Chapter 57: Tobirama, Why Did You Insist on Choosing Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Calm down!
Tobirama Senju took a deep breath, trying to steady his mind.
Facing Uchiha Nan, an Uchiha clan member, Tobirama Senju's brilliant mind began to work at high speed.
He was now incredibly weak, his strength reduced to a fraction of its former self. He couldn't even perform the Flying Thunder God Technique, and sensing spatial fluctuations was extremely difficult.
His chakra flow was sluggish, and he couldn't activate any of his various forbidden techniques.
Relying on his own abilities to defeat Uchiha Nan was practically a pipe dream.
He needed help and more information.
"Where's Mito? What did you do to Mito! She wouldn't just watch you kill Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
Tobirama Senju's voice was cold, trying to ascertain Mito Uzumaki's situation. If Uchiha Nan had killed Mito as well, eliminating Uchiha Nan would be an impossible task.
"Tobirama-sama, is that how you see me?"
"Do you think I would harm Mito-sama?"
Uchiha Nan put on an innocent expression. He hadn't done anything terrible to Mito Uzumaki, except for the incident where he slapped her face.
In all honesty, Uchiha Nan had no intention of killing Mito Uzumaki. If he did, the Senju clan would likely fight him to the death, and internal strife would erupt immediately.
"Hmph, even an evil brat like you from the Uchiha wouldn't dare."
Tobirama Senju's expression relaxed slightly. He was genuinely afraid that Mito Uzumaki had also been killed by Uchiha Nan, though the possibility was low.
But considering the person before him was an Uchiha, he had to worry. Uchiha thought processes were different from normal people's, and Uchiha Nan couldn't be judged by normal standards.
"Also, Mito-sama didn't stop me from killing Hiruzen Sarutobi. She was watching from the side."
Uchiha Nan's next sentence changed Tobirama Senju's expression.
"You evil brat, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"Mito wouldn't just watch you kill the Third Hokage I chose!"
Tobirama Senju immediately rebuked him. He trusted his sister-in-law, Mito Uzumaki, implicitly and believed she would help Hiruzen Sarutobi become the Third Hokage.
If something went wrong, the only possibility was that Uchiha Nan was interfering!
"You must have interfered in Konoha. You're a troublemaker in the village. Mito wouldn't go against my dying wishes!"
Tobirama Senju was absolutely confident about this.
"Tobirama-sama, your metaphor isn't very good. If I'm a troublemaker, what are the others in Konoha?"
Uchiha Nan's simple retort immediately darkened Tobirama Senju's face.
"Shut up!"
"How dare you compare Konoha to such filth!"
That evil Uchiha brat was truly annoying. He was just using a figure of speech, but Uchiha Nan took it literally, comparing his and his brother's life's work to excrement.
"Stop beating around the bush!"
"Tell me everything!"
"What did you do to Mito to make her watch Hiruzen get killed?"
Tobirama Senju didn't want to waste time arguing with Uchiha Nan. He was desperate to know what Uchiha Nan had done to change Mito Uzumaki's mind and make her disobey his dying wishes.
"I didn't do anything..."
Uchiha Nan shrugged, indicating he wasn't taking the blame.
He could sense Mito Uzumaki's attitude. Although she outwardly supported Hiruzen Sarutobi becoming the Third Hokage, she actually treated Hiruzen as a pawn, a tool to test him.
"Impossible!"
Tobirama Senju's emotions wavered, and his regained composure began to slip.
"Why is it impossible?"
"Do you have that much faith in Hiruzen Sarutobi? Are you so sure Mito Uzumaki would support him as Hokage?"
"Don't forget, Mito-sama has a son. Senju Touma's strength and abilities are no less than Hiruzen Sarutobi's."
Uchiha Nan countered, implying that it was obvious who Mito Uzumaki would support as a mother.
"You... you..."
"Mito wouldn't be so narrow-minded..."
Tobirama Senju was losing confidence. If Senju Touma was involved, it was plausible that Mito wouldn't support Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Tobirama-sama, I'm actually curious. Why didn't you choose Senju Touma as Hokage, but Hiruzen Sarutobi instead?"
"If you had chosen Senju Touma, I probably wouldn't have become Hokage so easily. I might have had to stage a coup to seize the Third Hokage position from him."
Uchiha Nan was puzzled, unable to understand Tobirama Senju's thinking. The anime could attribute it to the author's plot decisions.
But for Uchiha Nan, the Naruto world was real, and they were all living people with their own thoughts.
If Tobirama Senju had really chosen Senju Touma as Hokage, Senju Touma wouldn't have had Hiruzen Sarutobi's weaknesses.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's escape as Hokage and neglect of his duty as a Hokage guard were indelible stains.
Moreover, Senju Touma was from the Senju clan, the young clan leader, possessing powerful family influence and two generations of accumulated political prestige.
If Tobirama Senju had left a dying wish, instructing Hiruzen Sarutobi to tell Senju Touma to become the Third Hokage, Senju Touma's ascension would have been flawless, legitimate, and unassailable.
Uchiha Nan's only path to becoming Hokage would have been a coup, which would have been several times more difficult.
A coup was a rebellion. Senju Touma, as Hokage, could have directly ordered the ANBU and other Konoha clans to besiege the Uchiha.
Trying to defeat Konoha with the Uchiha clan was a fool's dream. Uchiha Nan wouldn't have done something so foolish. He would have likely bided his time, found an opportunity to eliminate Senju Touma, and then naturally become Hokage.
But none of this happened. Tobirama Senju's choice for the Third Hokage's successor was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hmph, what do you know, you evil brat!"
"Everything I did was for Konoha, for Konoha's future."
"You wouldn't understand."
Tobirama Senju directly mocked Uchiha Nan's question.
His attitude was truly terrible.
But Uchiha Nan wasn't angry. His ingrained stereotype of Tobirama Senju had increased his tolerance significantly.
A few sarcastic remarks were mild.
If he didn't have control through Impure World Reincarnation, Tobirama Senju would have already attacked him.
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