With a casual snap of his fingers, Kai activated [World Teleport], the space-time bending jutsu that could traverse between timelines.
In an instant, the forest changed around them—lush trees became twisted and blackened, the scent of blood still heavy in the air. They were back in the World of Naruto No. 2, standing once more in the aftermath of the Second Hokage's last stand.
The winds stirred the broken leaves. Distant crows cawed.
Tobirama stood silently for a long moment.
"…Was all that real?" he murmured to himself.
Had he truly just witnessed the Nine-Tails Rebellion? Seen his older brother alive in another world? Met the future Fourth Hokage—a yellow-haired genius who wielded his jutsu better than he did?
It was almost too much to take in.
But no illusion could have been that vivid.
No genjutsu could fabricate the sense of loss he'd felt when seeing how far Sarutobi Hiruzen had fallen.
Tobirama looked down at his blood-stained hands, then back at the battlefield, where the corpse of Kinkaku lay shattered and lifeless.
No. This was real.
He exhaled, long and low.
Then he disappeared in a flicker of motion.
When he reappeared, he stood beside Ginkaku, who was still breathing—barely.
Without a shred of hesitation, Tobirama's blade slashed downward, clean and fast.
The traitor's head dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
"…Scum," Tobirama muttered, wiping the blade clean.
Even beyond the battlefield, Tobirama held no sympathy for men like Ginkaku and Kinkaku—shinobi who betrayed their own leader, murdered the Second Raikage, and set their own homeland on fire in pursuit of selfish ambition.
After confirming there were no other chakra signatures left on the battlefield, Tobirama gathered the five Six Paths Ninja Tools that the brothers had wielded. He returned to Kai's side with quiet steps.
"…Thank you, sir," he said at last. "Without you—and my brother—I wouldn't be standing here now."
Kai waved his hand dismissively, expression unreadable. "Spare the flattery."
Tobirama didn't argue. He was a man of logic, and he knew better than to flatter someone like this mysterious so-called 'Yudao Sage.'
He narrowed his eyes instead, and asked what had weighed on his mind since their first meeting.
"Then… what do you want from me?"
Unlike Hashirama, who might have blindly trusted someone for saving his life, Tobirama was a realist. He didn't believe in benevolence without a motive.
Kai chuckled. "Straight to the point. I expected no less."
He didn't answer directly.
Instead, he countered with a question of his own:
"Have you reached a conclusion yet?"
Tobirama froze.
He remembered.
Before traveling to the Fourth Hokage's timeline, Kai had posed a question to him—a test of conviction.
'You chose to stay behind and die. Are you sure that was the right decision?'
Back then, Tobirama had not hesitated.
As the Second Hokage, sacrificing himself to protect the future of Konohagakure was not just logical—it was necessary.
But now…
He'd seen what came after.
He'd seen Sarutobi's transformation from a brave young shinobi into a hesitant, politically tangled leader. He'd seen the crumbling of the Senju Clan, the alienation of the Uchiha, the slow decay of the Will of Fire.
He'd seen the ripple effect of his own death.
"…No," Tobirama admitted quietly.
Kai raised a brow. "You doubt yourself?"
"I hesitate," Tobirama said. "I hesitate now because I saw what my death caused."
Kai smirked, not unkindly. "Then let me tell you what you already suspect."
He took a step closer, tone dropping.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen—the one you entrusted your legacy to—lost his fire the moment you died. So did Koharu. So did Homura. Even Danzo."
Tobirama didn't reply.
"They survived, yes. But they survived with broken conviction. Your death was a wound too deep. It turned your brightest students into men afraid to act."
The weight of Kai's words pressed on him like a boulder.
"They became defenders of an idea, not builders of a future. And because of that… the village you founded grew passive, inward, fractured."
Tobirama's hands clenched at his sides.
He thought of the way Sarutobi had flinched under pressure.
Of how he let Kumogakure push Konoha around during the Hyūga Incident—demanding a Byakugan as compensation for the death of their kidnapper. Of how Konoha handed over Hyuga Hizashi's corpse just to appease their enemies.
That wasn't diplomacy.
That was cowardice.
And it all started here.
With Tobirama's death.
He felt sick.
"…I only wanted to protect the next generation," Tobirama muttered.
Kai's tone turned razor-sharp. "And instead, you created a chain of cowards."
"Enough." Tobirama's voice was tight, but controlled.
Kai wasn't done.
"You convinced yourself that dying was your duty. That protecting them meant leaving them behind. But the truth is, you were afraid too."
Tobirama turned toward him, stunned. "What did you say?"
"You feared the unknown," Kai said flatly. "You feared that you'd all die. So you took the choice that made you feel the most in control."
He gestured to the battlefield around them.
"Yet even injured, you nearly wiped out the Kinkaku Force on your own. With your six guards, you could have won outright."
"…We didn't know that," Tobirama said.
"No," Kai agreed. "You didn't. Because you didn't try."
The words hit Tobirama like a kunai to the chest.
He thought back to the moment he chose to stay behind—to sacrifice himself so the others could live.
He hadn't truly believed they could fight together and win. He hadn't trusted them enough.
He hadn't trusted himself enough.
"…So I was the first to falter," Tobirama said bitterly.
"The root of their cowardice," Kai confirmed. "Was you."
The silence between them stretched long and hard.
Birds chirped in the trees. The wind whispered through scorched bark.
And for the first time in his life, Senju Tobirama didn't know what to say.
He looked down at the blood on his gloves, the cracked blade at his hip, and the broken field around them.
It should have been a victory.
Instead, it was a warning.
"I understand now," Tobirama said at last.
His voice was firm again—but not rigid. Not defensive.
Humbled.
"I thought I was preparing them to lead. But I never considered that the way I died would affect how they lived."
Kai gave the faintest nod of acknowledgment.
"Then learn from it," he said. "Next time, don't just teach them jutsu. Teach them how to carry fire without you."
Tobirama bowed his head.
"…What do you want me to do?"
Kai finally smiled.