About an hour earlier, these Konoha jōnin and Special Jōnin had suddenly discovered an inexplicable second set of memories in their minds.
Those memories were completely different from what they had learned a few days ago, that Obito Uchiha was the Masked Man responsible for the Fourth Hokage's death.
In these new memories, Obito had remained safely in the village all along, and Fourth Hokage-sama's family was still living happily together!
Fourth Hokage-sama had also introduced numerous reforms throughout Konoha, while the Third Hokage had retired long ago to enjoy his later years.
Even the advisors had been stripped of their authority through methods that appeared gentle but were firm and uncompromising beneath the surface.
Once they realized just how bizarre these memories were, Kurenai Yūhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and the others immediately began questioning nearby ninja.
It turned out that only those from their generation who had attended the previous gathering at Kakashi's ancestral home possessed two sets of memories. Everyone else had no idea what they meant by the Nine-Tails Incident.
When they mentioned the Nine-Tails Incident, some people even assumed they were referring to the time Madara Uchiha attacked Konoha with the Nine-Tails.
When they brought up the Fourth Hokage's death, others thought they had fallen under a Genjutsu and tried to dispel it for them.
Left with no other choice, the group gathered together and headed for Kakashi's ancestral home.
Before they could even enter, they encountered Shisui Uchiha, who was standing outside waiting to take Itachi home.
Although Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yūhi, and the others now possessed memories in which the Uchiha Clan had remained safe and gradually integrated into Konoha, seeing Shisui Uchiha alive and greeting them so warmly still made them instinctively look as though they had seen a ghost.
"Shisui... Uchiha...?!"
"What's wrong?" Shisui Uchiha greeted Genma Shiranui and the others with a smile. "Why do you all look like you've seen a ghost?"
Ebisu immediately raised two fingers upright before his chest, remaining on guard.
"Release!"
Their reaction made Shisui laugh. "You think this is a Genjutsu? I doubt anyone could cast a Genjutsu in front of me."
His titles, Shisui of the Body Flicker and wielder of Kotoamatsukami, had not been earned for nothing.
"You're Shisui Uchiha?! You're really Shisui Uchiha?!!" Kurenai Yūhi asked in disbelief.
Shisui Uchiha revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan. Those eyes were something not even another member of the Uchiha Clan could imitate, and there was only one pair like them in the entire world.
The Akatsuki members and the ancestors who did not belong to this era had temporarily been sent back to the Missing-nin Inn or the small detached houses where the First and Second Hokage were staying.
Only then did Kakashi Hatake and Yamato come out to receive the new arrivals.
"Kakashi, what exactly is going on...?"
Asuma Sarutobi stared in astonishment, looking first at Kakashi and then at Shisui Uchiha standing off to the side.
They wanted to ask why Shisui Uchiha was still alive and why another set of memories had appeared in their minds. However, with a living Shisui standing right in front of them, they could not tell which questions were safe to ask aloud.
Kakashi sighed. "You still remember the gathering we had here before, right?"
"Of course. We also learned about Obito." Kurenai Yūhi carefully chose her words before asking vaguely, "Kakashi, why did the world suddenly become like this? Why is...?"
She glanced at Shisui Uchiha.
She did not need to finish the question. Everyone knew what she meant.
Why was Shisui Uchiha still alive?
"Something happened, and it's difficult to explain in just a few words." Kakashi exchanged a glance with Yamato. "For now, come inside. Just try not to be too surprised by what you see."
The group nodded and followed Kakashi into the Hatake ancestral home.
The moment they entered the living room and saw the man seated beside the table, half his face covered in scars, they immediately lost their composure.
"Obito?!"
"Why are you here?!!"
Knowing that Obito Uchiha was the culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident thirteen years ago, his former classmates immediately drew their weapons and prepared to defend themselves against the man who had committed so many atrocities.
Adult Obito raised both hands above his head, surrendering with astonishing speed.
"I've reformed. Give me a chance?"
"You? Do you deserve one?!!"
The Konoha ninja stood there gripping kunai, bladed knuckles, and senbon, completely thrown off by Obito Uchiha, the Masked Man.
Their reactions left Shisui confused once again.
"Obito, what did you do? Why is everyone so hostile toward you?" He then turned to Kakashi and continued, "And when he says he's 'reformed'... does he mean that in the way I think he does?"
Adult Obito: "..."
I've done plenty of things. Which one do you want to hear about?
Adult Kakashi: "..."
Which meaning of "reformed" are you thinking of, and why are you asking me?
Receiving no answer and seeing the strange expressions on their faces, Shisui of the Body Flicker turned his head and finally noticed Team Minato from the Kannabi Bridge era sitting nearby.
"What in the world is going on?"
There were two Kakashis, one older and one younger, two Obitos, and even two Minato-samas.
Shisui Uchiha was completely bewildered.
"Calm down, Shisui."
The person who spoke was Fugaku Uchiha, Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan.
"Captain."
Shisui Uchiha treated Fugaku Uchiha with great respect. He immediately fell silent and waited for an explanation.
He had only come to pick Itachi up after work. How had he ended up in a situation like this? Was it already too late to leave? This was unbearably awkward. What had happened here?!
Thinking of Itachi, Shisui quietly glanced toward him.
Itachi was standing silently in the corner as though punishing himself. Ever since Shisui entered, he had not looked at him even once.
By this point, if Shisui Uchiha still failed to realize something was wrong, then he had not only wasted his life as a ninja, but his entire life altogether.
Even if he racked his brain, however, he would never have guessed the truth.
He had actually died several years ago. The only reason he could appear here now, complete with memories of another life, was because the mission scroll had rewritten their entire world.
Genma Shiranui and the others stared at the very much alive Fugaku Uchiha and Kushina Uzumaki, almost convinced they were still dreaming.
