Izuna × Parallel World

After wailing, Izuna opened the System Panel. It displayed only two metrics: Performance Credibility and Return Home Points.

Performance Credibility had been fluctuating. It started at 10%, a figure he had earned just by looking exactly like Izuna.

He hadn't checked the System Panel while he was acting. Now that he looked again, Izuna was surprised to find that his Performance Credibility had shot up to around 70%, fluctuating above and below it.

Did that mean his acting had been pretty successful?

Meanwhile, his Return Home Points were slowly increasing.

He stared at the number for a full five minutes before it went up by one.

And to get home, he needed to collect at least...

Looking at the string of zeros, Izuna felt dizzy.

Seriously, man, are you trying to make me stay here for the rest of my life? What the hell is with having to save up a hundred million Return Home Points? Are you sick?!

But if it's one point every five minutes... There are twelve five-minute periods in an hour, 288 in a twenty-four-hour day, around 8,600 in a month, and around 300,000 in a year...

Fuck.

Forget it. I'll go to sleep and let it all blow away.

Izuna decided to give up trying.

The atmosphere in the office at the Hokage Building was tense.

Hashirama was frowning over a stack of documents concerning territorial disputes between the clans. Tobirama stood by the window with his arms folded, watching the occasional ninja passing along the street below, his expression colder than usual.

The door slid open without warning, and Madara appeared in the doorway.

"Madara?" Hashirama looked up, somewhat surprised. "Didn't you go back to keep Izuna... uh, keep 'him' company?"

Madara didn't answer. He shut the door behind him and formed Hand Seals to set up a simple Soundproof Barrier.

The action immediately put both Hashirama and Tobirama on alert.

"He really isn't the Izuna from our world, but he is Uchiha Izuna, without a doubt." Madara got straight to the point.

Tobirama turned around, his red eyes sharp. "Proof?"

"His eyes." Madara kept it brief. "He has a pair of Sharingan. They appeared briefly when I helped him put his eye back in just now."

Tobirama and Hashirama had listened to the first part with grave expressions, but both froze when they heard the second.

"Wait, I don't think I understood that." Hashirama stared blankly. "What did you put back in?"

"His eye."

"Huh?"

"After Izuna took his left eye out of its socket, I helped him put it back in."

Hashirama.exe was not responding.

"Huh?!"

Tobirama's expression contorted. "Are you joking, Madara Uchiha?"

Madara glanced at him, his expression a strange mix of numbness and relief that he was finally not the only one suffering.

The look made Tobirama uncomfortable all over.

"There was no blood, no pain. It was like taking off something inconsequential." Madara's tone was as calm as if he'd spent thirty years gutting fish at ⑧⑧⑧. "Then he told me it was a new eye you grew, Tobirama."

With a crack, Hashirama turned his stiff neck to look at Tobirama.

Tobirama recovered from his astonishment.

"Me?" Tobirama scoffed, the absurdity of it almost making him roll his eyes. "Madara Uchiha, would you let me touch a Sharingan? And grow an eye? Sorry, but I really can't do that at present."

"He said it was a prototype that would fall out on its own." Madara ignored Tobirama's sarcasm and continued, "I helped him put it back in. Once his left eye was back in place, there was no delay at all. He could move it and see with it, and it even had the Sharingan's abilities."

Silence filled the office.

"So what's your conclusion?" Hashirama slowly leaned back in his chair, his expression turning serious.

"He wasn't brought back to life, and he isn't an impostor." Madara's gaze swept over them both. "His memories, his patterns of behavior, the feel of his Chakra—they're all identical to Izuna's, but the 'reality' he knows is different from ours. He thinks this is his world—a world where the Uchiha and the Senju made peace long ago, where the four of us are close, and where we even founded the village together."

He paused, his voice dropping lower. "He thinks he just came back from a short mission. He thinks... we're still the way he remembers us."

"Could it be a Parallel World? An accident involving Space-Time Ninjutsu?" Tobirama quickly raised the possibility, his brow furrowed. "If that's true, we have even less reason to let such an unstable factor remain in the village..."

"Send him back," Hashirama said, picking up where he left off, his tone resolute. "If his world really is as wonderful as he believes, he should go back."

"How?" Madara asked, looking at Hashirama. "Neither of us knows much about Space-Time Ninjutsu. Tobirama," he said, turning to the white-haired man, "do you have a way? One that can send him safely and precisely back to 'his' Konoha?"

Tobirama fell silent.

No, he had no way.

Space-Time Ninjutsu was a Forbidden Domain to begin with, and the risks were enormous. Most existing research was crude and dangerous.

