Yes, the Hokage!

"The First Hokage's original intention in establishing the village was to protect children, but that guy, under the guise of protecting Konoha, forcibly kidnapped children from various families and trained them as his subordinates, never even letting them see their families. He even used the children to conduct all sorts of inhumane experiments, while the Third Hokage turned a blind eye to all his actions. Is this the Konoha you two wanted when you founded the village?"

"Absolutely not!" Hashirama stood up for the third time, clenching his fists so tightly that he accidentally stomped a hole in the ground, clearly remembering Madara's words.

[You've got things backwards, Hashirama.]

Those words, like a curse and a nightmare, echoed in my mind until the very last moment of my life, and I never imagined they would come true here.

This time, Tobirama didn't tell his older brother to shut up. He just watched him make a fuss quietly until Hashirama calmed down a bit. Then Fenglan spoke up: "As for this, First Hokage, you don't need to worry too much. Danzo has been killed by me, and Root has been completely destroyed. Moreover, long before Root was destroyed, I had already returned the children he took to their parents."

"Really?" Hashirama looked up in surprise. Tsunade was drinking while Fenglan was grinding reputation, so she couldn't tell her grandfather about it.

"More real than real gold." Feng Lan smiled slightly.

"That's good, that's good." Hashirama breathed a sigh of relief and revealed a hearty smile. "Fenglan, you really are the inheritor of the Will of Fire."

"So what's your opinion on the current state of Konoha?" Tobirama didn't let his older brother continue, because he knew that the next thing the other person would say would definitely be to ask Hashirama what the Will of Fire was, and then take the First Hokage's words out of context to put down the Third Hokage.

[Tch, you predicted my prediction! You're something else.]

Feng Lan had these words on the tip of his tongue, but since he was not allowed to say them, he could only give his conclusion: "The current state of the village is like a tree. On the outside, it is still strong and thriving, but inside there are countless termites sucking its blood. Whether it is the leaves, the roots, or any part of the tree, they are all objects of their gnaw."

"The Third Hokage was too concerned about his image as a good person and too eager to maintain a balance. He didn't want to offend either side, which ultimately led to the creation of Danzo, a cancerous tumor that left behind countless messes. Instead of having the courage to make a clean break in the face of these messes, he retreated behind the scenes and pushed the Fourth Hokage to take on all of this."

"As for the Fourth Hokage..." Feng Lan shrugged, "He is similar to the First Hokage in many ways, so I can only worry about him more."

"What's wrong with being similar to me?" Hashirama was completely confused.

“So that’s how it is, similar to when I assisted my elder brother back then…” Tobirama pondered, unconsciously adding insult to injury for Hashirama. He already understood the relationship between Maple and Minato. “But this is ultimately just your side of the story.”

"Lady Tsunade was present during the speech incident," Feng Lan said calmly. "Not to mention when the First Hokage and you were leading the village, even the Third Hokage himself, when he was young, would not have humbled himself to try to settle things peacefully in this situation. But he did just that now."

Tobirama fell silent. He could remain skeptical of Fenglan, but the facts were undeniable: he himself had died in battle in his prime, and he couldn't imagine what it would be like to hold power in one's twilight years.

"Tobirama, let's go back to Konoha." Hashirama looked at his younger brother. "Let's persuade your disciple to stop being so stubborn. Konoha can't continue like this!"

"Don't be silly, brother." Tobirama's reply was cruel. "Our presence now will only cause trouble for the children."

The logic is quite simple. In ancient China, how many times did fathers and sons, brothers, kill each other to fight for the throne? Now, three generations have held power and are unwilling to relinquish it. So what if the teacher comes back?

Hashirama frowned: "How could that be? Hiruzen is your disciple, and I once taught him the Will of Fire. He should know what we said..."

“Of course he’ll listen,” Tobirama interrupted him, “but what happens after he listens?”

He turned to his elder brother: "The current Hokage of Konoha is Minato Namikaze, not Hiruzen Sarutobi. If we show up in the village and try to persuade Hiruzen... how will Minato's authority be established? If we offer our support for Minato... what will Hiruzen's subordinates think?"

