Chapter 221: Lord Tobirama, Naruto's Still Just a Kid!
Blood trickled slowly down Konan's side and into the water pooling beneath her feet. She pressed a hand to the wound, struggling to stay upright.
But at this point, anyone could see — she was already running on fumes.
Strong.
Too strong.
Even if I'd come here in my actual body, I doubt I'd have fared any better against him.
Konan looked at Tobirama and let out a helpless, resigned smile.
"Here we are again..."
The blue-haired woman murmured quietly.
Last time, her capture had led directly to Yahiko's death.
And all she'd been able to do afterward was weep.
Now, faced with an enemy, she still couldn't protect her comrades — not even with everything she had left to give.
Konan glanced back toward where Deidara had fled.
Missing an arm, his clay-detonation technique would take him far longer than usual.
Without someone to cover him, escaping those four would be next to impossible.
Yahiko, I...
Her thoughts cut off abruptly. Her consciousness dissolved into darkness.
Konan knew — she'd "died."
And thousands of miles away, in Amegakure, a blue-haired woman let out a quiet sigh.
Having dealt with Konan, Tobirama was preparing to use Flying Thunder God to catch up with Kakashi and the others — but his gaze happened to drift, catching sight of a small turtle huddled in the corner, playing dead.
This is... the Three-Tails?
Tobirama walked over and studied the creature more carefully — curled into a tight ball, muttering under its breath, "Can't see me, can't see me, can't see me."
Its chakra massively drained, this mountainous Tailed Beast had shrunk down to roughly the size of a basketball.
"Heh. An unexpected bonus."
Tobirama chuckled, reached down, and grabbed the Three-Tails by its three tails. As it let out a pitiful wail that would move any listener to tears, Tobirama vanished from the spot entirely.
By the time Tobirama caught up with the other four, the fight had already concluded.
Deidara was bound tightly in steel wire, looking utterly pathetic — missing an arm, his black cloak with red clouds nowhere to be seen, his entire body scorched black. Evidently Sasuke and Kakashi had given him a thorough dose of lightning.
Eyes rolled back, tongue lolling from the mouth on his chest, faint wisps of white smoke still curling off his body.
At least the lightning had cauterized his wounds — the bleeding had stopped.
"Old Man Stone-Face!"
Naruto waved at Tobirama in greeting.
"You should address me as Lord Hokage, or Captain."
Tobirama had genuinely run out of energy to complain about that nickname.
"Sure thing, Old Man Stone-Face! No problem, Old Man Stone-Face!"
A dark line crossed Tobirama's forehead.
"We actually managed to catch this guy thanks to Naruto."
Guy chimed in, putting in a good word for the boy.
"Oh?"
Something shifted in Tobirama's expression.
"While this guy was busy shaping his clay bird to fly off, Naruto used a chain of Shadow Clones to build a makeshift ladder. Sasuke and I climbed up on his shoulders to close the gap."
Kakashi explained with a slight smile.
"Much as I hate to admit it, that's exactly what happened."
Even Sasuke spoke up on Naruto's behalf.
This kid...
Tobirama glanced at Naruto, whose shoulders were still dusted with dirt, and let out an internal sigh.
Turns out he's more dependable than he looks.
"Alright. Pack up, we're heading back to Konoha."
Tobirama waved the group forward.
"Huh?"
"Old Man Stone-Face, what's that in your hand?"
"Is that a turtle?"
"You planning to make soup?"
"If it's soup, leave it to me — I'm a great cook!"
Naruto eyed the odd-looking "turtle" in Tobirama's grip with curiosity.
"I am NOT a turtle for soup!"
"I am the THREE-TAILS!"
"And you are NOT eating me!"
The Three-Tails, still playing possum, snapped upright in genuine terror.
With the vast majority of its chakra forcibly drained, it had almost nothing left. If it died like this, whether it could even revive again was an open question.
And worst of all—
If its cause of death turned out to be getting eaten, that would be unbearable.
An absolute disgrace among Tailed Beasts!
