"Tsuchikage-sama! The team we sent out encountered Hokage's squad and got annihilated."
Mu's eyes snapped open.
"Tobirama himself took action?!!"
His eyes wandered for a moment in confusion, since the skirmish at the ravine, none of the Kage level shinobis were deployed as of yet. But now...
Onoki clenched his fists.
"Sensei, let me go. I will show Konoha Iwa's will!"
After a moment of silence, Mu raised a hand.
"…. Onoki there is no need. We finally found the location of Five Tails jinchuriki at the east most end of Land of Grass. Lead half the explosion corps and sealing team and capture the Jinchuriki or the Five Tails. Once we have it, we will return to Iwa. Our plan is in scrambles. We must preserve and recover our strength."
"Yes Sensei!"
Onoki immediately rushed out of the tent with his taskforce.
Mu remained seated staring at the report before him.
'Why did you capture our shinobis alive? What Are you trying to do? You know that those chunins know nothing of value… What are you planning, Tobirama? What schemes are you brewing now?'
A faint unease crawled up his spine. To his understanding, Tobirama was not a man who acted without purpose.
***
Moments after Onoki and Five Tails pursuit team's departure, an alarm bell rang.
"ALERT! Konoha-nin approaching! Single Kage-level signature??!!!"
"??!!!!"
Mu stood abruptly.
'One? It must be Tobirama then.'
"Everyone, prepare for battle! It's Senju Tobirama! I will greet him myself!"
Doton: Keijūgan no Jutsu 土遁・軽重岩の術 (Earth release: Light-weight rock technique)
Mu's body lightened as he shot into the sky.
Below, through the entrance of the Iwa camp, about 30 meters away, stood Senju Tobirama with his arms crossed. A single kunai planted in the ground before him.
Mu hovered above.
"Senju Tobirama…. Did you come to beg for Peace?"
Tobirama looked up calmly.
"Beg? I think you misunderstood your situation, Mu… I am here to give you a last chance to surrender and return to Iwa unharmed."
Mu's eyes narrowed as he glared at Tobirama.
"… Senju Tobirama. Just what the hell are you up to? Do you think you are your brother? or Uchiha Madara? You alone cannot change the tide of this war. You are indeed powerful, but you are not beyond what I or Iwa cannot handle."
Tobirama's expression didn't change.
"… You are right in that I am not my brother. Nor that Man.But to stand beside them I had to work tirelessly."
Tobirama exhaled slowly and repeated.
"....I will say it for the last time Mu. Retreat from Kusa!"
Mu's voice hardened as he gathered his hands before him.
"You know the answer to that question. You are not the only one trying to buy time here. Let's end this farce! Start!"
Tobirama unfolded his arms.
"Very Well then. Be honored, as you are the first to push me to use this jutsu. Not even the Uchiha pushed me this far."
He bit his thumb and slammed his hand onto the ground.
Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei 口寄せ・穢土転生 (Summoning: Impure world reincarnation)
Twenty four wooden coffins surfaced from the ground.
Mu's eyes widened, as he sense an eerily familiar chakra from them.
'No…'
He immediately formed the Dust Release seal.
Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu 塵遁・原界剥離の術 (Dust release: Detachment of the primitive world Technique)
In a speed never showcased before, a massive white cube expanded, engulfing the coffins — and Tobirama.
The world flashed white, as the cub disintegrated the ground, trees, and coffins into dust.
"Did we get him?" an Iwa-nin peaked out of the earth wall and exclaimed.
As if his words were the trigger—
SCRATCH. SCRATCH. SCRATCH.
Fragments of paper began gathering.
Forming limbs.
Faces.
Bodies.
"??!!!"
Mu's composure shattered as he exclaimed with an unprecedented rage in his voice.
"TOBIRAMA!!!"
The figures finished forming Iwa shinobis who had died days ago. The number matched the exact number of Iwa-nin Tobirama had captured on the report.
One of the Edo Tensei bodies stammered as he struggled to speak
"Ts-tsuchikage-sama... forgive our actions…."
Then his pupil faded, and it marched towards Iwa camp, ignoring Mu suspended in the air.
Iwa camp was in disarray.
"Senpai? You are alive? It's me, KUO!"
"We thought You died!"
"Wha-what are you—?"
KUAAGH!!!
The Edo Tensei stabbed him through the throat.
Panic erupted as it took some time for Iwa nins to realize that their former comrades were different.
The undead Iwa shinobi were weaker and incapable of using jutsus, only attacking their former comrades with kunai and shuriken. But they felt no pain, they did not tire, and every fatal wound regenerated instantly in a swirl of paper.
Mu and his clones rushed in.
Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu 土遁・加重岩の術 (Earth release: Added weight rock technique)
The Edo Tensei bodies buckled under crushing weight — but did not stop. They crawled, clawed, and rose again.