"Even if we don't say anything, just standing there will attract people spontaneously. The fact that the First and Second Hokage have been resurrected will be used by various forces. Some will use us as a banner, and some will use us as a weapon. At that time, the situation in Konoha will only be more chaotic than it is now."

"And the forbidden technique of Impure World Reincarnation would give people countless excuses to criticize us, which is why I sealed it away in the first place. Although it was Orochimaru who used it, it was Fenglan who brought us back, so all the blame will be directed at him, at Minato!"

"If you and I still had the strength we had in life, that would be fine, but now we can only exert 30% of our strength at most. It is impossible for us to fight against the ninja world on our own."

In the original work, Kabuto once said that because the Impure World Reincarnation technique is so overpowered, the user inevitably becomes notorious, and is even considered more dangerous than Madara Uchiha in the eyes of the public.

Although it seems a bit humorous now that we know Madara can use the Impure World Reincarnation technique, its positioning is undoubtedly correct.

Regardless of whether Feng Lan used the Impure World Reincarnation technique, the fact that he brought back two Hokage undoubtedly means he was using this technique for profit. Under such circumstances, he would inevitably be condemned by everyone. Not only would countless people in the other four great nations be wary of him, but also in Konoha Village. His infamy would far surpass that of the Uchiha clan.

Hashirama opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Tobirama continued, “Brother, I remember you once said that the will of the village should be decided by the people of the village. We are dead now. The people of the village now are Minato, Hiruzen, Fuuka, Tsunade, and those ninjas who are still fighting for Konoha. We dead people should not interfere with the choices of the living.”

After a moment of silence, Hashirama returned to the corner and began drawing circles again. This time, however, it wasn't the dejection from being scolded by his younger brother, but rather a sense of resentment towards the current state of the village.

Feng Lan let out a soft breath, her wariness of Tobirama growing even stronger: [Not only did he see through the situation, but he also spoke with such clarity and ruthlessness. No wonder he's the Second Hokage who led the village to become the strongest among the Five Great Nations.]

"I have achieved some results."

He continued to demonstrate his value, from seizing financial power to establishing an orphanage, to building a standing army and hunting down Danzo. The fact that he could accomplish so much with seemingly nothing even prompted Tobirama to nod in approval, offering a subtle comment:

"Not bad."

Chapter 82 Tobirama's Recognition

"It is an honor to be praised by the Second Hokage."

Feng Lan smiled slightly. His words came from the bottom of his heart. Tobirama was not bad, but it was completely different from a certain fellow’s “Abandoned Emperor, not bad”. There were very few people in the entire ninja world who could receive such a good evaluation from him.

"State your conclusion." Tobirama crossed his arms and continued to calmly observe Fenglan.

"My conclusion is that Konoha can hold on for now, but it absolutely cannot withstand a second internal conflict on the scale of Danzo." Feng Lan smoothly shifted from the first question to the second, which was how to guide the village's direction.

"First, take power back from the elders. The Hokage is the decision-maker of the village. Minato should be able to mobilize the Anbu, approve the budget, and have the final say."

"Second, we need to establish a standing new army, not a patchwork of private soldiers from various clans, but a truly Hokage-owned, deployable, and standardized military force. I'm already working on it; it's not large at the moment, but the framework is in place."

"Third, the research and development and popularization of scientific ninja tools. Ninjutsu is not the exclusive domain of major clans. Ordinary ninjas should have a path to become stronger. This path is not easy, but it must be taken."

"Fourth, the ninja academy can also be improved to teach some truly practical ninjutsu, so that the genin will have a skill to rely on after graduation instead of being blank slates."

Of the Konoha 12, did they learn any skills at the academy? Most of them were inherited from their clans. Sakura, the only genin who graduated without the help of her clan, was a complete blank slate. So when Sasuke left, she could only cry and beg Naruto. Before Shippuden, she was almost useless.

"That's all?" Tobirama narrowed his eyes. "What about the most important thing: eradicating the scourge of the village?"

“I will naturally take care of this matter,” Feng Lan said with a smile. “I will take care of everything that needs to be done while Shui Men is still in power.”

