Fujima didn't care about Hashirama's death; his elder brother hadn't been a living person to begin with.
What he cared about was just what Ayane had said earlier, that "there's a big problem"... had his judgment been wrong?
"I already left Konoha eight years ago. So, with that said, you should understand, right? I'm not a Konoha Ninja anymore."
Ayane's expression turned into something between a smile and not a smile.
"What?"
Fujima's eyes widened.
With Ayane saying that, of course he understood.
Renegade Ninja.
However, in his view, a Hyuga Clan Ninja going rogue was something utterly inconceivable.
"You're from the Main Family?"
"No, I'm from the Branch Family."
"?"
People of the Branch Family had the Caged Bird placed in their brains—how could they defect?
"You shouldn't say such things at random, young lady. How is a Branch Family Ninja supposed to go rogue? Don't tell me you undid the Caged Bird?"
The voice came from behind.
Ayane turned her head and saw a scene of countless scraps of paper gathering together, Hashirama, the First Hokage's body, re-forming in a bizarre way.
"You're not dead yet."
"That's the troublesome part about this technique. Those resurrected by it possess an Immortal Body and Infinite Chakra… you can only deal with them using Sealing Techniques. That's also why I forbade Fujima from researching this technique in the first place. This technique is too evil. Once it's abused, it'll cause tremendous trouble for the living."
Hashirama kindly gave Ayane an explanation.
"Oh, so that's how it is. Thanks for the answer."
"No, it's nothing. Strictly speaking, we're the ones causing you trouble. But you still haven't answered my question."
Hashirama stared intently at Ayane.
"Just what the words say. I'm a Branch Family Ninja, I just happened to undo the Caged Bird."
"I see… that's amazing. The Caged Bird curse technique—back then even Mito didn't know where to even start with it. That thing is tightly connected to the brain. Mito once said the only way to dispel it was to trigger the 'death' condition."
Hashirama looked full of admiration.
Fujima felt mentally exhausted. His idiot brother hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation at all.
If a member of the Branch Family defected and the Caged Bird was removed… then for those people of the Hyuga Branch Family, freedom would be like an addictive drug; it would absolutely lead to internal division within the Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga Clan was an indispensable force for Konoha, and now that something like this had happened, Konoha's situation seemed to be turning rather grim.
"You two, your chat time is about up. I still have proper business to attend to."
If Orochimaru were allowed to escape, things would become extremely troublesome.
"But if you don't defeat us, there's no way you can get past and find the caster."
Hashirama spoke solemnly.
Although the two of them weren't fighting at full strength, stopping Ayane wouldn't be much of a problem.
Because they had Immortal Bodies and Infinite Chakra; as long as they weren't Sealed, they could keep tangling with Ayane endlessly.
Ayane didn't bother explaining; instead, she lifted her head and glanced around.
Hashirama followed her line of sight and saw that on the surrounding trees, people were standing packed together.
Roughly several dozen.
Each and every one of them was releasing a strong Chakra fluctuation.
Among them, a red-haired man had a golden Chakra Chain extending from his back, which tore through the air in an attack, making Hashirama instinctively want to dodge.
Ayane got to Hashirama's side a step ahead, using a knife-hand strike to carve open a large hole in his chest; for a brief instant, Hashirama lost the ability to move.
The Golden Chain happened to connect with Hashirama's body as well, continuously absorbing and suppressing the Chakra within him, leaving him unable to move even as his body regenerated there.
"This is the same Vajra Seal as Mito's… you're a Ninja of the Uzumaki Clan? Why…"
Hashirama looked at the Golden Chain wrapped around his body, confusion in his eyes.
Why would a Ninja of the Uzumaki Clan be mixed up with the Hyuga Clan?
As far as he knew, there had never been any particularly close ties between the Hyuga Clan and the Uzumaki Clan.
Moreover, Ayane was no ordinary Hyuga Ninja; she was a renegade from the Branch Family.
The Uzumaki Clan, which had always trusted Konoha, how could they be allied with a traitor to Konoha, and even be acting with Ayane as their leader?
What on earth had happened in the Ninja Realm as it was now?
Hashirama suddenly felt that the times had developed too fast; it was no longer the era he was familiar with.
"Not just that. There are other Hyuga Clan Ninjas… and Uchiha as well."
Fujima had not had his movements restrained; with his Perception, he evaded the attack a step earlier.
He twisted his head and swept his gaze over the surrounding crowd, and keenly picked out another Hyuga Clan Ninja among them.
Within that group, there was also a Ninja of the Uchiha Clan who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
This mishmash of forces blended together made the unease in Fujima's heart grow stronger and stronger.
Just what had happened in Konoha after he died?
Leaving the Uchiha Clan aside, why would even the Uzumaki Clan, who were close to Konoha, end up associating with a traitor from the Hyuga Branch Family, and moreover, show such deference to Ayane?
This utterly overturned Fujima's worldview.
Ayane had no interest in answering Fujima; she still needed to pursue Orochimaru.
"Leave twenty people here. Remember to use Sealing Techniques against them. The rest, come with me."
Although Hashirama had said that aside from Sealing Techniques, one could also use Yin-Yang Style to deal with this Forbidden Technique…
Unfortunately, Yin-Yang Style was a legendary Secret Technique; even Hakushi had not managed to master such a Secret Technique.
The clones created by Hakushi were purely Yin Style and Yang Style combined with Natural Energy, with his own Soul Fragments added in to create lifeforms, which was fundamentally different from Yin-Yang Style.