Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      With a very unfamiliar sound, Madara's body simply vaporised in a cloud of white smoke. It was like a summoning technique, yet there were no seals or blood. It was very strange. Looking at Tobirama's face, I realised that he was experiencing a similar range of emotions, but he had another emotion, anger... yes, yes, the younger Senju was angry at what was happening.       - Bastard... - he muttered in a tone that made me feel uneasy. In a burst of emotion, he grabbed the couch, which had just happened to be in his hand at that moment, and threw it at the wall. The poor furniture shattered from the force of the hokage's throw. After that, the albino came to his senses, realising that he was not alone in the room.       - What do you know, Tobirama san? - I clarified my escort in a calm tone, but I added a note of demandingness to it.       - This is my new technique. It's a different kind of technique. I used it in the fight with Madara to catch him off guard, but I had no idea that he would be able to copy it so easily at a glance. - The hokage spoke in a calm tone. The albino was good at getting his emotions under control. Sometimes I thought I was the only one who saw him in such a state of... inadequacy... Though perhaps I thought too much of myself. But the fact that Tobirama is a cold-hearted man who is willing to do the cruelest things has already been disproved. Well, for me at least.       - Can you elaborate on that? - I asked, realising that my interlocutor did not want to reveal the secrets of his jutsu.       - Then I must take your word that this information will not go further than this place. I know you wish to conduct your own investigation, however, it is our investigation now. I'll provide you with all the support you need while you search for leads. - Senju said coldly, looking at me with a chilling stare. Huh, that doesn't work on me... Other than Madara and Hashirama, no one could push their bloodlust on me, though I had to admit the albino did his best.       - I don't think it's necessary, Tobirama san, because from the very beginning my entire investigation is strictly personal, not pertaining to the Hidden in the Mist village. Therefore, this information would not have left these walls as it is. - I answered my partner in the case calmly.       - Good. This technique is called Shadow Cloning. The technique allows the user to create one or more copies of themselves. The user's chakra is distributed evenly between each clone: when one is created, it receives half of the original's chakra, when two are created, each receives a third, and so on. Depending on the user's chakra reserves and the number of clones created, this rapid wasting of chakra reserves can be dangerous. I haven't publicised it to the people yet, however I plan to put it on the kinjutsu list, a list of forbidden techniques. I've already experimented with it a couple of times, even getting the Hugo clan to give it to me. As it turns out all clones have a chakra circulation system, so even the Byakugan can't tell the difference between the clone and the original. I'm even curious, how did you manage to do that? - Tobirama explained the whole point of his technique to me, even telling me about the uniqueness of it.       - Well, I am constantly in Sage mode, so I am a unique sensor. - I revealed a piece of truth about the Sage Mode.       - I can see how you became so strong so quickly. Hashirama also gained a lot of strength when he learnt how to enter Sage Mode. It's a shame I never got the questions about this mode out of him. - The albino said with a twinge of sadness, but it was barely perceptible to the average ninja.       - Tobirama san, may I see the body of Hashirama and the body of Izuna's killer. - I asked politely enough, trying to change the topic of conversation, as it was obvious that my interlocutor was uncomfortable with it.       - I'm not gonna let you dissect my brother's corpse. So just the external examination. - The albino said confidently, glaring at me with a look that, if I'd wanted to argue, would have made it go away at once, but I didn't want to dig into the shinobi god's insides. There was no need to. Senju's report was clear enough in that regard, but there was one external injury I still wanted to look at.       - Okay. - I threw coldly enough. The albino opened the nearby coffin where his older brother's body rested and watched my actions with sadness in his eyes. I quickly looked at my right hand where I discovered a bite. The wound had not healed on Hashirama, which was surprising since the first hokage was known worldwide for his monstrous regeneration. It looked like an ordinary bite, however I pulled a test tube from the seal and carefully collected a couple of drops of liquid from the wound. It wasn't blood, but some kind of white substance. We'd have to study it later.       - Now for the last corpse. - I said calmly. I didn't need to elaborate. Tobirama understood me. We went into the next room, which was semi-dark. There were many compartments in the wall, each of which was for some dead person. Senju walked over to the wall and pulled a coffin from the second rack. It was an interesting morgue he had. The temperature is lowered by the fuin seals. It had taken the albino a long time to create this place, but I quickly refuted my judgement by noticing that behind the wall was real ice... not even that, it was a huge block of ice. I cast a glance at my escort, showing a mute question.       - This is the place where you were reborn or whatever you said. I decided it was the most convenient place for my shelter. - Tobirama clarified things to me. That's interesting. My ice still hasn't melted after all this time.       - It has life energy embedded in it. It is now part of the rock, bonding with it on a molecular level. - Suddenly there was a melodious female voice in my head. It was Morgana, hurrying to explain why this was the case.       - On a molecular level? Are you kidding? - I asked the question mentally, surprised. It didn't show on my face, but I felt a tightening inside, because controlling molecules is an unreachable level of development.       - I said it right. - Morgana answered me resentfully. I could hear the playfulness in her voice, but I hurried to explain myself.       - You realise how serious this is for me, so don't act offended. I'll come to you again today. -I finished our dialogue, making the sorceress happy. Now I could concentrate fully on the case. The body that lay before me was that of a man in his mid-twenties. Brown hair, swarthy skin, and a crooked nose. The usual ninja clothing was absent on him. His body was normal for a human, but certainly not developed for a ninja. How could such a ninja take Izuna by surprise and even kill him?! That's ridiculous. What's this? Why can I feel the tiniest fluctuation of chakra under his skin? What the hell is going on here?       - Unwind. - I touched the body and said, folding the seal of concentration. Nothing happened. I frowned. I didn't like this. Something strange was happening to this body and I couldn't figure out what it was. - Tobirama san, what did you find out when you autopsied the body? - I asked my partner to tell me what the report told me. Yes, in the here and now, Tobirama Senju was not the Hokage. He was a ninja who wanted to get to the truth behind his brother's death. The circumstances of Izuna's death had set off a chain of events that had resulted in Konoha losing two God shinobi and a Kage-level ninja. It was important for the Hokage to understand what would happen next, but he was driven by something else entirely - a banal desire for revenge. Tobirama Senju wanted to rip the head off whoever had a hand in all of this. But who could have thought of all this? Who was so brilliant and secretive that he could manipulate events at the top of the shinobi world by pulling the strings? The existence of such a person was hard to believe. It could certainly look like a fluke, but we both realised that they were simply impossible on that scale. Unrealistic. One random event could still happen, but when two or three or four random events appear consecutively, they are already interconnected events that can be dependent on each other. I did not deny the fact that I could be wrong, but at this point my concerns were only growing.       - I can dispel this cloaking technique. - Morgana's voice became very serious.       - To make a long story short, the body is missing half of its organs, but the most important ones are working twice as well as they should. I thought it was strange, but I couldn't think of anything else to say about it. - Tobirama replied absently, watching my actions.       - And his DNA? Did you study it? - I clarified in a sad voice. Oh, a very... very bad assumption appeared in my head.       - No, I thought it was a pointless waste of my time. - Shrugging his shoulders, the albino answered me. After his words, I tensed up even more. I took out another flask and carefully took a sample from the corpse.       - I'm listening to you Morgana. How do I remove this disguise? - I turned to the girl.       - This corpse's chakra is in a passive form. It's like it's sealed. You can try to trigger his chakra focus forcibly. It should trigger the body's reflex. Just for a fraction of a second you'll trigger his chakra circulation system, but it should be enough. - Morgana gave me a good idea. I concentrated chakra on the fingertips on my right hand, after which I touched the corpse's abdomen. Senju watched me mesmerised, not daring to even blink. I twisted clockwise with the brush of my hand. The albino twitched at that. He felt the dead man's chakra channels go through. It was only for a moment, however after that I quickly jumped away from the body, sensing danger with my sixth sense...