Shadow Hidden Ninja Village

Of course, Chen had never once entertained the idea of transplanting his brother's eyes to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for himself.

On the contrary, Chen had wanted to help his younger brother obtain those eyes.

As his revenge neared its end, the pain Chen had suppressed in his heart was not released as it should have been. Instead, he sensed that the remorse over his parents' deaths, along with the violent fire within him, would sooner or later devour the only important person left by his side. A feeling of self-loathing arose from the depths of his heart.

But... this self-loathing was no longer the disgust he had once felt toward the real world.

Chen deeply loved this ninja world. What he loathed was himself!

Why had heaven given him a chance to live again, yet he had failed to cherish it properly?

He felt unworthy of this beloved world!

The thought of death took root in his heart.

Unable to protect his younger brother any longer, he might as well let his brother use his elder brother's eyes to protect himself. Back then, Chen had naively thought that way...

Only then did Chen speak again. "But... I never expected Jin, after seeing that I had 'died,' to immediately try to end his own life and follow me. My foolish little brother!"

"My revenge was completed just like that."

"A moment of impulsiveness killed my parents, and I spent three years paying for that same moment of impulsiveness."

"At thirteen, Naruto and Sasuke, who were born in the same year as me, set the gears of fate known as 'Team Seven' into motion and began their thriving training as shinobi!"

"And I... though my body and mind were also thirteen years old, I was like medicinal dregs about to be boiled dry, stripped of the drive to move forward... Back then, I thought I could no longer continue on as a shinobi."

"Fortunately, heaven never bars every path. At the most confused point in my life, I met the Zen Master."

"He sat upright atop a large boulder, palms pressed together, his gaze calm and profound. At first sight, I decided he was a wise man, so I asked him about the meaning of life."

"I remember the Zen Master doing something strange. He first stared intently at the empty sky for a long time, then shook his head. Afterward, he lowered his head and sighed, 'It is all fate.'"

Chen lowered his eyes in thought. "To this day, I still do not know what the Zen Master saw then, nor do I know what 'fate' meant to him."

"In any case... after hearing about my experiences, the Zen Master, who had never taken a disciple in his life, decided to accept me as one."

"He taught me how to focus my heart on the present and return to tranquility."

"I desperately wanted such a skill, something that could control the beast in my heart."

"Through the Zen Meditation practice the Zen Master taught by word and example, that beast was finally completely tamed. I found the peace I had longed for, as well as the passion to continue down the road ahead."

"As though his mission had been completed, the Zen Master reached the end of his life. Before dying, he entrusted his young granddaughter to me, along with the key capable of opening the Gate of Taoyuan."

"That year, I was sixteen. Obito began manipulating Akatsuki and launched the plan to hunt Tailed Beasts. Naruto and Sasuke's generation of shinobi had also grown up..."

"..." Obito lowered his gaze, as though he could see a face wearing a spiral mask in the reflection of the puddle before him.

"At sixteen, Hikari and I also met that year. Well... let's not talk about matters between a man and a woman for now."

At this point, Chen subconsciously touched his nose. "I discovered that I had gained a new ability: I could foresee the 'future' through dreams."

"After I told my younger brother about the future, he resolved to support me with all his strength. The two of us joined forces and began acting. As for what exactly we did, you two should have a pretty good idea, right?"

"My Dojutsu Power was [Utsuro-ryu] and [Haniyasu], while my brother's Dojutsu Power was [Toyomiketsunomikoto] and [Mizuha]. My brother deserves much of the credit for allowing me to complete the preliminary arrangements we see today..."

At this point, Chen's words, along with his silhouette, paused for a moment.

"But seven years ago, my younger brother died. His death made no sense, and he left behind the young twin siblings, Wind and Flower, as well as... the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan that could bring light to my eyes on the verge of blindness."

"..." At this point, Madara lowered his head sorrowfully.

Chen's low voice rang out again. "My brother's death caused a series of subtle changes in my brain. I never again had those dreams that foresaw the future. My brother's inexplicable death and the uncertain future forced me to compromise with reality to a certain extent. That compromise was reflected in the plans I made afterward."

