The Dragon Is the Mark of an Emperor

[This story began with the Battle of the Valley of the End...]

"What the hell? Who's talking?!"

Naruto and Obito were startled by the sudden voice. So was Hashirama, who, unlike the other two, had special permission to enter with his memories of this being the Genjutsu World intact. All three were floating in their own patches of sky.

There was clearly no one around, and they were in spirit form. How had a voice suddenly sounded in their ears?

They soon realized it was Heaven's Will speaking.

It seemed Heaven's Will Corrosion had taken a deeper hold on this world than on the previous Engraved Tsukuyomi World.

Heaven's Will could even speak aloud and act as a narrator now.

[After a hundred years in seclusion, Hashirama sought to use the power of the Red Moon Orb to set this blood-soaked world right.]

"How many years?"

Even Hashirama couldn't keep his composure when he heard that number.

A hundred years in seclusion? Was this still the Shinobi World?

His counterpart in the Real Shinobi World hadn't lived half that long. Even Madara, who had clung to life for all he was worth, hadn't reached a hundred, had he?

Yet here, someone could casually spend a hundred years in seclusion.

Had he died and been brought back through Impure World Reincarnation just to go into seclusion?

Hashirama grumbled to himself.

Still, he understood what Heaven's Will was saying.

His counterpart in this world seemed much like himself in the Real Shinobi World. He wanted peace.

Though this world apparently didn't call itself the Shinobi World. Was it called the martial world?

His consciousness blurred. When Hashirama opened his eyes again, he found himself inside his counterpart's body.

Meanwhile, once Obito and Naruto heard that the story began at the Valley of