The Eight-Year-Old Me Became Hokage

"Wait—don't tell me someone actually thinks The Eight Inner Gates is hard?"

What kind of joke was that?! Tobirama's mind roared in frustration. Of course, the The Eight Inner Gates was difficult!

Aside from Might Bai, he had never seen a second ninja suited for mastering the The Eight Inner Gates! Well… except for Hashirama, of course. Tobirama had always believed that his elder brother's body could withstand opening all the The Eight Inner Gates effortlessly. But let's be real— Would Hashirama ever need the The Eight Inner Gates? Against any enemy, he could simply summon a Wood Golem and a Wood Dragon. And if things got tricky, he could generously let his opponent have a head start, then activate Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands. Even Uchiha Madara's head could be twisted off in an instant!

"Brat, do you really expect me to believe this nonsense?" Tobirama scrutinized Kazekaze's innocent-looking face.

There was no way he would believe that Kazekaze had mastered the The Eight Inner Gates just by watching once. He was convinced that Kazekaze had already learned it before even meeting Might Bai. In fact— Tobirama was starting to suspect that Kazekaze's monstrous strength wasn't something he had discovered on his own. It was highly likely that someone had secretly trained him!

'Yesterday, when Kazekaze wanted to join the training exercise, Mokuken and Ayako were extremely worried. That means they had no clue about Kazekaze's actual strength!'

Tobirama searched his memory, piecing together clues to confirm his theory. With Mokuken and Ayako's acting skills, there was no way they could have deceived him—the future Second Hokage! Kazekaze had mastered both monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates behind their backs! And the one who secretly trained him must have had intimate knowledge of his body's capabilities! They knew he had inherited Senju chakra, which was why they taught him monstrous strength! They knew he had Regeneration Ability, which was why they dared to teach him a technique as reckless as the The Eight Inner Gates!

Because they understood that with his regeneration, the damage caused by the The Eight Inner Gates wasn't even a problem! And in the entire Hidden Leaf Village, there were only a few people who truly understood the The Eight Inner Gates. Aside from myself, there's only Might Bai, big brother… and… Uchiha Madara! But Madara had been slain by Hashirama at the Valley of the End. As for Might Bai… The man had nearly dislocated his jaw when he saw Kazekaze use the The Eight Inner Gates earlier! Following his thorough deduction and flawless analysis, Tobirama reached a definitive conclusion. When all impossible options are eliminated, the only remaining answer—no matter how absurd—must be the truth! It was big brother Hashirama! It had to be him!

'No wonder…'

Tobirama's mind snapped back to a memory. When Kazekaze first returned to the village, Hashirama had proudly declared—

'As expected of my grandson, what incredible resolve! 'Tobirama, want to bet? My grandson will be an even greater Hokage than me one day!"

Hashirama might have been a compulsive gambler, but he had never beaten me once! Tobirama still vividly remembered one of their past bets— Hashirama had claimed that Izuna Uchiha, Madara's younger brother and a rare prodigy of the Uchiha clan, was unstoppable. He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at an incredibly young age. 

'There's no way you can defeat him, Tobirama! If you ever meet him on the battlefield, just abandon the mission!'

And yet? Tobirama killed Izuna with Flying Thunder God.

'Now that I think about it… big brother has always had this weird obsession with overestimating the Uchiha.'

For example— At the Valley of the End, when Hashirama went to fight Madara, he had already arranged his will. If he didn't return, Tobirama would become the Second Hokage. He had even entrusted his wife, Mito Uzumaki, to Tobirama's care. Before leaving, Hashirama had dramatically hyped up Madara—

Madara has awakened the Eternal Mangekyō! His Perfect Susanoo can level entire mountains in a single strike! And this time, he's even managed to capture the Nine-Tailed Fox and is controlling it with his Sharingan! Right now, Uchiha Madara is the strongest man in the shinobi world!"

But what happened in the end? Hashirama returned completely unharmed, carrying Madara's corpse and a sealed Nine-Tails. Big brother… did you really never realize that your own strength was greater than the entire Uchiha clan combined?

'I get it now… This was all a scheme just so he could finally win a bet against me!'

Tobirama took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His analysis was perfect. 

"Come clean, Kazekaze. I've already uncovered your secret!" Tobirama's eyes widened like a bull's, locking onto Kazekaze's youthful face as if he had completely seen through him. There was no way this brat had just randomly acquired these abilities! What was next? A system menu that let him instantly unlock monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates with a single confirmation button? Ridiculous!

Such a thing couldn't possibly exist in this world! It had to be Hashirama! It had to be!

"You really want me to tell the truth?" Kazekaze tilted his head.

"What else?" Tobirama scoffed.

Everyone's eyes turned to Kazekaze, eagerly waiting for his confession.

"Alright then… I won't hide it anymore."

Kazekaze nodded slightly and said—

"This was my first time using the The Eight Inner Gates Released Formation!"

The moment the words left his mouth— Tobirama immediately refuted him.

"Impossible! If you had never practiced the The Eight Inner Gates before, how could you instantly open the Gate of Pain?! If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing! Kazekaze, the truth is… Hashirama secretly trained you in both monstrous strength and the The Eight Inner Gates, didn't he?!"

Tobirama delivered this shocking revelation with absolute confidence! Everyone gasped in disbelief, but at the same time— It made perfect sense. There was no way Kazekaze had mastered the The Eight Inner Gates without any prior training!

"Taijutsu is different from ninjutsu or genjutsu," Might Bai, Konoha's taijutsu specialist, began explaining.

"It requires relentless physical training over years—there are no shortcuts! Moreover… Kazekaze-sama just used high-speed movement to trick Danzo into attacking, forcing him into a defensive gap. This kind of strategic baiting is impossible for someone using the The Eight Inner Gates for the first time! Such combat experience would take at least three to five years to develop! Even among the greatest taijutsu prodigies in the entire ninja world, no one could reach your level in such a short time!"

"Might Bai is right." Tobirama nodded.

To Might Bai, combat intuition was a form of muscle memory—something that could only be developed over years of training.

"Based on my analysis… Kazekaze-sama, you must have been training in taijutsu for at least two years! Am I right?" Might Bai declared with absolute certainty.

"Of course, even if it took you two years, you are still the greatest taijutsu prodigy in the entire shinobi world!"

"Two years?!" Tobirama gasped, realizing that this perfectly matched his own suspicions.

Kazekaze had been away from the village for exactly two years! What did this mean? It meant Hashirama had been secretly training him this entire time!

"You little brat… I almost fell for your lies!" Tobirama muttered.

Kazekaze: "???"

Kazekaze stared at Tobirama and Might Bai, completely baffled.

"Please… I'm literally telling the truth! Stop making up wild theories!"