"In a critical moment like this, how can you still have free time to grumble and waste time here?" Tobirama scolded.
"Why don't you immediately think of a way or solution to get out of this situation? Look at that little monkey!"
Tobirama pointed at Hiruzen.
"He's very old now, how much fighting strength do you think he still possesses? Even though you and I are not currently in our prime or golden age, our combined strength is more than enough to give that little monkey and his white-haired student great difficulty. If you don't quickly think of a way to free us from this Edo Tensei's control, we might really be controlled by someone to destroy Konoha today!"
"What can I possibly do?"
Hashirama muttered softly, his eyebrows now full of sadness and a strange bit of nostalgia.
"I'm not Madara, Tobirama. Work that requires a lot of complicated thought and strategy like this isn't my specialty, you know that."
He sighed again.
"Oh, if only Madara were still here with us now, he would surely know how to overcome this situation! He would definitely find a way!"
"..."
Senju Tobirama felt very fortunate that he was now in an immortal Edo Tensei body; otherwise, he would have been angered to death and might have had a heart attack from his brother's truly disappointing behavior.
In a situation like this? And you're still constantly calling out "Madara's" name all the time?!
Can you be a little more promising and stop relying on others, Older Brother?!
"Senju Hashirama,"
Tobirama's voice sounded cold and threatening.
"If you dare to mention Madara's name one more time in front of me, I swear I'll strangle you to death, believe it or not?"
Seeing Hashirama still endlessly grumbling about Madara, Tobirama's expression suddenly became very cold.
He said to Hashirama in a piercingly cynical tone,
"This older brother of mine is truly a man who will never stop babbling until he's actually punished."
"Hmph! Tobirama, have you forgotten?"
Hashirama lifted his head proudly, completely unfazed by his brother's threat.
"We are both currently in Edo Tensei bodies, and you can never strangle me to death! So, Madara, Madara, Madara!"
In this immortal Edo Tensei state, Hashirama felt himself invincible and not at all afraid of Tobirama's empty threats.
"..."
'Indeed, this person really needs to be strangled to death!' Tobirama thought, a vein throbbing intensely on his temple.
Senju Tobirama swore in his heart, if this person weren't his own brother, he would have truly strangled him to death long ago.
His behavior was truly so annoying!
"You two," Orochimaru's cold voice cut off the heated debate between the two Hokage brothers.
"Your time for reminiscing and arguing will soon be over. If there's anything last you want to say to each other, say it quickly!"
Orochimaru slowly walked closer behind the two resurrected Hokages.
He took out two special kunai from under his robe, each kunai tied with a complicated paper talisman at its hilt.
This Edo Tensei technique was not yet fully complete.
If he wanted to control these two Hokages perfectly and force them to fight according to his will, he had to implant these control talismans into them.
"After this,"
Orochimaru continued with a cunning smile,
"the real fight will officially begin. And this place, this magnificent stadium roof, is the stage I have specially chosen for you. I have also set up a very strong Shishienjin barrier around it. No one will be able to enter or exit to disturb your fight..."
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Currently, a few kilometers outside the now ravaged gates of Konoha Village, the battle between the two Jinchuriki and their allies was reaching its peak.
With the forced yet effective cooperation between Naruto and Sasuke, Gaara had completely lost control and entered a full rampage state.
A large amount of golden-yellow sand surged from the ground and the gourd on his back, forming a terrifying vortex before finally solidifying into the figure of a giant Tanuki monster with dark purple patterns all over its body – Shukaku the One-Tail had been fully unleashed.
The sand monster stood towering, its shadow covering Naruto and Sasuke, who looked so small before it.
"I told you, Kid! You're not really going to let me deal with this troublesome creature alone, are you?!"
Gamabunta's thundering voice, the Toad Boss who had just been painstakingly summoned by Naruto, now sounded full of annoyance and a little... fear?
He really wanted to curse right now.
'What great sin did I commit in my previous life to have to meet this strange family?'
he thought bitterly.
'His father summoned me to fight the Nine-Tailed Fox, his son summons me to fight the One-Tailed Tanuki! Do they think I'm some kind of Bijuu extermination specialist?!'
"Can your strange family stop tricking me like this?!"
Gamabunta continued, his giant tobacco pipe almost falling from his mouth out of sheer annoyance.
"Your blond father summoned me to fight the Nine-Tails, and now you, his equally blond son, summon me again to fight the One-Tail! Do you think I'm invincible and can handle all the tailed beasts alone, huh, Brat?!"
"Ahahaha... well... that's about it, Bunta. I'm really a little... a lot... sorry about this!"
Standing a bit unsteadily on Gamabunta's large and slippery head, Naruto laughed awkwardly, his face red with embarrassment.
"But, except for your mighty self, I really don't know how to deal with that big sandy guy. With a body that big, like a mountain, ordinary attacks from Sasuke and me wouldn't have much effect at all, dattebayo!"
"You can't even handle that One-Tail, so what makes you think I have a better way, huh?!"
Gamabunta snorted loudly, smoke billowing from his pipe.
"If it weren't for Jiraiya and Minato, I would have stopped and run away long ago! I'm still young, you know! And I've just been blessed with two cute sons! I'm not at all ready to die foolishly at such a young age just because of your antics!"
