The door to the Hokage's office swung open.

hashirama senju, madara uchiha, Tobirama Senju, and Izuna Uchiha, four figures from the Warring States Period, walked in from outside.

All four stopped dead at the scene inside. For a moment, none of them said a word.

It was genuinely bizarre.

Hirofumi Ito being in the Hokage's office was nothing unusual. minato namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha had been out for a while and were apparently back now.

But why was there an extra person with a massive blade strapped to their back, and another whose gender was impossible to determine?

And what exactly were minato namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha holding?

Half a head with a mouth. And a clump of thread, with a mouth on it too. What the hell kind of creature was that?!

"What's going on here, kid?"

madara uchiha raised an eyebrow and looked toward Hirofumi Ito. hashirama senju stood beside him, scratching his head with a goofy expression.

"Yeah... little Hirofumi, what's the deal with this clump of thread and that half a head? Are these two people you've summoned back to life? Are they also ninja of our Hidden Leaf Village?"

When the group entered the office, Zabuza Momochi and Hidan barely reacted. Zabuza didn't recognize any of these Warring States Period powerhouses, and Hidan's eyes held nothing but Jashin.

Kakuzu, on the other hand, went completely blank.

A head slowly emerged from the mass of thread, staring at the figure before them with absolute shock.

"The... the First... the First Hokage, hashirama senju?!"

hashirama senju heard the thread call out his name and found the whole thing rather entertaining. He never imagined a clump of thread could actually talk.

"Oh? You know who I am?!"

As he spoke, he used a Wood Release technique to conjure a small wooden stick, then proceeded to poke at the clump of thread with it.

Poking away, he studied the head attached to the thread, and seemed to remember something.

"Oh... I remember now! Wasn't it you who tried to assassinate me back when I attended the Five Kage Summit? You threw a shuriken at me from quite a distance! Your skills weren't bad at all — you managed to get that thing all the way to where I was standing!

I actually thought you were pretty interesting back then. So why did you run the moment I looked at you? It made me feel down for a long time afterward..."

Beside him, madara uchiha's brow furrowed instantly.

So this clump of thread was the one who had tried to assassinate that fool hashirama senju back then?!

Heh heh heh heh heh heh...

How interesting.

After this old man left the Hidden Leaf Village, all sorts of strays really did start crawling out of the woodwork.

He had heard before that hashirama senju had been targeted for assassination, and at the time had assumed the man was already dead, yet this person had survived all the way to the present? And turned into a clump of thread?!

BOOM!

WHOOSH!

madara uchiha's Chakra erupted with a thunderous roar!

A pillar of Chakra shot straight up into the sky!

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh... how interesting. So this clump of thread is the one who tried to assassinate Hashirama back then?!

Kid... you actually went and caught this person?!

Well done! This old man is going to make them dance!"

The people of the Hidden Leaf Village were long since accustomed to madara uchiha's oppressive aura. Zabuza Momochi, Haku, Hidan, and Kakuzu were not. They were utterly dumbfounded, the pressure was simply too overwhelming.

Nobody in that room could muster even a shred of will to resist.

One legendary figure, the First Hokage hashirama senju, was already terrifying enough. And now another powerhouse of that caliber had just walked through the door?!

"Sensei...

Look, you're getting worked up again.

This person is my company's general manager. The combat ability is nothing special, but when it comes to making money, there's nobody better in the Shinobi World.

Besides, back when this person went to assassinate my — ahem, ahem — went to assassinate my master, there was no choice in the matter. Forced into it.

Threw a single shuriken and immediately retreated. Then went back to Takigakure only to be branded a Rogue Ninja. That's already a miserable enough fate..."

madara uchiha gave a cold snort.

"Hmph! If that is the case, this old man shall spare them for now!"

Kakuzu, meanwhile, was straining to comb through every memory available, trying to figure out who could stand alongside hashirama senju and radiate that kind of terror.

In the entire Shinobi World, there was probably only one person.

The nightmare of countless ninja throughout the Warring States Period.

The one they called the demon of the Shinobi World...

