Chapter 10: The Death of Kinkaku
"Run!"
Before the word had fully left his mouth, Senju Tobirama and Senju Morin vanished from the spot using their respective methods.
Only the ancient, towering tree beneath them—its age unknown—was left behind to bear the attack, smashed cleanly in two by a massive chakra fox tail.
"How pitiful."
Reappearing some distance away, with only his head poking out of the ground, Morin couldn't help but mutter the comment before sinking back down again just as the next attack came crashing in.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In his Six-Tails state, Kinkaku became a living demolition engine, tearing the ancient forest to shreds.
Yet not a single one of his attacks landed on Tobirama or Morin.
Two shinobi who both possessed rapid-movement techniques were simply too nauseating to deal with.
But while Morin's Earth Release—unflashy yet extremely polished—allowed him to evade cleanly, Tobirama left behind a growing pool of blood every time he used Flying Thunder God.
The hideous wound he'd sustained killing Ginkaku continued to bleed heavily.
Add to that the injuries from fighting Kinkaku, his nearly depleted chakra, and mounting exhaustion—
Tobirama's condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Kinkaku's frenzied assaults forced him to teleport again and again, worsening the blood loss with every movement.
After barely eight or nine minutes, the chakra cloak around Kinkaku had almost completely faded, returning to its original crimson—now far thinner than before.
Beside him stretched a deep ravine that seemed to have no end in sight, carved out by a miniature Tailed Beast Ball.
Ironically, the attack hadn't harmed Tobirama or Morin at all.
Instead, it had nearly drained the pseudo–jinchūriki of his remaining tailed-beast chakra.
As the chakra cloak finally began to dissipate—
A razor-thin stream of high-pressure water flashed across the battlefield from an unseen angle.
Like a superheated blade slicing through butter, the Water Release cut cleanly through Kinkaku's exhausted body, splitting him into two uneven halves.
Water Release: Severing Wave.
A high-level technique unleashed by Senju Tobirama—one that Morin suspected carried at least S-rank difficulty—became the true finishing blow of the battle.
Having taken Kinkaku's life, Tobirama seemed to lose all remaining strength.
He slid sideways and collapsed against the roots of a massive tree—one of the few giants in the forest still left standing.
Worse than his near-empty chakra reserves was the fact that the wound on his lower back had nearly stopped bleeding.
Tobirama wasn't a monster like his brother.
Such a massive injury couldn't possibly heal naturally in such a short time—
this was the unmistakable sign of severe blood loss.
By contrast, Morin—who had only joined the battle at the very end and taken a single hit from Kinkaku's Six-Tails form—was still in relatively good condition.
Out of curiosity, Morin picked up the Seven-Star Sword lying near Kinkaku's corpse.
Etched upon it was a single word:
"Protect."
This was the kotodama recorded by the sword—the word Tobirama had spoken most often in his life.
"So… it wasn't 'Uchiha,' after all."
Morin muttered with faint disappointment.
He had guessed wrong.
"Enough of that nonsense. It's over. Call out your companion."
Tobirama spoke with his eyes closed. His voice was slow and faint; even speaking seemed to cost him great effort.
Morin knew it already.
Tobirama was finished.
Even if Tsunade from twenty years in the future somehow appeared here, she likely wouldn't be able to save him.
The "companion" Tobirama referred to was, of course, Uzumaki Chizawa.
Morin had deliberately kept him out of the battle, ordering him to hide at a distance early on.
A hard-won, ironclad Uzumaki ally—
and one focused on support rather than direct combat.
Losing him to a berserk Kinkaku would have been a catastrophic waste.
Morin glanced at Tobirama with mild surprise.
He knew the Second Hokage was a sensory-type shinobi—but he hadn't expected his range to be this vast.
Without arguing, Morin closed his eyes, refined a small amount of chakra, gathered it in his throat—
and exhaled sharply into the sky.
Within Senju Tobirama's perception, the dense clusters of chakra—thick as drifting mist—were as conspicuous as a massive signal flare.
"Interesting."
That was all Tobirama said in appraisal.
Before long, Uzumaki Chizawa arrived.
Seeing Tobirama hovering on the brink of death, the young Uzumaki felt a mix of shock, relief, and helplessness.
But he quickly steadied himself and greeted with restrained respect:
"Clan Leader Tobirama."
Tobirama tugged weakly at the corner of his mouth.
What he would have preferred to hear was "Lord Hokage" or "Second Hokage."
That would have meant Chizawa stood here as a shinobi of Konoha's allied nation—the Land of Whirlpools—
not merely as a Senju clan ally, nor as someone drawn here by personal ties between two young men.
But then again—
A dying man had no need to dwell on such things.
"Chihaya's son?"
What should have been a question came out as a statement.
"No wonder Morin managed to find me. With you helping, that much makes sense."
Even with only minutes left to live, Tobirama still carried undeniable authority.
His speech was slow and labored, yet his tone was no different from when he sat in the Hokage's office.
"When did you leave?"
He turned his gaze back to Senju Morin, asking the question that mattered most to him.
Tobirama wasn't a fool.
With or without Uzumaki Chizawa lowering the difficulty, Morin's motive for appearing here was the real issue.
He absolutely did not believe this brat had come all this way just to save him.
"About four days ago, I left Konoha," Morin replied calmly.
"At first, I only accepted a mission near the Land of Frost."
"It was only after the alliance ceremony was sabotaged and you were attacked by the Gold and Silver Brothers that we decided to rush into the Land of Lightning."
From Konoha to Kumogakure took roughly four days.
Their current location was still within Lightning Country, though already close to Fire Country's border—about three more days from Konoha.
Morin had departed four days ago.
Half a day had been spent orchestrating Uchiha Kagami's assassination; the rest was nonstop travel.
By now, Hiruzen and the others had likely already escaped into the Land of Hot Water.
Truth be told, although Hiruzen and Danzō were still young, their strength was already formidable—
especially with Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan in their ranks.
Koharu was a medical ninja, but Homura and Torifu were no weaklings either.
If all of them had stayed behind to confront the Gold and Silver Brothers head-on,
two or three might have died—but Tobirama himself would likely have made it back to Konoha.
Choosing death to safeguard the next generation—
Was this Tobirama's Will of Fire?
Lost in thought, Morin suddenly noticed Tobirama's skeptical gaze fixed on him.
He sighed inwardly and decided to be straightforward.
"My summon had already infiltrated the Land of Lightning. It witnessed your alliance ceremony with the Second Raikage from beginning to end."
"As for the coup by the Gold and Silver Brothers—that part truly caught me off guard."
Morin looked completely sincere.
In truth—
He was lying through his teeth.