"Turn our understanding upside down?"
Naruto tilted his head and repeated the phrase, not understanding what it meant.
Sasuke, Obito, Kakashi, as well as the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, Madara Uchiha, and the others were the same.
At this moment, aside from Minato Namikaze himself, the only one who probably understood the clue hidden in Minato's words was Kushina Uzumaki, who had finished watching the Nine-Tails' memories.
Minato Namikaze said, "I said before that, logically speaking, changing history does not alter the future. Instead, from the moment history is changed, an entirely new parallel world is born."
"Mm-hmm." Naruto nodded.
His dad really was amazing. Originally, this logic was way too difficult for his little brain to understand, but his dad had managed to explain it clearly using a whole example about eating apples.
Minato said, "But it seems that, for some reason, the 'past' of the mission scroll world has already been changed. The past you remember may no longer match the 'current situation' when you return."
"!!!!"
Tobirama Senju and Adult Kakashi, who had more or less understood, both looked visibly stunned for a moment.
"Do you know why this happened?" Tobirama Senju asked.
Minato Namikaze said, "It probably has a lot to do with Obito's wish."
Everyone followed his gaze to Obito Uchiha from his teenage years.
Naruto said, "I remember Obito's wish was to let the 'Masked Man' have a chance to start over?"
Adult Obito froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
"Don't tell me that when we return to the mission scroll world, I'll turn back into my childhood self before leaving for the Kannabi Bridge mission, while Naruto and Sasuke haven't even been born yet?"
Starting over was easier said than done.
If not for the chance encounter with Team Minato, if they had not traveled to the future and learned the truth ahead of time, how could they possibly have turned everything around?
"I'd rather know what this has to do with my wish."
Sasuke Uchiha leaned forward, his agitation plain to see.
He had thought that after his father was revived, his mother Mikoto, his brother's friend Shisui-san, and all those clan members from the past would return to his side! But just yesterday, the progress of his wish being fulfilled had been inexplicably severed!
"I think what Minato means is that the people you're hoping for probably don't need to be revived anymore, Sasuke."
The one who spoke was Kushina Uzumaki.
When Sasuke heard this, he didn't understand what she meant for a long while. He stared blankly for a moment before urgently asking, "They don't need to be revived?! What about my mother?! What about Shisui-san?! My clan! And what about the crimes my brother committed?!!"
"Sasuke…"
Naruto looked at his mom worriedly. Once Sasuke's temper flared up, he really was just like Uncle Madara.
"Sasuke, calm down."
The low voice came from Fugaku Uchiha.
The moment he spoke, no matter how agitated Sasuke had been, he immediately wilted and sat properly on his knees, lowering his head and falling silent.
He looked so pitiful that Naruto and the others felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of heartache.
"Mom…" Naruto looked at his mother pleadingly. He wanted Sasuke to have family and happiness just like he did.
Kushina Uzumaki glanced at the sky outside. It was already around past lunchtime.
"Normally, at this time, Mikoto should be clearing away the dishes, right?"
Sasuke froze, unable to understand what Kushina Uzumaki meant.
"As for Shisui Uchiha, he works in the Uchiha Police Force. I heard he always slips away at noon to line up at Itachi's favorite dango shop for him. The Uchiha Clan is perfectly fine, of course. Itachi works under ANBU Kakashi, and Kakashi values him highly."
"What?!"
Sasuke was completely bewildered. He understood every word Naruto's mother said, but when they were put together...
Why couldn't he make sense of them?
Sasuke stared at Kushina Uzumaki with his eyes wide open.
Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, Fugaku Uchiha, and the others were also full of shock.
"M-Mom, you don't have a fever, do you?!"
Naruto hurried over to check if his mom was sick.
Kushina Uzumaki shook her head. "It's completely different from the Nine-Tails' memories, right? I've already seen the Nine-Tails' memories."
She looked at Adult Obito. "I hate you, and I won't forgive you. Although I now know the pain you went through and my heart aches for what happened to you, because of you, Naruto and Sasuke lost their precious childhoods…"
Adult Obito silently accepted it. All of this was his fault. If he had never been chosen by Madara Uchiha, if he had been able to hold on to his original heart, then Naruto and Sasuke should have had incredibly happy childhoods.
"But the history of that world was changed. The people who died in the Nine-Tails Uprising and on the Night of the Uchiha Massacre are still alive. In those memories, you never left Konoha, and you were even a very strong candidate for the Fifth Hokage."
"!!!!"
Hearing this, Adult Obito was completely dumbfounded.
Of course, everyone else was the same.
Adult Kakashi couldn't help asking, "Minato-sensei, are you really sure this Kushina-san is Kushina-san from the mission scroll world?"
He simply had no way to imagine that something like this could actually happen.
Adult Obito, Sasuke, Naruto, and the three members of Team Minato also stared closely at Minato Namikaze.
They had traveled through so many parallel worlds. Could this Kushina have come from some other parallel world?
Minato Namikaze said, "I can't fully explain what happened in that world right now either. For now, everyone should prepare yourselves mentally. We'll see once we go back."
Everyone was completely confused, so they could only wait until they returned to the mission scroll world and take things one step at a time.
...
The Second Hokage used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring the Senju clan head from the Warring States Period to this place.
Ashina Uzumaki stated his purpose directly.
After hearing that the Uzumaki Clan would later be destroyed by the combined forces of several ninja clans, he decided to put aside his pride and seek mutual development with the Senju, their allied clan, with the intention of merging their clans.
Butsuma Senju of the Warring States Period was naturally willing!
