"Three months, huh?"
Tsunade nodded slowly, her arms crossed in thought.
According to the latest intel Jiraiya had sent back, Pain wouldn't be making a move to capture the Nine-Tails any time soon. That meant she had some breathing room—maybe just enough time to prepare before disaster struck.
Just as that thought settled in her mind, Hashirama turned toward her with a warm grin.
"Xiao Gang, I never expected you'd become the Fifth Hokage! Hahaha!" he chuckled, clearly proud. "But tell me, what happened to the Senju clan?"
The smile faded from Tsunade's face instantly.
She froze in place, her lips slightly parted, her expression a mixture of shock and sorrow.
Seeing her reaction, Hashirama's own smile slowly disappeared. Despite his upbeat personality, he wasn't a fool. Her silence spoke volumes.
He turned serious. "They're… gone?"
Tobirama looked from Tsunade to Kaizen Arashi, the Fourth Hokage and current group leader. His eyes sharpened.
"Fourth… is the Senju clan truly gone?"
Kaizen's face turned grim. He let out a long sigh before answering.
"Yes. The Senju clan has… vanished from history."
Tobirama's breath hitched.
This couldn't be. The Senju clan had been one of the founding pillars of Konohagakure. Under his leadership, he had intentionally dispersed most of the Senju into the general village population for protection and stability. Only a single main branch of the family remained in the clan estate, but that was by design.
For the Senju to be completely wiped out?
"That's impossible," Tobirama said, his voice strained. "The clan was integrated into the very fabric of the village. What could have caused them to be exterminated?"
Kaizen's gaze hardened.
"In the 17th year of Konoha, the First Great Ninja War broke out. You, Tobirama, died in that war."
Tobirama's expression flickered but he remained silent.
"Following your death," Kaizen continued, "your student, Sarutobi Hiruzen, succeeded you and became the Third Hokage. Another of your students—Shimura Danzo—became the Hokage's advisor and the hidden leader of the Root division."
Tsunade's fists clenched. She already knew where this was going.
Kaizen's tone darkened. "The destruction of the Senju clan was orchestrated over the course of decades—by your own disciples, Lord Second."
Tobirama sat motionless, stunned.
He opened his mouth as if to refute the claim, but no words came out.
Hiruzen and Danzo? His students?
The very ones he had trusted to carry the Will of Fire?
"That… can't be," he muttered.
But Kaizen pressed on. "After the war ended, there was a brief period of peace. But behind the scenes, the Third Hokage and Danzo began systematically weakening the Senju clan. They assigned the clan to the most dangerous and deadly missions, one after another."
"Little by little, they bled the clan dry."
He looked directly at Tobirama.
"They did it quietly. Efficiently. Until only a few remained. And then… your grandson, Senju Nawaki, died during the Second Great Ninja War. His body was never even recovered. It was gutted on the battlefield."
Tobirama's entire demeanor changed. The quiet analytical gaze was gone. His face twisted in cold rage.
Even Hashirama's expression darkened.
It was one thing to lose family in war—it was another thing entirely to realize they'd been betrayed by allies within their own village.
Hashirama's voice dropped into a low growl.
"They dared to do that… to Nawaki…?"
Kaizen could feel the atmosphere grow heavy. The chat space itself responded to the two brothers' fury, as if the very dimension were trembling.
Tsunade slammed her fist onto the table, cracking the polished stone surface.
She had tried to forget. To let it go.
But now, being confronted with the truth again—with evidence—her anger was fresh and raw.
Kaizen calmly laid down a scroll on the table, projecting it so everyone could see.
"These are reports and hidden archives from my world. Records of how Danzo redirected assassination missions, how he manipulated battle reports to assign the worst outcomes to Senju shinobi, and how Hiruzen turned a blind eye to it all."
Tobirama stared at the scrolls with wide eyes.
It was undeniable. Even Tsunade, who had once doubted her suspicions, recognized some of the documents she had begun to uncover before she left Konoha.
She muttered bitterly, "I ran away back then… I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't bear to face it."
Kaizen didn't blame her. He simply nodded.
"At the time, there wasn't much you could've done."
The grim silence between them lingered—until Kaizen dropped another bombshell.
"And it wasn't just the Senju clan."
All heads turned toward him.
Kaizen exhaled.
"They eliminated the Uchiha clan too."
"What?!"
Even Tobirama, who had always been wary of the Uchiha, looked stunned.
Hashirama was in disbelief. "You mean Madara's clan?"
Tsunade, too, looked shocked.
"That can't be… the Uchiha were still part of the village during my time as Hokage."
Kaizen nodded. "Yes, in your timeline, they hadn't been wiped out yet. But in the future—shortly after the Fourth Hokage dies—the Uchiha clan is annihilated by a covert operation. It's orchestrated by Danzo with full knowledge and tacit approval from Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Tobirama's lips thinned to a hard line.
Even with his distrust of the Uchiha, he had never intended for them to be exterminated.
His methods were harsh—yes—but his aim was integration, not annihilation. He had carefully selected and supported Uchiha Kagami and others who could bridge the gap between clan and village.
To think that his students had thrown it all away…
"They destroyed both founding clans," Hashirama said, disbelieving. "Senju and Uchiha… both gone."
Tsunade suddenly looked at Kaizen again.
"But wait," she said. "In your world, Minato should've been the Fourth Hokage. He was still alive. So how do you know about the Uchiha massacre if it happens later?"
Kaizen smiled faintly and gestured to his seat at the head of the table.
"I'm the group leader," he said. "That comes with some perks."
"Beyond managing meetings and permissions, I can access knowledge of future events—at least in fragments. I know enough to prepare for what's coming, and that includes what happens after my own tenure."
The three other Hokage were silent once more.
Everything they'd believed, everything they'd worked for—the Will of Fire, the unification of the clans, the peace of Konoha—had been twisted and betrayed by their successors.
It wasn't just war that destroyed the Senju and Uchiha. It was politics. Cowardice. And a failure of ideals.
Kaizen stood slowly and looked around at each of them.
"I didn't bring you here just to share tragedies," he said. "I brought you here so we can change it—together."
"Once the fifth member joins, the group will unlock the cross-world assistance function. When that happens… we can rewrite these tragedies before they happen in your own worlds."
Tsunade's gaze flickered with determination.
Tobirama's hand curled into a fist.
And Hashirama?
He just nodded.
"Good," the First Hokage said. "Let's make sure none of this happens again."
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