It would be mocked for the rest of eternity by the Nine-Tails sealed inside the very blond brat who wanted to eat it!
"It can TALK?!"
Naruto stared at the small turtle in Tobirama's grip with astonishment.
"This is the Three-Tails. Akatsuki drained most of its chakra, which is why it's like this now."
Tobirama gave the Three-Tails a little shake.
"Huh, looking closer, it's actually kind of cute..."
Naruto leaned in close to the Three-Tails' face, studying it thoughtfully.
The Three-Tails stared resentfully at the blond boy invading its personal space.
A shinobi may be killed, but never humiliated!
"WHAT are you LOOKING at?!"
The Three-Tails flailed its four little limbs, trying to swipe at Naruto, but its stubby legs couldn't reach him no matter how hard it tried.
"Hehe, look at it get all worked up!"
Naruto glanced back at Sasuke with a grin, then poked the Three-Tails' head.
At that, the Three-Tails suddenly lunged upward and clamped its jaws down hard on Naruto's finger!
"WAAAAAH!"
"THAT HURTS!"
Naruto's scream echoed across the sky...
Roughly a hundred kilometers from Tobirama's squad, a man with the appearance of a teenager glared murderously at the figure before him.
Long black hair, cold and sinister features, golden slitted eyes like a coiled viper.
Three years, and Orochimaru remained exactly as he'd always been — not a day older.
"Heh. Is that MY fault?"
"Whose idea was it to shove that kid aside at the critical moment?"
Orochimaru regarded Sasori with a mocking edge.
"Otherwise, I could've saved both of you in one move."
Hearing the mockery in Orochimaru's tone, Sasori pressed his lips together.
"If you'd joined the fight, you might well have beaten that Tobirama Senju."
But Orochimaru waved a dismissive hand.
"It was just a transaction. Why would I risk my life fighting for the two of you?"
"And besides — the agreed terms were rescue. Not killing Tobirama Senju."
"Killing the Second Hokage would be a completely different price altogether."
Orochimaru's words made Sasori's eyes narrow slightly.
Was he implying he actually could kill that Second Hokage?
"I'll be going. Tell Pain I'll send someone to collect what's mine in a couple of days."
Uninterested in trading further barbs with Sasori, Orochimaru turned to leave.
But just as he was about to vanish into the dense forest, he paused and glanced back at Sasori, a flicker of genuine interest crossing his eyes.
"I always assumed someone willing to transform himself into a puppet with such ruthlessness had cut himself off from all human feeling."
"Turns out even you, ruthless as you are toward yourself, couldn't entirely sever the bonds unique to being human."
Orochimaru's words left Sasori momentarily stiff. He opened his mouth to object — but Orochimaru had already vanished.
Sasori stood there for a long moment, unmoving.
His puppet body's brow — which should have felt nothing — furrowed slightly.
Me? Feelings?
Ridiculous.
Deidara might walk a path of art diametrically opposed to his own, but they were both, ultimately, artists walking the same road.
I simply wanted to see how far his art could go — if he lived.
"Hmph. Nonsense."
Sasori scoffed at the direction Orochimaru had disappeared, then departed as well.
Konoha
Two and a half days of travel later, Tobirama arrived back in Konoha and marched straight to the Hokage Building with Deidara in tow.
Though Sakura had explicitly instructed "no prisoners, kill on sight" — Deidara was a different case from the rest of the Akatsuki.
He was Ōnoki's own direct student. Even though the boy had scratched a line through his Iwa headband to declare himself a rogue ninja, Ōnoki had never issued a bounty for him.
Clearly, the old Tsuchikage still harbored genuine feeling for this student.
Handled correctly, Deidara could become leverage in a negotiation with Ōnoki.
As Tobirama saw it, Sakura currently lacked nothing in speed, strength, or chakra.
Her one remaining weakness was the inability to fly.
If Deidara could be used to broker a trade with the Tsuchikage — exchanging him for the Light Weight Rock and Heavy Weight Rock techniques — it would be a tremendous boost for Sakura.
