Even as more and more "important figures" gathered around, none of them dared to speak first to Senju Mori, who stood before them covered in blood, the body of Senju Tobirama strapped to his back.
At last, it was an elder of the Senju Clan who broke the silence. Letting out a long sigh, he said,
"Sigh—tell us, Mori boy. What exactly happened out there?"
Senju Mori seemed to forget how fiercely he had clashed with this very elder just days ago at the clan meeting. Now, he looked truly moved, as though seeing a respected elder of his family for the first time in years.
This was precisely when he needed to invoke the name of the Senju Clan — their golden banner.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse and low:
"The Hokage was outnumbered, surrounded by the Kumo's Gold and Silver Brothers and their forces. Though he singlehandedly slew Ginkaku and several elite jōnin, by the time I arrived, he was already mortally wounded… beyond saving."
"Even on the brink of death, Lord Hokage kept fighting. Together, we managed to kill the heavily injured Kinkaku. But fearing that Kumo reinforcements might arrive, I had no choice but to bring Lord Tobirama's body back to Konoha."
Mori's voice choked with emotion — so convincingly that nearly everyone watching was moved to tears.
Everyone… except the disciples of the Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, ever sharp, immediately sensed the malice hidden within Mori's words, no matter how heartfelt his act appeared.
"Outnumbered"… "surrounded by the enemy"… "fought to the death"… and that subtle hint — "the Kumo had no further reinforcements."
It was obvious who Senju Mori was really targeting.
But since Mori hadn't made any explicit accusation, Hiruzen wasn't about to step forward and make himself the target. Even when Danzō beside him twitched, ready to speak, Hiruzen quietly pulled him back.
Still, even without words, Hiruzen could feel the many ambiguous, suspicious gazes turning toward him.
Not all of them were friendly.
After hearing Mori's account, the Senju elder who had first spoken looked troubled. He hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to say,
"Mori boy, you're badly injured. Should we have the medical corps treat—"
'You treacherous old fool!'
Mori didn't say it aloud, but in his heart he cursed viciously.
These old men who preached "stability" and "the greater good" while ignoring the clan's interests — they were the sort who, in the Warring States era, would've been executed one by one under the old clan laws.
Of course, he would never let the man derail the conversation. Ignoring the elder completely, Mori raised his voice and addressed the crowd:
"Everyone! Years ago, Lord Hashirama gave his life to protect Konoha. And today, Lord Tobirama has also fallen in battle — to protect his comrades and uphold the Will of Fire to the very end!"
"Though our village is still shrouded in the clouds of war, though we have just lost our beloved Hokage…"
"Do not waver. Do not despair! As the saying goes — 'Where the leaves dance, the fire will always burn.'"
"I will inherit the Will of Fire of both our Hokage. With my life and my blood, I will protect this village, our comrades, our young ones — every single person of Konoha!"
When he finished speaking, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause.
Standing there — holding the red-and-white Bashōsen, clutching the giant sealing scroll, and bearing the fallen Hokage upon his back — Senju Mori's image was burned indelibly into everyone's hearts as the very picture of loyalty, courage, and sacrifice.
After finishing his speech, Senju Mori did not linger. Surrounded by a group of younger clan members, he parted the crowd and left.
There was still much to do —
preparing Senju Tobirama's funeral,
plotting how to compete with Sarutobi Hiruzen for the title of Hokage,
and planning how to win over the major clans within Konoha.
He had no time to waste.
...
By the current schedule, there were still three and a half days left before the "Hokage election day" that the Konoha jōnin had agreed upon.
After entrusting Tobirama's remains to his clansmen for temporary placement, Mori did not immediately return to the Senju compound. Instead, he headed straight to the Akimichi family's barbecue restaurant for a hearty meal.
Out in the field, he'd had neither the time nor the chance to cook — these past few days he'd been living entirely off military ration pills. It was about time to reward his stomach properly.
Incidentally, every barbecue restaurant in Konoha was owned by the Akimichi Clan, just as every flower shop was owned by the Yamanaka Clan. The only difference between them was that all the barbecue places shared the same name — "Yakiniku Q."
If one really wanted to tell them apart, you could only do it mentally, by thinking things like "Yakiniku Q (West Hokage Tower Branch)".
Shaking off the stray bit of humor that came to mind, Mori twisted his neck, loosened up, and began eating while quietly listening in on nearby conversations.
By channeling a bit of chakra into his ears — not as extreme as the Inuzuka Clan's secret techniques, but enough to heighten hearing — he could pick up snippets of talk from the surrounding tables.
After a few minutes, a satisfied smile spread across his face.
It seemed that Hane had done his job well — Sarutobi Hiruzen and his four teammates had already become the hottest topic in the entire village.
Of course, not all of it was negative.
Thanks to Hiruzen's good reputation and formidable strength, a fair number of shinobi didn't believe he and the others had truly abandoned the Hokage and fled.
But among ordinary civilians, the story had caught on like wildfire. For some reason, the wild rumor that they'd "run away and left the Hokage to die" was wildly popular.
Now, whenever villagers mentioned Sarutobi Hiruzen, their faces twisted with open disdain.
After eating and drinking his fill, Senju Mori walked straight toward the door.
It wasn't that he planned to skip paying — far from it. His family actually owned a small share of this Yakiniku Q branch.
Back when Konoha was first founded, at least half of all key village positions had been filled by members of the Senju Clan.
So when the clan of the First Hokage, the "God of Shinobi," Senju Hashirama, wanted to open a little barbecue shop in partnership — and wasn't even asking for free food — who could possibly refuse?
Of course, that had been his father's generation's investment. Strictly speaking, Mori himself was just a second-generation shareholder.
"Sigh~"
Thinking of this, Senju Mori couldn't help but sigh again.
Under Second Hokage Tobirama's administration, the glory that the Senju Clan had enjoyed during Hashirama's era had long since faded away.
Compared to Hashirama — that soft-hearted man who could compromise on almost anything that wasn't a matter of principle — Tobirama had never shown the slightest leniency, even toward his own clansmen.
Take the matter of accepting disciples, for example — the clan elders had petitioned him at least five times, yet Tobirama never budged an inch.
That evil, white-haired old ghost!
Good thing he was finally dead!
Humming a little tune, Senju Mori made his way toward the Senju compound.
The Senju clan's lands lay near the very heart of Konoha — you could even see the upper floors of the Hokage Tower clearly from the rooftops.
So it didn't take long for Mori, walking from Yakiniku Q (West Hokage Tower Branch), to reach home.
This plot of land had been allotted during the village's founding.
Even Tobirama, for all his coldness, would never have forced his clansmen to move out for no reason.
Then Mori suddenly stopped and slapped his forehead.
Right — Tobirama had been planning to dissolve the Senju Clan altogether.
Once the Senju no longer lived together as a single unit, they'd no longer have needed such a massive estate.
That evil, white-haired old ghost.
Good thing he's finally dead~
And with that darkly satisfied thought, Senju Mori strode deeper into the compound, a small, contented grin on his face.