then it would mean that the hatred between the Senju and the Uchiha could be interpreted as something caused by the terrible environment of the Warring States era, rather than some irreconcilable contradiction between the two clans themselves...
Hatred was the sickness of an era, not the fate of its people.
It could further reinforce Konoha's current narrative of "unity and moving forward together."
Excellent material for promoting the Will of Fire...
"But for you personally, this may become a burden."
Izuna coughed lightly.
"I know what kind of person you are. You're young, and young people naturally have a rebellious streak... The truth is, you aren't especially interested in romance, are you?"
"Like that Uzumaki Shio—you rejected her..."
"Rather than wanting a relationship, it's more that after I said Uchiha girls were dangerous, you wanted to personally prove me wrong in order to defend the clan's reputation..."
Tobirama was startled inwardly.
Wait...
You could even tell that?
Now he truly had been seen through.
Izuna chuckled.
"You think those stories I told were fake? These eyes of mine already saw through the fact that you're completely inexperienced when it comes to romance..."
Tobirama felt slightly embarrassed.
There was nothing shameful about never having dated before, but being completely seen through by Izuna was humiliating!
Izuna's tone suddenly turned serious.
"So what I need to tell you is this—even if you have no intention of dating her..."
"If you pull Tomie out of the mud only to reject her afterward, something truly terrifying might happen. It won't matter much for the village, but for you personally, it'll become extremely troublesome!"
"I'm serious, Seisui! You absolutely have to think this through carefully. This isn't something simple. Although I think the chances of success are greatest if the two of us save her together, for your sake we could also use another method..."
"We could have Isshin take the lead..." Even Izuna himself sounded uncertain as he said that.
Isshin had not even noticed Tomie's problems in the first place. If he tried talking to her, it probably would not accomplish anything...
The fact that Tomie had already been willing to share some of her true thoughts with 'Seisui' upon first meeting him was already an excellent start.
Izuna was simply afraid that 'Seisui' would end up entangled by Tomie's likely obsessive attachment after saving her, to the point that it would affect the relationship between him and 'Seisui'...
Back then, when Izuna himself had once been targeted by an obsessive Uchiha woman and Madara casually told him to just marry her if things got bad enough, Izuna had very rarely exploded at his older brother in anger...
People who had never experienced that kind of intensity simply would not understand!
"Forget Isshin. Since we encountered this ourselves, we can't just avoid it..."
"Helping comrades is only natural."
Tobirama said indifferently: "Don't worry. I won't let her misunderstand anything."
In Tobirama's view, all he had to do was make things clear from the very beginning.
He had already managed to shake off Uzumaki Shio by using the excuse of becoming sworn siblings...
Could Uchiha women really be more troublesome than the Uzumaki Clan?
He refused to believe it...
Even in the absolute worst-case scenario, Tobirama had already decided to have Danzō "teach" him the Flying Thunder God Technique. At that point, who could possibly find him?
Even Mito at her peak had never been able to completely grasp his whereabouts!
What Tobirama did not realize, however, was—
his impression that Uzumaki women were difficult to deal with came entirely from Mito.
That was an isolated case.
And even then, it was only because of Hashirama's dying request for her to keep an eye on him. Mito and Hashirama themselves had always had an excellent relationship...
Tobirama had made the mistake of relying too heavily on personal experience.
"Fine then. Since you've said so, let's help her together..."
Izuna nodded, an inexplicable sense of amusement surfacing in his heart.
Good words could never persuade someone determined to walk toward death...
When the time came, he would even get to enjoy a good show! After all, he had already tried warning Seisui countless times...
'At worst, Seisui just ends up marrying Tomie... It's not like I'm the one marrying her!'
Once Izuna adjusted his mindset, the corners of his mouth rose high.
He enjoyed freedom and fun, so he had never wanted to hang himself from a single tree...
Originally, Izuna had even hoped Seisui would find several women in the future instead of tying himself down too early...
But now, perhaps it was better not to inherit his bad habits after all!
