The Third Hokage and Danzo exchanged a glance, and both could see the shock in each other’s eyes.
They remembered that Lord Hashirama Senju had died not long after the village was established.
As for the cause of his death, no one could say for certain.
Members of the Senju Clan claimed that the First Hokage had died because his frequent use of Sage techniques had accelerated the depletion of his lifespan.
Others said that Hashirama Senju had suffered severe injuries during his successive battles with Uchiha Madara and eventually succumbed to them.
But the Third Hokage remembered something.
Before the First Hokage’s death, he had privately warned the Second Hokage once, saying that he had been ambushed while traveling outside the village and that Tobirama needed to be careful.
Could it be that Lord Hashirama had really been ambushed by this Akatsuki member, Kakuzu, and subsequently died from his injuries?
The Third Hokage took a deep look at Kakuzu in the distance.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
He knew the First Hokage’s strength better than anyone.
To be capable of ambushing Lord Hashirama to death, this man named Kakuzu had to possess unimaginable strength!
“Looks like once the ranking of the Ten Biggest Show-Offs is over, I’ll have Naruto immediately use his reward opportunity to revive the First Hokage…”
A cold glint flashed through the Third Hokage’s eyes as he made his decision.
The Akatsuki’s objective was to seize the Tailed Beasts from the various villages and use them to create the Ten-Tails.
With an existence as terrifying as Kakuzu protecting the organization, if the First Hokage wasn’t revived, there would be no one capable of defeating the Akatsuki!
Throughout the alternate dimension, the other shinobi watching the video also couldn’t help looking toward Kakuzu.
Every face was filled with fear.
Someone capable of killing Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage known as the God of Shinobi…
Just how powerful was this Kakuzu?
However, there were also strategists like Nara Shikaku who noticed something suspicious.
In particular, the character description given by the Lord of the Myriad Worlds was simply too strange.
It didn’t really sound like praise for Kakuzu.
Instead, it seemed to carry a faint hint of teasing.
However, Shikaku didn’t dare jump to conclusions.
He decided to wait until the entire video had finished before making a judgment.
The video continued.
On screen, Hidan was extremely excited as he urged Kakuzu on.
“Senior! Senior! Hurry up and tell me! How did you kill the First Hokage?”
Kakuzu had drunk quite a bit and was already slightly intoxicated.
Hearing Hidan’s question, his spirits immediately soared, and he began recounting the story.
“Back then, when I was still a shinobi of the Hidden Waterfall Village, I was the strongest combatant in the village. Therefore, I was sent to assassinate the First Hokage.”
“I knew the First Hokage was incredibly powerful, so I deliberately spent two days gathering all the intelligence I could about him. I even trained three S-rank Fire Release techniques specifically to counter his Wood Release.”
“Once I was fully prepared, I deliberately chose a moonless night and quietly made my way to the outskirts of Konoha.”
“Just as I was preparing to infiltrate the village…”
“I saw a tall man sitting on the roof of a house outside the village, seemingly waiting for me.”
“The aura of a powerful shinobi emanating from him was extremely obvious. It was comparable to my own, so I immediately determined that this was my assassination target—the First Hokage!”
“Sure enough, the man turned his head. Under the moonlight, I saw his sharply defined face. It really was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!”
“Under the moonlight, I saw Hashirama looking at me with an extremely solemn expression, as though facing a great enemy. He said in a deep voice that he had been waiting for me for a long time.”
“I was extremely puzzled and asked how he had discovered my whereabouts. Hashirama Senju answered that as the strongest man of his era, he naturally had to closely monitor anyone whose strength was comparable to his own. Apart from Uchiha Madara, I was one of them!” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
By this point, Hidan was already completely awestruck by Kakuzu.
His eyes shone as he eagerly asked,
“And then? And then? Did you two fight?”
Kakuzu took a large gulp of alcohol.
A nostalgic expression appeared on his face as he continued.
“That’s right. Hidan, you have to understand that between true masters, sometimes a single glance is enough for them to understand each other’s intentions.”