Right now, they desperately needed Shikaku-senpai. Even Shikamaru Nara would do. They needed someone with a brilliant mind to analyze the situation and explain it to them!
"I believe you've all noticed that you possess a new set of memories, and that the entire world has undergone drastic changes," Fourth Hokage Minato explained.
"Because of the mission scroll, the previous parallel world we traveled to was the Warring States Period. Certain unexpected events occurred there, resulting in our world being forcibly rewritten into its present form."
"Although this has largely undone many regrets from the past, there is no denying that it has also caused everyone a great deal of trouble."
Knowing that the situation had been caused by Obito's wish and the will of his counterpart from another parallel world, Minato apologized sincerely.
The Konoha ninja who had learned the truth were still struggling to process it.
Undoing the regrets of the past...
They instinctively looked at Kushina Uzumaki, Fugaku Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, and the others who had returned from the dead.
"Then what about Obito Uchiha...?"
The hardest thing for them to accept was Obito Uchiha.
The man who had once caused the Nine-Tails Incident was now, according to their new memories, an elite jōnin of Konoha. He was deeply trusted by the village's residents and was even a powerful candidate for the position of Fifth Hokage?!
And then there was Itachi Uchiha.
Do not think we cannot see you just because you are standing in the corner!
The Third and Fourth Hokage had already explained that he was not truly a Missing-nin, but a spy sent by Konoha to infiltrate Akatsuki.
Yet in these new memories, the Uchiha Clan had not only avoided annihilation, but had gradually integrated into Konoha.
How were they supposed to explain that?!
"This extraordinary outcome is also connected to Obito."
Minato Namikaze recounted the images they had witnessed during the Warring States Period.
Naruto also described the other life he had personally experienced. Obito Uchiha had only learned the truth after Madara Uchiha had exploited him for everything he was worth. The person responsible for Rin's death had been Madara Uchiha himself, and the entire tragedy had been arranged for the purpose of using Obito.
"If none of those things had happened, all of you understand Obito's personality better than I do. The outstanding Konoha ninja from these new memories may represent the life he would have lived if no one had manipulated him."
During the explanation, Minato Namikaze did not avoid speaking in front of Shisui Uchiha, but neither did he specifically explain Shisui's own circumstances.
"To avoid causing widespread panic and confusion, please do not tell anyone else about these additional memories. Shisui, if you wish to know more, you can ask Itachi afterward. The responsibility you once entrusted to him forced Itachi to make an extremely difficult choice. As for what happened... Itachi can tell you, provided he is willing."
Shisui Uchiha nodded solemnly.
He had the uneasy feeling that something capable of overturning everything he believed would soon be revealed to him.
...
After everyone dispersed, Shisui Uchiha immediately went to find Itachi Uchiha.
Sasuke was worried about his brother, but he had also long since lost the ability to restrain his desire to return to the clan grounds.
Naruto and Fourth Hokage Minato no longer needed to stay at the Hatake ancestral home.
The family of three owned a beautiful house in Konoha, a small duplex purchased with the mission earnings that Fourth Hokage Minato and Kushina Uzumaki had saved over the years.
On his first day in a room that truly belonged to him, Naruto sat flipping through the family photo albums and still felt strangely out of place.
However, thanks to Minato Namikaze's gentle guidance and Kushina Uzumaki's relentless doting after learning what Naruto had truly endured, that discomfort was soon replaced by happiness.
He even celebrated his thirteenth birthday with both of his parents alive.
For the first time in his life, Naruto had a birthday party with his parents beside him. He ate the birthday cake his dad had bought and, urged on by his mom, made a wish before blowing out the candles.
The only flaw in that happiness was Naruto's fear that everything he had suddenly received might only be a temporary reward.
He was afraid that one day, all of it would disappear and he would once again be left with nothing.
Sasuke Uchiha felt the same fear of gaining something only to lose it again.
When he returned to the clan grounds, heard one greeting after another, and saw that his mother had already prepared dinner and was waiting for the family to eat together, he behaved like a guest.
He entered the house with excessive politeness and ate with the same careful restraint.
He was afraid of becoming too dependent on this happiness. If he lost it again, even the Mangekyō Sharingan would not be enough to express the grief in his heart.
After hearing Itachi Uchiha explain everything that had happened during the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Shisui Uchiha was so shocked that he could not respond for a long time.
It was precisely because he believed he understood Itachi better than anyone else that he found it impossible to accept that Itachi could have done such a thing.
He even began to suspect that the version of himself Itachi described had subconsciously used Kotoamatsukami on Itachi just before his death, causing the series of actions that followed.
Once he calmed down, however, he began to understand.
That Shisui Uchiha had been completely unable to find a solution to the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha. In a state of overwhelming grief and helplessness, he had placed everything in the hands of Itachi, who was several years younger than him.
In Shisui's own memories, however, he had been gravely wounded after being framed by Danzō Shimura and was then rescued by Madara Uchiha.
After realizing that Madara intended to use Itachi to threaten him, Shisui had been unable to think of any way to escape the situation.
His rage at his own powerlessness had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan. At the very moment his eyes awakened, he sacrificed the power of one eye to change Madara Uchiha's will.
As a result, Shisui Uchiha still had sight in only one eye.
Even with medicine developed by Konoha's medical team using Hashirama Cells to restore the damaged eye, it would still take another year or two for his vision to recover.
...
Meanwhile, Kannabi Bridge Minato discussed their situation with Fourth Hokage Minato.
Once the mission scrolls held by Naruto, Adult Obito, and Kabuto Yakushi were completed, it would be time for them to return to their respective parallel worlds.
They had assumed that the next parallel world they visited would be the Fourth Shinobi World War.
To everyone's surprise, however, another A rank mission appeared on Naruto's mission scroll.