"Come on, Bunta, please..."
Naruto clasped his hands together, putting on the most pitiful expression he could muster.
"Please help us just this once! After all this is over, I promise I'll make that Ero-sennin come and apologize to you directly, okay? I'll even force him to treat you to all the best quality sake you can drink!"
"Hmph! Forget about that treat, just forget it!"
Gamabunta waved his hand dramatically.
"For the honor of your deceased father, I won't be too calculative with you this time, Brat!"
Gamabunta said with a feigned tone of resignation, although there was a hint of hidden pride in his voice.
"But remember! I will demand full accountability from that Pervy Sage Jiraiya for all this chaos! Don't forget to ask him to come and apologize to me personally later!"
"Ah, don't worry about that, Bunta! Just leave it to me!"
Naruto patted his chest confidently.
"I'll definitely make that Ero-sennin come groveling and apologize to you until you're satisfied, dattebayo!" Naruto said this without the slightest burden, as if forcing Jiraiya to do such an embarrassing thing was the easiest thing in the world.
Inside her seal, Hana, who had been watching the interaction between her prince and the Toad Boss, couldn't hold back her laughter.
'Hahahah... he really knows how to take advantage of the situation, and that big toad, playing so hard to get even though he was going to help in the end. These two are truly a unique and entertaining pair in the midst of such a serious battle,'
Hana thought amusedly, her blue kimono trembling slightly from her suppressed laughter.
"WUAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M FINALLY OUT! FREE! AFTER BEING TRAPPED INSIDE THAT WEAK BRAT FOR SO LONG!"
Shukaku, the One-Tailed Sand Tanuki, laughed boisterously with a piercing, ear-splitting shriek.
His triumphant laughter made Naruto and Sasuke, standing below him, instinctively frown and cover their ears.
After laughing to his heart's content, Shukaku turned his giant body and looked around with a wild gaze. When his yellow eyes with shuriken-shaped pupils caught sight of Gamabunta standing not far from him, his eyes suddenly sparkled with interest.
"Hey, you, Big Red Frog over there!"
Shukaku exclaimed arrogantly.
"Are you interested in becoming my sworn little brother? I'm telling you, as long as you're willing to be my little brother and follow me, the great Shukaku, I promise you'll have a very good and glorious life in the future!"
Shukaku's mind began to race with various grand plans.
After being sealed and treated like a weapon by the Sunagakure ninjas for so many years, he had finally discovered one most important thing.
Those human ninjas, although individually weak, were numerous and always ganged up on him whenever they fought.
No matter how strong Shukaku was as a Bijuu, he could only be helplessly defeated in the end due to being outnumbered.
After realizing this crucial problem, Shukaku began to formulate a grand plan in his mind. When he had the chance to get out and be free like now, he would find a way to recruit more brethren and form an invincible monster team.
At that time, when he had more strong subordinates, he would no longer need to worry about being surrounded and ganged up on by those cunning human ninjas.
Maybe he could even counterattack the Sand Village and capture all the ninjas there to be his slaves and servants!
Shukaku had so many brilliant plans in his mind, and this strong-looking Gamabunta was just the first step for him to test and realize his plans.
Although his opponent's appearance was a bit ugly and frog-like, he seemed quite strong and sufficiently qualified to be the great Shukaku's first subordinate.
"DID YOU SAY FROG?!"
Gamabunta's usually brick-red toad face suddenly turned pitch black with anger.
'Are this damn Tanuki's eyes not working properly?! Since when did I, the mighty Gamabunta, turn into a frog?! I am very handsome and charismatic, how could this person make such a fatal mistake?!'
After snorting angrily several times, Gamabunta immediately shouted back at Shukaku with an equally thundering voice.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL DAMN TANUKI! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FROG, HUH?! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M A TOAD?! T-O-A-D! NOT A FROG!"
Inside the seal, Hana chuckled again, this time louder.
"Pfft... Buahahaha! Oh my, these two! One wants to recruit subordinates in a weird way, the other is angry because of a misnamed animal! This is more like a comedy show than a battle between giant monsters! Looks like we got free entertainment today!"
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... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... SPOILER ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
[Note: to make it easier for readers to find chapters containing Spoilers, I will mark spoiler episodes with "(S)" at the beginning of the chapter title (^^)]
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Otsutsuki Hagoromo stroked his beard and watched this entire heartwarming scene carefully.
His old face was now filled with a sincere and relieved smile.
"So sincere and so firm. No matter how their relationship will change or develop in the future, I firmly believe that the end of their story will never be like Ashura and Indra's."
"I also firmly believe that, 'Father',"
Hana nodded in agreement, a gentle smile etched on her face.
However, a second later, a characteristic mischievous grin suddenly appeared on her beautiful face.
"And I believe even more, if only one of these two troublesome brats had swapped genders from the beginning, the legendary 'Naruto' Anime might never have been able to film up to 700 episodes and stress me out."
Hagoromo: "..."
"Oh, dear."
Hagoromo sighed deeply, massaging his slightly throbbing temples.
"Hana, 'My child'... I think it would be much better for you not to talk too much in the future, okay? Especially about those strange things from 'your world'."