As for Particle Style? Tobirama hadn't even considered it.
Particle Style, developed by the Second Tsuchikage himself, was a one-of-a-kind kekkei genkai technique — unquestionably Iwagakure's most prized, village-defining jutsu. Ōnoki would have to be out of his mind to trade that away for a single student, no matter how gifted.
In fact, even trading the Light and Heavy Weight Rock techniques would already be an incredibly painful concession for him.
And besides — Particle Style didn't suit Sakura at all. Its destructive power was off the charts, but its wind-up was far too long, entirely unsuited to a close-combat taijutsu specialist like her.
If Sakura learned Particle Style, it would be like a monster with off-the-charts combat power sitting down to study calculus in a classroom. Absurd.
For Sakura, Particle Style was a chicken rib — useless to eat, wasteful to discard.
Better, then, to aim lower and settle for the technique that would genuinely fill Sakura's last remaining gap: the Light and Heavy Weight Rock techniques.
Thinking it through, Tobirama sighed internally.
The lengths I go to for this granddaughter-in-training of mine.
With that thought, he knocked on the Hokage's office door.
"Enter."
At the familiar voice, Tobirama pushed the door open. Kakashi and the others followed behind him, escorting the chakra-sealed, thoroughly dejected Deidara into the office.
The moment he saw Pinky, Tobirama's eye twitched.
The air was thick with the aroma of food. The desk normally reserved for paperwork was now covered in stacks of ingredients, and in front of a certain pink-haired girl sat a bubbling, steaming hot pot...
"THIS OLD MAN worked himself half to death out there, and YOU'RE sitting here eating sukiyaki?!"
Tobirama forced down his rising temper.
"Huh? Looks pretty good, actually!"
Naruto leaned in toward Sakura, eyeing the oil-slicked red broth with visible drool.
"To be precise, it's a hot pot."
Sakura corrected Tobirama's mistake with total seriousness.
Sukiyaki was too bland. Hot pot was the superior choice.
"Is THAT the issue this old man was raising?!"
A vein bulged visibly on Tobirama's forehead.
"Ahaha... well, telling ME won't do you much good. I'm just a Shadow Clone~~~"
Sakura offered this sheepishly, watching Tobirama's rising fury.
Then she immediately turned to glare at Naruto, who was reaching for chopsticks, shielding the spread of ingredients with her body like a dog guarding its bowl.
"No touching my food! I finally got to come out and enjoy this!"
As for where the hot pot had come from?
Well, the clone had made liberal use of the Hokage's privileges~
Surely being Hokage should come with at least the perk of eating whatever you wanted~
Watching the utterly shameless clone before him, Tobirama fought to keep his voice level.
"AND WHERE'S THE ORIGINAL?!"
"Where did she run off to?"
"Slug Valley."
The clone sold out Sakura without a second's hesitation.
Slug Valley?
At this unexpected name, Tobirama fell into thought.
He knew Slug Valley intimately.
It had been the gift his older brother Hashirama had specifically chosen for Tsunade, back when she'd been merely a hundred days old.
Hashirama had actually gotten into a fight with the Slug Sage over it — because even with her legendarily gentle temperament, the Slug Sage had absolutely no interest in signing a contract with an infant barely a hundred days old.
In the end, the Slug Sage had relented.
Beaten into submission, more accurately.
It was one of the very few pieces of dirt anyone had on Hashirama Senju.
And now, Sakura had gone to Slug Valley. Aside from chatting with the Slug Sage, only one goal could possibly draw her there.
Sage Mode!
No, wait...
Maybe she really did just go to chat with the Slug Sage...
The thought gave Tobirama a fresh headache.
"Go. Bring Pinky back."
Tobirama waved a hand, resigned.
"Huh?"
The clone looked visibly unwilling.
These past few days had been the happiest of her entire existence.
Aside from stamping a handful of documents each day, the rest of her time had been spent eating. And eating. And eating some more.
The Hokage's office was practically paradise!
She was NOT leaving!
"GO. NOW."
