Everyone returned to Konoha.
Tobirama Senju said he wanted to see the current village with his older brother, but immediately after arriving, he vanished without a trace.
With the Flying Thunder God technique and being in an immortal Impure World Reincarnation body, Tobirama could essentially go wherever the hell he wanted.
His instantaneous disappearance wasn't particularly surprising.
As for what the Second Hokage went to do?
Of course, he went to do a great service for Konoha and the Land of Fire—assassinating the Fire Country Daimyo.
Yes.
Assassinating of the head of state.
The Second Hokage was inherently a reformer.
While the First Hokage and Madara created the Ninja Village system, it was the Second's various regulations perfecting the system that formed the prototype of modern Ninja Villages.
From his second resurrection until now, he had multiple periods of free time.
During these times, Tobirama had subtly gathered information from Orochimaru, Nagato, and others about the current state of the ninja world.
Three major countries had already abolished the Daimyo system.
The Land of Lightning hadn't abolished it but had severely restricted the Daimyo's power.
Only their Land of Fire had done absolutely nothing so far.
Tobirama understood that while Tsunade's personality could seriously restrain her subordinates, it would be difficult for her to deal with the Daimyo politically.
Even restricting the Daimyo's power like the Raikage had done was probably beyond her capabilities.
Therefore, he had to take matters into his own hands.
This was a decision made after Tobirama's cold, rational consideration.
Abolishing the Daimyo system was indeed more suitable for the sustainable development of both the country and the Ninja Village.
As for needing to kill, shed blood, and breed hatred?
What revolution doesn't involve bloodshed?
Where there are conflicting interests, how could hatred not be bred?
If they feared these things, they shouldn't have created Ninja Villages in the first place.
While Konoha villagers were just settling in, the Second Hokage had already reached the Daimyo's palace.
Back when the Ninja Village was first established, he and his brother had an audience with the then-Fire Country Daimyo.
He had also visited here after becoming Hokage.
Leaving a Flying Thunder God mark was a natural thing to do at the time.
Though back then, he thought leaving a mark would allow him to instantly teleport to rescue the Daimyo if he were in danger.
He never expected to use that mark for assassination today.
The world is unpredictable, constantly changing.
But the Second Hokage's heart was now hardened like iron!
He recalled how Uchiha Itachi had likely felt the same when exterminating his own clan.
If even the "inherently evil Uchiha" could slaughter their entire clan for the greater good, what was destroying a mere Daimyo's palace to him?
Moreover, while Itachi's clan massacre remained controversial, eliminating the Daimyo's palace was undoubtedly the absolute right course of action.
Drawing inspiration from Makoto's past threat of forcing him into working at a brothel, Tobirama Senju employed the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique combined with the Transformation Technique, disguising himself as a generic ninja assassination squad.
The defensive capabilities of the Fire Country Daimyo's palace were among the strongest of the Five Great Nations.
Though the "Guardian Ninja Twelve" group had nominally disbanded due to internal conflict, the Daimyo couldn't possibly leave himself unprotected.
The conflict essentially stemmed from a divide among the Guardian Ninja: one faction led by Asuma and Chiriku recognized Konoha's military power, while another faction led by Guardian Ninja Kazuma believed the Fire Country Daimyo should be the primary authority to obey.
Though Kazuma was later branded a villain, the interests he represented were entirely the Daimyo's interests.
He wasn't defeated because he was a villain; rather, he became a villain because he failed.
The Daimyo could no longer openly support him.
Yet no matter how strong the Daimyo's defenses were, they were useless against him.
Many powerful ninja had met their ends because of the word "protection."
The Third Raikage died protecting his comrades by holding off tens of thousands of enemy ninja alone.
The Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tailed Beast to protect the village.
Had their moral standards been lower, they could have easily survived.
Similarly, when the Flying Thunder God Technique was used not for protection but for assassination, it became flawless.
The Second Hokage didn't use Flying Thunder God for direct assassination.
That approach was inefficient—even with shadow clones, some targets might escape.
His method was to first deploy shadow clones to surround the Daimyo's palace from all directions, creating an "encirclement" before launching the assault.
The "encirclement" he used was the Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tags technique.
Endless explosions spread from the periphery inward, slowly tightening the noose.
By the time the guards inside the palace noticed the commotion, it was too late.
Despite having set up the explosive tag ring, Tobirama didn't stop there.
He drew a long sword and began slaughtering those trapped within the circle.
He couldn't be sure if anyone possessed special defensive jutsu that could withstand the explosions and desperately rescue the Daimyo.
Thus, the remainder had to be dealt with personally.
.....
Konoha Medical Department.
Kakashi lay quietly in a private hospital room.
Tenzo stood by Kakashi's bedside, hesitantly murmuring something before finally gritting his teeth and leaving.
Tenzo's previous "self-sacrifice" to save Kakashi had been exposed, resulting in Kakashi beating him severely afterward.
Now, facing the unconscious Kakashi, Yamato didn't dare make any further moves.
However, Yamato's actions and mutterings were clearly overheard by the Masked Man hiding in the shadows of the Kamui dimension.
"So that's how it is."
From Tenzo's words, the Masked Man roughly understood why Kakashi had used Kamui to relocate the septic tank before.
He also learned the severe consequences of Kakashi's overexertion that time.
"Hashirama cells? I have those too."
The Masked Man pondered—he couldn't let Kakashi go blind from overusing his eye!
That eye was stored with Kakashi for safekeeping, and he needed to be able to retrieve and use it at any time.
What if Kakashi uses it until it goes blind?
What would he do then? Hashirama cells can significantly delay the Mangekyo's blindness, but they don't reverse it once the light is gone.
"Kakashi, I've given you a third chance at sight."
Muttering this to himself, the Masked Man walked out of the shadows toward Kakashi's hospital bed.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Kushina, unable to withstand Rin's clever persuasion, finally told her the truth about the Masked Man's identity.
After learning the truth, Rin could only press her lips together and sigh softly, saying nothing.
Rin truly was the "innately kind-hearted female ghost of Konoha."
She understood perfectly that while everyone else might blame Obito, she alone could not.
After confessing to Rin, Kushina felt much more at ease, and the two decided to visit the previously unconscious Kakashi.
As they hurried across the rooftop toward the medical department, they spotted a figure inside Kakashi's room through the distant window.
"Is that... the Masked Man?"
Kushina still couldn't bring herself to call the person who had killed her and Minato "Obito," so she referred to him as the Masked Man.
"Why is he here? Could he be planning something against Kakashi?" Kushina grew tense.
If the Masked Man could kill her and Minato, how could Kakashi possibly escape unharmed?
But Kushina also knew his strength; if she acted rashly and was discovered, she would be no match for him.
Kushina and Rin crouched on the rooftop, observing the situation inside from afar.
Since the Masked Man had his back to the window, they only saw him approach Kakashi's bedside.
"He's leaning over the bed? Could he be trying to steal Kakashi's eyes?" Kushina gasped softly.
But that wasn't the case.
They saw the Masked Man make a motion as if taking something out, and Kakashi, lying on the bed, twitched.
Then, the Masked Man twisted the space around him and vanished.
After waiting a moment to confirm he had left, the two hurried over.
Reaching the window, Kushina and Rin looked at Kakashi on the bed inside and were met with a shocking sight.
Kakashi's mouth was slightly open, with an unknown white liquid trickling from the corner of his lips.
Kushina: ?!
Rin: ?