Gazing at the Hokage Rock inside Obito Uchiha's Kamui's Dimension, Obito had seen the Hokage Rock in the world of the mission scroll and knew that the Fourth Hokage was Minato Namikaze.
He accepted Minato-sensei becoming Hokage. In his Kamui's Dimension, the Fourth Hokage was still Minato Namikaze.
As for the Fifth Hokage, he dreamed that his own face would be carved there.
"I'm going to have my Sharingan and goggles carved onto the Hokage Rock together."
As he recalled it, he could almost hear the boy's bright, confident voice ringing beside his ear.
Young Kakashi and Rin remembered that Obito's dream was to become the Uchiha Clan's first Hokage.
Perhaps it was precisely because of that dream that Madara Uchiha had chosen him as a pawn.
Sasuke thought back to his childhood, to the road home from the training grounds when his older brother carried him on his back. Back then, he had said something like, "Maybe before long, your face will be carved onto the Hokage Rock too."
As far as the Uchiha Clan knew, up through the future they had seen, not a single one of them had ever truly become Hokage.
"Becoming Hokage is Obito's dream and mine."
Naruto suddenly spoke while the Uchiha and Senju clans were still weighed down by the truth they had just learned.
"Whether that dream comes true or not, we'll keep walking straight ahead on our own ninja way. We won't lose our way, not even a little. We'll keep going so we can protect this village and our comrades in it."
"Become Hokage so everyone in the village acknowledges my existence. No, that's not right. I'll have everyone in the village acknowledge me first, and then become the greatest Hokage!"
Those words...
Emotion suddenly rose in Sasuke's chest. What Naruto had just said was exactly what his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, had once told him in another world.
It was not that becoming Hokage would make everyone acknowledge you. Only someone acknowledged by everyone could become Hokage.
And the words "without losing your way, walking straight ahead on your own ninja way, protecting the village and your comrades in it" also deeply moved young Obito.
"Naruto's right! In the parallel world I come from, no matter what happens, I'll never give up on this dream! I'll become the first Uchiha Hokage in our world!"
He would protect the honor of the Uchiha Clan, and he would protect his comrades in Konoha.
These two boys with their surnames filled the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan at this moment with hope for their future descendants.
Even those Uchiha who were usually cold toward outsiders patted Young Obito on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up. "You awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan this young. You'll definitely become Hokage. Don't disgrace the name of the Uchiha Clan!"
Young Obito felt that this Uchiha ancestor praising him seemed pretty friendly, and even a little familiar.
But that was not surprising. After all, most Uchiha married within the clan, so there were plenty of people who looked alike.
The six kids from Team Minato and Team Kakashi led the ninjas from the two great clans of the Warring States Period all around Konoha, from the Hokage Tower to the Ninja Academy, then through Konoha's shopping district.
After walking around until they were hungry, the Uchiha and Senju clansmen had been about to take out soldier pills to fill their stomachs.
But Naruto and Obito dragged them over to Konoha's shopping district to eat and drink instead.
Even Minato was shocked. "Obito, is all this food really edible?"
"Yeah," Obito said, drinking red bean soup. "There just isn't anyone to make ramen and stuff, but there are plenty of ingredients, so you can cook it yourself."
This...
Compared to his and the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique, this space-time Dōjutsu was far too overpowered.
Konoha's Ninja Academy had a more complete teaching system and training equipment.
While the adults were touring the place, young Hashirama and young Madara had already taken their respective younger brothers and run off to the training grounds to compete. Worried they might get lost, or perhaps simply not wanting to join the adults' group, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin followed them to the Konoha Ninja Academy training grounds.
"Do you have any idea how annoying it is when you get gloomy over every little thing?!!!"
Young Madara bared his teeth and snapped at young Hashirama, who had fallen into gloom after only a few words from him.
"Huh?! You hate me that much?"
"Uh, no, not really... Ah! You sneak-attacked me!"
"Madara's too easy, hahaha."
"Hashirama Senju! If you trick my brother again, I'll beat up your little brother! Ow, you bit me!" Myoko, who had always been cunning, actually suffered a loss at the hands of Kawarama, who was two years younger than him.
Young Izuna and young Tobirama had only just come through the war between the Senju and Uchiha, so it was hard for them to adapt as quickly as the others.
"Hmph, you Senju really are all despicable!"
"Why don't you say it's because you Uchiha are too easy to fool?"
Neither of them spared the other in words, but their minds were equally sharp.
"Kawarama and Itama..."
"And Myoko, Togakushi, and Kurohi."
"They didn't live to adulthood."
They could tell from the eyes of their adult selves, and from their future older brothers.
When they looked at them, there was joy and excitement at seeing their younger brothers as children again. But when they looked at Kawarama, Itama, and the others, the regret and grief hidden deep in their eyes could not be concealed no matter how hard they tried.
"We probably wouldn't have lived past today either. Naruto-nii-san and Sasuke-nii-san saved us."
