Minato and Jiraiya eventually exchanged a brief glance, the kind that said more in a second than words could in a minute.
Gamamaru's most recent warnings still echoed in both of their minds.
The Great Toad Elder had not only told them to protect Kushina at all costs during the coming days, for some reason… It had issued another, far more alarming command.
Should the chance appear soon, they were to help decisively remove the being Gamamaru's visions marked as the single greatest threat to the world and its future peace.
Ryusei Nishida Senju.
And everyone following him.
Gamamaru rarely used such direct wording.
He rarely named individuals.
Yet this time, the prophecy was blunt:
"The boy of the cursed mind and soul. The one who bends fate. His shadow will swallow nations unless severed now."
Because of that, Gamamaru had personally intervened, giving both Minato and Jiraiya access to further power-ups, the kind only Mount Myōboku, or visions of the future, could offer.
A quiet empowerment.
Meant to further prepare them.
Yet even with that help…neither of them felt fully confident.
They both understood that Ryusei, along with the people following him, was no ordinary threat.
Minato masked it well with his calm smile.
Jiraiya hid it under forced humor.
But under the surface, both men felt the same cold unease at some point.
For the moment, they told Kushina nothing.
She was too far along in her pregnancy to be troubled with prophecies and threats.
But Kushina wasn't blind.
She watched them exchange looks.
Saw their tight shoulders.
Felt the strange tension hanging above the table like a curtain.
Finally, she narrowed her eyes and set her bowl down.
"…Alright. Enough," she said quietly.
Her chakra pulsed, just slightly.
"What's going on with you two?" she asked. "You've been acting weird this whole evening."
Minato froze for a heartbeat.
Jiraiya looked away.
And the warm little room suddenly felt much smaller.
There was no avoiding it now.
Minato reached across the table and gently took Kushina's hand.
"The Great Toad Elder gave us a prophecy," he said.
Kushina's eyes sharpened immediately.
Minato continued.
"It said a major clash is coming. Tomorrow perhaps."
"And if the chance appears… we're supposed to eliminate the greatest threat to the world's stability right now with the rest of the village."
Jiraiya added, voice lower than usual.
Kushina's grip tightened.
Minato swallowed once.
"The name Gamamaru gave us was… Ryusei Nishida Senju."
Silence fell over the room, heavy and cold.
Kushina's expression froze.
Her chakra stirred, faint but sharp.
And the air around them shifted.
Everything clicked instantly for Kushina.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed with rising anger.
"So they're using tomorrow's Hokage election and your nomination, Minato, to drag that kind of chaos straight into the village?!" she snapped, voice louder than she intended.
Minato and Jiraiya both stiffened.
They exchanged another glance before Minato exhaled slowly.
"We spoke with Lord Tobirama," he said. "He assured us everything would be contained. That the village wouldn't suffer."
Jiraiya nodded, though uneasily.
"And honestly, Kushina… seeing him in action and in charge after his revival, it's difficult not to trust what he says."
"His strength, his means, his otherworldly techniques and progress... It's like he's on a level even our generation wasn't prepared for."
Minato added quietly:
"He's… overwhelming. It feels like he already prepared for every possibility."
Kushina stared at them, stunned, not because of their trust, but because of the weight behind their words.
Even Minato and Jiraiya, people who should not place so much blind faith in anyone, were shaken by Tobirama's power and the ruthless precision he had shown ever since the accidental reincarnation during the Third Faction's first failed attack on Ryusei.
Kushina's breath, however, just tightened eventually, and a flicker of guilt crossed her face.
"We should've done more back then, Minato… maybe everyone wouldn't be in this situation now," she murmured. "When I sensed his intentions from his aura at Takumi's fuinjutsu shop, I knew something was wrong right away. That boy… he approached us with insincere motives. I felt it immediately."
Her voice lowered, raw with frustration.
"I sensed the ambition in him, the hunger. No restraint. I was above him in sensing back then, his aura was practically screaming what he wanted."
Minato flinched slightly. He remembered.
