At this moment, too many people were overcome with emotion.
Tsunade, seeing her grandfather once more. The Third Hokage, reunited with his two mentors.
The Hokage's guards and the young boys who grew up hearing legends of the Fourth Hokage. Kakashi Hatake, the young man who thought he was the only one left in this world, seeing the Fourth Hokage again.
Obito Uchiha, the boy wondering how the Fourth Hokage would react if he knew that the version of himself in this world was the masked man responsible for their deaths.
Then there was Minato Namikaze, suddenly summoned back from the Pure Land.
The infant he'd once held in his arms had grown into a spirited eleven- or twelve-year-old boy.
And Naruto Uzumaki, finally meeting his real father.
At this moment, Naruto and the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage both felt uneasy. Naruto didn't even know what to do, instinctively glancing at his father from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline beside him. His pleading little eyes met Minato's gaze, and the Kannabi Bridge's Minato, with his encouraging, accepting gaze, urged his son to go greet the Fourth Hokage.
To the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage's eyes, it was...
Holy shit?!! Someone stealing the Hokage title? Fine! But someone stealing my son? That's a huge problem!!
Lord Third! How did you take care of my son?! Did you raise him to be someone else's?!
Right now, the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage stared at Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline with a "watch out for thieves" expression, suspecting he might have stolen his precious son. Minato never imagined his future self would be such a doting father, and he felt a touch of resignation.
"Enough. This isn't the place for this," said Jiraiya. "Much of what we need to discuss next involves Konoha's secrets. It's probably not wise for everyone here to hear."
"Exactly," the Third Hokage agreed, ordering the others to leave. He led the excited Hashirama-sama and Tobirama—who was trying his best to keep his older brother low-key—to the Hokage Tower. During this time, Minato deactivated the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Too many surprises awaited the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage. First, he ruffled his son's hair, asserting his ownership while nearly weeping with joy.
"It's so good to see you! Naruto!!" The Fourth Hokage found his son utterly adorable and incredibly handsome. "I'm your dad, you know. Even though I'm dead, I'm still very, very—"
THUD!!
A fist landed squarely on the Fourth Hokage's stomach.
The punch came completely out of nowhere.
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline and Minato were stunned. Sasuke and Sakura were stunned. Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were stunned.
As for the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the two Hokage...
Kakashi and the Edo Tensei Tobirama: "Are these two a pair of natural airheads?" Watching the two blondes, big and small, he sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, he was trapped in this reincarnated body—otherwise, he would've wiped away their awkward sweat for them.
Edo Tensei Hashirama: "Whoa! This kid's got guts! I wouldn't have dared do that when I was young!"
"..."
Edo Tensei Tobirama shot his older brother a glance but didn't say a word.
"Wouldn't have dared do it"—meaning you had the thought but didn't have the guts to act on it, right?
Sighing inwardly, Tobirama Senju reflected on how pointless it had been to keep mediating between their father and that idiot older brother time and time again during their childhood.
Of course, the most confused one had to be the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage. His Edo Tensei body couldn't feel pain, but his son's sudden blow left him utterly bewildered.
Wasn't this supposed to be a hug? Why a heavy punch instead?!
"It's all your fault! I've suffered for twelve years! This was my promise with Gaara—when I met my father, I'd hit him hard!"
What a coincidence. Though he'd always been rather inconspicuous, the Fourth Kazekage was right here, only not involved in Konoha's internal affairs.
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage quickly spotted the Fourth Kazekage in the crowd. Both fathers exchanged that unique, unspoken communication through eye contact.
But it was probably only a brief exchange:
'It must be your son who corrupted mine.'
'No! It was your son who taught mine!'
'I won't listen. I won't believe it.'
The eye contact lasted only a moment. The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage in Edo Tensei unexpectedly found something far more attention-grabbing...
Adult Kakashi.
Young Obito, Kakashi, and Rin.
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage froze as he saw the trio.
"Obito, Rin... it's truly wonderful you're still alive," he said.
Since the next part of the conversation would delve into too many sensitive issues, Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline patted the Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage on the shoulder.
"Let's talk at the Hokage Tower."
In any case, the Chūnin Exams couldn't continue for the time being.
Those not directly involved were tasked with maintaining order, guiding spectators to arrange their own accommodations at Konoha's inns, guesthouses, and lodges. Those deemed important were escorted to the Hokage Tower's largest conference room.
The doors were firmly closed, and both the inside and outside were guarded by formidable Konoha ninja.
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline quickly explained the mission scrolls to the three Edo Tensei Hokage, omitting the specific details of the missions and rewards for the sake of brevity.
"Hahahaha! Either way, it's great to see the future Konoha again—this technique of yours, Tobirama, is really impressive!" Hashirama Senju said, grabbing the white fur collar of his younger brother's armor as he praised him.
Tobirama Senju gave him a sidelong glance.
"This technique was also written into the Scroll of Seals by you, big brother."
"....."
A bit embarrassed, Hashirama forced a change of subject.
"Tsuna! It's been far too long. When I passed away, you were only this tall." He gestured to a small height. "Now you've grown into such a graceful young woman!"