Being smothered in excessive Uchiha love the moment he debuted might actually be a good thing...
However, there was still one enormous problem hidden within all this.
After all, 'Seisui' carried both his and Tobirama's bloodline. If Tomie ever learned the truth in the future...
It would still be manageable if the two never fell in love.
But if they truly ended up together, then things would become extremely difficult to describe.
Twisted!
The moment Izuna thought about it, his head started aching.
He could practically envision a woman weeping tears of blood while staring at both him and Seisui...
'What a sin...'
Izuna rubbed his brow.
'Still, Seisui's identity isn't impossible to hide forever. The important people already know anyway...'
Izuna took a deep breath.
"Seisui..."
"First, you need to establish emotional resonance with her. You came from Kusagakure and suffered even more than she did—but don't emphasize that just because you suffered, she has no right to feel miserable."
"After that, you need to understand why she's so lost and so desperate to die. That's the gap in her heart you need to reach."
"During this process, listen to my instructions. If I tell you to make appropriate physical contact with her, don't hesitate. Do exactly as I say immediately..."
"And remember this—your identity absolutely cannot be exposed! At least not now..."
Izuna smoothly shifted into strategist mode and began instructing Tobirama.
Tobirama silently nodded inwardly.
As a scientist, he understood one principle—
professionals should handle professional matters.
He trusted that Izuna would not sabotage him!
"Thank you for the hospitality. The desserts and drinks were all wonderful..."
Tomie elegantly finished the last piece of cake and softly said to Tobirama: "I'm sorry for making you sit in silence for so long. I'll pay the bill."
"I'm very happy that I got to meet you in person today."
"Please don't blame Clan Head Isshin. No one knows about my situation..."
"I plan to find a warm place with blooming spring flowers and live out the remainder of my days in seclusion. I'd also ask you to keep this secret for me. I don't want to be disturbed."
A sharp gleam flashed through Izuna's eyes.
"Seisui, she's interested in you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to meet you despite being this seriously ill..."
"You can be a little bolder when you speak now."
Tobirama indicated he understood.
Looking at Tomie, Tobirama softly said: "Then why come to see me despite being gravely ill? If you simply wanted someone to talk to, why leave in such a hurry?"
"I want to keep listening to your story..."
"And sorry—I wasn't intentionally staying silent earlier. I was just remembering the days when I was a slave in Kusagakure..."
"Back then, I never had enough food or warm clothes, and my chakra was drained day after day. I was so lost that the world felt like a massive black lake, and I was drowning within it without any sense of direction..."
Tomie's eyes suddenly brightened.
She felt just as lost!
"So you were lost too?" Tomie asked curiously.
"You may not know this, but I've actually been paying attention to you for quite some time, because you resemble Uchiha Izuna very closely."
"May I say something rude?"
After receiving Tobirama's approval, Tomie gave a self-mocking smile.
"I even once considered killing you, because you resembled Izuna so much that you might have been his descendant..."
"But after hearing your speech at the clan assembly, and hearing about your resolve to inherit the Great Clan Head's will, I abandoned that thought. I felt that you were someone capable of changing the clan..."
"The fact that you dared to publicly denounce Shimura Danzō proves that, deep down, you're different from both Izuna and Senju Tobirama. You're someone willing to correct mistakes and acknowledge individual suffering..."
"I won't live long enough to see the day you make the village better. But before I die, I still wanted to see you up close—to see the boy who inherited the Great Clan Head's will..."
Izuna's mouth twitched.
This was the first time he had ever heard a clansman say that Madara's reputation was better than his own...
So doing nothing meant making no mistakes, huh?!
Back when Izuna was alive, Madara's role had mostly consisted of standing around with a cold face before going out to fight enemies to the death.
He did not handle internal affairs whatsoever...
Madara's reputation within the clan had practically been built entirely by Izuna himself.
Many policies had been Izuna's ideas, yet they had to be promoted as Madara's accomplishments solely to craft the image of a great leader...
