Is This the Past?

"Hahaha! So that's how it is!"

Hashirama Senju, suspecting nothing, slapped his thigh with a boisterous laugh. "To suffer such a severe piercing wound that even your soul was nearly shaken loose—it's only natural to feel a bit disoriented upon waking! You needn't take it to heart!"

"Big Brother, one must always be on guard against others."

Tobirama Senju, however, was not so easily fooled.

He crossed his arms over his chest, his azure eyes sweeping back and forth between Minato, Kushina, and Yue Uchiha like cold blades.

"A nameless nobody possessing such tenacious vitality, and this Uzumaki clansman with authentic red hair... Yue Uchiha, how is it that every time you make a move, you manage to save such extraordinary individuals?"

"You flatter me, Lord Tobirama."

Yue Uchiha remained composed, his tone flat as he took up the thread of conversation. "In these chaotic times, who doesn't have a few tricks up their sleeve?"

Minato felt his wife trembling beside him and immediately gripped Kushina's hand tightly beneath the covers.

Kushina's mind was in turmoil; she could think of nothing but her newborn Naruto. Yet, feeling the immense strength and silent warning conveyed through her husband's palm, she acted as a seasoned ninja and swallowed the interrogation that had surged to her lips.

"My child... my poor child..."

Kushina buried her face in Minato's chest and wept aloud.

This was not entirely an act. As a mother who had just been torn away from her newborn flesh and blood, her grief was genuine and possessed a powerful, infectious quality.

"Oh dear, this..."

Hashirama was least equipped to handle such scenes of tragic separation. He became flustered, his eyes brimming with deep sympathy.

Mito Uzumaki stepped forward, sat gently on the edge of the bed, and patted Kushina's back.

Sharing the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan, that innate sense of kinship filled Mito with pity for this red-haired girl whose fate had been so cruel.

"There, there, child, don't cry. War has taken too much from us, but as long as we are alive, there is still hope." Mito soothed her softly. "This is the ancestral land of the Senju Clan; no one can harm you here anymore. Focus on recovering."

"Th-thank you, Lady Mito," Kushina replied, choking back sobs.

"Very well, since they are awake, let us leave them to rest."

Hashirama sighed, setting aside his usual boisterous demeanor, and turned to look at Yue Uchiha and Minato.

"Stay here and rest easy. Yue, I am very interested in the proposal you mentioned earlier about 'ending the chaos and establishing a ninja village.' Once your two friends have recovered a bit more, we shall find a time to sit down, have a drink, and discuss it in detail!"

"It would be my honor, Clan Leader Hashirama." Yue gave a slight nod. "Furthermore, I wish to have a private conversation with my friends. I hope Lord Tobirama might permit this?"

"Hmph." Tobirama let out a cold snort. He said nothing more, turning to follow Hashirama and Mito out of the Intensive Care Tent.

As the tent flap fell with a heavy thud, the footsteps outside gradually faded into the distance.

The air inside the tent solidified in an instant.

Once outside, having confirmed that Tobirama had moved far away and left no means of surveillance, Yue walked silently to the tent entrance. He drew his short blade and skillfully deployed a small-scale detection barrier and a sound-dampening screen, completely isolating them from the outside world.

As for why Tobirama hadn't left any surveillance measures?

He likely refrained because Hashirama was present, and Tobirama was wise enough not to pull any stunts.

That was for the best; it saved Yue the trouble of having to explain himself to Tobirama later.

Once safety was confirmed, the weakness and confusion vanished from Minato's face.

He sat up straight, the wisdom of the Fourth Hokage erupting within his deep blue eyes.

He stared fixedly at Yue Uchiha not far away, lowering his voice as he spoke, word by word:

"Yue Uchiha, it is time you gave me a reasonable explanation, isn't it?"

Minato glanced at the ancient furnishings around them and gritted his teeth. "Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Mito Uzumaki... combined with what you said earlier, if I am not mistaken, we have arrived in an era before Konoha was even established?"

Kushina wiped away her tears. Even though her body remained weak, she forced herself to sit up, her eyes filled with vigilance and anxiety. "What about Naruto?! You brought us here, so what is to become of our Naruto?!"

Facing the Hokage couple on the verge of an outburst, Yue Uchiha pulled over a wooden chair and sat down with effortless grace.

"Minato, do you remember our first encounter in Rōran?"

It was fortunate that he had laid the groundwork back then, ensuring Minato hadn't lost his memories; otherwise, he would have had to waste so much breath.

"The Dragon Vein... So, Mukade returned from the future to the past back then, and now, you have used the power of the Dragon Vein to bring us to an even more distant past: the Warring States Period."

As the Yellow Flash, Minato's logical reasoning was terrifying; he had reconstructed the truth from a single word.

"As expected of the Fourth Hokage. It is always effortless to speak with a smart man."

"That is correct. This is a year or two before the founding of Konoha. Hashirama Senju is still alive, the chaos has yet to be quelled, and for you, this is a truly 'historical' era."

"Why?"

Kushina gripped the bedsheet so hard her knuckles turned white. "Why save us? And why bring us to this godforsaken place? My Naruto... he is still so small, he needs his mother!"

"Save you? No, I am merely conducting an experiment."

Yue chuckled, leaning forward slightly, his eyes glinting with rational light.

"In the original 'destiny,' you two were fated to die on the Night of the Nine-Tails to seal the beast and make Naruto the jinchūriki of his generation. That was the written ending."

"And I wanted to verify whether you could survive in a different space-time."

"In this world, the dead are not permitted to return, unless... you vanish from the 'registry' of that world."

"And looking at the result now, the experiment was a success."

Minato understood.

He remained silent for a long time; as Hokage, he had come into contact with many secrets beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

He had experienced the space-time correction properties of the Dragon Vein firsthand in Rōran.

"So..." Minato's voice was dry, "in that timeline of Konoha 51, we are already 'dead'?"

"Dead as a doornail."

"The future fate is likely that the Third Hokage has come out of retirement to take charge of the situation, and Naruto has become the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. Although he became an orphan, um... he had it a bit rough, but at least his life was not in danger, and your names have already been carved onto the Memorial Stone, becoming heroes who protected the village."

He had been rather tactful when describing Naruto's treatment.

If he told the whole truth, he didn't know how the Fourth Hokage and his wife, who had just finished transitioning into their roles as parents, would react.

People who had just recovered from a state of collapse could not handle such a massive shock.

"An orphan..."

Kushina covered her face, tears spilling through her fingers; this heart-wrenching pain made her nearly faint.

"Don't be so desperate."

Yue stood up, walked to the side of their bed, and looked down at them from above.

"In this era, you are 'illegal residents,' ghosts who should have died. The world's will from over there cannot reach here, so I was able to use Yin Release to lock your souls and have Hashirama Senju use Yang Release to repair your bodies."

Yue extended a finger and pointed at Minato.

"I can give you a promise."

"Use your power to assist me, help me test a few things..."

"When the time is ripe..."

Yue's eyes were filled with temptation:

"I will open the Gate of Time and Space once more and take you back..."