Chapter 143: I Really Need to Control You a Bit
"Why?"
Tsunade struggled for a long time before finally squeezing out these words.
Right now, she didn't dare to blurt out another "That's impossible."
If she kept that up, not only would she be deceiving herself, she'd also keep getting beaten up.
Grandfather Senju Hashirama might dote on her, but Granduncle Senju Tobirama definitely wouldn't.
That Water Dragon Bullet just now had shown absolutely no mercy.
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Creation Rebirth was a technique Tsunade had developed during the period after she left Konoha. Even Orochimaru, her former teammate, didn't know about it, let alone Senju Tobirama.
Which meant that just now, Tobirama really had attacked her with the intent to seriously injure her.
"Why? Because Boruto wants to correct the 'past history' that Shiromo changed, that is, the present."
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a sigh.
"'Past history'? So old man, you're saying that you were originally supposed to die? How? Don't tell me it was Orochimaru."
Tsunade frowned.
"It was Orochimaru."
"If Shiromo hadn't changed the systems of Kirigakure and Iwagakure, then during the Chunin Exams, ninja from those two villages shouldn't have appeared at all, much less in such large numbers."
"On top of that, if there hadn't been that Hidan who stole that thing, and if Shiromo himself hadn't posed such a high level of threat in my mind."
"Then I probably wouldn't have been so worried and anxious that I told you all, 'Konoha is facing a life-and-death crisis,' and called you back."
"And even if I had called you back, you still wouldn't have been able to save me."
"You wouldn't have been able to enter the Four Violet Flames Formation."
"And if we'd managed to persuade Orochimaru, then he wouldn't have defected in the first place."
"Facing a joint assault from the First and Second Hokage-sama, I would have had no choice but to fight to the death."
"Targets of the Impure World Reincarnation can't be killed. Perhaps the only way out would have been the same as Minato's."
Hiruzen spoke calmly, describing what was originally supposed to happen.
After hearing his account, Tsunade thought it through. If there really had been no Shiromo, things would indeed have turned out that way.
Without realizing it, Shiromo's influence on the ninja world had already become this great.
How had she not noticed before?
"Then what about Asuma? Was he also killed during the Konoha Crush plan?"
Tsunade thought of her ANBU guard, Yugao, whose lover had been killed during this turmoil.
"Asuma wasn't. He was killed later by the Death Controlling Possessed Blood technique. Boruto didn't know that part of the history, so he killed him too early."
"What?! You can kill someone too early? Isn't this way too sloppy?"
Tsunade was stunned.
Wasn't this supposed to be some grand matter of repairing the timeline?
How could it be this careless?
Killing without even confirming the timing?
"Boruto is a child who likes to play around to begin with. It's hard to expect him not to be frivolous."
"He was able to make up his mind, for the sake of future friends and family, to let the Ōtsutsuki take lives, is already impressive enough. At such a young age, being able to think from the perspective of a Hokage…"
Hiruzen had just reached this point when Senju Tobirama shot him a glance.
Let's stop with the "thinking from the perspective of a Hokage."
Back when they met Itachi, Hiruzen had introduced him in exactly the same way.
The last one who had "Hokage thinking" at such a young age slaughtered his entire clan.
And now this one with "Hokage thinking" was also preparing to carry out mass killings.
Is that Hokage thinking, or butcher thinking?
"How could this happen… How did I trust them so easily…"
Tsunade's eyes lost focus.
"You didn't just trust the wrong people, you also doubted the people you shouldn't have."
Tobirama took over the conversation, his tone cold and his expression blank.
"Shiromo had already made an agreement with you to deal with the Ōtsutsuki calamity. Not long ago, he endured tremendous pain and, by his own strength alone, defeated the Ōtsutsuki enemy. Yet you chose to doubt him."
"That's right, Little Tsuna. Originally, at his age, Monkey here should've retired and enjoyed his old age, maybe even gone out traveling now and then. But look at how things turned out."
"And honestly, what you scolded before wasn't wrong. Do any Hokage ever get a good ending? What about the Fourth? How did he die again? I think it was mentioned before, I forgot."
Hashirama also sighed.
"He died sealing the Nine-Tails."
"Oh."
Hashirama didn't say anything half-mocking like "You can even die sealing the Nine-Tails."
First, dying for the sake of the village is nothing to mock.
Second, after being revived, Hashirama had learned from Orochimaru how his younger brother Tobirama died.
If he said something like that, he'd actually be mocking Tobirama, who was beaten to death by two pseudo–Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Given Tobirama's temperament, wouldn't he just find an opportunity later to get revenge on him?
"Then why have you all returned to Konoha now?"
After regaining her composure, Tsunade finally asked about the main issue.
"Oh, it's like this…"
Hiruzen explained the method Shiromo had proposed.
"We need the help of the Kurama Clan on Konoha's side, to turn the illusion into reality? Create tailed beasts, revive Ōtsutsuki Kaguya… Old man, you trust him that much? What if he's just after the power of the tailed beasts…"
Crack.
Before Tsunade could finish, Senju Tobirama suddenly raised a finger, his face dark. The house, which had survived the Water Dragon Bullet thanks to Wood Release: Wood Expulsion technique, instantly split apart.
"Tsunade, I truly wish I could invent a ninjutsu curse mark, put it on you, and then hand control over to Shiromo, so he could properly control you!"
Tobirama slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.
"?"
Tsunade was completely dumbfounded: "No, Second Grandfather, what kind of outrageous thing are you saying?"
The way he put it made it sound like he was about to stick some kind of toy on her and then hand the remote to Shiromo.
"What outrageous thing? I'm talking about serious matters!"
Tobirama frowned, clearly not understanding what Tsunade meant.
Obviously, in Tobirama's era, such "toys" hadn't been invented yet.
Hiruzen covered his face with one hand.
Tsunade, this older unmarried woman, really was repressed.
She could even make that kind of association.
She was almost on Jiraiya's level.
"When you want to doubt someone, or evaluate someone, you first need to understand that person. Do you understand?"
Tobirama took a deep breath and began lecturing Tsunade.
Why is it that when Shiromo persuades the Akatsuki, it isn't called Talk no Jutsu, but when Naruto persuades others, it is?
Because when Naruto uses Talk no Jutsu, he rarely tries to understand the other person, he just outputs his own views.
When he talked Neji down, he didn't know what Neji had gone through. The same went for Gaara.
In the original story, Tsunade's classic "three sentences to make Pain amplify his technique" followed the same logic.
She never tried to understand why the other party thought that way, she only wanted to impose her own ideas.
This approach is only suitable for rallying speeches. If used anywhere else, it would just backfire.
Oh, unless you possess Asura's chakra, are favored by the Sage of Six Paths, and can use Talk no Jutsu.
After Tobirama's round of lecturing, Hashirama also voiced his agreement: "That's right, Yes, little Tsuna. According to the part of Black Zetsu's story that are actually true, the Sage of Six Paths' son, Asura, was only able to gain the power to defeat his older brother Indra by uniting everyone's strength."
"Understanding the power of one's companions, Shiromo has done that too."
"Isn't his method exactly about everyone working together in sincere cooperation, joining forces, turning the impossible into reality, and creating a miracle?"
(End of this chapter)