"My body... it's changed back too." Nagato stared at his hands in astonishment. They were a child's hands, and even clenched into fists, they were only about the size of an egg.
"Then my eyes too..."
Nagato realized that he could no longer sense the chakra within his body.
In other words, Nagato's body had completely returned to how it had been in childhood, and all his strength was gone. The only thing he had retained was his own memories.
"Dad, Mom..."
Hearing footsteps from outside the room, Nagato's heart was filled with complicated emotions.
"Little Nagato, it's time to get up. The weather is unusually nice today, so your father and I are taking the day off to bring you out for a picnic."
When the two faces he had longed to see day and night appeared before him, every complicated emotion in Nagato's heart was overwhelmed by his yearning for his parents.
"Dad, Mom..."
Although he knew everything before him was an illusion created by Shisui Uchiha, the moment he saw his parents, Nagato still could not control his emotions. The words "Dad" and "Mom" slipped out on their own.
"Little Nagato, why are you crying? Did you not sleep well last night? Did you have another nightmare?"
"That's right. If you're tired today, we don't have to go out. Your father and I can stay home and rest with you."
Seeing their beloved child suddenly burst into tears, Nagato's parents hurriedly comforted him.
Nagato's mother even sat down beside the bed and wiped the tears from his cheeks.
When Nagato felt his mother's hands against his face, their gentle touch and real warmth—her scent, too—were all so familiar.
Nagato could no longer care whether this was an illusion or reality. He threw himself into his mother's arms