Tobirama and Hashirama felt their consciousness blur. Their spirits were freed from the bindings of Edo Tensei, only to be drawn away by a strange gravitational pull.
Until, at last, their spirits were reforged.
The two regained awareness.
But before them was only pitch blackness. It was as though heaven and earth had not yet formed—no sun, no moon, no stars—only endless, boundless darkness and chaos.
"Is this… the Pure Land?"
Curious, Hashirama widened his eyes, fumbling around in the unseen blackness.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, his hands brushed against something unusual. Following upward—
"No, big brother, that's my groin!"
Tobirama's stern voice rang out.
He pushed down his brother's wandering hands and said in a low voice, "You can sense this space through spiritual perception. It doesn't restrict our mental energy."
"Oh, oh… sorry!"
Hashirama laughed awkwardly and quickly pulled his hands back.
His mind conjured up the image of his younger brother's stern, brooding face.
"Never mind, I've already sensed it. This is a small, enclosed space—about two meters in every direction. Just enough for us to lie down."
Tobirama's face was cold as he stood off to the side.
Being sealed in a tiny chamber with someone—this was a predicament Tobirama had never faced before.
Fortunately, the other person was his brother. If it had been anyone else, his naturally unwelcoming nature would've driven him to disgust, if not outright murder.
"That's fine then, good enough!"
Hashirama leaned back, and sure enough his spine touched a cold, solid wall.
A faint smile lingered on his lips.
For a moment, he felt all the chaos of the outside world had nothing to do with him anymore.
"Big brother, you look rather happy?"
As Tobirama traced the icy wall, he knocked on it, but no sound was produced.
"I don't care much for dark places… but when I was a child, there were times I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a narrow, lightless space like this."
"Was it when our brothers were killed, or when you broke with Madara?"
"…Yes."
"Big brother, that's escapism. Face reality. Think of a way to get us out of here. Even returning to the Pure Land by death would be better than staying in this place."
Tobirama's eyes hardened with resolve as he continued probing the strange space, refusing to give in.
"Hahaha, Tobirama, you really are relentless. But tell me—what exactly are we right now?"
Hashirama smiled, unmoved, and instead posed the question that had been nagging at him.
"A good question."
Tobirama's expression twitched.
He pressed his palms together, formed a seal, and felt the flow of energy within himself. The sensation gave him the answer.
Chakra was formed from the union of physical energy and spiritual energy. Yet now, he could sense only his spiritual energy—his physical energy was gone.
The answer was clear.
In a solemn voice, Tobirama said, "Spirits. What the common folk call ghosts or phantoms. That is our state now."
"Oh? Ghosts, huh?" Hashirama became intrigued, lying back in a comfortable position. He asked casually, "Tobirama, were you afraid of ghosts when you were little?"
"…" Tobirama was speechless.
All he wanted was to get his brother out of this place, and yet his brother was ready to just lie down and relax. What was this supposed to be?
But before he could speak further, a voice—unfamiliar yet clear—echoed from above the dark void:
"Second Hokage, let's make a deal. You teach me the Flying Thunder God Technique, and in return, you may name one condition. Of course, asking for your release is off the table."
The voice naturally belonged to the master of this space—Uchiha Yu.
After sealing Hashirama and Tobirama into the Spacetime Sealing Prison, Yu had been probing his authority over the space.
First, Yu confirmed that he didn't need to speak aloud. By focusing his spirit, he could communicate with those trapped within at any time.
Second, he realized he had other means of manipulating the prison's inner workings.
This space was a perfect nightmare cage, crafted for souls bound by Edo Tensei.
"Uchiha Yu?" Tobirama looked up into the endless blackness above.
Hashirama also grew interested. Rising from the ground, he lifted his head and gazed upward into the space above.
By now, the two brothers had already adapted to the pitch-black environment through spiritual perception, so there would be no more accidental touches.
"It's me," Uchiha Yu replied.
At that moment, he was leading Tsunade, Shizune, and the others toward the massive crimson Susanoo. A portion of his spirit had split off into the prison space.
Up until now, the beings sealed within Yu's body had been tailed beasts or the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Having two people he could actually converse with inside the seal was rather amusing.
"Teach you the Flying Thunder God Technique? If I did, wouldn't it just mean you could slaughter Konoha's clans a little faster?" Tobirama sneered.
"Even if you don't teach me, killing them would be no different from stepping on a group of ants."
Yu's tone was calm.
"If you ask me, you could just find the Flying Thunder God scrolls Tobirama left behind in Konoha. With your talent, you'd learn it quickly!" Hashirama offered helpfully. "If I remember right, he stored the Forbidden Scroll in—"
"Big brother?" Tobirama cut him off coldly, his expression strange as he looked down at him.
Hashirama scratched his head with an embarrassed grin. "I think sooner or later, he'll get his hands on your forbidden scrolls anyway."
"I don't want what you think!" Tobirama snapped helplessly.
He had accounted for everything—except that the traitor would be right beside him, and that traitor would be his own elder brother.
"Using the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God to kill Konoha's shinobi… that would be more fun," Yu said casually.
Since he now had Tobirama himself, a walking treasury of forbidden techniques, there was no need to waste time searching for scrolls.
As for Tobirama deliberately giving flawed instruction, that didn't matter. His own creation, the Shadow Clone Technique, was the perfect way to resolve such problems.
"As expected of a naturally wicked little Uchiha brat!" Tobirama growled through gritted teeth.
"And you Senju old ghosts, who did every imaginable evil against the Uchiha—you're no better," Yu retorted.
Hashirama's brow furrowed. After a moment's thought, he sighed. "Now that you've already wiped out the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, you have no personal grudges with the other families. There's no need to drive the rest of Konoha's clans to extinction, is there?"
He and Tobirama weren't trying to stop Yu in order to rebuild Konoha. They only wanted to buy time for its remnants to escape.
"That depends on how you two perform."
Yu's lips curved into a faint smile.
As his words fell, the originally small space of two meters in every direction abruptly shrank—its width compressed to half a meter, its length to a single meter. It became even more cramped.
Hashirama and Tobirama both looked shocked.
No matter how they struggled, they couldn't stop the prison from contracting, forcing their chests and backs against the walls, their shoulders pressed together. They couldn't even lie down—only stand upright.
This was another control Yu had discovered over the Spacetime Sealing Prison.
He could shrink the space at will, reshaping it however he pleased.
"Tobirama, I think I agree with what you said about the Uchiha earlier. It's not too late to admit it, right?" Hashirama sighed.
All he wanted was to lie down, not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Tobirama like a child being punished.
"…" Tobirama's expression darkened.
"…What if you just taught him the Flying Thunder God?" Hashirama asked cautiously, glancing at his brother.
"No, big brother. We must uphold our principles, and stick to the bottom line."
Tobirama's voice was firm.
"But standing like this… it's really uncomfortable," Hashirama said bitterly.
The two fell silent for a moment.
°°°
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