"I wonder what kind of tradition this is," the future Orochimaru remarked without malice, merely lamenting their fate.
"The Second Hokage supposedly died saving his student; Sarutobi-sensei perished in the Reaper Death Seal while sealing me and the First and Second Hokage, who had been reanimated through the Impure World Resurrection; I myself died by Sasuke's hand; Jiraiya died at the hands of the three brats he once took in at Amegakure; Minato Namikaze died in the Nine-Tails Incident orchestrated by Obito Uchiha..."
His features were beautiful, and his smile was always so captivating.
"Speaking of which, didn't Sasuke once say he wanted to kill Kakashi? In the world I'm currently in, the Seventh Hokage seems to be facing a major crisis because of that child named Kawaki."
"..."
Though they'd considered such possibilities before, Orochimaru's words made the picture far more complete. Hardly anyone had escaped this kind of... misfortune.
The three Edo Tensei Hokages never imagined that even the Seventh Hokage would appear in Orochimaru's era.
Young Obito cautioned his clan brother Sasuke earnestly, "Killing your teacher is unacceptable! Don't ever do it! Killing Orochimaru is fine, but killing Kakashi is out of the question. I'll fight you to the death."
Sasuke shot him a look. "You have the nerve to say that to me?"
Both of them snorted simultaneously, seeing the contempt in each other's eyes. Clan brotherly love crumbled instantly.
The future Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Kimimaro returned to Orochimaru's lair in this world.
Due to the mission scroll on his person, Kabuto, with the future Orochimaru's approval, eventually made his way to the Missing-nin inn managed by Captain Yamato, where Kakashi collected rent.
The three Edo Tensei Hokage couldn't be crammed in with the Missing-nin either. Captain Yamato's Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique left a lasting impression.
The Second Hokage, disregarding his own brother's despondency, bluntly remarked, "Oh ho, in some ways, you're more useful than my big brother."
"Just a bit low on chakra." Watching Yamato suffer severe exhaustion after just one Wood Release ninjutsu, the Second Hokage offered a fair assessment.
After Hashirama Senju's gloom lifted, he patted the heavily panting Yamato. "Mastering Wood Release is truly remarkable." He turned to the young Obito Uchiha. "Can you use it too, boy? I sense my chakra within you."
Young Obito, harboring the dream of becoming Hokage, was thrilled beyond measure to meet so many Hokage at once. Without hesitation, he mimicked Captain Yamato's hand seals, intending to save his best technique for the First Hokage.
"Wood Release: Four Pillars Technique!"
To the astonishment of young Kakashi, Rin, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the others—Young Obito Uchiha had actually executed the exact same technique?!
Rubbing his nose, Obito basked in a surge of accomplishment as he boasted to the two Minato-sensei and the First, Second, and Third Hokage: "How about that?!"
Rin immediately cheered him on, praising his meticulous craftsmanship.
"This time, even Adult Kakashi offered a compliment: 'Not bad. Build seven more, numbered: Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Guruko, Ūhei, Urushi, Bull, and Pakkun.'"
"You're just mocking him, aren't you?" Young Kakashi protested. "Stop picking on this idiot. What's the point?"
The reason was simple: though young Obito Uchiha had replicated Captain Yamato's civil engineering feat,
But...
...the scale was reduced to a fraction of its original size, just barely big enough for Pakkun to live in.
Rin's comment about it being "a meticulous craftsmanship" was actually a backhanded compliment for being small yet sturdy.
Sasuke couldn't bear to look at this fellow clan member. Did their clan get stronger the dumber they were? No, no, no—he couldn't think that way!
…
The First, Second, Dan Katō, Nawaki, and Tsunade had all moved into the new apartment complex. The Third Hokage was staying there as well, needing to hold a confidential discussion that night.
In addition, Indra, Ashura, and Ōtsutsuki Hamura were also residing in the new complex.
The Sissy Orochimaru returned to the Snake Den with Jiraiya and Kimimaro.
Kabuto Yakushi had become good neighbors with Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza Momochi, and Haku in Konoha.
The Chūnin Exams remained suspended...
For the Fourth Kazekage, who had just escaped the stubborn councilors back in Sunagakure, work could only proceed through correspondence. All he could say was: Konoha, your world is truly chaotic.
In the largest room of the apartment complex, which had just been completed half an hour ago, five people were present: the First, the Fourth Hokage, and Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline...
Minato had spent nearly the entire night recounting everything that had happened recently.
They heard how they had traveled back to the founding days of Konoha in another parallel world, resolving the conflict between Madara and the village.
Hashirama Senju was practically on the verge of grabbing Naruto and Obito's hands, tearfully thanking them for their outstanding contributions to Konoha. His brother, Tobirama Senju, wore an expression of indescribable resignation.
When they heard that Naruto and Obito had averted the Nine-Tails incident twice and later discovered that the masked man was none other than Obito Uchiha—who hadn't died beneath the Kannabi Bridge—Minato felt a pang of bittersweet regret.
"If I had discovered Obito's true identity back then, would the outcome have been different?"
No one could say for certain. As Orochimaru would later say, had he changed course sooner, it might have been Jiraiya who altered the course of events instead.