"Could it be... could it be... could it be that you are the legendary madara uchiha?!"

"Didn't expect you to have some eye for it. It is indeed this old man."

Everyone who had just arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village swallowed hard at that.

Kakuzu's dread ran deeper than the rest, because compared to Zabuza Momochi and Hidan, Kakuzu was an existence from the Warring States Period itself, and knew the powerhouses of that era intimately.

Which meant Kakuzu understood better than anyone exactly how strong both of these figures truly were.

Legendary existences. Actually resurrected.

This was absolutely terrifying.

Hidan, standing to the side, was practically vibrating with excitement.

"As expected of Jashin! Even legendary existences like these can only serve at Jashin's command! This is the supreme might of Jashin! Jashin!"

Tobirama Senju and the others all turned to stare at that half a head with thoroughly baffled expressions. Hirofumi Ito felt a wave of secondhand embarrassment wash over him.

Hidan, strictly speaking, was a complete and total idiot.

Being screamed at as "Jashin" by something like that, it honestly felt a little shameful.

"Ahem... everyone, please don't mind the details. This one's head doesn't quite work right. In Hidan's eyes I am Jashin, and Hidan is my most devout believer.

Apart from Hidan and Kakuzu, this here is the wielder of the Executioner's Blade, and one of the current Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist: Zabuza Momochi!

And this is Haku, possessor of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

Starting today, they will all be joining our Hidden Leaf Village. They will all become ninja of our Hidden Leaf Village!"

madara uchiha and the others showed little particular interest in any of this. Hirofumi Ito was the Hokage. Whatever he wanted to do with the Hidden Leaf Village was his business, and with these old figures still around, nothing would go wrong anyway.

Then Hirofumi suddenly thought of something.

"Right, Sensei, weren't you off at Ryuchi Cave learning Senjutsu? How did you come back so quickly?"

➤ Next: Akatsuki's Reanimation Jutsu in the Hidden Leaf Village?

Chapter 212 - Akatsuki's Reanimation Jutsu in the Hidden Leaf Village?

Hearing Hirofumi Ito's words, Madara Uchiha simply gave a quiet smile.

"Tch... you little brat don't actually think some so-called Senjutsu can give the old man any trouble, do you?!"

As Madara spoke, Sage Mode activated in an instant, the distinctive markings of Ryuchi Cave spreading across that imperious face. Beyond that, there was no dramatic outward change. Only the air around Madara shifted, the entire bearing taking on a deep, sinister edge.

Seeing it, Hashirama Senju's eyes lit up on the spot.

"Sugoi! Madara! Your Sage Mode looks so cool — this is amazing, now you have Sage Mode too, and when the time comes we can both activate it together and then Susanoo the Great Buddha statue!"

The look on Hashirama's face right then. Total fanboy. Or rather, fangirl.

Madara Uchiha shot Hashirama a deliberately cool, indifferent glance.

"Heh... I haven't only been studying Senjutsu these past months. On top of that, I also carefully studied your Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. Nearly every technique of yours — I can now perform them myself...

So...

Heheheheheh...

You dense fool. The old man can perform the Susanoo Great Buddha on his own!"

Hashirama's mood deflated instantly.

"Hmph! Madara! If you talk like that I'm going to be upset! What's even fun about one person doing the Susanoo Great Buddha alone?! I have the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan now too, I can do it on my own as well, but I just want to do it together with you~~~

Madara! If you keep saying hurtful things like that, I'm never playing with you again! I'm never having skipping-stone contests with you again, never having pee-distance contests with you again!

Hmph! I'm angry! The kind that can't be soothed~~~~"

Madara Uchiha looked genuinely helpless.

BOOM!

"Shut up, you blockhead!"

"Hmph! Madara! All you ever do is hit me — I'm never playing with you again!"

"Oh? Never playing with me? Then I'm never doing the Susanoo Great Buddha with you again."

Madara raised an eyebrow, a half-smiling expression settled on that face, watching Hashirama with calm amusement. Hashirama immediately panicked and grabbed Madara's arm with both hands.

