"A-ancestor?"
Myoko understood what the word "ancestor" meant, which only made him even more curious about where these people had come from.
He had already thought their clothes looked strange.
They were bright and flashy. As ninjas, were they not afraid of giving away their position? If it were him, he would definitely find a way to dye blond hair black.
Just as Myoko Uchiha was wondering what "ancestor" was supposed to imply, his two younger brothers, Kurohi Uchiha and Togakushi Uchiha, happened to wake up.
The two children, only five or six years old, saw the crowd of people and thought they had been captured.
Then the boy named Togakushi Uchiha saw Sasuke and instinctively called him "Big brother," leaving both Sasuke and Naruto stunned.
Only after Myoko explained the situation did the two children timidly try to get up and thank them.
Of course, Sakura and Rin immediately stopped them.
As Medical-nin, they had compassionate hearts, and as girls with more delicate feelings, they found it hard to accept children younger than Konohamaru, children who were ninjas and badly wounded, trying to thank them like that.
"Once your injuries are a little better, we'll take you to the edge of the Uchiha Clan territory. After that, can you make it back on your own?"
To their surprise, before they could even bring it up, these people had already plainly said they could leave whenever they were ready. The three children were deeply grateful and asked if there was anything they could do to repay them.
"Just tell us how to get to the nearest village," Young Obito replied.
Togakushi Uchiha said, "The two nearest villages were destroyed in the last war."
"There's still one very small village left. The route is hidden, and it's up in the mountains. You can't spot the village from below or from above. As thanks for saving us, I'll take you there."
Minato had meant to refuse.
But the boy named Myoko Uchiha insisted.
It made everyone sigh inwardly. When an Uchiha got stubborn, they really were pure Uchiha.
In the end, Minato had no choice but to leave a Flying Thunder God Technique mark there and let the three young ninjas from the Warring States Period lead them to the hidden village they had mentioned. Once they reached the place, he planned to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to send the three children back here.
On the way, as they chatted, Adult Kakashi and Minato Namikaze realized that the boy named Myoko Uchiha was taking the chance to fish information out of Naruto and Obito.
The two experienced Konoha ninjas saw through the young ninja's questioning at once. They could only sigh helplessly to themselves. Children from the Warring States Period really were different. They looked innocent, but no matter how you put it, they were far more calculating than ninjas raised in the village.
However, the information they were trying to steal was exactly what Minato Namikaze wanted to reveal to them, so he let the young ninja continue and walked behind them, listening to their casual conversation.
Naruto and Obito were very enthusiastic, eager to tell Myoko Uchiha, Kurohi Uchiha, and Togakushi Uchiha everything good about the village. Whenever the conversation touched on something they could not say, Young Kakashi and Sasuke would skillfully steer the topic away to avoid unnecessary trouble.
As a result, the three young Uchiha from the Warring States Period were like Urashima Taro stumbling into the Dragon Palace, listening to the two describe a ninja village called "Konoha."
All the ninja clans of the Land of Fire lived in that village and completed missions together. Children could say their surnames freely without worry and even become friends with young ninjas from other clans.
The three young Uchiha ninjas from the Warring States Period listened as if they were still dreaming.
Kurohi even asked his older brother whether they had all actually died, and this was the place ninjas went after death.
As the older brother, Myoko Uchiha did not know how to answer. Aside from the afterlife, he could not think of any other place where the Uchiha and Senju could live together peacefully in the same village.
Naruto talked about the girl with Byakugan in the village who always touched her fingers together whenever she spoke, Shikamaru Nara, who was always muttering about how troublesome everything was, the big eater Chōji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, who talked about nothing but Sasuke all day, and Kiba Inuzuka, who had Akamaru perched on his head.
Obito occasionally chimed in about all the good food in Konoha, how the village grandmas always gave him little gifts, and what kinds of games children from different clans played together.
The three little Uchiha were so overwhelmed by it all that their minds nearly went numb.
...
Meanwhile, the brothers Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha, along with their suddenly resurrected father, Tajima Uchiha, briefly talked on their way back to the Uchiha Clan territory.
Madara did not know how to begin describing the life he had spent being deceived for nearly eighty years, or the Eye of the Moon Plan behind Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Because Izuna had appeared inside Young Obito's Kamui Dimension when he was revived, he had been able to see Konoha's systems without bias. The Ninja Academy, mission ranks, ninja ranks, and so on. After witnessing the prosperity inside the village, he spoke before Madara could and told his brother that perhaps founding the village had been the right choice.
"Brother, you aren't good at mediation. I was the one who was good at that, but I left first, leaving the responsibility of protecting the Uchiha to you alone."
