1 year later

Danzo was hiding behind a tree, watching our protagonist.

"My plans are bearing fruit, huh."

A white-haired child was walking along the tree without using his hands.

As the child struck poses and spoke gibberish about someone named Jojo, Danzo thought, 'I have never heard the name Jojo in Konoha.'

"Investigate the name 'Jojo.'"

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

There were small changes on the tree where Tobirama had previously stepped; bumps appeared that weren't there at the beginning.

"I don't think Shodaime could do this without techniques. This means he has a stronger affinity for Mokuton."

"Tenzo!"

A root jounin appeared behind him.

"You will teach him best with your abilities."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

---

FLASHBACK

Tobirama was walking around the village, fangirling internally.

"It is still amazing to look at! A strange combination of tradition and technology."

He appeared to be deep in thought.

'If there were a cyberpunk game in the Sengoku era, it would look similar to this!'

He spotted a dango shop he had never seen before and bought two dango before settling at a table.

'Weird, no one is here. How can they still pay the rent?'

He placed the dango stick on the plate and reached for the other one.

'Huh, I suddenly feel sleepy. In fanfictions, the protagonists get sleepy because an adult brain is too much for a toddler's body. Is that the reason? Then I'm a genius with a capital G.'

He turned toward the shop owner, only to see a man with a mask approaching.

"Oi! Are you from another village, here to kidnap me? Hiruzen will kill you, you know!"

'The impostor is suspicious.'

He dove toward the exit, but his vision began to fade. He felt two hands grab him just before he lost consciousness.

The masked man was confused as he watched Tobirama snoring.

'Did Nidaime snore this loudly?'

---

Danzo was observing what remained of his teacher, strapped to a machine.

"Danzo-sama, everything is going smoothly."

"Begin the procedure."

Clones made of flesh floated inside tanks filled with strange liquids. They all looked like monsters, but the only common features among them were their hair, eye, and skin colors.

They were Hashirama clones from which Danzo had purified the Senju blood.

What Danzo hadn't expected at the outset was for them to possess the memories of Senju Hashirama.

'Good thing I wiped their minds while they were still children. While I don't agree with Shodaime's philosophy, I will respect his memory. There's no way I will allow these fakes to run around.'

The one thing Danzo still hadn't perfected was cloning the soul. While the clones were virtually identical to Hashirama, they lacked souls, functioning more like machines. However, there were still some gains.

"After this, start teaching Tobi Fuinjutsu, Red."

"Yes, Danzo-sama!" The voice belonged to a red-haired root member.

'Mito-sama would kill me for this,' Danzo thought with a smirk.

"Good thing she is dead."

He turned to the scientist.

"Make sure to wipe his mind after this; we need to make it look as natural as possible."

"Danzo-sama, from what I understand, he will gain the memories of Shodaime-sama. Should I wipe those too?"

Danzo's eyes glinted with malice.

"Not entirely. Leave some muscle memories. After all, he is the 'prodigy' of the Senju clan."

"I understand. Should we also include the memories we took from the previous Nidaime clones?"

Danzo pondered. "Yes, do that. We can use reincarnation as a ruse."

Danzo used Shunshin and appeared in front of the Hokage building. ANBU members looked on high alert as they surrounded him.

"Danzo! Where did you take Tobirama?"

Danzo looked at Hiruzen, scratching the back of his head.

"I took him to practice using the new web-swinger prototype."

Hiruzen looked relieved but quickly became angry again. "Why didn't you tell me!? I thought he had been kidnapped."

'Well, he is kidnapped, alright,' Danzo thought while displaying a sheepish smile.

"Hiruzen, my old friend. Do you think they can kidnap him while we are the ones protecting him?"

"Be cautious, Danzo. Kumogakure is going crazy about bloodlines."

"Well, they are still trying to gain an edge because they can't deal with us."

"Tea?"

"Yes."

---

FLASHBACK ENDS

Tobirama POV

He saw Danzo walking toward him while posing.

"DANZO! Stop interrupting me!"

"Tobirama? What are you doing right now? Did you go insane? Why did you leave midway through the lecture? Don't you realize that Red is now sad?"

"You will witness the power of my STANDO! DANZO! I HAVE LEFT MY HUMANITY BEHIND!!!"

"I don't think standing is a power, Tobi. And you still look like a human child."

"You underestimate me. DANZO!!! Pay close attention to my STANDO; if you manage to keep your sanity, I will reward you."

"But you are broke as you are too young to inherit."

"Hmph, nonsense." Tobirama snorted before jumping down from the tree.

'That foolish child. He might hurt himself.'

Danzo ran toward the tree, opening his arms to catch Tobirama, who suddenly struck a T-pose in midair.

What he saw brought a tear to his eye. (Just kidding.)

"ZA WARUDO!!!"

Suddenly, more than ten tree branches whipped out, encircling Tobirama before gently lowering him in front of Danzo.

Danzo's jaw dropped in astonishment as he watched Tobirama.

"W-What? H-How?"

Tobirama looked proud.

"This is my STANDO! ZA WARUDO! The world obeys my commands, Danzo! I am your God now! I AM UNSTOPPABLE!!!" As he proclaimed "unstoppable," the branches returned, lifting him and forming a five-meter-tall wooden armor around him.

"Look at me and see your insignificance!"

Danzo shouted at Tobirama. "It is not a stand it is Mokuton!"

Tobirama didn't seem to hear him and shouted himself. "WHAAAT!? I can't hear you!?" 

Suddenly, a white-haired man appeared, followed closely by someone with thick eyebrows.

"Uhh, what is all this commotion?"

"Kakashi! When did you have a son? And how does he control wood!?"

Gai looked at Kakashi, feeling betrayed.

"He is not my son, Gai."

"Nonsense! He has a severe case of pinkeye. How could you abandon your sick son!? THAT.IS.NOT.YOUTHFUL!"

"Gai, this is the great-grandson of the Nidaime."

Gai turned around in surprise. "Hokage-sama!"

Hiruzen looked at Tobirama with weary eyes. "Now everyone will know he possesses Mokuton. This child..."

While everyone was staring at Tobirama with various emotions, he spoke up, using chakra to amplify his voice.

"Do you want to dance!?"

Everyone was taken aback, except for Gai, who had climbed onto the shoulder of the wooden armor and was staring Tobirama in the eyes.

"I know some tango and breakdancing, son of my rival!"

"Wait. Even I don't know who my father was."

Gai shot a glare at Kakashi, who was pretending to be oblivious.

"Kakashi!!! How could you!!!"

.

.

.

A humanoid monster with black skin observed this scene from a distance.

"They are all insane. I need to bring back Mother; she will probably get rid of them.