Naruto muttered under his breath, "Pervy Sage!"
Minato gave an awkward laugh and patted his son's shoulder. "Show respect to Jiraiya-sensei."
"Enough digressions." Tobirama Senju's voice cut cleanly through the room; his sense of time management was absolute.
Before the meeting even began, he had already listed several questions regarding the future. To avoid wandering off-topic, he intended to lead the meeting himself, raising each issue one at a time to obtain accurate information about what was to come.
"I'll proceed according to chronological order."
"First question: When did Madara Uchiha lead the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha?"
"When the village began establishing diplomatic relations with other hidden villages," Minato Namikaze replied calmly. "But according to historical records, Madara-san did not approve of Hashirama-sama's approach to equal diplomacy with other villages, and he undermined Konoha's attempt to form an alliance with Iwagakure."
As Minato spoke, everyone's eyes naturally shifted toward Madara Uchiha.
Madara looked unaffected, as though Minato were discussing someone entirely unrelated to him. It wasn't the part he cared about.
Tobirama Senju nodded slightly. "That is exactly something Madara Uchiha would do—acting on his own, tearing up agreements, ruining the efforts everyone else had painstakingly built."
"Tobirama..." Hashirama placed a steady hand on his brother's shoulder, urging him to consider Madara's emotions.
Tobirama merely huffed and gestured for Minato to continue.
Minato Namikaze said, "Afterward, Madara Uchiha left Konoha. Many years later... he used the Sharingan to forcibly bind the Nine-Tails with a summoning contract, returning with it to attempt to destroy Konoha."
Naruto lowered his head, placing a hand over his stomach.
So the Nine-Tails hadn't attacked Konoha of its own will—just like with the masked man—it had been controlled. Which meant that the Nine-Tails sealed inside him… wasn't an enemy by choice either. In some ways, it was just like him—caught in something it never chose.
His thoughts echoed through the seal, reaching the Nine-Tails. Within the dark golden cage, the massive fox bared its fangs and let out a low, rumbling growl.
Minato continued, "Then the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, entered the battlefield. Their clash altered the very terrain around Konoha, carving out a massive canyon that would later be named the Valley of the End. No one knows the details of that battle. Only when the First Hokage returned carrying Madara Uchiha's body did everyone realize the crisis had passed."
At those words, Hashirama suddenly reached out to seize his own revelation—only for it to be slapped away.
"Madara, listen to me!" Hashirama pressed, desperation in his tone. "You were heaven's revelation to me. It's because you existed that I never gave up on the dream of creating this village! From what Minato described of the future, I know that the village's path is not all light. Darkness, like a shadow cast by that light, has always followed the village..."
He faltered, words failing him in his urgency.
So, with no better way to express himself, he slammed his forehead to the ground in earnest apology and sincerity.
"But as you see, at least the shinobi village system prevented internal clan conflict! Children can attend school without worrying about clan politics, they can speak their surnames openly and become friends with kids from other families!" These were things the two of them—still boys during the Warring States period—could never have achieved back then.
"If you're dissatisfied with the village, then let us change it together!! Please don't destroy it—don't destroy our original dream!!"
Tobirama Senju flinched at his elder brother's sudden, dramatic gesture, but once the shock faded, his gaze softened.
It was because of this very nature of Hashirama's that he—and many others—couldn't help wanting to help him realize his dream of peace.
"Hashirama..."
Madara Uchiha was likely the only one unmoved by Hashirama's words and actions.
He said, "Don't forget what our original dream was…"
"To bring our younger brothers into the village and protect them. But Tobirama Senju is still alive, while Izuna Uchiha is already dead."
"!!!!" Hashirama lifted his head sharply, staring into Madara's dark eyes—unable to reach him.
Tobirama Senju slammed his fist against the floor. "That was war! If you had agreed to my brother's ceasefire proposal earlier, Izuna Uchiha might not have died!"
Madara Uchiha activated his Mangekyō Sharingan instantly, glaring at the white-haired young man. "And because of that, you're still alive today. Be grateful to Hashirama." If not for the merciless nature of war—if not for Hashirama's protection—how could he possibly allow Tobirama, the man who killed Izuna, to still breathe?
"Madara!" Hashirama stepped in front of Tobirama, protecting his youngest brother from his friend's fury.
The tension thickened once again. Even though Naruto, Sasuke, Obito, young Kakashi, Rin, Sakura, and the others didn't understand everything that had happened, they could piece together that from the very founding of Konoha, a deep rift had existed between the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and Madara Uchiha.
Nor was this the first time they had heard the name "Izuna." From their exchanges, it was now clear that before the village was established—during the age of clan conflict—the Second Hokage-sama had killed Izuna Uchiha, Madara's younger brother.
The idea that Konoha was founded to protect their younger brothers… this was something they were hearing for the first time.
How to describe it... a complicated rush of emotions welled up inside them.
...
"I apologize for interrupting," Minato Namikaze said, "but may I continue? I believe what comes next is crucial for both you and us."
The three figures who could practically make the entire Warring States-era shinobi world tremble with a single stomp reluctantly quieted, waiting for Minato Namikaze to reveal more.
"An unhosted Nine-Tails would inevitably bring disaster. To prevent that, the First Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, sealed it within herself, becoming Konoha's first Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Hashirama clicked his tongue but didn't interrupt this time.
"Many years later, when Mito-sama's life was nearing its end..." Minato lowered his gaze. "She passed the Nine-Tails to a young girl named Kushina Uzumaki."
