Tobirama knows he can't stay in Uzushio long. Eventually, the shinobi will notice their chakra. Shukaku's chakra in particular stands out, as sandy as it feels amongst a country of people with water and wind chakra. Not to mention how much of it there is, regardless of how much he spreads it out. Still, he'd like to stay until he and the shinobi, who's name he now knows to be Tatsui, make some progress.

Right now, Tobirama is distracting the children. They have all been getting antsy and antsy children spell disaster so he ended up having to teach them chakra control exercises. Honestly, their sensei in this universe knew absolutely nothing about teaching genin. Tatsui is near them, poring over information at his desk. He seems really motivated by the idea Tobirama will never visit again. Too bad for him that that was a lie.

"You call it a leech, right?" Tatsui asks suddenly. Tobirama doesn't dare look away from the children, each practicing with specially made seals, but he does tip his head to show that he's listening. He also pats a very frustrated Shukaku on the head. The poor boy's having so much trouble with it because of how much chakra's he's got.

"Well, what if it was feeding something bigger? Some larger, independent entity?" Tobirama hesitates.

"I suppose it's a possibility but it's one that I see no evidence for." There's the familiar glide of a brush as Tatsui writes something furiously.

"No, think about it. If this- this thing was siphoning off your chakra, even if it was a small amount, it would have grown and gotten stronger by now but if it's sending the chakra to an entirely separate being..."

"Then they would be little or no change to the leech itself," Tobirama finishes. "Affecting my emotions could just be a side effect that allows it to siphon chakra more easily."

"Exactly!" Tatsui says excitedly. By now, the genin have abandoned their practice, listening in curiously. "It's like how mosquitoes inject it's saliva into you after drawing your blood." Tobirama grins.

"Then what we need to do is find the mosquito." He stands, half-heartedly brushing off his pants. "All I need is a sample of the leech itself and everything else should be fairly simple. Can I trust you with that?" Tatsui twists to smile at him, looking absolutely exhausted.

"For the price of never seeing you or your gremlins again, I would do just about anything." Tobirama smiles, not answering. He swiftly crosses to grab something to put a small amount of chakra in. The leech doesn't like being detached but if he just uses his own chakra to shave a piece off and trick the parasite into thinking nothing has changed... Tobirama winces at a sudden bolt of pain, the container nearly slipping from his fingers. Tatsui snatches it before it does, bringing it up to his eye level. Tobirama leans back against the nearby wall, rubbing at his chest.

"Well?" He asks impatiently. Tatsui gives him a look.

"It should be enough," the young man huffs, turning to his equipment.

"Good," Tobirama gives a significant look to the children and they all start preparing for Tobirama to hiraishin them. They will only just manage to make it to Wave. "Then we'll be back." Tatsui's head snaps up and he spins to look at them.

"That wasn't the-" Tobirama disappears them before Tatsui can finish. God, does he love being able to teleport. He steps away, scooping up Shukaku, as they reappear on a rocky beach, the Konoha team crashing to the ground in a pile of limbs. Danzo is the first on his feet and he, of course, gives the others disdainful looks as if he wasn't on the ground as well just a moment ago. Honestly, this is why Torifu was his favorite. He could think for himself, he was intelligent, and he listened to Tobirama. A nice change of pace after having dealt with Hashirama.

"Come on kids, it's time you met some of the others," Tobirama drawls. Kagami shoots up, as interested as he expected. Even in a different universe, he can still read his team like the back of his hand.

"Others?" Kagami asks curiously. Hiruzen manages to detangle himself as well, perking up beside Kagami and leaving Torifu, Koharu, and Homura to the knot they've managed to tie themselves into.

"Mhm. My Wave Team as apposed to you, the Konoha Team." Danzo narrows his eyes. Tobirama wonders absently if Danzo will report this all back to the Hokage. He then scraps the thought, knowing the brat too well for that. At most, the kid will tell his clan head. More likely, though, Danzo will keep it to himself until he finds some use from it. Sometimes, Tobirama really hates the manipulators. He can play that game, and play it well, but he doesn't like it terribly much. Danzo, on the other hand, absolutely thrives in it. He'd be a good council member, as long as the Hokage kept a tight leash on him. That's the one thing that he worries about in his former universe- he's not sure Hiruzen has it in him to properly control Danzo and he's sure Danzo feels none of the same. In fact, the only one that Danzo had truly listened to was Kagami.

"...Are they safe?" Homura asks cautiously.

"Don't be so pessimistic!" Kagami whines. "Anyway, we could take 'em, we were taught by Konoha after all." Tobirama hums at the assertation but doesn't say anything. He's not entirely sure it's true. With his old universe's team the answer would be an uncontested yes but these kids had only been hastily thrown together a week ago and they hadn't even had proper team training or bonding yet.

"So, sensei," Kagami says, ignoring the warning looks he gets from most of the rest of the team, "where to?" Tobirama just starts off, beckoning them silently. Hopefully, the Wave kids had kept up their training. If not, this visit will be less useful for him. Still, he thinks it'll be nice to see the brats again, as uncontrollable and insane as they are.

Tobirama realizes they're being hunted before they're even halfway through the forest. He doesn't give any indication, just adjusts his course slightly so they'll end up in the clearing Tobirama had used when he was last here. None of the Konoha brats have realized yet, too caught up in their confidence and conversation. And scheming, Tobirama adds blandly, shooting the deep-in-thought Danzo a look. The only one who looks like she might have a clue is Koharu and she hasn't made any move to alert the rest of the team. Well, team is a bit strong at this point. He's realized that they have quite the ways to go. When Tobirama finally steps into the relatively clear area, he slows until he's stopped in the center. Torifu is the first to send him a confused look but he speaks before any of them can ask.

"C'mon out, brats." The Konoha kids stiffen near immediately, realizing quickly that he isn't talking to them. For a moment, Tobirama thinks the Wave team might try to continue to hide but then Miku steps shyly from her hiding spot.

"Hi, sensei," she greets quietly.

"It's good to see you again," he greets. "It'd be better if I could see the others as well." Like he summoned them, the rest of the brats practically pour from the surrounding forest.

"You tryna replace us, sensei?" Atsuko demands, eyeing the startled Konoha kids and Shukaku warily. Shukaku just waves in response.

"I don't think I could find anyone as annoying as you kids," Tobirama assures. "These ones are from Konoha and I simply couldn't stand by while my former village made a wreck of a perfectly good team. Well, besides Shukaku," Tobirama motions the bijuu, "he's not part of the team. He just travels around with me."

"Why can't we travel with ya, sensei?" Sora complains.

"Because," Tobirama says serenely, "your parents would kill me." Toshiaki snickers and Tobirama shoots him a look. "Line up kids." The Wave team congregates in a group for a moment, all clearly curious, before scattering out into a loose line. Tobirama glances back at the Konoha kids to see that they have made a much more serious line. The Wave team outnumber the Konoha team slightly but he figured that and their teamwork levels out against the Konoha training regime.

"Now, let's have a friendly spar, shall we?"