On the three hundredth cycle of dawn and dusk since the Omni-Dimension had returned to peace, the memory Light Flower in the Tower of the Gap Net spilled tiny motes of light on its own for the first time.
Mitsuki lightly touched a petal with his fingertip, his pale golden pupils narrowing slightly—not an upheaval in the Omni-Dimension, not an outside intrusion, but old memories sealed away by time, awakening along the Symbiotic Net. Those fragments once buried by pain, carried off by parting, and faded by the years were turning into a gentle tide of memories, spreading toward every living being that had ever walked within bonds.
The first to be stirred was the cherry tree on Konoha's old street.
The instant its petals drifted down, images flashed before Kakashi's eyes: Obito as a boy laughing and calling him an idiot, Rin hurrying over with a medical kit in her arms, and the Fourth Hokage standing on a rooftop, his gaze as gentle as sunlight. He raised a hand and caught a petal. His silver mask had long since been removed, and only soft moisture remained in his eyes. After all these years, he had thought he had already let go, yet the moment the tide of memories surged in, he understood that those attachments had never scattered. They had only changed form, hidden within the undertone of symbiosis.
Might Guy stood at the center of the Training Ground, his cry of burning youth caught in his throat. He saw Might Duy carrying a shabby bowl on his back, smiling as he told him, "Youth never admits defeat"; saw each duel with Kakashi, sweat and dust flying together; saw the blood-red blaze of the Eight Gates during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Scalding tears slid down his face. He