Tobirama noticed the blond young man and the golden-haired boy beside him stiffening, as if trying hard to endure something.
"What was this Kushina Uzumaki to the two of you?" he asked.
Minato answered, "She was my girlfriend, my future wife, and the mother of my future son."
"Oh? That explains it." Tobirama lifted a brow. Earlier, Minato hadn't explicitly stated that the boy named Naruto Uzumaki was his son.
Minato continued, "During childbirth, a female Jinchūriki's seal is at its weakest. It was at that time that a masked man claiming to be Madara Uchiha appeared. He released the Nine-Tails and manipulated it into attacking Konoha again. In the parallel world where Naruto exists, I used the Reaper Death Seal to seal the Nine-Tails into my newborn son."
At that moment, Minato's eyes filled with apology—toward Naruto. Even though he wasn't the Fourth Hokage of that world, he was still himself, and he knew that if faced with the same circumstances, he would have made the same choice.
"Hold on," Tobirama Senju said. "When Naruto was born, even if we were still alive, we'd be seventy or eighty years old. And earlier you said Madara died at my brother's hands."
Minato shook his head. "That's exactly what I can't understand."
The Uchiha boy who had been sitting silently—Obito Uchiha—suddenly raised his head, locking eyes with Itachi Uchiha. "You know, don't you? About the masked man!"
Sasuke jolted in shock!
How would Itachi know about the masked man?!!
And because Itachi hadn't shown them the memory in the Tsukuyomi world where he asked the Masked Man to massacre the Uchiha Police Force, Minato, Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama were just as stunned by Obito's question.
Itachi looked at the boy who was roughly Sasuke's age at that time. "How do you know?"
Obito pulled out his mission scroll. "Because of this scroll. I just completed a B-rank mission."
Skipping entirely over the SSS-rank mission to kill the Masked Man, Obito pointed to the B-rank mission on the open scroll—the mission where he impersonated Yagura Karatachi and spoke with Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Your partner didn't recognize that I was the Mizukage filling in for overtime. He mistook me for the 'Masked Man' and revealed internal organizational secrets!"
Itachi learned for the first time that the Masked Man had also been impersonating the Fourth Mizukage, which explained why Kisame had been willing to follow him.
But from the look in Itachi's eyes, it was clear—he didn't believe Obito's words.
"Kisame may look rough, but he's extremely cautious."
The implication: there was no way Obito's impersonation of the Masked Man shouldn't have been exposed.
Minato explained for his student, "Perhaps Obito has a natural gift for this. Last time, when he disguised himself as Yagura Karatachi to speak with Zabuza, he didn't slip up at all."
Under normal circumstances, Obito would have proudly seized the chance to show off. But right now, all he could think about was the Masked Man—about Itachi, about the Uchiha...
The moment he remembered how the Masked Man killed the Minato-sensei and Kushina-san of Naruto's world, Obito felt nothing but unforgivable rage.
The memory of Kushina's final moments, the hatred and helplessness he felt toward the Masked Man, the image of Naruto and Rin suffering... all of it—
A dark aura spread over Obito once more.
He fixed his gaze on Itachi. "Tell me. Who is that Masked Man?!"
"!!"
For an instant, Itachi actually saw the shadow of 'Madara' in this thirteen- or fourteen-year-old clansman.
He murmured, "No wonder even Kisame didn't see through your disguise. Even I can't tell which one is the real you—the bright one or the dark one."
Obito suddenly realized he might have gotten a little too deep into his Yagura role.
Switching forcibly back into his usual hot-blooded self, he gave an awkward grin. "Just answer my question first. You can praise my acting afterward."
Itachi said, "You'll be disappointed. Before meeting the real Madara Uchiha, I also believed that man was Madara."
Madara scowled. "Use your brain! Didn't you say the future me was killed by Hashirama?"
"Izanagi," Itachi said. "The Masked Man claimed that after 'he' was killed by the First Hokage-sama, he revived himself by exploiting the time gap within Izanagi."
"He even knows that technique..."
Madara frowned deeper. He hadn't expected that decades in the future, someone could impersonate him this convincingly.
Tobirama Senju let out a cold snort. "That is exactly the sort of thing you'd do. Knowing you might not defeat my brother, you would absolutely leave a backup plan. If we're talking underhanded methods, we're equally guilty."
Seeing his friend and younger brother on the verge of clashing again, Hashirama wilted.
"If we hadn't been born in the Warring States era, you two would've gotten along so well."
Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha exchanged a glance—then, practically in unison, turned to Hashirama:
"Big Brother/Hashirama, shut up!"
No one had expected the First Hokage to be this kind of First Hokage. Feeling secondhand embarrassment, Minato Namikaze scratched his cheek and asked Itachi, "Aside from that, is there any other information about the Masked Man or Akatsuki?"
"The Masked Man is the mastermind behind Akatsuki. The organization's public leader is Pain, a Missing-nin from Amegakure, who possesses the Rinnegan of the Sage of the Six Paths."
"!!"
Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju—who both knew the legends of the Sage of the Six Paths—and Madara Uchiha—who had once read about the Rinnegan on the Uchiha stone tablet—were visibly shaken.
Before Naruto, Sasuke, Obito, and the others could even ask what the Sage of the Six Paths or the Rinnegan were,
Jiraiya, the Pervy Sage, who had been sitting beside adult Kakashi, suddenly shot to his feet in alarm!