Hashirama Senju found himself in an awkward spot for a moment but brushed it off with a casual wave of his hand.
"Well, if the Third says he's the strongest Hokage, then I guess he is…"
Naruto Uzumaki opened his mouth, about to say something else, when—WHAM!—Sasuke Uchiha's fist came down hard on Naruto's head!
"Shut up, you idiot!!!"
Meanwhile, Hashirama had barely started to claim the Third Hokage was the strongest when—BAM!—Madara Uchiha smacked him upside the head!
"Shut up, you fool!!!"
Hirofumi Ito watched the scene, practically dumbfounded. Is this the bond between two generations of Indra and Asura?!
It's so damn similar!!!
Sasuke had cut Naruto off because, unlike the clueless Naruto, he wasn't naive enough to buy into that nonsense. The Hidden Leaf had only had four Hokages total, and the Third's strength would be lucky to rank fourth among them!
Kids from prominent clans, like Sasuke, often heard whispers of such things, so no one took the claim that the Third was the strongest Hokage seriously.
Only an idiot like Naruto would believe it!
On the other side, Madara interrupted Hashirama because, in his eyes, the only person in the entire ninja world worthy of being his rival was Hashirama himself!
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi? Who does he think he is?!
If Hashirama dared to call Hiruzen the strongest Hokage right now, Madara would probably storm the Hokage's office and kick Hiruzen's head like a ball!
So, both Hashirama and Naruto's words were cut short before they could finish.
The Twelve Rookies watched the scene with curious expressions, sensing a strange similarity between Naruto and Sasuke's dynamic and the one between the First Hokage and this mysterious man.
Noticing their odd looks, Hirofumi coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem… Naruto, if the Third Hokage heard you say he's the strongest Hokage in front of these three, he'd probably be so scared he'd wet himself…"
"Huh? Why's that…?" Naruto still hadn't caught on.
"Didn't the Third Grandpa tell me himself that he's the stron—"
WHAM!!!
Sasuke's fist came down again!
"Shut up, you idiot!!!"
"Ow! Sasuke, why do you keep hitting me?!"
Hirofumi rubbed his forehead in exasperation. There was no helping Naruto's brain—it wasn't like they could crack his head open and fix his logic!
"Alright, alright, enough messing around! Let me introduce this guy…"
Hirofumi was about to say Madara's name when, out of nowhere, Madara stepped forward, arms crossed, exuding pure arrogance. An invisible aura of dominance radiated from him!
"I am… Uchiha… Madara!"
Even without unleashing his chakra, Madara's presence was so overwhelming that the Rookies struggled to breathe.
One by one, they froze, not daring to make a sound, swallowing hard in awe…
Uchiha… Madara!!!
His name was legendary—the man known as the Demon of the Ninja World during the Warring States era!!!
Hirofumi raised an eyebrow at Madara's effortless showboating.
As expected of the Uchiha clan's ancestor—always flexing without even trying!
But then, out of nowhere, a cold scoff broke the silence among the Twelve Rookies.
"Hmph!"
Everyone turned to see Sasuke Uchiha standing up. Truth be told, Sasuke wasn't even sure why he stood, but something compelled him to.
Seeing his legendary ancestor show off like that in front of him just… rubbed him the wrong way!
You wanna flex? Fine, but look—you've gone and scared that idiot Naruto!!!
In Sasuke's eyes, Naruto's weird expression meant he was intimidated by Madara, so Sasuke stood up and scoffed, feeling protective and annoyed.
But Naruto wasn't scared at all. When Madara spoke, something strange happened—the unruly chakra inside Naruto's body, the one that never listened to him, suddenly vanished!
It was like a mouse hiding from a cat!!!
That's why Naruto's expression was so odd.
But to Sasuke, it looked like his idiot friend was spooked!
Madara, noticing Sasuke standing up and daring to challenge his aura, found it amusing.
Tobirama Senju, watching from the side, muttered under his breath…
"Another naturally evil Uchiha brat…"
His voice was so low no one heard him.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was nervous as hell. Facing his legendary ancestor? Of course he was intimidated!
But seeing Naruto's strange expression, Sasuke forced himself to puff out his chest.
"I am… Uchiha… Sasuke!"
Hirofumi was stunned. No way! Sasuke's got that much guts?!
The sky's clear, the rain's stopped—does Sasuke really think he can take on Madara?!
Hirofumi silently mourned for Sasuke for three seconds, recalling the ironclad Naruto rule: Sasuke's showboating always ends with him getting beat.
But to Hirofumi's surprise, Madara didn't make a move. He just chuckled lightly.
"Heh… Not bad, kid…"
With that, Madara's kingly aura vanished completely.
Sasuke let out a quiet sigh of relief, his back drenched in cold sweat.
Seeing Madara stay silent afterward, Hirofumi was honestly curious. By all accounts, Sasuke should've gotten clobbered, right?
Could it be because Sasuke looks so much like Izuna Uchiha that Madara couldn't bear to lay a hand on him?
Shaking it off, Hirofumi moved on to introduce Tobirama.
"This is the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the legendary master of forbidden jutsu and the man said to have signed a summoning contract with the sea itself!
From now on, Lord Second Hokage will be your ninjutsu instructor. After you complete your ninja team missions, you can train under him!"
The Rookies' breathing grew heavy with excitement, their eyes gleaming as they stared at Tobirama.
Even the usually stoic Tobirama felt a bit uneasy under the weight of a dozen pairs of fiery, eager eyes.
"I am Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage. I've agreed to this kid Hirofumi's request…
If you have any questions about ninjutsu in the future, come to me. I won't hold anything back…"