"Chirp... chirp..."
The familiar birdcalls drifted softly into the Japanese-style wooden house, waking Chiba. Hearing the birds, he wondered whether the ones outside had somehow remained the same for more than ten years. Ever since he had crossed into this world, whether he had been a weak ninja student or had become an existence synchronized with the world's dimension, he had never felt that these birdcalls had changed. It was as if the birds had never been replaced since that time.
"Ugh... my head hurts!"
Yet after sitting up, Chiba clutched his forehead and groaned in pain as the feeling of a hangover instantly washed over him.
Then, as he held his head, he caught sight of Hirohiko sprawled on the floor across the long table, still in the exact pose he had fallen in yesterday, along with Hyuga Yukyō beside him, equally unchanged. The corners of his mouth unconsciously rose.
Never seen anyone so bad at drinking.
That thought surfaced in his mind.
It had all started last night. Once everyone had confirmed that they had been forgotten and returned to this cabin at the appointed time, Kushina, who had arrived late, came back carrying a large bottle of sake and all kinds of dishes—Konoha's most famous and delicious specialties.
And she had practically ordered them to celebrate.
At the time, amid the atmosphere of everyone having forgotten them, each of them had some pent-up bitterness in their hearts. Especially Yukina and Snow Eagle. It seemed they had been turned away at the Hyuga estate's gate. Although they had eventually met Hyuga Hiashi and heard his comforting words, "I somehow feel very close to you," the indescribable feeling of being forgotten by someone important still weighed heavily on them.
So, at Kushina's suggestion, even those who had always been