In a completely dark space, three people were currently facing each other, two of them were males while the last one was a female, and they were respectively: Minato standing in front of Kurama, killer B standing in front of Gyuki, and Yugito Nii in front of Matatabi!

Killer B and Yugito were at first surprised by finding themselves summoned into this unique space, but that shock was soon transformed into absolute horror and shock when they noticed the huge nine-tailed fox staring at them eerily and the implication behind it being here!

"Did the nine tails finally find a suitable Jinchuriki?" Asked Yugito absentmindedly as her vision slowly lowered to see who was standing in front of the nine tails. Killer B did the same, and the moment they laid eyes on the familiar man in front of Kurama, their shock and horror instantly increased by 10-fold as she yelled "Impossible, why's this man here?"

Meanwhile, the face of killer B who fought Minato in the past paled slightly as he said "Oy partner, this can't be how it seems…. Am I in a dream?"

Gyuki stared silently at Minato before it shook its head and said "No, the man in front of us is the real deal…"

"Fourth Hokage…" muttered Yugito while eyeing Minato warily and the latter calmly smiled at them and said "I know you two are surprised, but please hear me out first, I will explain to you what's going on"

"You expect us to believe you?" Replied Yugito doubtfully not understanding why Konoha would reveal such a strong trump card in their hands. However, killer B had an idea of Minato's personality and decided it was worth at least listening to what he had to say so he quickly replied "Please explain, and clear this confusion off my brain!"

"Thanks…" Said Minato to him with a warm smile while thinking 'It seems like this guy didn't change much from back then…' then he started telling them about the horrible news of the incoming invasion…

…..

As this was going on, back at Orochimaru's hideout, Bakorio was still questioning Hashirama in his search for truth…

"I see, so Izuna Uchiha was the previous user of Jikininki and after that, Madara inherited it from him huh…" Muttered Bakorio to which Hashirama replied in surprise "Why? Do you have this ability?"

Bakorio could see the clear intrigue in Hashirama's eyes and felt it was weird so he asked him "What are you happy for?"

"Maybe if you work together with Madara, you can create a Jutsu to cleanse this world of the darkness that plagues it…" He said excitedly which confirmed Bakorio's guess as he asked "So you know about the dark seeds huh?"

"Yes, Madara told me about them…" replied Hashirama with a sad look before it turned into a nostalgic one as he started speaking "Back before the hidden villages were created, the Senju and the Uchiha were always bitter enemies… later on after Madara's little brother's death and him having gained the eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He was capable of using the ability of his eyes without worrying about the consequence of them going blind…

Through this, he realized the darkness plaguing the hearts of the people that were desiring war, yet he couldn't do anything to change it… Removing those dark seeds required a huge amount of energy, and he discovered that they will just recover after some time has passed, that's when he started to give up on the hope that humanity could live a normal life…"

"Is this why he left the village? Because he kept feeling the hostile intent of the people around him directed at him and his clan, including the one from your little brother?" Asked Bakorio coldly to which Hashirama didn't deny and nodded with an even sadder look on his face while shooting his brother that was trying to regenerate an angry look. "Yes, that's correct, I couldn't change their perception, unfortunately..."

Orochimaru's eyes were filled with intrigue as he listened to this conversation and the amount of secret information it contained 'What's going on here? What are these dark seeds they speak off?' he felt that this was the answer to many of his obsessions so he listened even more carefully to what they were saying!

"After your fight with Madara, where did you go? How come you died not long after?" Asked Bakorio calmly to which, Hashirama rubbed his left chest slightly before he said "I went to the land of demons since I heard about the existence of a sealed monster that can manipulate darkness, but when I arrived there, I found that it was sealed and was at most at the mid-Kage level.

So, I kept searching for an answer in that land until I eventually found a hidden entrance, it led me to another dimension filled with strong demonic creatures. However, I still carved my way through them until I eventually encountered a terrifyingly strong demon that could rival me in strength! And what surprised me the most about this was that it appeared to be guarding a pitch-black temple with the words Shuten Doji written above its entrance."

Listening to this point, Bakorio frowned slightly as he thought 'It seems like Doji has strong followers as well… Hopefully, this is the strongest one otherwise, this war is going to be a big problem…'

Meanwhile, Hashirama continued with his story "That fight was the hardest fight of my life, but eventually, I beat that demon and stepped foot into that pitch-black temple… However, that's when I met him, a man with pitch-black eyes that appeared almost like two black holes was sitting in front of an altar calmly and appeared to be praying… and the moment I laid eyes on that altar, I felt the dark seed in my heart going out of control and terrible desires started taking over me as countless whispers started echoing in my ears…

And that man didn't sit still, as he started singing some sort of demonic tune and tried to turn me into a demon as well, so I directly turned tail and started running back to Konoha. However, no matter how far I ran, I kept hearing that demonic tune in my ears along with the evil whispers… And after recognizing that I will eventually lose control over my body, I decided to end my life before it would be too late… This is my story"

The underground base fell silent, and only the sound of the recovering Tobirama could be heard… after some time, Bakorio who finally got his answers calmly said "First Hokage, that man you met is Doji, and his strength is far beyond what you can imagine, which is why I want to revive you… Please lend me your power"

Seeing the sincere look on Bakorio's face, Hashirama laughed loudly and said "Sure, this time around I will make sure to kick that guy's ass"

Bakorio smiled slightly before he initiated the revival process for the two of them while making sure to remove the effect of the darkness over them with his high Jikininki!

…..

Meanwhile, in the land of grass which separated the land of fire from the land of the earth, a meeting was currently being held between the higherups of Iwa and Konoha.

From Iwa arrived their two Jinchuriki and various strong Jonin and heads of strong clans and they were led by Onoki. And the same was true of Konoha's side, as they had Hiruzen and his two famous Sanin students as well as the leaders of strong clans such as the Hyuga, and they were all led by the fifth Hokage Fugaku Uchiha!