"Heh heh heh... Madara~~~ Everything I just said was spoken in anger! How could I possibly not play with you~~~ Playing with Madara is my absolute favorite thing~~~"

"Hmph! That's more like it! Blockhead!"

Everyone else present, Hirofumi Ito, Tobirama Senju, Izuna Uchiha, and the others who had long since grown accustomed to all of this, barely reacted. But the newly joined members like Zabuza Momochi and Hidan were left completely dumbstruck.

These two were really like this?!

They seemed... surprisingly easygoing.

And what on earth was all that about skipping-stone contests and pee-distance contests?!

These two legendary shinobi. This is what they do in their daily lives?!

Images began forming unbidden in several minds at once. The illustrious Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha meet on the battlefield. A great clash on the verge of erupting. Two figures standing at the very center of the field, staring each other down with absolute dominance...

Then, without any prior agreement, both of them pull down their pants and begin frantically spraying into the distance, followed immediately by wild hollering of "I pissed farther than you?!"

Everyone frantically shook their heads and banished the image from their minds.

Hirofumi Ito shook his head to the side, helpless.

"Kakuzu... I'm leaving the location scouting to you. There are plenty of vacant spots in the Hidden Leaf Village right now, just pick somewhere and file a report afterward.

As for the first batch of employees...

Besides Hidan, Zabuza Momochi and Haku will also be joining our East Konoha Company.

On top of that, there are two more people who should be familiar faces, one is Itachi Uchiha, and the other is Kisame Hoshigaki.

These are the first employees of East Konoha Company.

Setting up the company itself, that's on you. Direction and development, we'll figure out once it's running..."

Kakuzu had already reconstituted from a mass of threads back into a human shape. Hidan had been extracted by Fugaku Uchiha from the Scroll of Seals, the body pulled free like dumpling filling, and was slowly pulling together again...

After receiving Hirofumi Ito's orders, the group departed.

Watching them leave the Hokage Residence, a peculiar thought surfaced in Hirofumi Ito's mind: did this count as the Akatsuki getting reanimated inside the Hidden Leaf Village via Reanimation Jutsu?

After all, Kakuzu, Hidan, Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame Hoshigaki, all of them had originally been Akatsuki members. And now every single one had become an employee of his company. If he kept pulling in the rest of the Akatsuki one by one, wouldn't his company just become another version of Akatsuki?!

Hirofumi Ito actually found that kind of funny.

Once everyone had cleared out of the Hokage's office, Hirofumi turned his gaze toward the Warring States Four.

These four showing up together definitely meant something.

"Sensei... is there something you all came to see me about today?"

The words had barely left his mouth. Madara Uchiha managed a single nod, and then Hashirama Senju exploded forward.

"Yeah! Hirofumi! There really is one matter we need to deal with! Do you remember that Black Zetsu you mentioned before?! That wretched creature actually had the audacity to deceive pure-hearted Madara! This absolutely cannot be forgiven!

And as it happens, Madara has now finished studying Senjutsu, so we've decided to track down this Black Zetsu! And then make that creature suffer good and proper!"

Standing off to the side, Tobirama Senju watched the older sibling's righteous indignation with complete bewilderment.

"Pure-hearted Madara." How does a person even say those words with a straight face?!

An evil Uchiha, now repackaged as pure-hearted Madara?!

Half the problems in the Shinobi World right now traced back to this very person. If you didn't know the full truth, Madara Uchiha was the hidden hand behind everything that had gone wrong, the mastermind pulling strings from the shadows across the entire Shinobi World.

And this one is supposedly pure-hearted?!

Hirofumi Ito blinked. He hadn't expected the group to be ready to move against Black Zetsu already.

The problem was, Hirofumi had absolutely no idea where that scheming creature was right now.

If they were going to catch Black Zetsu, they'd need a plan first.

They'd need something to draw Black Zetsu out.

But what?

Hirofumi Ito's gaze drifted, almost on its own, toward Madara Uchiha.

➤ Next: Operation Capture Black Zetsu — Initiate!