The way Kushina had gone cold instantly.
How she quietly led him to refuse to help the boy despite his polite words.
Minato clenched his fists.
"Kushina… don't blame yourself," he said softly. "Even if we warned the Hokage directly, it wouldn't have changed anything. The village had already decided to eliminate him."
"Every record, every briefing said he was a low-risk outcast. They underestimated him. Every crucial early attempt failed because we didn't take his strength seriously."
Kushina looked away, still troubled.
Jiraiya exhaled long and slow and scratched his head.
"He fooled all of us back then, even my teacher, Danzo, and the entire Anbu leadership..." he said. "So, even if you sensed something, Kushina, none of us could've predicted this. The village ignored many quiet warnings regarding him. They would've ignored yours, too."
His voice grew tighter.
He rubbed his chin, more serious than usual.
"And now? Well… now we're dealing with the result of all those mistakes combined."
All three fell silent, the weight of that moment from years ago settling like a stone between them.
A moment of disbelief especially passed between Minato and Kushina.
They still couldn't grasp how someone who once seemed insignificant had grown into a force that could shake entire countries.
His rise made no sense. It had been too fast, too large.
A boy they once brushed off had grown into something colossal, the way a small, harmless stone somehow becomes a mountain in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, none of the three held any doubts about what had to be done with Ryusei.
They had already accepted the village's narrative: that he had rejected authority, pushed Orochimaru toward rebellion, brainwashed Tsunade, refused every order and investigation, cooperated with foreign forces, and even assassinated key figures of Konoha.
Danzo — who they never particularly liked — was one thing.
But Ryusei had also killed the Third Hokage's eldest son, ANBU Commander Shinsuke, and Vice Commander Nara Hisamichi.
All of them were pillars of the village, men Kushina, Minato, and Jiraiya had known personally.
With that much blood on his hands, there was only one conclusion left.
Ryusei had to be eliminated.
But there was another problem.
Not just the boy's strength.
It was the people he had gathered around himself…
Like Tsunade.
And Orochimaru.
Jiraiya knew them both better than anyone.
But Tsunade… she was even more special to him than that.
She had always held a unique place in his heart, even if he never said it plainly.
So when Ryusei's name came up, Minato and Kushina saw it immediately.
Jiraiya's expression dropped to zero.
His shoulders stiffened.
His eyes dimmed.
His usual humor vanished entirely.
The idea that Tsunade had been "led astray," that Ryusei had pulled her away from the village, from her teacher, from him…
It struck deeper than any of the political reasons.
It hurt.
Because Tsunade had once been part of their world, their team, their circle.
And now she had cut every thread binding her to it.
Minato reached out first, placing a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder.
"She made her own choices, sensei," Minato said softly. "It probably wasn't just due to him. Tsunade was carrying pain long before Ryusei ever entered the picture."
Kushina nodded, leaning forward.
"Jiraiya, Tsunade isn't someone who can be controlled," she said. "No one can brainwash her. If she turned her back on the village… she must have had reasons we don't understand."
Jiraiya closed his eyes for a moment.
His jaw tightened, trying to swallow the sting.
"I know," he muttered. "Doesn't make it easier."
Minato gave a small, steady squeeze to his shoulder.
"We'll face whatever comes together," he said. "And if Tsunade is on the other side… we deal with it carefully. Respectfully."
Kushina added quietly:
"And we don't blame Ryusei for everything. She's too strong for that. Too proud. And she's not 'lost' forever," she said.
"When this is over… when he's gone… she can come back. Minato will be the next Hokage after all, and her grandfather, the legendary First, is now still in the village."
Jiraiya's breath caught.
Minato continued gently:
"We'll bring her home. Once Ryusei is out of the picture, she won't have any reason to stay away. We'll slowly connect with her again. We'll help her see she still has a place here."
Kushina leaned forward, adding:
"She trusted us once. She can trust us again. And she deserves to come back to her family."
Jiraiya closed his eyes, swallowing hard.
The sting didn't vanish, but some of the weight lifted.
