"Bang!"
Opposite Konoha's tallest building, a cloud of smoke suddenly exploded and swiftly dispersed, revealing White-robed Chiba within.
"Then I'll go see the Third Hokage off on his final journey."
Once the white smoke had cleared, White-robed Chiba pursed his lips and glanced toward the direction of Konoha's original walls, where a large section had collapsed. His voice carried a note of heaviness.
"Mm."
In response, the original White-robed Chiba standing before him nodded lightly. Looking toward the rooftop of the tallest building, where the Four Violet Flames Formation had already vanished—the place where the Third Hokage and Orochimaru had fought, and where the Third Hokage now was—his eyes revealed a trace of sorrow.
"Mm."
At that, White-robed Chiba's clone gave a slight nod. After concealing something in his eyes, he vanished from where he stood.
"...Sigh."
Watching White-robed Chiba's clone depart, White-robed Chiba let out a soft sigh.
"Why are you sighing at a time like this?"
Number 15 asked curiously from beside him.
What she meant was: You hadn't gone to save him earlier. Now that he was dead, what were you sighing for? Wasn't this your own doing? "I just feel like there's something I can't quite understand."
Hearing this, White-robed Chiba spoke to his longtime companion with a trace of wistfulness.
"What do you mean?"
Number 15 could not understand those rather sentimental words. Tilting her head, she asked.
"All right, what are you planning to do next? Given the current situation, Uchiha Nobuhiko's Chakra and that other you's Chakra have both vanished. They should have perished together."
Number 14, however, did not let them continue chatting and simply spoke up.
"Is that so... Then, Number 14, Number 15, do you remember the Japanese-style wooden house where I lived?"
As though waking from a dream, White-robed