"Where is this...?"
Hashirama slowly opened his eyes, his gaze moving from the cold white lamp overhead to the transparent containers and sealed jars around him before finally settling on his own cracked hands.
He stared blankly for a while, then raised a hand to rub the back of his head, his tone full of confusion.
"Strange, wasn't I already dead? Is this the world after death? It feels completely different from what I imagined..."
"Hmph. This is no world after death."
A familiar, stern voice sounded beside him.
Tobirama stood with his arms folded across his chest, his taut face beneath his short white hair looking especially grave.
Unlike Hashirama, he did not look around in confusion. Instead, he swiftly swept the entire laboratory with his sensory abilities, his expression growing increasingly ugly.
"Without a doubt, we are in the real Ninja World now, Brother."
"Oh! Tobirama! It's been so long!"
Hearing the familiar voice beside him, Hashirama excitedly turned around, spreading his arms as if about to pounce on him.
Tobirama silently shifted half a step to the side, dodging the hand that was about to land on his shoulder.
Hashirama missed, but he was not bothered. He simply chuckled and withdrew his hand, then seemed to suddenly realize something and stroked his chin in thought.
"Eh, no, wait. You were right beside me when I died. For me, it was just the time it took to close and open my eyes. Shouldn't I not be saying 'it's been so long'...?"
"Idiot Brother, is this the time to talk about that?!"
A vein throbbed violently on Tobirama's forehead. The small joy of reunion that had risen in his heart upon seeing his elder brother had been completely washed away by an all-too-familiar fury.
He took a deep breath,