Developing a technique like Flying Thunder God, which could transport a human body through thin air, had already been the limit. Precisely locating the coordinates of an unknown Parallel World was pure fantasy; even given another hundred years, he might still have nothing to show for it.

"See? We have no way." A trace of hope entered Madara's voice, along with an unquestionable certainty. "Besides, why did he appear here? If his original world really was that perfect, how could he have fallen here without warning? Maybe... something went wrong with his world, and he was forced to 'end up stranded' here."

The speculation shook Hashirama. If that really was the case... Izuna might be safer staying here...

"Even so, deceiving him isn't the answer." Hashirama rubbed the spot between his brows. "Sooner or later, he'll discover this isn't his home. When that happens, the blow will be even worse for him."

"Then don't let him find out." Madara stepped forward, planted both hands on the desk, and leaned in, an oppressive air about him. "Until he realizes it himself, until we find a way to ensure his safe return—play the 'brother' and 'comrades' he knows."

"Madara..." Hashirama looked at him disapprovingly.

"This is absurd!" Tobirama snorted. "You want all of us to put on an act for a visitor from another world? Madara Uchiha, you're being far too selfish!"

"Selfish?" Madara stared fixedly at Tobirama. "Tobirama Senju, if he discovers this isn't the world he knows, that his 'Brother Hashirama' and 'big brother' are wary of him, that 'Tobirama' once caused his death... what do you think he'll do? Break down? Or do something more extreme?"

Madara's question pierced the air like an icicle.

They couldn't predict how the other Uchiha Izuna would react, but judging by his personality, he would never accept it calmly.

Whatever else might be said, he had once been the second-strongest member of the Uchiha Clan. Even with Madara and Hashirama present, it would be easy for him to do something in Konoha if he wanted to.

"At least while he still believes this is 'home,' he's stable and harmless." Madara closed his eyes briefly. "...And he's happy."

Seeing the pain and longing that were almost spilling out of Madara's eyes, Hashirama felt the scales tip in his heart.

He understood Madara's selfishness. It was the desperation of someone who had regained what he'd lost, trying with all his might to cling to a piece of driftwood.

And he had noticed that something had been off with Madara lately.

His old dream of founding a village to protect his younger brother... was already lost. The Hokage Position should have been a way to hold on to Madara, but the people didn't agree.

Madara was now on the verge of collapse, and Hashirama didn't know what he could do to avoid losing his Heaven's Chosen, his dear friend.

So Hashirama also desperately hoped this Izuna could stay, because Madara would never abandon his younger brother, no matter what.

As long as Izuna stayed, Madara would stay!

Besides, Hashirama thought, didn't Tobirama lack a solution too?

In that case, letting Izuna stay and putting on an act for him wasn't out of the question.

"Tobirama," Hashirama said, looking at his younger brother, a quiet plea in his voice, "Madara has a point. Until we understand the situation and find a way, could we... go along with it? At least don't make him suspicious."

Tobirama looked at his big brother's pleading gaze, then met Madara's eyes, which held a veiled threat. A vein throbbed at his temple.

He hated decisions made on emotion, hated being dragged into the Uchiha brothers' troubles, and hated even more the thought of playing a Tobirama Senju who was "on good terms" with Uchiha Izuna.

But he also knew there was no better choice for now. Scientific research took time, and provoking Madara Uchiha now would clearly not end well.

"...Only when necessary." Tobirama finally forced out the words, stiffly offering a compromise. "I won't seek him out, but if I run into him, I'll try not to give anything away. This is only a stopgap. I'll research a way to send him back as soon as possible."

"Fine." Madara straightened, his oppressive bearing receding, though his gaze remained sharp. "Keep your people in line, Hashirama. Don't let rumors or some fool who doesn't know better disturb him."

"I'll see to it." Hashirama nodded solemnly, then a slightly silly smile appeared on his face, as it so often did. "So... are we in agreement now? For Izuna?"

Madara didn't answer. He turned, dispelled the barrier, slid the door open, and walked out.

Tobirama watched the door close again, rubbed his temples, and said to Hashirama, "Big brother, you're too indulgent with him. This won't be an easy act to pull off."

"I know, Tobirama." Hashirama sighed and looked out at the gradually darkening sky. "But that's 'Izuna'... even if he's only a shadow from another world. Madara... needs this. And perhaps we, too, can see some different possibilities in that Izuna."

"Let's hope this doesn't turn into another disaster," Tobirama murmured, turning his gaze back out the window.