For Senju Mori, if he wanted to shake Hiruzen Sarutobi's position as Hokage, the two most crucial forces, besides the Senju Clan itself, were the Uchiha.
The Uchiha and Senju were the two strongest clans in Konoha during its early village establishment.
Even after successively losing Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, this power dynamic did not change much.
When Uchiha Madara defected, not a single clan member followed him, so the Uchiha Clan's strength was preserved intact.
After Madara left, Uchiha Kagami, who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, was the strongest in the Uchiha Clan, yet Uchiha Kagami was a foolish fellow brainwashed by the Will of Fire.
If he were allowed to return alive, he might not convince the Uchiha Clan to support Hiruzen Sarutobi, but he could at least prevent the Uchiha Clan from causing trouble.
This cannot be!
The Senju and Uchiha Clans are currently at their strongest; if they don't stir up trouble now, they will inevitably face only a slow death.
For Senju Mori, even if it meant forcing the Uchiha Clan to also jump out and contend for the Hokage position, it was better than letting the clan remain silent under Uchiha Kagami's leadership.
Anyway, it's impossible for the Uchiha Clan to become Hokage; they couldn't even be elected Hokage when Uchiha Madara was around, and now without Uchiha Madara's power, they can only stand aside.
Only by muddying the waters can he, Senju Mori, have a greater chance... A gentle breeze blew, and tree shadows swayed.
Sunlight filtering through the trees brought a touch of warmth, creating a seemingly peaceful forest scene, yet it felt like only the brief calm before a storm.
Amidst the monotonous journey, more than two days quickly passed, and before they knew it, it was the morning of the third day.
Senju Mori had just walked out of the temporary camp set up last night—a simple earthen house created with Earth Release.
Although Ninja possess the extraordinary power of "Chakra," they themselves have not transcended the realm of humans.
Even though he and Uzumaki Chizawa were both powerful elite Ninja, it was impossible for them to travel non-stop all the way to the Land of Lightning; limited daily rest was still essential.
Not to mention, they also had to reserve ample energy to deal with the battles after the journey.
After approximately four hours of rest, Senju Mori became re-energized, and the physical exhaustion from the previous day's journey was completely recovered.
He didn't need breakfast; a small, portable military ration pill could satisfy his food needs for two to three days.
For Senju Mori, what was as indispensable as rest was never food, but information.
Information from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.
Fortunately, he had prepared in advance.
Senju Mori used a kunai to draw a bloodstain on the tip of his left thumb, then flipped his hand and pressed it onto the ground, and several dense, dark black curses immediately spread outwards.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Bang!"
Amidst white smoke, a figure about half a meter long, with most of its body covered by a black cloak, appeared out of thin air.
Although this mysterious appearance looked somewhat intimidating, its small head, covered in brown-black fur, had long since revealed its identity.
The creature stood upright on the ground, its two shiny black eyes darting around, revealing a cunning expression.
Behind it, a fluffy large tail swayed back and forth, its imaginable pleasant texture almost made one want to catch it and play with it.
Despite its cute appearance, this was not Senju Mori's pet, but a real Summoning Beast.
Unlike the Uchiha's Ninja Cat Clan, the future renowned "Slug Sage" was not a Summoning Beast that every Senju Clan member could contract.
Senju Mori hadn't even heard of anyone in the current Senju Clan who had signed a Summoning contract with "Shikkotsu Forest," leading him to suspect that it was merely a Summoning Beast Tsunade herself found in the future.
However, while finding the Three Great Sage Regions, including Shikkotsu Forest, was extremely difficult, it was still very simple to find a common Summoning Beast clan if one wasn't aiming for "learning Sage Mode" and "powerful combat partners."
The clan that Senju Mori contracted with was called the "Henge Tanuki" clan.
This Summoning Beast clan possessed almost no combat power.
Just as the straightforward name "Henge Tanuki" suggests, even the special individual that Senju Mori had just summoned could only use some simple Transformation Jutsu.
However, although this small Summoning Beast did not have much combat power, its abilities in concealment, reconnaissance, and intelligence transmission were extremely outstanding.
Perhaps because of the new audience, Uzumaki Chizawa, nearby, this Henge Tanuki did not stop its performance; instead, it turned slightly away and spoke in a profound tone:
"Who is summoning the great Faceless One—"
Before it could finish speaking, Senju Mori casually pulled out a small stone from his Ninja tool pouch.
This action immediately drew all the attention of the Henge Tanuki.
"You even prepared a sacrifice for Lord Kirimaru! You fellow~"
It no longer cared about any performance, immediately waving its fleshy little paws and bouncing over, taking the shining small stone from Senju Mori's hand with a look of ecstasy.
It was actually a ruby.
Of course, this was not Senju Mori's Summoning Beast asking for a bribe; rather, for the Henge Tanuki clan, who lived underground year-round, these shiny little things were simply irresistible to them.
"Any new information, Kirimaru?"
While Kirimaru excitedly accepted the ruby, Senju Mori casually stroked its small head.
It was indeed as pleasant to the touch as always; the smooth fur was not only cool but also as silky as silk.
Although Kirimaru looked as if he couldn't bear to part with it, holding the ruby tightly with both paws, he did not forget to answer Senju Mori's question.
His mouth, full of sharp teeth, opened, yet miraculously emitted a somewhat childish human voice:
"Today is the day Kumogakure and Konoha officially sign their alliance~"
"However, the Gold and Silver Brothers you mentioned don't seem to show any signs of launching a coup; they even went to the Raikage Building for a meeting this morning."
"As for the specific content of the meeting, I don't know chu~"
Gathering intelligence is simple for the Henge Tanuki clan; even the barriers of various Ninja villages usually don't pay attention to the entry and exit of ordinary animals.
Although he spoke with a strange verbal tic, individuals like Kirimaru who could speak human language were actually very rare within the entire Tanuki clan; more common individuals were no different from real wild beasts.
Animals without Chakra naturally found it difficult to attract the attention of Kumogakure's barrier squad.
After a brief exchange with Senju Mori, Kirimaru disappeared from where he stood amidst a puff of white smoke.
'It seems the Gold and Silver Brothers plan to act during the alliance ceremony.'
Senju Mori thought to himself.
Having learned the latest intelligence, Senju Mori was not in a hurry to continue his journey; instead, he took out a folded map from his Ninja tool pouch.
Unfolding the map revealed a prominent line and several dots, which were Senju Mori's marked route and the places where they had rested along the way.
It could be seen that the two had already left the Land of Fire and were currently in the long, narrow Land of Hot Water.
The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost were two small countries sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning; although they also had their own Ninja villages, their combat power was almost negligible to the two great nations of Lightning and Fire.
When the war between Kumogakure and Konoha broke out previously, these two small countries in the middle naturally became one of the battlefields of the Ninja World War.
Senju Mori first marked their current location on the map, then pointed to the map and said to Uzumaki Chizawa:
"It will take approximately one day to travel from Kumogakure to completely leave the Land of Lightning. We will definitely arrive in the Land of Frost ahead of time, so let's choose that as our operational location."
Although the intelligence brought by Kirimaru indicated that Third Raikage had been deliberately sent away on a mission and was not currently in Kumogakure.
The only Kumogakure Ninja who could follow them would likely be Kinkaku and Ginkaku and their elite troops, but staying in the Land of Lightning for a long time was still too dangerous.
Senju Mori's plan was to first intercept Uchiha Kagami in the Land of Frost, and then proceed into the Land of Lightning to search for traces or the body of Senju Tobirama.
Anyway, he had no intention of saving Senju Tobirama; as long as he could bring the opponent's body back to Konoha, his ultimate goal would be achieved.