Tobirama glared at the clone.
"Ugh, fine..."
The clone pouted, casting one last regretful glance at the still-unfinished hot pot.
Farewell, my beloved tripe.
Farewell, my precious duck blood.
Farewell, my beef aorta...
Watching the clone stall on dispelling itself, Tobirama strode over, preparing to deliver a solid flick to the clone's forehead and end this once and for all.
But the clone, apparently unwilling to back down, grabbed a plate of baby bok choy and flung it straight at Tobirama's face — sending him into a fresh burst of fury.
Just as he raised a fist, fully intending to knock the clone into oblivion — right as his fist connected with the clone's forehead — a soft poof sounded, and the clone dissolved into white smoke, vanishing instantly.
This left Tobirama's fist frozen mid-air, hanging awkwardly. Following through felt wrong. Pulling back felt equally wrong.
The Hokage's office descended into an eerie, uncomfortable silence.
Everyone present suddenly found something fascinating to look at elsewhere in the room, pretending they'd seen nothing.
"PFFT!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"What an IDIOT!"
"This is HILARIOUS, hahaha!"
Deidara couldn't care less about decorum. If something struck him as funny, he laughed without restraint. If something upset him, he blew it up.
"What are you laughing at?!"
Tobirama stalked over to Deidara, his expression dark enough to drip.
"What are YOU on about?"
"I thought of something happy. Not allowed?"
Deidara stared back at Tobirama, defiant.
"What exactly did you think of? Care to share, so this old man can be happy too?"
Tobirama's teeth were practically grinding to powder.
"My wife's pregnant."
???
Have you even finished puberty?
And where in the world did YOU get a wife?
"Pfft~~~"
Another grating laugh reached Tobirama's ears.
"Naruto — care to tell me what YOU'RE laughing at?"
Tobirama's gaze locked onto Naruto, who was shaking with poorly-contained laughter.
"No, no, no, I also just thought of something happy."
Naruto ignored Kakashi's increasingly frantic look, silently begging him to shut up.
"And what would that be?"
Tobirama's face loomed over Naruto like a vengeful spirit from the underworld.
"M-my wife's pregnant too..."
A sudden inspiration struck Naruto, and he mentally gave himself a thumbs-up.
Disaster.
Kakashi buried his face in his hands, unable to watch what was coming next.
CRACK!
A lightning-fast, precisely aimed flick landed square on Naruto's forehead, instantly raising an enormous bump.
"OW! THAT HURTS!"
"Why are you only hitting ME and not HIM?!"
Naruto's wail of pain came bundled with an outraged accusation aimed squarely at Deidara.
"This old man isn't hitting him because he's an OUTSIDER!"
"YOU'RE one of ours, and you STILL dare mock this old man!"
"This old man isn't just going to hit you — this old man is going to BEAT you!"
Tobirama rolled up his sleeves, fully prepared to give Naruto the beating of a lifetime.
But Guy threw his arms around Tobirama, holding him back, pleading urgently on Naruto's behalf:
"Lord Tobirama, Naruto's still just a KID!"
"That's right, Lord Tobirama — Naruto's only... sixteen?"
Kakashi also rushed to intervene, trying to plead the boy's case, but trailed off halfway through, suddenly questioning his own life choices.
"LET GO of this old man!"
"This old man has commanded battlefields for DECADES and never encountered anything like THIS!"
"This old man REFUSES to accept this!"
Tobirama struggled to break free from Guy's grip, roaring in fury.
"I refuse to accept it too~~~"
Naruto muttered weakly from behind Kakashi.
"You DARE refuse?! This old man will BEAT you into acceptance!"
"Let this old man teach you the meaning of 'spare the rod, spoil the child!'"
"Lord Tobirama, please, CALM DOWN!"
"Calm down! Anger is the enemy!"
"Youth does not permit taking out one's fury on a junior, Lord Tobirama!"
"To HELL with your 'youth'! This old man's youth died decades ago!"
...