"…I hope so," he muttered. "I really do."
Minato squeezed his shoulder again.
"We'll make sure of it, sensei."
Jiraiya let out a slow breath, the tension easing slightly.
He wasn't fine. But at least he wasn't carrying it alone anymore.
***
From high atop the Hokage Rock, as night settled over the village, Tobirama Senju stood with his hands clasped behind his back, cold eyes fixed on the horizon.
The wind swept across his white hair, but he paid it no mind.
His sensory mode had already registered it, a massive force moving steadily through the Land of Hot Water and into the northern reaches of the Land of Fire.
Thousands of signatures.
Familiar clans.
Foreign chakra.
And at the center of it, a presence that bent space around it like a distortion in reality.
Ryusei Senju.
Tobirama's expression didn't change, but his resolve sharpened.
"This cancer ends here."
He looked down toward the village, its streets illuminated by lantern light and unaware of the storm approaching.
Multiple spectral anchors, invisible constructs of sealing and dimensional binding, were already woven through and around Konoha like a vast unseen net.
Layers of contingency, markers, barriers, traps, and spatial locks, all prepared meticulously over the past weeks.
Each one designed to protect the village.
And each one designed to prevent the enemy from escaping, through teleportation, once they stepped inside the wider perimeter.
But these obviously weren't Tobirama's alone.
The higher being behind all this — the Sage of Six Paths himself — had led the preparations through him more directly than ever.
Improved them from the last time.
Reinforced them with methods beyond mortal understanding.
Tobirama had felt the Sage's presence during their last strange spiritual communication clearly than ever.
A silent pressure.
A guiding force.
A promise of direct intervention if needed.
Many other unbelievable backhands were revealed.
It was unnerving, even for him.
But also reassuring.
With Sage's power woven into the foundation of the village, the net would close.
The intruders would be trapped.
And this time, there would be no escape.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
"Come, Ryusei," he murmured into the night air. "Approach the village you hate so much. This time… you die here."
Tobirama didn't expect any complications on his side tomorrow.
He had already prepared for every angle.
Nawaki's death, for example, that troublesome loose thread.
Tobirama had neatly shifted the entire blame onto Danzo months ago.
A simple matter, really.
Hiruzen had spent decades building layers of plausible deniability around Danzo's actions, never leaving evidence that pointed back to him in the first place.
So Tobirama merely used that pattern.
Danzo was conveniently already dead by Ryusei's hand.
ROOT was disbanded.
There was no one left to contest the claim.
He had also given Hashirama a carefully constructed explanation regarding his grandson.
Just enough detail, just enough regret in his voice, to make Hashirama believe Danzo had acted alone, not his other disciples in the Council and Hiruzen, the Hokage he personally chose.
That way, if Tsunade started shouting about the past tomorrow, the story would hold firm, and his brother would continue his attack on their group.
Tobirama needed Tsunade neutralized emotionally so she couldn't interfere with their strike on Ryusei.
He wasn't foolish enough to overlook her influence.
He repeated the same narrative to Jiraiya and Minato as well.
Just in case Tsunade reached them first.
He knew their morals, their loyalty to her, and their shared history.
He couldn't risk hesitation from any of them.
To Hashirama directly, Tobirama gave one more promise.
If Tsunade appeared on the battlefield, they would restrain her… not kill her.
Let Hashirama handle her afterward, try to "correct" her path.
It was enough to keep Hashirama calm during what was coming.
Tobirama was also planning the Hokage seat carefully.
Not only as bait to lure Ryusei and Orochimaru into Konoha…
but as a silent punishment for Hiruzen as well.
With Danzo dead and ROOT dissolved, Tobirama had pinned several internal crimes of the past decades onto that pair, the Sakumo incident among them.
Enough to redirect village resentment neatly and prevent fractures in unity that tomorrow might cause.
Every thread was tied.
Every narrative secured.
Every danger accounted for.
Tomorrow, the village would move as one.
And Tobirama would make sure Ryusei's group did not leave Konoha alive.
