He had imagined it.
More than once, Ryosuke had imagined that the man had not died, that one day he would return.
Would it be when disaster threatened to destroy Konoha?
Perhaps he would appear like a legendary hero, a beam of light piercing the despair just when everyone had lost hope.
Or perhaps he would arrive atop mountains of enemy corpses, with a blood moon hanging overhead.
Whatever the case...
His entrance would be spectacular!
The veins at the corners of Ryosuke's eyes bulged, his eyelids stretched as though they might tear.
He turned his head in a halting motion. The shock of what he saw had robbed him of control over his body.
No...
How could it be like this...
Ah...
Of course it should be like this!
The figure in his pure white eyes grew clearer until it filled his entire vision.
In a world of gray and white, that man alone had color.
Tears streamed down Ryosuke's face. He could not stop trembling.
It was just like the first time he had seen him.
The man simply walked toward them. No matter where or when, he carried himself like a king surveying his realm, his majesty beyond compare.
An ordinary hero needed more.
A disaster, victims crying out in hope, an entrance at the perfect moment—only then could the hero's place at the center of the story be justified.
But this man...
Needed none of it!!
All he had to do was appear!
The center of heaven and earth had already been decided!!
"Ah..."
Ryosuke gripped his own cheeks, digging his nails into the flesh.
"So beautiful..."
He was profoundly grateful that he had the Byakugan.
The reason I'm alive...
Is to burn the sight of this man into these eyes!
Uchiha...
Kamizuki!!!!!!
"Ryosuke...