Thus, after Izuna's death, the Madara who differed from the clan's public image caused major unrest within the Uchiha Clan...
Even Tobirama could not help sighing in admiration at how effective Hiruzen's methods were!
After discovering that his beloved student Hiruzen had dominated everywhere by constantly using Hashirama's reputation as a banner...
Tobirama, who respected other people's intellectual property, had very flexibly started carrying Madara's banner within the Uchiha Clan...
And as expected, the move had successfully united quite a few hearts, gradually influencing clansmen throughout the clan...
"Why are you so certain you won't live to see the day the village becomes better?"
Tobirama let out a sigh and immediately started laying defensive groundwork first: "To be honest, I don't really want a romantic relationship. I don't even know my actual age. Some people say I look almost eighteen because of my build... Others think I might only be thirteen or fourteen."
"The reason I came here was because I wanted to make friends. Clan Head Isshin also pressured me into it..."
"And as for you, I can tell that you're a gentle person. Even though hatred exists in your heart, you're still considerate toward others. So I want us to become friends. Is that alright?"
Tomie hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Tobirama immediately pressed the advantage.
"Since we're friends now, may I ask you a rather rude question?"
Tomie smiled faintly.
"Of course. I said something rude earlier as well."
"You harbor hatred toward both the clan and the village, so why did you choose to end yourself instead?"
"You still acknowledge the Great Clan Head's will. Logically speaking, you should've wanted blood for blood and tooth for tooth..."
Tobirama spoke slowly: "And yet, when I look into your eyes, all I see is confusion—without any desire for destruction."
Tomie's heart trembled.
Tobirama's words had pierced directly into the deepest part of her heart.
She remained silent for a long time.
Only then did she slowly speak: "At the beginning, my bloodline disease actually wasn't that severe... I truly did hate Senju Tobirama and Izuna, and I even thought about taking revenge against the village and the clan."
"But later, the Third-sama governed Konoha extremely well... Many people said he inherited the First-sama's will, but I think he actually absorbed the Great Clan Head's will instead..."
"Because he dared to face the problems within the village and tried his best not to ignore individuals."
"I received a great deal of assistance funding. The village even sent my parents' former comrades to visit and comfort me, and the clan itself gradually became more humane as well."
"Although the Third-sama never said it outright, through his actions, he apologized on behalf of Senju Tobirama and Izuna. None of it was even his fault, yet he was still so sincere..."
"So I no longer knew where my hatred was supposed to go..."
"I don't hate Konoha anymore, and the Uchiha are part of Konoha, so I no longer want to destroy the Uchiha either."
Tomie revealed a tragically beautiful smile.
"And yet, my father's and grandmother's obsessions and hatred are still vivid in my mind..."
"Within this enormous Konoha, everyone is embracing the arrival of the new era, while I'm the only one trapped in the past by hatred. This confusion torments me day and night."
"Perhaps this is the punishment for abandoning the hatred of my loved ones..."
"My dōjutsu power and chakra keep growing rapidly, but my body becomes worse with each passing day. Sometimes I can barely breathe without feeling tightness in my chest. Every morning I cough up blood endlessly, and soon I won't even be able to walk anymore..."
Both Tobirama and Izuna fell silent after hearing this.
This was far too Uchiha!
And listening to it was genuinely heartbreaking as well...
She had given up her hatred toward the village and the clan, only to become consumed by guilt over doing so and endlessly torment herself in return...
Izuna slowly exhaled.
"Seisui..."
"Do you realize something? If Konoha hadn't developed this well, Tomie's bloodline disease might never have erupted. The hatred in her heart would've never excessively stimulated her talent..."
"And yet precisely because Konoha developed so well—because everyone else is striding boldly into the future while she alone remains chained to the hatred of the past—it created the negative emotions that torment her day and night..."
Tobirama silently nodded.
Uchiha emotions really were this complicated...
And he also gained an entirely new understanding of Hiruzen's reputation among the Uchiha.
