"Explain," Tobirama demanded.
Hashirama and Tobirama stared down at the two bodies on the floor, a cold knot of dread tightening in their chests. Danzo simply waved his hand. Behind him, Yamanaka Fu stepped forward, dragging the corpses closer.
"My lords," Fu said, bowing slightly. "I am a ninja of the Yamanaka clan."
"The Yamanaka clan!" Tobirama's eyes narrowed. He instantly grasped Danzo's intent. "You want us to see the memories inside these dead men?"
Danzo nodded. "Please, First and Second Hokage. Forgive the intrusion."
Fu knelt beside the bodies. He placed one hand on the forehead of a corpse and the other on Tobirama's. Then, he activated his technique.
Memories flooded into Tobirama's mind, and his expression darkened rapidly.
"He's not dead?" Tobirama's voice was a low growl.
"Impossible!" he snapped a moment later. "Show me the other one!"
Fu obediently switched to the second body, linking minds again. Hashirama, standing nearby, leaned in curiously. "Tobirama? What is it? Did you see Madara Uchiha?"
Hashirama forced a laugh, though it sounded hollow. "Haha, just kidding. It can't be him. Back then, I had to fight him to the death for the village. It broke my heart until the very end..."
His eyes were distant, filled with genuine sorrow. But Tobirama's expression remained grim, his suspicion palpable as he looked at his brother.
"What? You look so serious," Hashirama said, shifting uncomfortably. "It really isn't Madara Uchiha, is it?"
He remembered clearly—he had torn Madara's heart out from behind. That was a fact.
"Brother, see for yourself."
Tobirama stepped aside. Yamanaka Fu placed his hand on Hashirama's forehead.
Instantly, the images hit him.
Minato Namikaze. Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, weaving effortlessly through enemy ranks, claiming lives with every flash.
Kushina Uzumaki. Her long red hair flying wildly, unleashing countless Adamantine Sealing Chains. She snatched fleeing ninjas back to the battlefield or simply impaled them.
Hidan. His body covered in skull-like black and white markings, standing in a blood-red sacrificial circle. He mutilated himself with iron spikes, a manic, blissful expression on his face.
And standing behind them...
Madara Uchiha. Clad in the red armor of the Warring States period, arms crossed, his eyes blazing with the same domineering arrogance Hashirama knew so well.
"Impossible!!!" Hashirama's mouth hung open, disbelief etched onto his face.
"Someone is impersonating Madara Uchiha to scare us!" he insisted. "That's the only explanation! If it were the real Madara, the village would be ashes by now."
Hashirama refused to believe it. Tobirama didn't want to believe it either. And Danzo, standing beside them, certainly didn't want to believe it.
Madara Uchiha was a ghost that had haunted an entire era. If Hashirama hadn't stopped him back then, they would have been trampled like ants beneath Madara's Susanoo.
"Brother, you saw the face. The expression. It's identical," Tobirama said coldly. "If it's a fake, it's someone who knows Madara as well as we do. Does such a person even exist? And even if they did, why impersonate a man most people don't even recognize?"
Madara Uchiha had lived over fifty years ago. Very few people had ever had close contact with him. To be honest, neither man could have imagined that a fool like Kurama would cause this much trouble.
Hashirama sighed deeply. He couldn't fathom who would be both bored enough to impersonate Madara, then team up with the Fourth Hokage and his wife to ambush Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Shimura clan.
Seeing the two of them looking troubled, Danzo spoke up. "First Hokage, Second Hokage. Do you remember a ninja named Hidan from the memories? A ninja of the Four-Star Village?"
"The Four-Star Village?" Hashirama and Tobirama repeated. The name rang no bells.
"It's a newly established small village," Danzo explained, "but the people behind it are... extraordinary."
"Explain," Tobirama said impatiently. "Stop beating around the bush."
Danzo didn't hesitate. "The people behind the Four-Star Village can transfer Tailed Beast chakra to others. It allows someone to use Tailed Beast chakra and dramatically enhance their strength without becoming a jinchūriki."
"Is that so?" Tobirama immediately thought of the Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who had consumed the Nine-Tails' flesh.
"Transferring Tailed Beast chakra..." Hashirama's face grew thoughtful.
"Brother, do you know something?" Tobirama asked.
Hashirama shook his head. "I'm not sure. However, I've sensed the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts. If we're talking about transferring chakra to others..."
He paused, weighing his words. "I believe it can only be the Nine-Tails' chakra. Nothing else would work."
Although Hashirama hadn't known the Nine-Tails' chakra could be transferred, he had absorbed so much of it using Wood Release that he simply knew.
"The Nine-Tails!" Tobirama instantly thought of Menma.
"The Nine-Tails!" Danzo's face lit up with a twisted joy. He hadn't expected to get this close to Menma so easily.
Yes, his reason for coming here was Menma. He had contacted Orochimaru about the Impure World Reincarnation, but Orochimaru had claimed there was nothing he could do. So, Danzo had turned his sights on Menma.
He was already planning to use Kotoamatsukami on him, but he was still afraid—afraid of Tobirama's long-standing resentment and the inevitable punishment.
That was why he had specifically chosen two corpses that hadn't witnessed Madara Uchiha's attack. If the fake Madara had made a move, Hashirama and Tobirama would have been able to tell the difference instantly.
"Could it be that the Four-Star Village was founded by Madara?" Tobirama deduced, his scalp tingling. "And that Menma has already allied himself with a still-living Madara?"
"That would explain why Menma can perfectly control the Nine-Tails' chakra."
Regardless of whether that Madara was real or fake, Menma's connection to the Four-Star Village made him a major threat.
"I still think that wasn't Madara Uchiha," Hashirama countered. "Just a very convincing imitation. And I almost forgot—the Nine-Tails was controlled by Madara for so long. It knows him well. With its help, an imitation wouldn't be difficult."
"So," Tobirama said, narrowing his eyes. "The mastermind behind all this is most likely Menma—the perfect jinchūriki? He deceived Naruto Uzumaki's primary personality and manipulated everything from behind the scenes?"
Tobirama felt he had uncovered the truth, and his wariness of Menma spiked.
Danzo interjected at the perfect moment. "Second Hokage, that should be it. After all, Naruto can't stop Menma from doing whatever he wants. Being deceived was inevitable."
"But now that the jinchūriki is like this," Danzo continued, a cold glint in his eye, "I can only reluctantly use my trump card to make him work for Konoha."
"You still have a trump card?" Tobirama's gaze sharpened. He immediately understood what Danzo was planning.
Danzo didn't reveal the details, simply stating it with confidence.
"I haven't lived this long for nothing. Teacher, you just need to watch quietly."
---
New Fan Fiction Released — Naruto: Electromagnetic God
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