Hashirama Senju: "Not realizing that my dear friend was still alive and lurking underground, manipulating your students, was a failure of my duty as Hokage." Had he not been so slow to realize Madara was being manipulated, perhaps he and Madara could have been honored as Hokage of Konoha.
Without the two Nine-Tails Crises, Mito and the wife and son of this Fourth Hokage would never have become the first, second, and third Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
Minato quickly humbled himself, claiming the responsibility lay with him instead.
Tobirama Senju sighed. "I considered every possibility. Even after trying to avoid giving Uchiha members death-related missions, instead assigning them to guard Konoha as the village's security forces, I never imagined that Madara's schemes would be more cunning. He didn't even spare his own clan's descendants."
He had believed that if no one died, and no one lost their loved ones or the most important people to them, the Uchiha wouldn't have produced an extremist like Madara Uchiha.
But he hadn't foreseen the Third Shinobi World War. It returned an era where even twelve- or thirteen-year-olds were sent to the battlefield. Obito Uchiha was deployed, and even though it was only a logistics mission, it set the young boy on a path he couldn't turn back from.
Word had spread that both the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans were nearing extinction, with only a few bloodlines remaining.
The Senju brothers were silent for a long while.
Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his head, feeling ashamed, unable to say a word.
Truthfully, neither Hashirama nor Tobirama had ever agreed with resolving the issue through the annihilation of a clan.
"Couldn't the conflict between the village and the clan have been resolved more peacefully? When Tobirama and I governed Konoha, the Uchiha were proud, but they were never close to rebellion."
Hiruzen Sarutobi admitted with a heavy heart, "I bear undeniable responsibility for this."
Not wanting to accuse the older generation, Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline felt it was best to stick to the facts.
"I have a photograph I'd like to show you all."
Minato slid a photograph taken by Obito Uchiha across the table.
The photo depicted the state of Danzō Shimura's corpse...
No matter who saw it, the first thing that would catch their eye was the eerie, pale arm—looking like rotten flesh! And on that arm, the Sharingan eyes, filled with anger and resentment!
"What is this?!" Tobirama Senju demanded. "Is that Danzō Shimura in the photograph?!"
He recognized the scar on Danzō's chin. Though he had aged considerably, the photograph still showed a dead man. Yet, it was his own student—Tobirama Senju recognized him instantly.
As for Hashirama Senju, merely suppressing the chakra threatening to erupt made him unwilling to utter another word.
The Fourth and Third Hokage stared at the photograph, stunned.
Edo Tensei Minato gazed at his parallel-world counterpart. "This is Elder Danzō? When did his arm acquire so many Sharingan?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't heard from Danzō Shimura in quite some time. He never imagined seeing him again as the dead man in the photograph.
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline: "This Danzō Shimura isn't the Danzō Shimura of this world. He's from the future world Obito time traveled to via the mission scroll. The one who killed him was, without a doubt, the Masked Man."
Minato and the Third Hokage froze. "The Masked Man?"
"It's a complicated story. The Masked Man from this world followed Obito on time travel to another future timeline. Much seems to have transpired there, but since Obito and Kakashi—who accompanied him—were sealed within Kamui's dimension, we don't know the specifics. He only managed to take a few photographs before escaping Kamui's space and returning to this world."
"..."
Tobirama Senju turned to his student. "What condition is Danzō Shimura's arm in now?"
"Injured. He keeps it hidden within his sleeve."
"Since when...?"
The Third Hokage reflected. It hadn't been like this during the Third Shinobi World War.
Nor after the Nine-Tails Incident.
"It was... After the night the Uchiha were exterminated."
Hashirama Senju's expression turned grave. "Do the three Uchiha youths you mentioned know about this?"
"Sasuke, Obito, and Itachi are all aware."
"Brother?" Tobirama turned to Hashirama beside him.
Hashirama Senju: "Before we depart, we must understand this matter."
"Mhm." Tobirama nodded.
While this was the Shadow Council meeting in Konoha, elsewhere the Ōtsutsuki family held a long-awaited reunion.
…
Hamura didn't understand why his elder brother's two sons had such a strained relationship, but as their uncle, he felt compelled to help his two nephews resolve some issues.
Indra remained almost silent, while Ashura spoke at length, recounting their childhood, how gentle his brother had been back then, and how things had changed so subtly over time.
"I never aspired to be the heir of the ninshū. In my eyes, that position always belonged to my brother," the brown-haired youth said. "If only he could understand ordinary people living in this world more, like he did when we were children."
Indra retorted sarcastically, "Now that you're the ninshū's heir, stop being so naive. Haven't you heard what ninjutsu has brought to this world? A thousand years of war."
Hagoromo blinked, unsure what his eldest nephew was thinking.
"Wars existed even before our ninshū was founded. Unless you truly wish to follow Grandmother's path and turn everyone into White Zetsu, you can't truly eradicate war forever."
"That outcome isn't impossible."
"Brother! How can you even think that?! If people become soulless White Zetsu, wouldn't that mean the very essence of human happiness is lost?"
Indra shot him a sideways glance. "You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish? You're not a White Zetsu, so how would you know they're unhappy?"
This...
This was a question they truly couldn't answer.