"I thought about many things. Perhaps one day, I too would follow in my brother's footsteps. But no matter what, I had to arrange a way out for the children first."

"..." At this point, Hikari bit her lip tightly.

Chen said, "So, I decided to establish a stable rear base. I did not have much time to waste, so I needed a way to make money. In my early years, I confiscated the money of Gato, the unscrupulous merchant from the Land of Waves, but left it untouched. Using that money, I began some businesses in gray areas, then invested all the profits into Taoyuan and the construction of the Shadow Hidden Ninja Village."

"Look, it's right before your eyes." Chen stopped before a mountain wall resembling Konoha's Hokage Rock. Sunlight streamed through the swaying shadows of the trees and fell upon Chen's face, dispersing the gloom of the past.

In the Land of Lightning, at Chen and Hikari's home.

Sasuke stood by the window, his gaze grave. "Chen's Chakra suddenly disappeared. That is highly suspicious. I suspect he possesses Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Naruto did not respond to Sasuke. For the past half hour, he had been sitting in a chair at the dining table, studying Chen's family portrait.

Sasuke turned around and asked curiously, "Is there something wrong with that photo?"

Naruto stroked the protective film over the frame. "No. I was just thinking, so this guy has a wife and children too."

Sasuke said as though it were obvious, "Isn't that normal? According to the intelligence, he was born in the same year as us. Now even our children have officially become shinobi."

Naruto shook his head. "That isn't the issue. He clearly has a wife and children, yet he still does those shady, disgraceful things, spreading dangerous rumors as if he fears the world is not chaotic enough! He even got involved with someone like Madara, a figure who once nearly brought destruction upon the ninja world!"

"Seriously... if he were all alone, that would be one thing! But now! I! Am! Furious! As a father, he has not considered his family at all!"

Sasuke tacitly agreed with Naruto. Picking up Chen's Chakra crystal, he said, "This Chakra crystal allows us, all the way in the Land of Fire, to vaguely sense him in the Land of Lightning. Now his Chakra signature has completely vanished. He should have gone to a region even farther away than the distance between the Lands of Fire and Lightning. If we reason from that, we have a general area. Let's investigate them one by one using my Rinnegan's Space-Time Ninjutsu!"

Naruto rose to his feet and placed the photo frame back on the television cabinet...

A village filled with towering buildings suddenly appeared before Madara and Obito!

It was a village that looked far more prosperous than Konoha!

Throughout its streets and alleys, busy figures could be seen hurrying back and forth everywhere.

At that moment, the most eye-catching sight was a white bird rapidly patrolling through the skies.

"Hm? That flashy design..." Obito raised a brow. His Sharingan stared into the distance, allowing him to clearly see the handsome young man atop the bird's back, with a golden ponytail and a miniature telescope over his left eye as he surveyed the surroundings from above!

"Deidara...?"

After recognizing him, Obito looked at Chen in astonishment. "What is going on?"

Deidara, along with most of those reincarnated through Impure World Reincarnation, had already been sealed by the Shinobi Alliance during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Later, when Itachi controlled Kabuto Yakushi and released the Impure World Reincarnation, his soul had ascended to heaven as well.

Chen said calmly, "Including former Akatsuki members, I collected the life substances of most named shinobi in this ninja world. After the Ninja World War ended, I gradually reincarnated them all through Impure World Reincarnation."

"Of course, souls like Sasori and Itachi, who had fulfilled their long-held wishes and no longer held any attachment to the living world, were not among them. In addition, Nagato, who was sealed within the Totsuka Blade by Itachi, could not be reincarnated through Impure World Reincarnation." (Itachi's soul did not voluntarily ascend to heaven. There are differing opinions as to whether he still had attachments, but in this story's setting, Itachi no longer had any. Big brother was tired, so let him sleep peacefully without disturbing him.)

Obito sighed deeply. "What a grand undertaking. How did you make these dangerous people obey you so completely? It could not have been the mind-erasing zombie talismans Orochimaru and Kabuto used in the past, right? Just from Deidara's lively expression, I can tell that he has not been stripped of his personality."

Madara's gaze also turned toward Chen. He too wanted to know the answer.

Chen's eyes grew contemplative as he slowly spoke three words.

"Kotoamatsukami."