Just then, the middle-aged noble's body began to distort and mutate.
He let out a terrified howl, his voice filled with boundless fear and despair.
His body started disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if an invisible force was slowly devouring him.
In the next instant, his voice abruptly vanished.
However, Tobirama sharply noticed that the fat noble was still screaming—he could see it—but some mysterious power was cutting off the sound, preventing it from escaping.
The whole scene lasted only a few seconds before the noble completely vanished, not even a speck of ash left behind.
Tobirama didn't pay much attention to the way the fat noble died.
After all, Hikaru had already surprised him too many times—he was starting to feel numb to it all.
But the things that noble had just said… there were some parts that made Tobirama pause in thought.
He turned to Hikaru and asked seriously:
"Six years ago—did something happen between Konoha and the daimyo?"
Tsunade might have only a vague impression of what happened back then, but Hikaru remembered it vividly.
Back then, Mito Uzumaki's domineering aura and commanding presence had left a lasting impression on him.
And now, Tobirama's question made Hikaru realize that this matter might not truly be over. Someone could still be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
After all, for a noble to suddenly appear after Konoha's fallout with the daimyo—using tax embezzlement as a weapon—and for that noble to conveniently find Sarutobi and Shimura clans as protectors? It all seemed far too coincidental.
Even if it was just a small town, it was still the "face" of Konoha.
The fact that the problems in this "face" went unnoticed for so long was bound to make clients coming to Konoha question things.
It wasn't hard to imagine: if the village's mission income started to decline, Konoha would have no choice but to rely on the daimyo's funds to keep running.
In that situation, even if Konoha didn't lose its autonomy, the daimyo's influence in the village would increase significantly.
To Hikaru, the scheme wasn't even clever—but it was effective.
But what the daimyo probably didn't expect… was that Hikaru was no Hashirama Senju.
Calling him another Madara Uchiha wouldn't even be enough.
Because in his heart, he had never believed in that nonsense about "divine right of kings."
With that thought, Hikaru muttered thoughtfully, "Looks like I need to pay the Fire Daimyo a visit."
Tobirama nodded. "Don't go too far."
Hikaru laughed.
"How could I? I just heard the daimyo's health is failing. I'm going to pay my respects and see him one last time."
Hearing that, Tobirama's eyelid twitched, but he didn't say anything.
He, of all people, who studied jutsu either forbidden or soul-related—what reverence would he possibly have?
He took a deep breath and looked at Hikaru.
"Do you know why this issue dragged on for so long without being discovered?"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and replied:
"Because Konoha's too dumb. Trying to run a village based on mission income alone?"
Tobirama was surprised. He had meant to remind Hikaru that if he ever became Hokage, he shouldn't repeat Mito's mistake of being too lax and letting something like this happen again.
But Hikaru's response completely caught him off guard.
Hikaru continued:
"I've never understood how you all are so content being the nobles' lapdogs. This whole thing shouldn't have happened. That town is the face of Konoha—how could you hand such an important place over to outsiders?"
Hearing that, Tobirama opened his mouth but couldn't refute him.
He nodded thoughtfully, signaling for Hikaru to continue.
And Hikaru—getting worked up now—pressed on:
"Why do the daimyo and nobles even need to exist? Why can't Konoha be the one in charge?!"
"Like they say: let the neighbor farm while I train in ninjutsu—the neighbor becomes my granary. What, are we not strong enough to take on the daimyo? Why hand over the entire Land of Fire to him?!"
Tobirama listened silently, a complicated emotion flickering in his eyes.
When Hikaru finished, Tobirama finally responded, slowly:
"Actually, I've thought about what you said."
Hikaru was surprised and asked, "Then why didn't you act?"
Tobirama fell into memory, as if reliving those turbulent, transformative times.
After a long pause, he spoke again:
"Some opportunities—once missed—are gone forever."
His voice was heavy with regret and reflection.
Hikaru nodded in understanding. He knew what Tobirama meant by "missed."
It referred to that critical moment when Konoha was founded.
At that time, the Senju and Uchiha clans were at their peak. Two gods of the shinobi world stood at the helm.
Other hidden villages didn't even have Jinchūriki yet.
That was the golden opportunity for Konoha to unify the continent.
But unfortunately, people yearned for peace—no matter how fleeting.
Even Hashirama Senju agreed with that dream.
And not even Madara Uchiha could drag him away from it.
Then came their falling out, the First Shinobi World War.
Konoha missed its chance, and the world would never see the kind of ideal Hikaru now imagined.
While Hikaru was lost in thought, he didn't notice Tobirama watching him with a strange look.
Suddenly, Tobirama spoke again: "But it looks like that moment might be coming again."
His words snapped Hikaru out of his thoughts.
Looking up, he realized all eyes were on him.
Yes—Konoha was no longer what it once was.
The return of the Senju brothers had greatly boosted the village's power, and even more shocking—
The person responsible for their return was a being even stronger than Hashirama Senju.
But that very person clearly wasn't eager to accept that responsibility.
Hikaru gave an awkward laugh.
"Let's talk about all that after I catch Madara Uchiha. For now, I'm off to give the daimyo his final send-off."
And with that, he vanished from sight.
Tobirama watched the direction where Hikaru disappeared, sighed softly, and shook his head helplessly.
Meanwhile, Hikaru continued traveling via Body Flicker, and soon arrived at his destination.
In truth, he would eventually carry out what he just said—unifying the shinobi continent.
But compared to that, his own happiness was more important.
Wanting Konoha to flourish was partially about improving his own living conditions.
And partially about rewriting the many tragedies within the Hokage legacy.
But he didn't owe anyone anything.
He wasn't some saint out to save the world.
He was just a person—not quite good, not quite evil.
And right now, he was only twelve.
Which meant, to him, he should be doing what a twelve-year-old was meant to do.
Same as always: time was on his side.