"Konoha was built well. If I had stayed by your side the whole time, I would definitely have been able to keep the two Senju brothers in check and let the Uchiha and Konoha develop together." Although Tobirama had avoided the main issue earlier and had not mentioned the Uchiha's current situation in the village, Izuna Uchiha, as his old rival and Madara Uchiha's younger brother, had more or less guessed the truth.
Madara listened with complicated feelings. Back when he had been at his loneliest and most helpless, he had also secretly resented Izuna for dying so young.
"That guy Tobirama is like you, Brother. He isn't good at mediation either. He's only good at using systems to restrain human nature."
Madara froze, unsure why Izuna had suddenly brought up that man.
In his memory, Tobirama Senju was Izuna's opponent, Hashirama's younger brother, and the murderer who had killed Izuna. Nothing more. This was the first time anyone had said that he was similar to Tobirama in some way. Not even Hashirama had ever said that.
"So the one who could mediate for Tobirama must have been your rival, Hashirama Senju, right?" Izuna said. "If I hadn't entrusted my eyes and the Uchiha to you, then surely one of the positions of First Hokage or Second Hokage would have belonged to you."
Izuna spoke with certainty, and Madara did not refute him.
Tajima Uchiha listened from behind the two brothers the entire time.
After a long while, having already been told the truth by Minato Namikaze and the others, he said only one thing.
"Forget it."
The three arrived at the Uchiha Clan territory of the Warring States Period. With their current strength, avoiding the clan patrols was extremely easy. All they had to do was cast a Genjutsu with the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Tajima Uchiha jumped out and cast Genjutsu on a clan member whom he remembered only having one tomoe, asking him what time it was and where Madara Uchiha and the others were.
"The Clan Head is leading a war mission against the Senju. Young Clan Head Madara and Izuna-sama have followed him into battle. Myoko-sama, Togakushi-sama, and Kurohi-sama set out at dawn to escort a batch of supplies to the secret stronghold on Hidden Mountain."
Hearing those three names he had not heard in so long, Madara Uchiha froze in shock.
Tajima's expression also changed in an instant, and he immediately called for his two sons to move out and give chase.
"Madara, you remember, don't you? Your three younger brothers..."
"They died during this mission."
Of course Madara remembered!
That battle had ended in a draw against the Senju because the supplies had failed to arrive, but more importantly, while Myoko, Togakushi, and Kurohi were transporting the supplies to a relatively safe transfer point, they had somehow run straight into Senju people!
Judging by the time, if they had set out in the morning, they might still make it!
Madara had never been someone who cared about holding back. Given this chance to erase a regret, he said nothing and immediately unleashed his complete Susanoo!
A disturbance that massive could not be hidden by Genjutsu!
But by the time the clan members woke up, all they saw was the dark-blue Susanoo spreading its wings and flying into the sky. They could no longer see Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha, and Tajima Uchiha standing on Susanoo's forehead.
It was Tajima and Izuna's first time seeing such power, a complete Susanoo. Their shock was beyond words.
But the situation left them with no room to ask about it. Madara Uchiha drove Susanoo forward at full speed, flying toward the place in Tajima's memory where they had found the bodies of his three sons.
Clearly, the battle was already over.
He pulled a Senju shuriken from a tree trunk. The blood staining it could not possibly belong to those Senju themselves.
They were one step too late...
The shock sent Madara's anger and despair past the breaking point, as if fate were mocking him. It had given him a chance, only to make him taste despair all over again. Susanoo's enormous sword came down vertically, and a stretch of forest collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"What's going on?!"
The Senju ninja who had been knocked unconscious by Minato Namikaze earlier woke up and hurried over after hearing the noise.
"Uchiha?!"
At that moment, Madara Uchiha's rage over losing three younger brothers again finally found an outlet.
Dark-blue chakra gathered at Madara's right shoulder, forming the bones of a massive arm.
Susanoo's arm grabbed the Senju ninja, and in his fury, Madara Uchiha crushed him to death with Susanoo.
Looking at the enraged Madara Uchiha, Tajima and Izuna were in just as much pain.
But even if they killed the enemy, what was lost was still lost.
The father and sons' faces were terrifyingly cold.
Izuna Uchiha was comparatively calmer.
"We still haven't found the bodies of Myoko, Togakushi, and Kurohi. Maybe they're only hiding for now. There may still be a chance. We came to this parallel world, so surely we changed something. For example, back then, we clearly found their bodies here, but now they're gone."
Hearing Izuna's words, Madara stared coldly at the Senju corpse on the ground in a daze.
He was going through his memories. Something seemed wrong.
Tajima Uchiha was the same. He frowned and said, "Back then, when we found the bodies of Myoko, Togakushi, and Kurohi, we also found this Senju ninja's corpse..."
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