Fugaku moved his hands at lightning speed.
With a single hand-seal, the sealing scroll in his grip snapped open; dense sealing formulas gushed out and crawled all over the Edo Tensei body of Tobirama.
Immediately afterward,
Tobirama's Edo form was sealed inside the scroll.
Whew—
Seeing this, Fugaku exhaled in relief.
That was too close.
As expected of Senju Tobirama!
Even though it was only an Edo Tensei body, I nearly got skewered by a Kunai—and I'm a Mangekyo Expert!
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Fugaku shut his Mangekyo Sharingan and dabbed away the blood seeping from his eyes.
Of course,
he knew luck had been on his side; his own Mangekyo technique just happened to counter Tobirama, otherwise sealing the Second Hokage wouldn't have been so simple.
However—
the instant he relaxed, a streak of white light flashed across his vision.
He froze, dumbstruck.
What was that?
Obviously,
having just deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan, his naked eye couldn't track something moving at that speed.
Before Fugaku could react, Shisui stepped in front of him and clashed head-on with the newcomer.
Watching the exchange, Fugaku sighed softly.
No helping it—
after using the Mangekyo, he was completely drained.
Tobirama was simply too strong; freezing and slowing his personal time with a dōjutsu had devoured an ocean of Dōjutsu Power.
Last time he'd sealed Shisui and Itachi so easily only because they hadn't been on guard; Tobirama was a different story.
Therefore,
right now he was running on empty—never mind Dōjutsu Power, the Chakra drain alone had pushed his mind and body to their limits.
Yet he gritted through the stabbing pain in his eyes, reopened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and saw the intruder—Sakumo Hatake!
"Uchiha brat, my weakness is obvious."
"Find a way to limit my speed and you're halfway to victory."
"You're fast yourself; I believe you can pull it off."
"Oh, and…"
"When you see Kakashi, tell him I'm sorry."
Sakumo spoke gently,
but his blade was lightning-quick and cunning, every slash viciously precise.
Shisui's face was grave; his Mangekyo let him follow the blade, yet his body still lagged a fraction behind.
No helping it—
his moniker "Shunshin Shisui" relied mainly on genjutsu support.
Pure swordplay? Strong, but still a notch below Sakumo.
As for dōjutsu—
useless.
Kotoamatsukami rewrites minds, but Sakumo's mind was fine; he simply couldn't disobey Orochimaru's control.
Susanoo?
He wasn't Eternal Mangekyo; at best he could manage the second stage, barely.
Sakumo was too fast; even if he forced Susanoo open, he'd only be a punching bag.
"Shisui, hold him a bit longer!"
"I'll fetch more troops and figure out how to trap him!"
"We Uchiha aren't experts at that—need Earth and Water Release Ninja!"
With that,
Fugaku sprinted rearward and rallied a large force.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Prison Dome!"
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
"Earth Release: Mountain Jutsu!"
Rows of earthen walls shot up; Sakumo could smash or dodge one, but another five waited, leaving him little room.
The Ninja he'd summoned were ordinary—Sakumo could kill them in a blink—
but, sadly,
Shisui glued himself to Sakumo's back, giving him no such opening.
Thus
his maneuvering room shrank; an assassin by trade, he feared no single foe and could escape many—yet with Shisui pinning him and a swarm of Ninja hurling jutsu to cage him,
even he was stymied.
Ten minutes later,
Sakumo was boxed into a tiny pocket; Shisui unfurled a sealing scroll.
"Seal!"
"Everyone… sorry for the trouble."
"While I still have a moment, could you tell me—how is Kakashi doing?"
As the sealing formulas crawled over him, Sakumo's face stayed gentle;
clearly
he worried deeply for his son.
In answer
Shisui smiled faintly and said sincerely, "Kakashi-sama is head of New Konoha's Anbu—my direct superior."
"Good… then I can rest easy." Sakumo exhaled.
With those words
the formulas crept up to his head, and he was completely sealed.
Meanwhile,
thanks to Tsunade's pre-made sealing scrolls, New Konoha faced the Edo undead army without panic; in barely a dozen minutes nearly all were sealed.
"Grandmother… forgive me."
"I'll settle the score with Orochimaru; I won't let her disturb your peace in the Pure Land."
Tsunade's face was stern, tinged with reluctance.
Facing Uzumaki Mito, she had a thousand things she wished to say,
but, alas,
the battlefield allowed no such time.
Mito, however,
looked unbothered, turning instead to Tsunade's personal life.
"New Konoha, hm?"
"I knew Sarutobi was useless, but to think every clan abandoned him.
And now the Uchiha build a New Konoha—and you, little Tsunade, actually join them and care so much…"
"Tell Grandmother the truth—have you taken a fancy to some Uchiha lad?"
"I may dislike the Uchiha, but if you love him, I'll only give you my blessing."
"Listen to your elder: you're not young anymore; it's time you married, understood?"
"…"
Uzumaki Mito chattered on.
As the woman who once put Hiruzen Sarutobi in office and lived through the destruction of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans, how could she not know Hiruzen's true colors?
Hence
she cared nothing for Old Konoha's fall.
She'd stayed her hand only for Hashirama's sake.
Now, things were different.
Dead herself, she cared not whether Konoha lived or died—only about Tsunade's love life!
Such an age and still unwed?
Listening to her grandmother's nagging, Tsunade's expression grew more and more fed up.
"Grandmother, stop meddling!"
"Off to the Pure Land with you—my life's none of your business!"
"Be—sealed!"