How had the man somehow become Madara's ideological successor?
Thinking he inherited Hashirama's will was one thing, but believing he inherited Madara's was complete madness!
Absolutely insane...
"I actually did think about surviving..."
Tomie said softly: "But every time I imagine myself begging the clan and the village for help just to stay alive, I feel as though I can see my grandmother's and father's faces..."
"They're crying tears of blood while calling me spineless!"
"Simply not hating the clan and the village anymore already took everything I had. I can't bring myself to ask them for help..."
Tomie shook her head.
"My entire body is failing. I've searched through countless medical texts and found no corresponding treatment. So even if I sought help, it would only make me suffer more..."
"It would be better to die cleanly."
After listening to Tomie's tangled confession, the exact same thought surfaced in both Tobirama's and Izuna's minds...
Her emotions were as vast as the ocean itself! Combined with the talent amplified by her bloodline disease...
As long as Tomie survived, awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan was practically inevitable.
Izuna fell into deep thought.
This type... even he had never encountered before...
But at that moment, Tobirama spoke.
Calmly, he said: "The Police Force issue your father worried himself to death over has already been resolved under the Third-sama's leadership..."
"As for your grandmother's delirious ramblings before death, that was simply because old age had clouded her mind, causing her to speak about the Warring States era. It wasn't because she still hated the clan."
"You should understand that Izuna opposed an alliance between the Senju and the Uchiha... The current clansmen are descendants of those who opposed Izuna."
Tobirama twisted the logic with remarkable smoothness: "So your relatives would never want you to continue carrying hatred. They would only want you to live well in this new era and properly enjoy a life different from the past..."
Tomie stared blankly at Tobirama, her eyes completely unfocused, while his tone remained utterly steady.
"You should have figured these things out yourself. The reason you've remained trapped within such a simple line of reasoning is because your bloodline disease has interfered with your thinking, preventing you from making clear logical deductions."
"At first, you may have been able to understand it. But as your thinking became increasingly emotional and obsessive, the cost of remaining trapped within this fixation grew greater with every passing year, until it eventually became the anchor of your entire existence..."
"It's not that you refused to think about it. You were afraid to think about it. Because once you did, you'd have to face the possibility that all these years of meaningless internal torment and suffering were built upon a complete mistake..."
Tomie's lips parted slightly.
Was this really how someone comforted another person?!
"How... How can you be so certain that my grandmother and father would've wanted me to let go?!"
Three tomoe emerged within Tomie's eyes, her gaze turning fierce.
The dōjutsu power within them was extraordinarily dense. Combined with her deathly pale complexion, she resembled a gravely ill tiger—one that might devour someone at any moment.
"Would you like to test it? I could apply to the village for permission to study the Impure World Reincarnation technique."
Tobirama showed no fear whatsoever as he said: "I can reincarnate your family with Impure World Reincarnation. Then you can simply ask them yourselves."
Izuna covered his face.
He was genuinely stunned speechless.
That damned technique Tobirama invented could actually be used like this too?
Was this man seriously out here granting people's final wishes?!
And how was this supposed to count as comforting a young girl? Every sentence stabbed directly into her heart like a surgical scalpel!
He really hadn't inherited Izuna's talent in this area at all...
Tomie was stunned as well.
So your solution is to dig up my family's graves?!
But strangely enough, after Tobirama laid things out this way, Tomie genuinely did not know how to refute him anymore...
Ninjutsu truly was something miraculous.
Turning the impossible into possible.
"So you're saying... all these years, I've just been destroying myself for no reason?"
Tomie's gaze trembled. It felt as though something inside her heart had suddenly become hollow, as if an enormous emptiness were about to swallow her whole.
"Fate is simply that merciless. I also wasted who knows how many years away in Kusagakure..."
Tobirama suddenly grabbed Tomie's pale wrist.
"But in the end, people still have to move forward. Both you and I are still young, aren't we?"
This was him strictly carrying out Izuna's instructions about physical contact...