"And then?" Tobirama continued, his gaze fixed on Fenglan. "Judging from your tone, you're preparing to become the next Danzo."

"Someone will always have to do Danzo's job, but I'll definitely do it better than him."

Feng Lan smiled confidently, but the more confident he was, the more doubts Tobirama had. Unlike Danzo, this kid named Feng Lan had a huge influence on the Fourth Hokage. If he really took away all the power of Hiruzen and the others in the future, wouldn't Konoha become his one-man show?

"No, he won't become Danzo." However, at this moment, someone no one expected spoke up—it was Tsunade.

"What do you mean?" Tobirama immediately looked over sharply. When it came to matters concerning the village, even his own grandniece was not an option.

“Because Fenglan has a bottom line than Danzo, and Minato is not an old teacher.” Tsunade said seriously, “They will not become the clearly separated Konoha and Root, but the closely connected Fire and Kage. Minato will not let Fenglan bear all the darkness alone, and Fenglan will not treat Minato the way Danzo treated his teacher.”

"Can you guarantee that?" Tobirama said coldly. "This matter concerns the future of the village, and I hope you can make a fair and calm judgment."

"I swear on my life." Tsunade showed no sign of backing down. "If Fenglan and Minato really go that far, I will stop them!"

"What right do you have to stop me!"

“I think it would be better if…” Feng Lan raised his hand, making a conciliatory expression, “The two Hokage left Tsunade-sama a will or something, designating her as the Fifth Hokage. Once Minato and I have completed all our work, we will immediately make Tsunade-sama the Fifth Hokage. What do you think?”

“Hmm…” Tobirama pondered for a moment, “That’s a good idea.”

After concentrating all power, he immediately stepped down, which prevented Fenglan from secretly manipulating Konoha by controlling Minato. Tobirama had a lot of confidence in Tsunade, and looking at the original Naruto work, she was indeed a very competent Fifth Hokage.

This is clearly what Feng Lan wants. As mentioned earlier, Feng Lan's ultimate goal is to be like Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, secretly reaping benefits without making a fuss. When Tsunade becomes the Fifth Hokage, he will be her disciple, have Minato as his backer, and make great contributions to the village. Isn't that exactly the status of those two?

No matter how shrewd Tobirama was, he never imagined that Fenglan's ultimate goal was not to control the village but to reap benefits (of course, this was largely due to the fact that he hadn't spent much time with Fenglan). Therefore, after thinking for a while, he said, "Brother, I think this is feasible."

Although he still had doubts, he had no better solution at the moment, so he placed his hopes on his descendants.

“Let Tsunade be the village chief…” But Hashirama hesitated instead, “You won’t lose the whole village, will you?”

"How could that be!" Tsunade was both embarrassed and angry, her face flushed red. "You idiot grandpa, I will definitely become the strongest Hokage and show you!"

"That's right!" Hashirama laughed heartily. "That's more like my granddaughter! Let's settle on that then!"

The two immediately wrote a letter, adding their signatures and fingerprints, along with a special spell. This spell was clearly something like a token, and they even added two seals inside.

Feng Lan didn't understand these things, but in the original work, Minato was able to use the Uzumaki clan's sealing technique to allow himself and Kushina to briefly appear in Naruto's sea of ​​consciousness. Hashirama's wife was Uzumaki Mito, so it's reasonable that they could leave behind a similar seal.

After finally gaining Tobirama's trust with great difficulty, Fenglan felt completely relieved and took the opportunity to tell him about Konoha's current situation and the overall landscape of the ninja world.

"Hmph, it's all your fault for being soft-hearted back then, otherwise how could things have turned out like this?" Tobirama crossed his arms and snorted coldly. Right after Hashirama died, the First Shinobi World War broke out immediately, and he was the one who carried the burden of Konoha. He harbored some resentment in his heart.

"Ugh..." Hashirama muttered softly, his words consisting of nothing more than "let's all understand each other" and "true peace will surely come," but unfortunately, the air inside and outside the room was far from cheerful.

"The most pressing threat right now is Kumogakure. According to you, the Fourth Raikage is a reckless man, but his recklessness is based on solid reasoning. The Eight-Tails is a perfect Jinchuriki, and Kumogakure's military strength is better preserved than Konoha's because of the Third Raikage's sacrifice. Once war breaks out, they won't give us time to prepare."

