The Past and Ideals

For a moment, no one spoke on the battlefield.

Naruto opened his mouth several times, wanting to ask something each time, but swallowed the words back down before they came out. It was not that he did not want to ask. There were simply too many questions, so many that they all crowded together and got stuck in his throat.

Sasuke's Rinnegan was still fixed on that man, but his expression had changed.

Minato stood not far behind Naruto, one hand already resting on a Kunai, but he did not move. His mind was racing—this man claimed to be Madara's nephew, to have lived from the Warring States Period until now, to have seen Jiraiya as a child, to have devoured something called "Ōtsutsuki Isshiki," and to want to eat the "Chakra Fruit"—

Minato frowned.

He did not know what "Ōtsutsuki Isshiki" was, but he knew of the "Chakra Fruit." The scrolls left behind by the Sage of Six Paths had mentioned it—the God Tree, the fruit, the Rabbit Goddess. He had thought they were myths.

Hashirama had not spoken since the words, "I'm Madara's nephew." His eyes kept sweeping across Uchiha Sou's face, as though confirming something, or perhaps recalling something.

Tobirama was still sprawled on the ground, his face even paler than before. But his expression had changed. It was no longer the terror of seeing a ghost, but something more complicated—a tautness like a mystery that had plagued him for decades was finally about to be solved.

Uchiha Sou descended from midair.

After landing, he brushed at nonexistent dust on his white robe, then raised his head and looked toward Hashirama and Tobirama.

"Second Hokage." His gaze fell on Tobirama. His voice was not loud, but everyone heard it clearly. "You look like you have something to