Though he himself had no idea what significance it was supposed to have...
"Your illness can be cured."
"Others may not be able to cure it, but I can."
Tobirama spoke seriously: "Don't worry. I can have my sensei Danzō gather resources for you. I'm also quite familiar with the Hokage and Mito-sama, and I personally know a bit about medical ninjutsu as well."
"You just need to cooperate. You can still eat and walk right now, which means the situation isn't severe."
Tomie felt dizzy listening to Tobirama's words.
What did he mean by being familiar with Mito-sama, the Hokage's advisor, and even the Hokage himself?
It felt like she had accidentally stepped straight into Konoha's highest circles...
Persuading someone to let go of the hatred in their hands!
"Why are you helping me this much?"
Tomie stared at the hand gripping her wrist, yet she still did not pull away.
This boy's hands were actually rather nice-looking...
"You must've attended the clan-wide meetings before. You should know that I once said my father is the village, the clan is my mother, and my lover is the Land of Fire."
"And you also know that the Great Clan Head's will is about protecting actual people."
"Since I've inherited the Great Clan Head's will, then I can't just watch you continue ruining yourself—especially when I'm confident I can cure you."
Tobirama said seriously: "Besides, I'm also very interested in your illness. Bloodline diseases are extremely useful for dissecting the mechanisms of the Sharingan. Your case could also serve as a future reference for other unfortunate clansmen."
"This is a fair exchange. You let me study your body, and I obtain experimental data."
Izuna rubbed his brow.
This conversation somehow felt extremely dangerous...
"Study my body?"
Tomie suddenly smiled.
"Fine then. You can study it all you want! I wouldn't even mind if you studied it for a lifetime..."
Who could possibly resist a man who offered to reincarnate your dead family members just to confront them face-to-face, while speaking with such cold and direct logic?
Tomie, who had been trapped by overwhelming emotion, had unquestionably had her psychological defenses pierced apart by Tobirama's steel-like rationality.
And the warmth from the hand gripping her arm seemed to remind her as well... that this boy was not truly as emotionless as his words sounded.
"It won't take a lifetime. At most, half a year to one year."
Tobirama withdrew his hand and frowned.
"Don't underestimate my abilities."
"Come report to Root with me tomorrow. Go back and prepare yourself..."
Tomie froze for a moment before studying Tobirama with obvious amusement.
Even if he ultimately failed to cure her, today's experience alone would still become a memory worth treasuring...
It wasn't that Tomie was narcissistic. It was simply that the moment they met, he had already mobilized so many connections and resources to treat her illness...
And the two of them had met through a matchmaking arrangement at that...
It was difficult not to suspect there might be some other emotions hidden beneath all this.
Watching the scene unfold, Izuna could only feel that 'Seisui's' methods were absolutely astonishing...
You could actually pursue someone like this?!
Ridiculous...
Tomie carefully looked Tobirama over once more before smiling with curved eyes.
"Then... see you tomorrow."
"Mm."
Tobirama nodded.
"Seisui, are you sure you don't want a relationship?"
After Tomie left, Izuna could not help asking.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Did harassing too many people back in the Warring States era damage your brain? You're always thinking about pointless things..."
Tobirama instantly fired back: "Look at how much respect she has for boundaries! Once the research and treatment are over, everyone can simply go back to handling their own business..."
"I still have a lot of things to do!"
Izuna merely let out an "oh" and did not argue back, though his expression became extremely colorful.
So what you're saying is... you're going to save her and then immediately kick her aside afterward?
Someone who didn't know better would think you were speedrunning the cultivation of a Mangekyō Sharingan!
The next day.
Early morning at Root.
Danzō let out a yawn. Following the instructions his "disciple" had left behind, he had worked through the entire night.
Whether it was the optimization of the ANBU intelligence department's structure or the Wind Release chakra mode...
every sentence was packed with insight and worthy of repeated study!
And at this moment—
Tobirama swaggered in together with Tomie.
"Hey..."
"Do me a favor."
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