“So, after exchanging a glance, the two of us immediately knew that this would be the ultimate battle between two men standing at the pinnacle of the shinobi world!”
“That battle lasted for three whole days and three whole nights. We fought from outside Konoha to the outskirts of the Hidden Cloud Village, then all the way to the outskirts of the Hidden Mist Village. In the end, my skills proved superior.”
“Using a Forbidden Fire Release technique, I defeated Hashirama Senju!”
“He was severely wounded by me and fled in disgrace. I heard that he died from his injuries not long after returning to the village.”
As he spoke, Kakuzu let out a deep sigh.
A profound expression of loneliness appeared on his face.
“You know, Hidan… I’ve regretted that battle for decades.”
Hidan asked curiously,
“What do you regret, Senior? Didn’t you win?”
“Of course I regret that I went too far and accidentally killed the First Hokage!”
“As a result, there was no longer anyone in this world who could fight me.”
“It’s been terribly lonely.”
Hidan’s entire body trembled.
It was as though he had been infected by Kakuzu’s lonely state of mind as an unrivaled master.
Of course, deep down, he vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Under normal circumstances, he might already have begun questioning Kakuzu.
But Hidan had been drinking and was already completely drunk.
So he cast aside that faint suspicion and completely believed Kakuzu.
“Wow, Senior! You’re incredible! From now on, I’ll work even harder and follow your example!”
With that,
Thud!
Hidan collapsed drunk onto the table.
Inside the alternate dimension,
Hidan had been scratching his head in confusion ever since the video began.
He couldn’t remember this incident at all.
It wasn’t until he saw himself getting drunk and collapsing onto the table that realization finally dawned on him.
“No wonder I couldn’t remember it! I was drunk at the time!”
Kakuzu, meanwhile, covered his face and didn’t dare look at the video.
But the sound of his own bragging continued to reach his ears.
It was like a public execution.
They had all realized it.
Kakuzu was bragging.
And now that the video of him bragging was being played before the entire shinobi world, Kakuzu had completely lost face.
Over in Konoha, the Third Hokage was both amused and exasperated.
He sighed and shook his head.
“So it was all just bragging?”
It had given him and Danzo quite a fright for nothing!
However, among Konoha’s young shinobi, some of the more innocent ones—such as Choji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, and Rock Lee—had been completely shocked by Kakuzu’s fabricated story.
Their mouths hung open, and for a long while, they couldn’t say a word.
Just then, the second video began playing.
Its title was:
[Kakuzu vs. the First Hokage!]
Instantly!
The Third Hokage, who had just relaxed, became alert again.
Could Kakuzu’s story actually have been true?
Otherwise, why would the Lord of the Myriad Worlds play a second video?
In the other villages, the shinobi who had already realized that Kakuzu was merely bragging also became tense once again.
Everyone raised their heads and watched the screen intently.
Only Nara Shikaku had a glint of understanding in his eyes.
Combining Kakuzu’s character description with what had just happened, he had already guessed what the second video would show.
He looked around.
Everyone else seemed to have been deeply intimidated by the title of the second video.
It seemed they genuinely believed that Kakuzu was the one who had killed the First Hokage.
The corners of Shikaku’s mouth curled upward slightly.
He decided not to expose the truth just yet.
Over in the Akatsuki’s area,
Uchiha Itachi had also noticed something suspicious.
A rare trace of amusement appeared on his face as he waited to see Kakuzu embarrass himself again.
However, the others had also been shocked by the video’s title.
Kisame Hoshigaki narrowed his eyes slightly.
Konan’s face showed surprise.
Even Tendo Pain turned around and stared at Kakuzu repeatedly.
Could this guy really have fought the First Hokage?
Had he been hiding his true strength all these years?
Hidan was even more worshipful than before.
“Whoa! Senior! I thought you were just bragging! I didn’t realize you really fought the First Hokage!”
Deidara was also utterly shocked.
“So you’re saying the First Hokage really was killed by you, Senior?”