Tobirama appeared a short distance away with his arms folded, as if he were merely observing a training exercise..
"Mu," Tobirama said, "I will ask you once more. Return to Iwa."
Mu's jaw clenched.
He stared at the Edo Tensei bodies, at the desecrated bodies of his own men, and something inside him snapped.
"Seal team—!"
He froze. He had already sent them away with Onoki to capture the Five Tails.
Tobirama nodded.
"I see. Then this is your answer."
He formed a hand seal, and the edo tensei bodies began to glow.
Gojō Kibaku Fuda 互乗起爆札 (mutually multiplying explosive tags)
Mu's eyes widened as he kicked away the edo tensei he was restricting.
"EVERYONE RETREAT!!!"
The undead Iwa shinobi sprinted into the ranks — and detonated. Then detonated again. And again. And again.
A five‑minute chain of detonations tore through the camp.
When the smoke cleared, the Edo Tensei bodies were already regenerating.
Iwa shinobi fled in terror and fury
Mu trembled with fury so deep that it shook his bones. He turned toward Tobirama. His voice cracked with barely contained hatred.
"You… you desecrated the deceased and used them as suicide bombs…"
Tobirama's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion and even mechanical.
"As long as you leave Kusa, I will release them."
Mu's fists clenched so hard his nails pierced his palms and blood dripped down his wrists.
"Only a bastard like you," Mu hissed, "would create such a perverted technique."
Tobirama's expression didn't change and spoke monotonously.
"For the sake of the village, what can we not dare to do? Isn't that right, Mu?"
Mu said nothing.
Mu gritted his teeth and yelled out his command.
"All Iwa-nins! Pack up! We are retreating…"
"""!!!"""
"Tsuchikage-sama!"
"Don't waste more lives than we must. Retreat."
Mu's eyes continued to stare at Tobirama, never letting him out of his sight.
"Are you satisfied Tobirama?"
Tobirama did not reply and only continued to his eyes with Mu for ten minutes. It wasn't until Iwa finished dismantled their camp and started their retreat towards Land of Earth border that he nodded.
But, Mu remained still.
"You said you will release them, HOKAGE."
"Indeed, I said I will release them when YOU and Iwa leaves Kusa."
Mu started to slowly float.
"How would I know that you will release them or not TOBIRAMA!"
Tobirama's eyes narrowed as he unlocked his arms.
"I give my word as Hokage."
Mu continued to float higher and Dust Release chakra gathered around his hands.
"Don't play games with me. If I go all out, can you guarantee that you will escape here in one piece? Perhaps you will live with your Hiraishin, but your camps? Your disciples? Your precious Konoha forces?"
The air grew heavy as storms of chakra begin to stir around them.
Even Tobirama's ANBU, hidden in distant trees, felt the killing intent.
Mu's voice dropped to a chilling calm whisper.
"If you don't release their souls in front of me... then I will erase your force and your disciple even at the cost of my own life!"
Tobirama didn't move.
The winds began to swirl as chakra of two peak Kage-level ninjas clashed. Sparks errupted as branches and trees began to shake wildly.
Then—
"... Very well."
Tobirama formed several hand seals.
The coffins opened again and all twenty four Edo Tensei bodies glowed, cracked, and dissolved into piles of grey papers as while spectral images began to ascend with a relieved smile on their faces. Then the sacrificed vessels collapsed, lifeless.
Mu watched every second with burning eyes. Only when the last soul was released did he turn away. He floated back toward his retreating army.
"Tsuchikage-sama!"
Mu didn't look at them.
"Inform Ononki to shadow the Five Tails in secret and wait for my signal."
"Y-Yes Tsuchikage-sama!"
Mu's voice dropped to a whisper
"Konoha may be arrogant now... but let us see if you can remain so. There is still Suna, Kumo, and Kiri."
Mu turned his head toward the temporary adjutant.
"I heard that Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers are restless under Second Raikage's indecisiveness."
The adjutant straightened his back and replied.
"YES! As you ordered, we investigated the internal matters of Kumo and discovered that they have successfully captured the Two-Tails and are starting to de-escalate the war. There's even been voices to sign a peace agreement with Konoha within Kumo's council."
Mu calmly massaged his chin as a cold and sinister light filled his eyes.
"Search for techniques that can block time and space jutsu for me. And Keep a Close Eye On Kumo. Also send the agreed supplies and investments to Suna and Kiri. We may have lost some men, but we still have plenty of war supplies."
"YES! Tsuchikage-sama!"
The adjutant took his leave and left Mu alone.
"It is not over yet. Let's see if you can survive this war, Tobirama."
Mu's chakra flared with pure, rage, and murderous resolve.
Iwa had lost six thousand shinobi, a third of its entire force, so far in this war. They could no longer play the major aggressor in this war.
But Mu would not leave without ensuring Konoha bled.