Tobirama began to analyze: "Onoki of Iwagakure is watching and waiting. He won't be the first to make a move, but he won't miss the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Sunagakure is desperate for money and may turn against us at any time as long as there is profit to be made. Kirigakure is embroiled in internal strife and cannot afford to fight external battles for the time being, but the Village of Blood Mist cannot hold out for long."

[Impressive.] Feng Lan couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. [I was able to draw these conclusions because I was familiar with the plot and had detailed information about the village, but he was able to analyze so much in such a short time after only hearing a brief description of the situation. No wonder he's Tobirama Senju.]

"Your approach to Amegakure is excellent," Tobirama said calmly. "It's not simply about violent oppression, but about winning them over and forming alliances. This is indeed the best option for Konoha right now."

This is what makes Tobirama so ruthless. If it were Hashirama, he would have thought that allying with Amegakure was a matter of course. But if Tobirama felt that turning against Amegakure would be more beneficial to the village, he would have truly destroyed Amegakure and seized the Rinnegan.

“I already have a strategy for how to proceed, but before that…” He looked at Feng Lan, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes, “I would like to hear your opinion.”

“My plan is simple.” Feng Lan didn’t mince words and said it without hesitation: “Stabilize Sunagakure, be wary of Iwagakure, and hold off Kumogakure.”

"Hmm?" Tobirama Senju raised an eyebrow. "Where's Kirigakure?"

"I don't think Kirigakure will have time to try and take a bite out of Konoha anytime soon."

Feng Lan smiled slightly. Even if he released Kisame Hoshigaki back, the worst-case scenario would be that Suigetsu Hozuki would be assassinated, Kisame would steal Samehada and run away, and the village would be in chaos. At that time, the Fourth Mizukage would be overwhelmed and would have little spare strength to participate in the war.

However, he didn't tell Tobirama about these things. He wanted to keep some pieces on his side and tell the guy all his cards because it was too dangerous.

"Are you sure?" Tobirama didn't press further, but asked a meaningful question.

“I’m very sure.” Feng Lan nodded.

"Then let's talk about the other three great nations." Tobirama stopped pursuing the matter. He had only heard Tsunade's description of Fenglan deliberately letting a Kirigakure ninja escape within the Land of Fire, and he had guessed at least 50% of the situation.

Hashirama, on the other hand, was full of curiosity, but too embarrassed to ask, and was practically bottling it up.

"It seems like we'll have to fight this battle in Kumogakure. As long as they don't gain much advantage, the Fourth Raikage won't be able to ignore the village's interests and act recklessly. He may be reckless, but he won't really suffer a loss. He can't bring himself to sacrifice himself to benefit Onoki."

“Three months.” Feng Lan held up three fingers. “As long as we can hold out against Yunyin on the main battlefield for three months without being at a disadvantage, they will naturally withdraw their troops. At that time, Onoki will have no chance to take advantage of the situation and will have no choice but to recuperate.”

"This line sounds a lot like mine," Tobirama frowned.

"Because you taught it to the teacher, the teacher taught it to me, and I taught it to this kid." Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"So you relied on Tsunade's experience, huh? Well, you've passed the test." Tobirama said noncommittally. "So, how do you intend to stabilize Sunagakure?"

Feng Lan had never used his Smiling Tiger form in front of Tobirama because he knew it was useless, but now he turned his head with a smile: "The Sand Village's trump card is right in front of us."

The Third Kazekage, who appeared to be doing nothing but had actually been eavesdropping the whole time, suddenly shuddered: "You, what do you want to do?"

Although he was the strongest Kazekage, he had no standing whatsoever in front of the First and Second Hokage.

"Third Kazekage, do you know?" Feng Lan didn't rush to make a request, but said calmly, "The cause of the Third Shinobi World War was your sudden disappearance."

Chapter 83 Lord Kazekage, you didn't want this either...

"What do you mean by that?!"

Upon hearing Feng Lan's words, the Third Kazekage's brows furrowed sharply.