After the souls connected, Shimura Danzo's consciousness and thoughts returned, and at that moment, the scene entered a world of flowing consciousness.
In a dazzling white world, Shimura Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi stood facing each other. As the BGM I've Been Watching All Along began to play, the camera shifted to a side view.
It showed Shimura Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi facing one another.
Both wore the normal appearances of old men—the way they had looked when they first appeared in the Light Screen footage.
They gazed at each other calmly, as if they had a thousand words to say, yet also as if there were no words left to say.
Then, the camera shifted to Shimura Danzo's first-person perspective, and the Hiruzen Sarutobi he saw began to change.
Gradually, he became younger.
Shimura Danzo's voice rang out as well. "Once again... I lost to you... Hiruzen..."
The young adult Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared, dignified and imposing.
"Again and again, it seemed I had never defeated you..."
The teenage Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared, passionate and full of fighting spirit.
"I really could only be the root behind you, hidden in the shadows..."
The child Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared, lively as a little monkey.
In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi's figure settled on his young adult self.
Then Shimura Danzo's body fell backward, gradually sinking into darkness.
But at that very moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi moved. He suddenly grabbed Shimura Danzo's wrist and held him fast.
Then Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sounded. "Danzo, for this last time, let's walk together!"
"Since you wanted to defeat me, then from now on, inside the Reaper's belly, I'll take on that obsession of yours."
As those words fell, Shimura Danzo was pulled back up, and the camera showed what he looked like now.
He, too, had returned to his younger