And as soon as Ryusei was eliminated, Tobirama's ideal world would be almost complete.
Ninety percent finished.
The remaining work was simple.
Slowly turn the other villages against one another without starting a major world war ever again.
Encourage small disputes.
Nudge old grudges.
Pick favorites among them to create resentment.
Make sure their alliance slowly corrodes thanks to Konoha's might.
Grind them all slowly from the side, little by little.
Boil the frog without it noticing.
Until Konoha stood alone as the only supreme power.
And Tobirama, ruling from the shadows, guided it into an era of absolute dominance and peace.
Minato was the perfect tool for that future.
A loyal, obedient, clean image.
An ideal public Hokage with no desire to question anything.
Tobirama, on the other hand, had found his real place.
He was no longer a Hokage.
He was something closer to the true leader of his current reformed version of Konoha's ANBU, including many new research units and taking many roles of the disbanded Root.
A silent authority overseeing intelligence, security, and internal order.
The only force in the village that was always ready, always organized, therefore the most powerful one, and most importantly, loyal only to him.
With his brother beside him, the two of them would remain far more influential than Minato could ever be.
Minato would be the face.
He would be on the actual throne.
His base was already prepared inside the deeper compartments hidden beneath the Hokage Rock.
A command center that only he controlled.
With Hashirama also there as the unstoppable fist.
Tobirama, of course, as the calculating brain.
Together, their reputation would eclipse anything seen in shinobi history.
As soon as Ryusei was removed, every piece would fall into place exactly as Tobirama envisioned.
However, there was perhaps still one variable Tobirama found increasingly troubling, which he had foolishly largely ignored until now for some reason.
A far more dangerous one than Ryusei as well.
The overpowering being from the underworld — the Sage of Six Paths.
The same entity that had aided him, empowered him, and guided him for a long time already.
But also the same one against whom Tobirama had grown suspicious over time, more and more.
Tobirama understood better than anyone how unnatural that being was.
How questionable his continued existence in the shadows had been for centuries.
How many events in the world seemed… influenced, nudged, arranged.
Today, that being wanted Ryusei eliminated.
But what about tomorrow?
What if, at some point next, Tobirama's own vision contradicted whatever grand design the Sage of Six Paths was weaving behind the scenes?
Tobirama had considered that possibility for a while already to extent.
And because of that, he had already begun researching, quietly, secretly, countermeasures.
Not against shinobi.
Not against villages.
But against beings like him.
Rare knowledge.
Forbidden ideas.
Observed directly from that existence.
How to protect his current weak spot of still being an Edo Tensei himself, knowing how much that being commanded the underworld itself.
Concepts that could someday turn into a hidden trump card.
For now, however, his focus remained on Ryusei.
And on the strange urgency he sensed from the Sage himself.
As though that being needed Ryusei removed immediately, more urgently than ever.
Tobirama didn't know why.
But he did know this:
His own newfound recent growth was also peaking.
He was no longer much weaker than Hashirama…
And that was despite Hashirama being restored to a fully renewed prime or maybe even more, strengthened even further by the cellular fusion process Tobirama initiated on him using Hashirama's own living cells from his lifetime, applied to his current Edo Tensei body through his created research teams.
In truth, Hashirama might be stronger than he had been in life.
And still, Tobirama was nearly beside him.
Backup plans were already in place.
Layers upon layers of contingencies.
Even Mount Myōboku's Great Elder Toad, through Jiraiya, seemingly wanted Ryusei gone and got involved as well.
So, Tobirama felt that all of existence was turning against Ryusei, as if the ceiling of this world itself rejected him.
Tomorrow, Tobirama believed, Ryusei would die.
He was almost certain.
Almost.
But the uncertainty lay not in the battle.
It lay in what came after.
How should he deal with beings like the Sage of Six Paths or that ancient frog, which he now also found increasingly suspicious, when the dust settled?
How should he secure his own ambitions in this second life?
How could he ensure that this time, he wouldn't become someone else's discarded pawn?
That question lingered in his mind as the night deepened.
And it refused to leave.