The next morning.
Konoha remained sunny and beautiful, with the Uchiha district bathed in the soft glow of dawn.
Izumi Uchiha jerked awake from her slumber, fine beads of sweat clinging to her forehead. She had spent far too long in that illusory world; as a result, she had been plagued by nightmares all night. Every time she woke up, she was terrified that she was still trapped in the genjutsu, forced to experience the pain of her clan's extinction yet again.
This mental torment had hounded her throughout the night.
While washing up, the girl in the mirror saw faint dark circles under her eyes, though the beauty mark beneath her right eye only seemed to add a touch of fragile grace to her appearance.
In the living room, a prepared meal of miso soup and rice balls sat on the table, pinned down by a small note.
[I've headed off to work. Do your best today, Izumi! — Love, Mom]
Tracing the note with her fingertips, a warm current seemed to flow into Izumi's heart, washing away much of the lingering dread from the night before.
After breakfast, Izumi donned her forehead protector and checked her gear. She stepped out to head toward her team's meeting point, ready for a day of missions with her teammates and instructor.
Inside the Uchiha district, everything was peaceful and serene. Several elderly residents staying at home greeted her warmly as she passed. This tranquility, however, made Izumi grip her tool pouch tighter.
So, what exactly is that mysterious person trying to do?
As she left the compound, she couldn't help but reflect on everything she had witnessed in that "Infinite Cycle of the Night of Extinction."
Being an Uchiha, Izumi was naturally proficient in genjutsu and had undergone training regarding the use of the Sharingan. But the illusions she had learned focused on affecting an individual's senses—like the "Sly Mind Affect Technique," which simply makes one see their inner terrors.
But the scenes the masked man had created last night felt like a living, breathing reality.
Despite "dying" multiple times, Izumi hadn't found a single flaw in that world. She had simply been forced to believe she was still inside it. The world seemed confined to the Uchiha district and the Police Force; once she tried to cross those boundaries, she was intercepted and killed by masked Konoha shinobi.
She had heard of these masked ninja—ANBU, directly under the Hokage's command.
But why would the ANBU blockade the Uchiha district?
"Ohayou, Izumi." A clear, bright voice interrupted her thoughts.
Izumi looked up and saw Shisui Uchiha, wearing his signature high-collared short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with a brown pauldron on his right shoulder. He was greeting her with a gentle smile.
"Good morning, Shisui-niisan." When Izumi first moved back to the district with her mother, everything was foreign to her, and she had received much help from Shisui. His kindness extended to everyone, and he treated Izumi like a little sister.
"You look like you didn't sleep well?" Shisui walked alongside her. His keen observational skills immediately picked up on the fatigue in her face.
"No... it's just..." Izumi didn't know how to explain.
She remembered seeing Chief Fugaku and his wife murdered by Itachi in that "Night of Extinction," and seeing Uncles Yashiro and Tekka slaughtered by a tiger-masked man at the Police Force. But thinking back, she realized she hadn't seen a single trace of Shisui in those visions.
"If you're feeling tired, you should take a break," Shisui said, assuming Izumi was just struggling to adjust to the workload of a fresh Genin.
Izumi opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come. How could she tell Shisui that she had seen Itachi and a mysterious man massacre the entire clan in a dream? That Konoha's ANBU were blockading the area and hunting down survivors?
"Yeah, I'll pull myself together!" Izumi forced a smile in response.
"Don't push yourself too hard." Shisui stopped; he had reached the Military Police Force headquarters.
After they parted ways, Izumi kept looking back. Seeing the Uchiha members moving in and out of the building made the world feel strangely surreal. Even as she met her team and performed low-level D-rank tasks—weeding, clearing blocked streams, catching pets—she remained utterly distracted.
The Hyuga District.
The morning scene looked like a delicate painting. Hinata sat kneeling on a cushion, a lacquerware tray before her resembling a miniature landscape. Two slices of salmon, a bowl of miso soup, a small bowl of rice, and a tiny dish of fruit. This was her breakfast.
"I'm full!" Hinata set her chopsticks down. Although about a quarter of the food remained, she had been raised with strict etiquette; there was a rule for everything she did.
"Don't force yourself," Hinata's mother said with a soft smile. Her father, Hiashi, was staring into his bowl, deep in thought, not noticing his daughter's state.
Hinata was about to speak when another voice echoed in her mind.
You've never actually been full, have you? "Big Sister" Hinata took over the body.
Sister... please don't... In the mental space, "Little" Hinata tried to stop her, fearing her sister would do something outrageous again.
"Big Sister" Hinata's voice was stern. Menma told me last time that your appetite is massive. I never paid attention before... You've never been full, have you?
Sister...
I was the one who overlooked it. Leave the rest to me. This Hinata wasn't a glutton back in the "Limited Tsukuyomi" world, and because she had spent most of the last three years sleeping, she hadn't noticed Hinata's natural capacity.
When Hinata opened her eyes again, her aura had completely shifted. The timid softness in her white eyes vanished, replaced by a gaze of arrogance and confidence.
Her mother immediately sensed the change. She was well aware of her daughter's "condition," but before she could ask, Hinata snapped:
"Old man! Are you raising hamsters here?!"
Cr-crack—
A web of cracks appeared on the bowl in Hiashi's hand. He raised his eyes, his Byakugan gaze turning heavy as he looked at Hinata.
Anyone else in the Hyuga clan would have cowered under such a look from the Head, but "Big Sister" Hinata was far from impressed.
"Bring me two more servings... no, make it five times this amount!"
"How can you expect me to train so hard every day without letting me eat? Are you afraid I'm going to eat you out of house and home?"
Her sharp tongue was like a flurry of kunai, stabbing precisely into Hiashi's pride. This "little girl" wasn't just outspoken; she was a whirlwind.
"Hinata, how can you speak to your father like that?" her mother intervened. She first signaled the servants to bring more food, then stood up and walked over to Hinata, pulling her into a gentle embrace. "Tell Mama what's on your mind."
To her, both the timid Hinata and the fiery one were her daughters. It felt like raising two completely different children at once, which was quite interesting.
"Mama..." Big Sister Hinata hesitated, feeling the warmth of her mother's hug.
The mother of this world was wonderful to her. Hiashi, despite being constantly berated and having his authority challenged, was remarkably tolerant. But she had parents and a home in the other world, too.
She was starting to understand what Menma meant when he constantly muttered: "This isn't real."