Seeing her long-lost grandfather, Tsunade sighed. Too much had happened recently.
Orochimaru: "But her gambling skills never improved. She still lost every bet, defeated again and again, gambling nonstop until she lost everything."
As the saying goes, hurt the person but spare their face; expose their faults but not their shortcomings.
Decades later, Orochimaru still didn't understand that principle.
"Are you looking for a beating?! I haven't settled the score with you yet, Orochimaru!"
Tsunade suddenly remembered that Nawaki and Dan were still imprisoned within Obito's Kamui Dimension. If he could see his grandfather, Nawaki would surely be overjoyed.
"Hey, kid," she said to the young Obito Uchiha. "Release Nawaki and Dan."
Orochimaru seized the moment. "And that child, Kimimaro."
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage hadn't yet had a chance to properly speak with his long-lost disciple. Hearing Tsunade-sama and Orochimaru-sama speak like this, he didn't quite understand their meaning.
"Tsunade-sama, are you referring to Dan-senpai and Nawaki as..."
"My brother and my lover," Tsunade replied. "They too were reanimated by Orochimaru."
Hearing that his granddaughter was in love made the once-doting Hashirama Senju's bangs twitch slightly. But when he learned they had been reanimated, it meant that they had left this world before Tsunade.
This was hardly a cause for celebration.
Born in the Warring States era, having endured the deaths of loved ones and comrades time and again, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama knew that pain all too well.
The three Edo Tensei Hokage gazed at the two Orochimaru figures. One matched the appearance of a man in his fifties, as per his original design. The other...
Hashirama Senju even considered asking if he too had mastered the Yin Seal.
Speaking of these two Orochimaru, only the future Orochimaru—commonly called Orochimaru-Auntie—knew Obito Uchiha's true identity...
The other Orochimaru only knew what he'd just heard: "The ultimate war criminal who ignited the Fourth Shinobi World War."
Tsunade instructed Obito to release Nawaki and Dan so the future Orochimaru could remove the cursed seals from their bodies. But she noticed the hesitation in young Obito and the entire Minato class. Only then did she recall...
Oh, right... that matter...
It hasn't been properly resolved yet.
Thinking this, she decided against proceeding.
However, Minato Namikaze and the two Edo Tensei Hokages sensed something amiss. The Third Hokage, still unaware that Obito Uchiha was alive in this world, also looked utterly bewildered.
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage looked at young Obito.
"Is there something troubling you?"
At his words, cold sweat trickled down young Obito's forehead and into his collar.
"It seems like something rather serious."
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage noticed Obito's hands trembling slightly, and the entire Team Minato appeared deeply despondent.
Yet one person seemed even more tense...
The Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage looked at his disciple—the adult Kakashi.
Then he glanced at the young Kakashi.
"Kakashi's left eye isn't a Sharingan, and Obito and Rin are still alive." The Edo Tensei Minato felt this was better than anything else. "To be honest, I'm actually a bit envious of you who obtained the mission scrolls."
"Especially you."
He turned to his other self—Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline.
"You're so fortunate to have protected your student. That kind of luck makes me envious."
Hearing this from Minato-sensei of another world, young Obito couldn't bear it anymore. He removed his goggles from his forehead protector and placed them over his eyes.
Knowing his student's temperament, the Edo Tensei Minato assumed the young Obito Uchiha had learned of their world's tragedy and was suffering over Rin's death.
Naruto and Sasuke hesitated to speak.
But they both felt they couldn't replace the original Team 7 to unravel this mystery.
The Edo Tensei Minato crouched down, leveling himself with the young Obito Uchiha.
He sincerely apologized: "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you and Rin in this world, Obito. This is my failure as your sensei. I hope that you, in this future, can find a better path."
It was almost as if fate itself had intervened. The young man, who had finally emerged from his self-imposed isolation—Adult Obito—once again activated his Kamui Dimension peeping mode.
In just a few short days, the outside world had become completely unrecognizable to him.
Minato-sensei and the Second Hokage had both been reanimated through Edo Tensei by Orochimaru?!
Did that mean his A-rank mission—disguising himself as Madara Uchiha to converse with Hashirama Senju—was finally within reach?
That matter seemed to be resolved.
However, seeing Minato-sensei appear in his Edo Tensei form, the adult Obito—now fully identical to his past self—was consumed with such intense guilt that he felt as though he would tear Madara Uchiha apart in hell, and then, alongside him, endure the Six Paths of Pain for all eternity in an attempt to atone for his sins.
Especially after hearing Minato-sensei apologize to his younger self.
He truly...was tormented inside, unable to bear the weight of this guilt.
He couldn't blame Minato-sensei for his own 'death,' and Rin's death was entirely due to Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu choosing him as the successor to carry on the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Outside Kamui's Dimension, Minato Namikaze from the Kannabi Bridge timeline patted his disciple's shoulder.
He looked toward the reanimated Fourth Hokage of this world, his face serious as he said, "I'm about to tell you something, but you'd better prepare yourself first."