After seeing Naori home, Rikusei strolled along the streets as dusk deepened. Under Kaku's guidance, the tactics for the Chunin Exams had already been finalized.
The residence blending into the night reflected a faint clear radiance, while the dark windows told him that Grandmother had not yet returned home.
After all, a card table was like a battlefield.
If the game became especially fierce and tempers flared, old ambitions might be rekindled along with them.
These retired shinobi could erupt with unimaginable passion.
"Don't leave! We'll fight until dawn!" That sort of thing happened all the time.
"Click."
The sound of a key entering the lock and turning rang clearly in his ears.
The moonlight spilling through the doorway allowed him to make out, with some difficulty, the scroll still spread open on the table just as it had been after they left.
The dark room was steeped in the silent tranquility of dusk. He felt along the wall for the switch with practiced ease. With a bang, the lights flared to life and illuminated the room.
"Teacher?"
Rikusei's hand froze over the switch as he mechanically turned his neck. The incandescent light made his pupils rapidly widen.
Everything in the room flashed past his gaze, and he fixed his eyes on the familiar figure seated in a chair, casually leafing through the scroll.
"This thing is quite remarkable." Madara rolled up the scroll and set it aside, then looked up at the light on the wall. "It seems the Shinobi World really changed quite a lot after I left."
Rikusei had no mind to join him in marveling at the strangely developed technology of the Hokage world. He hurried over, sat across from him at the table, and stared into his eyes from up close.
He knew that if