The Uzumaki Clan was not weaker than the Senju in the slightest. As long as they joined forces with the Uzumaki, the Uchiha would have no choice but to bow their heads!
But Tajima Uchiha was no fool either.
He intercepted the Hyūga Clan members while they were on their way to the Senju and Uchiha clan territories.
"Dōjutsu clans should naturally form a powerful alliance with other Dōjutsu clans. Only clans that both possess Dōjutsu-based Kekkei Genkai can ensure that neither side covets the other's eyes."
His reasoning made perfect sense.
The Hyūga, who used the Byakugan, relied on Ocular Power no less than the ninja of the Uchiha Clan did. At the same time, they were extremely afraid of others secretly targeting their eyes, and also feared rebellion from within. Otherwise, something like the Caged Bird would never have appeared.
"Very well. We have no objection to forming an alliance with the Uchiha Clan. However…"
The Hyūga Clan Head changed the subject. "We do not wish to become enemies with the Senju Clan because of this."
The conflict between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan was known throughout the Ninja World.
But fundamentally, neither the Uzumaki Clan nor the Hyūga Clan had much conflict with other forces.
Soon after, news spread that several ninja clans in the Land of Water had already merged and formed the Kirigakure shown in the images. Naturally, the ninja clans of the Land of Fire could no longer sit still. They asked whether these two great clans were going to merge or not.
"Since we already know this was all Black Zetsu and Kaguya Otsutsuki's conspiracy, what exactly are the adults still being stubborn about!"
Young Hashirama, Tobirama, Kawarama, Itama, Young Madara, Izuna, Myoko, Togakushi and Kurohi, nine children in total, gathered by the river to skip stones.
Although the Senju and Uchiha had not reconciled, after their last trip into Kamui's Dimension and receiving information about Konohagakure ahead of time, the two clans had at least stopped fighting for now. They also turned a blind eye to the children running off together to meet and skip stones. Or perhaps there were simply too many things going on, so they had no time to bother with these little brats.
Young Tobirama said, "Neither side wants to be the first to suggest an alliance. The adults would see it as looking weak in their rivalry."
Itama said, "Compared to people's lives, pride doesn't matter that much."
"It's not like falling in love, where the one who falls first loses." Young Madara Uchiha skipped a stone all the way to the opposite bank.
"There's also the issue of interests," Young Izuna said. "The side that proposes the alliance first will have less say than the other side."
"Who's there?!"
Young Tobirama barked sharply in one direction.
A moment later, a boy around their age stepped out from behind a tree.
"Byakugan?!"
"Are you from the Hyūga Clan?"
The white-eyed boy nodded. His smooth forehead made it obvious at a glance that he was a boy from the main family.
Young Tobirama said, "The Hyūga Clan is some distance from here, and you normally wouldn't take missions near the Senju and Uchiha clan territories." Thinking of the previous images where Kakashi Hatake and Ao each possessed and could use the Sharingan and Byakugan, he said, "Did your clan come to negotiate peace with the Uchiha?"
Young Hashirama asked his younger brother, "Why not come to us, but go to Madara's clan instead?"
"Because they're both Dōjutsu clans. They have their own pride when it comes to their eyes, so it's impossible for them to use underhanded methods to seize the other side's eyeballs or secret techniques by force. In comparison, it's easier for both sides to trust each other."
The white-eyed boy did not deny it.
"What's your name?"
"Tennin…Tennin Hyūga."
Because the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan could not be hidden at all, hiding their surname was meaningless for them.
"Want to fight?"
Young Madara Uchiha immediately invited the Byakugan boy he had just met to spar.
Unexpectedly, Tennin Hyūga did not take a Gentle Fist stance. Instead, he looked at Tobirama, Izuna, and the others beside Madara and Hashirama, then asked, "Your younger brothers?"
The moment he said that...
Young Hashirama and Young Madara both took a sideways step at the same time, subtly blocking their younger brothers behind them.
"It's useless to block. His Byakugan can see everything," Young Tobirama said lightly. Then he asked the boy calling himself Tennin Hyūga, "If you have a younger brother too, he's probably already had the Caged Bird curse mark carved onto him, right?"
Hashirama and Madara froze for a moment before understanding why the white-eyed boy had brought up their brothers.
Young Hashirama said, "Once that Caged Bird mark is carved on, I remember the Byakugan's abilities can't be fully brought out, right?"
"Not only that," Tobirama said bluntly. "They basically become the accessories and servants of their older brother from the main family. In both bloodline power and status, they are far below the main family."
Kawarama spoke without thinking. "Why do clans with Dōjutsu always do this kind of sibling harm? Your family doesn't have some stone tablet left behind by Rikudō Sennin too, does it?"
Although they knew Kawarama meant no harm, Madara and his younger brothers still curled their lips.
Young Hashirama quickly smiled apologetically at them, telling them not to take it to heart.
"The Uzumaki Clan has already joined the Senju, and the Hyūga are preparing to ally with the Uchiha. Before long, there should be a battle between the four clans."
Tennin Hyūga spoke.
Young Tobirama said, "It probably won't truly return to the hostile relationship of the past. It's only to decide who gets the greater say."
"So the final battle will likely fall to us." Tennin Hyūga analyzed the situation as calmly as Young Tobirama.
Young Hashirama said, "So it would be me, Madara, and Tennin, while the Uzumaki Clan might send Mito or someone else?"
"Hmm…" He rubbed his chin. "If Madara and I fought, it would probably be pretty hard to decide a winner."
Young Izuna looked at Tennin Hyūga. "Did you come here to scout out the enemy?"
"No, he probably has something to ask of us." Young Tobirama saw through everything with sharp clarity.