Myoko handed two drinks he had picked up from the shopping district to young Izuna, and surprisingly, one of them was for young Tobirama.
He told them everything that had happened before they arrived on the battlefield.
Young Izuna sighed. No wonder his future brother had agreed to act out such a farce.
"Hmph, I think the future Madara Uchiha was having quite a lot of fun himself."
Young Tobirama gave a small snort of laughter, and Myoko told them that the script had been Madara-nii-san's idea.
This time, even Izuna was too embarrassed to praise his brother's "high emotional intelligence."
Young Izuna said, "For the time being, for the sake of our younger brothers..."
Young Tobirama said, "And our foolish older brother."
And for this village before them, the one called Konoha.
"Let's call a truce."
The moment the two boys said those words, Minato Namikaze had a clear premonition.
"The space-time outside has changed!"
...
Outside Kamui's Dimension, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had fought to their hearts' content.
Both of them lay on the shattered ground, staring blankly at the fading glow of dusk.
When space-time changed, the two of them did not have Minato Namikaze's advanced premonition. They were simply transported to another parallel world while still lying there...
The two of them did not even change positions before they fell into the river with a splash.
Inside Kamui's Dimension, Young Obito followed Minato Namikaze's instruction and displayed the scene outside Kamui's Dimension before everyone's eyes.
They saw the riverbanks covered in gravel.
The surrounding terrain, trees, and sky all looked familiar to the people of the Warring States Period.
"Isn't this the river between the Senju and Uchiha clan lands?"
"It only changed location a little. It isn't very far, is it?"
"Yeah, there's no need to make such a fuss, right?"
Sasuke and Sakura from Team Kakashi urged Naruto to check his mission scroll.
[Mission Rank: C-rank]
[Mission Content: Please have Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha immediately rush to the battlefield between the Senju and Uchiha to stop the two clans from continuing to fight.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
"It's the mission reward for a C-rank mission!"
"It definitely can't be as simple as just moving to another place."
"Should we go out and take a look, Clan Head?"
Tajima Uchiha said, "Wait."
Butsuma Senju also gestured for his own clansmen to stay calm.
"There are people over there."
When they looked carefully toward a corner of the riverbank, they found two boys dressed in casual clothes, competing at skipping stones. They were young Madara Uchiha and young Hashirama Senju.
The young Madara and young Hashirama inside Kamui's Dimension were immediately dumbfounded. Why was there another version of them outside?
The two looked at each other and saw the same blank confusion in the other's eyes.
"When you throw it, lift it up a little. That's the trick."
"I know something that simple! If I get serious, I can definitely throw it all the way to the other side of the river! Also, who the heck are you, hey?!"
"I guess I'm your opponent at skipping stones."
"I'm asking for your name, hey!"
Listening to their conversation, everyone from Team Minato and Team Kakashi standing inside Kamui's Dimension suddenly realized something.
This might be how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha would have met for the first time if they had not suddenly appeared in this world.
Simply put, it was Lord First one-sidedly hitting on the Ancestor. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Naruto said, "All that 'hey, hey' sounds just like Konohamaru, dattebayo."
"Konohamaru?"
"My little brother, the Third Hokage's grandson."
Young Madara Uchiha said, "Don't compare me to a kid, hey!!"
"Hahahaha, there's that weird catchphrase again!" Young Hashirama pointed at Young Madara Uchiha and laughed.
Caught between Naruto and young Hashirama, young Madara was so angry he did not know which side to yell at.
"My name is Hashirama. I can't say my surname for certain reasons."
"Hashirama, huh? Fine! You just wait! Watch me throw it all the way across the river!"
Tap, tap, tap.
Plop. The pebble sank into the river.
Uh.
Forget the two kids outside freezing awkwardly on the spot.
Even the young Madara Uchiha inside Kamui's Dimension felt an overwhelming sense of social death.
Or rather, the young Madara inside Kamui's Dimension died far more thoroughly than the young Madara Uchiha outside, who had failed at skipping stones.
At least the Madara outside thought only that guy named Hashirama had seen it. But the young Madara Uchiha inside Kamui's Dimension could keenly sense, even from across space, the teasing gazes from his own clansmen and the Senju.
"You bastard! You stood behind me on purpose to distract me, didn't you, hey?! I'm really sensitive about my back!! If someone stands behind me, I can't even pee, do you know that, hey?!!!"
Hiss.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin.
The Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan.
Even Hashirama's younger brothers and Madara's younger brothers all turned their gazes toward young Madara Uchiha, who was inside Kamui's Dimension and already so embarrassed he could carve out an entire Konohagakure with his toes. More specifically, toward a certain special part of him.
The cruelest part was that people like Naruto, Obito, and young Hashirama, who seemed afraid that Madara's social death was not complete enough, deliberately stood behind him to test whether he really was that sensitive.
The young Uchiha Clan Head visibly shuddered all over, his back reacting as if an electric current had run through it.
"You guys!!! Do you want to taste my Great Fireball?!"
The reconciliation between the two younger brothers was the true reconciliation between the clans.
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