For a moment, the entire Hokage's office descended into chaos resembling a marketplace. Sasuke, expression utterly blank, quietly retreated into a corner.
"Huh?"
"What are you all talking about?"
"Seems pretty lively in here?"
The office door opened, and the familiar pink-haired girl walked in, bringing the entire scene to a screeching halt.
"PERFECT TIMING!"
"Explain yourself!"
"As Hokage, why are you running all over the place instead of staying at your post?!"
Tobirama tried to shove Guy off his waist, but—
He couldn't budge him.
"Lord Tobirama."
Guy flashed his signature blinding grin at Tobirama.
The sight sent a chill down Tobirama's spine.
"Let go."
The Second Hokage regarded the jōnin with a completely flat expression.
"Yes, sir."
Guy released his grip. Tobirama, expression unchanging, stalked toward Pinky.
Something about this made Sakura feel a faint, creeping unease...
The memories from her dispelled clone had just hit her, and Sakura's scalp had prickled instantly. She'd bolted straight out of the sage pool at Slug Valley, hastily thrown her clothes on, and sprinted back at top speed.
Can't you see my hair's still wet?
But wait—
Shouldn't Tobirama be furious at HER?
Why did Naruto look like he'd been wronged?
And why was Deidara over there watching the whole thing like it was entertainment?
Where did this blond guy even come from?
Wait, could it be...
Realization dawned on Sakura.
Tobirama's been resurrected, but the Senju clan's only remaining member is one aging spinster. Feeling like his line needed an heir, and seeing that Deidara — only nineteen — was already this strong, he must be planning to adopt him as a foster son.
And Naruto, indignant that they were both blonds, must have argued: "Why does DEIDARA get adopted? What about ME, a perfectly good blond right here?!"
So Naruto made his case, and the rigid, old-fashioned Tobirama, furious, refused to acknowledge his own mistake and instead decided to punish Naruto for the insolence.
Which is why Kakashi and Guy were holding him back!
Of course, all of that was total nonsense.
"Is... is something the matter?"
Sakura offered, sheepishly, under Tobirama's overwhelming aura.
What a formidable Second Hokage. Even I need to step back cautiously.
Sakura mentally applauded him.
"Speak. Why aren't you staying obediently in the Hokage's office."
"And also — why did you not so much as ask, when your Shadow Clone was eating in this office."
Tobirama regarded Sakura with a completely flat expression.
Sakura's mouth twitched internally.
Weren't YOU the one covering for me when I snuck off to explore the Dragon Veins?
And besides, what's wrong with eating a little something in the office? Try me, and I'll have my bed moved in here next.
Of course, none of this could be said aloud in front of the visibly furious Tobirama.
That would be like lighting a lantern in an outhouse — asking for trouble.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
"I'll never do it again."
As if.
Next time, absolutely doing it again.
Sakura bowed her head in apology without a moment's hesitation, giving Tobirama no room whatsoever to continue his tirade.
Tobirama stared at her, mouth twitching.
Son of a—
The Fifth Hokage herself just voluntarily bowed her head and admitted fault. If HE kept pushing this now, wouldn't THAT make him look petty and small-minded?
What a brilliant tactical retreat!
Damn it all!
"Sakura!"
Seeing her arrive, Naruto rushed over as though he'd suffered the greatest injustice imaginable.
"Old Man Stone-Face hit me!"
You little—!
Reporting to the boss, are we?!
Tobirama's eyes narrowed dangerously at Naruto.
You just can't help courting disaster, can you, Naruto...
And this time, even I can't save you.
Kakashi buried his face in his hands, utterly resigned.
How is anyone supposed to save someone this determined to self-destruct?
"Quiet. Lord Tobirama is the Second Hokage. Whatever he does, he has his reasons."
"If Lord Tobirama hit you, it's because YOU did something wrong."
Pinky declared this with total righteous conviction, waving the flag firmly for the wicked old Senju ghost.
Naruto stared, stunned, at the girl who had just betrayed him without the slightest hesitation.
Wait — so I just took that hit for NOTHING?
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you