The three Shinobi World Wars allowed Tobirama to see clearly the drawbacks of Hashirama's balance policy.
He wasn't surprised; he had guessed this day would come back then.
War is inevitable; as long as people exist, conflict exists.
Furthermore, confining war to the world of Shinobi is a benefit of sorts.
If the flames of war spread to the secular world, the destruction would be total.
Nations are very willing to let high-quality troops like Shinobi fight in place of a large number of ordinary people.
In the Warring States Period, Shinobi were a group of mercenaries who fought for nations in exchange for high pay.
In the era of Shinobi Villages, the Village is highly bound to the nation, but the responsibility remains fighting for the nation.
Only by proving their value will the nation strongly support the Shinobi Village.
If they fail to prove their value—like Sunagakure in the original work, whose repeated defeats left the Daimyo of the Land of Wind extremely disappointed—it leads to a reduction in funding for the Sunagakure.
Absurdly, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind even entrusted his own country's missions to Konoha.
This is as ridiculous as the Americans asking the Chinese to send troops to help them seize oil; it's beyond absurd.
The essence of Shinobi is war. Tobirama saw this clearly, which is why he worked with Hashirama to balance the Five Great Nations.
Unifying the world is not something a combat tool like a Shinobi should think about; it should be decided by the master of the nation, the Daimyo.
For instance, if the Daimyo of the Land of Fire decided to unify the Shinobi World and become Emperor, Konoha would expand its army with all its might to help him unify the Shinobi World and end the conflicts that have lasted for millennia.
After the war ended, the Shinobi of Konoha would act as executioners, suppressing various revolutionary riots.
What Shinobi need to do is learn how to kill. They will always be the sharpest blades of the ruling class.
Therefore, Tobirama would not ponder meaningless questions like peace in the Shinobi World.
Protecting the Village and securing more funding from the Daimyo—aren't these the issues a Hokage should consider?
To be a bit cynical, Shinobi Villages would actually prefer the intensity of war to be higher; that way, the Daimyo would invest in them regardless of the cost, and with massive resources, the Village could train even more Shinobi.
Madara and Hashirama pursued peace because they had already stepped out of the Shinobi mindset and begun to view the world with the mindset of revolutionaries.
Orochimaru explained the composition of the Shinobi Allied Forces to Tobirama one by one.
For example, the military strength deployed by the Shinobi Allied Forces, the commanders, and the headquarters.
Orochimaru spoke about the Shinobi Allied Forces's headquarters: "The headquarters is established in Konoha, relying on the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Transmission Jutsu, combined with a Sensory Barrier and technological communication in a trinity."
"This achieves ultra-long-distance, real-time, and global information transmission and command."
"Although the chief of Staff is Ōnoki, what can that old stubborn fool actually strategize? The acting command is handled by Nara Shikaku of the Nara family."
Tobirama nodded. He had never met Shikaku; by the time Shikaku was born, the grass on Tobirama's grave had been trimmed several times over.
But the name 'Nara' alone proved a lot.
Commanding still relies on high-IQ talents.
Orochimaru continued: "However, the Shinobi Allied Forces is just a diversion. The real killing move is the Rapid Response Force formed by the Five Kage and many Elite Jonin."
"The Shinobi Allied Forces will lead the main attack on the front lines to cover the Five Kage as they infiltrate Amegakure to find Madara for a final showdown."
"But because Limbo is unsolvable, the Five Kage cannot pose a threat to Madara. They must rely on Edo Tensei to restrain him and then seal him."
"Danzo ordered me to return, wanting the First Hokage and Second Hokage to join the battle."
Tobirama thought for a moment and asked Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, whom have you reincarnated?"
Orochimaru listed those he had reincarnated: "From my generation, there is Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo; Might Duy, who mastered the Eight Gates; Kato Dan, who mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique; and Hiruko, who mastered the Chimera Technique."
"From the previous generation, Uchiha Kagami; and from the generation before that, the father of the Third Hokage—Sarutobi Sasuke."
"Time was too short. If I had more time, I would have reincarnated Aburame Shibi of the Aburame Clan as well!"
"Madara would surely find Shibi's Nano-sized venomous insects quite a headache."
Orochimaru was still somewhat unsatisfied with the number of people he had reincarnated.
But this was also his limitation. In the original work, Kabuto could reincarnate so many because he possessed Sage Transformation.
Orochimaru didn't have Sage Transformation; being able to reincarnate this many was only possible because of the abundant chakra from the implanted White Zetsu cells.
"..."
Tobirama's brain stalled for a second: "Sasuke? How could you even rob the grave of Monkey's father?"
Orochimaru explained: "Sarutobi Sasuke was proficient in all Ninjutsu and was a Shinobi as famous as the First and Second Hokage during the Warring States Period."
"Didn't Sensei say he would sacrifice everything for the Village? What is sacrificing his own father compared to that?"
"If it weren't for the fact that Danzo's father was just an ordinary Shinobi, I would have reincarnated him too, just to see if that hypocrite would be willing to disturb his own father's peace."
(｡ŏ_ŏ).
Tobirama was struck silent. The Shinobi of the new era were getting more and more sinister, with less and less Shinobi ethics in their actions.
As soon as a fight starts, they summon the enemy's entire family first.
"Orochimaru, why don't you reincarnate Madara's relatives and that brat Ryou's relatives as well?"
Orochimaru nodded: "I could! But I don't know where they are buried. Can you provide specific locations, Lord Second?"
"Orochimaru, I was just speaking casually, and you're actually going to dig up their ancestors?"
Tobirama shook his head: "One should still have some bottom line, otherwise, things will just turn ugly."
Although the older generation's fighting style was fierce, they still cared a bit about their reputation.
Orochimaru sneered; it would be best if things turned ugly.
When the time came, he would definitely find the Uchiha Clan's ancestral burial grounds and reincarnate all of them.
He wanted to see how wonderful the expressions on the faces of those two evil Uchiha, Ryou and Madara, would be when they saw their own ancestors turned into his puppets.
Tobirama calculated that Sakumo, Duy, and Dan were all Shinobi from the same era as Tsunade and Orochimaru.
When Tobirama died, they were still polishing shoes; he didn't know how strong they were.
But just by hearing the techniques they mastered, he knew what they specialized in!
These Shinobi were all deceased elites of Konoha.
However, they were ultimately limited to the scope of conventional Shinobi and had not surpassed that framework.
It was already a struggle to deal with Madara with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, let alone Madara with the Rinnegan.
Tobirama decided: "Orochimaru, Brother and I will head to Amegakure to join the battle when the time comes. Before that, we should go and intercept Uchiha Ryou."
"His threat cannot be underestimated either. In a sense, Madara was released from the underground world by him."
"If he could release him once, he could do it a second time. Unless we control this kid, don't even think about completely defeating Madara."
Orochimaru nodded, a hint of greed in his heart. This time, he could catch Ryou alone and possess his body.
Although Orochimaru hadn't stayed in Ryūchi Cave for long, he was considered a successor of Ryūchi Cave, and it was his home turf.
Combined with his group of reincarnated experts, he could surely take down that brat Ryou.
By obtaining his body, Orochimaru could truly transform into a dragon.
"There's no time to lose, Lord Second. Let's head to Ryūchi Cave immediately!"
"Alright!"