The Journey Home

The Tailed Beast Bomb that had never failed before had vanished so easily?

A sense of danger rose in Chomei's heart.

Its wings beat rapidly, and before everyone's astonished eyes, the Seven-Tails disappeared.

"Did it turn invisible?"

Uchiha Kei smiled. As he opened his eyes, the Mangekyo appeared in his pupils.

Under the Mangekyo's power, a fiery red shadow appeared in his vision, wings spread as it prepared to fly away.

"Chomei, look over here."

Given Chomei's intelligence, there was no way it should turn around at a time like this.

And yet, as if possessed, it did.

The moment it turned, its eyes met a pair of eyes sharp as swords.

Genjutsu: activated!

Sitting on Chomei's broad back, the four of them felt as if they were dreaming.

"A Mangekyo-level Sharingan is a Tailed Beast's natural enemy. You'll be able to deal with Tailed Beasts just as easily in the future."

Uchiha Kei gave Madara a head rub. The prickly feel was just too good.

"Mangekyo level..."

Madara looked wistful.

"Teacher, when will I be able to awaken a Mangekyo-level Sharingan?"

"You'll get there someday. It won't be long."

Uchiha Kei fell silent for a moment.

Of course, he could use the same method that had awakened Itachi, but he had no intention of doing that.

Madara and Hashirama were the reincarnations of Indra and Asura. If Madara awakened the Mangekyo at this stage, the two of them would no longer be evenly matched.

The Sage of Six Paths was pulling the strings behind the scenes of their feud.

Who knew what sort of mess that might cause?

When Chomei landed in the White Bone Clan's territory, the entire clan went on high alert.

"Now, now, don't be nervous. It's us."

Uchiha Kei leaped down from Chomei's back and smiled at White Bone Momotao, who was braced for a fight.

"Benefactor!"

White Bone Momotao was overjoyed.

She had thought she wouldn't see her benefactor again for a long time. Who would have guessed they'd meet again right after parting?

Uchiha Kei patted Chomei's toenail. "I hadn't planned on coming back, but then I stumbled upon an unexpected bonus."

After White Bone Momotao dismissed the clan members, curiosity filled her eyes.

"Benefactor, what is this?"

"Ah, this is a Tailed Beast, the Seven-Tails, Chomei. It's good at turning invisible. With it around, I'm sure your White Bone Clan will be able to stay hidden even more effectively."

As a small clan, the White Bone Clan didn't really know what Tailed Beasts were. They only thought that Chomei was so huge, it had to be powerful.

And with the ability to turn invisible, it was practically a godsend for the White Bone Clan.

Madara and the other three, however, stood there dumbfounded.

This was a Tailed Beast?!

They'd just fought a Tailed Beast???

Thinking of how terrifying Tailed Beasts were, the four of them felt a chill run down their backs.

Now that Madara had awakened the Three Tomoe, Uchiha Kei no longer felt like going out. He stayed quietly with the White Bone Clan.

With Yin-Yang Release boosting their abilities, and their monstrous talents besides, reaching the chakra level of an elite jonin in half a month was a piece of cake.

Time passed, and before long, the month was up.

Feeling the surging chakra of the four youngsters, Uchiha Kei couldn't help but sigh.

"Come here, you little rascals."

The four of them had been sparring. At his words, they hurried over to Uchiha Kei.

"Your teacher has to go."

As he spoke, Uchiha Kei felt a sudden pang of sadness.

After he completed this Space-Time Mission, who knew whether his future missions would bring him back to the Warring States Period?

Most likely, they wouldn't. This might be the last time he ever saw them.

When they were children.

"Teacher, where are you going?" Hashirama asked, puzzled.

"To a very, very distant place. Maybe this will be the last time we meet."

Uchiha Kei looked into the distance.

The future was not just very far away from the Warring States Period.

A river of time lay between them, too.

"No! You haven't even seen me awaken my Mangekyo yet! How can you leave, Teacher?"

Madara was visibly upset.

During that month, he had asked Uchiha Kei the most questions because of his Sharingan, and he had benefited the most, too.

Now that he'd suddenly heard his teacher was leaving, he couldn't bear the thought.

"Actually, your teacher isn't from this world. Meeting you and taking you on as students was a matter of fate. All things come together and part in their own time."

Uchiha Kei put on the air of a worldly sage, an ethereal aura surrounding him like that of an immortal.

"Not from this world? There are... other worlds beyond this one?"

The four youngsters were stunned.

As far as they knew, the Shinobi World was everything.

Hearing Uchiha Kei say this out of the blue was an enormous shock.

"Of course."

Uchiha Kei waved his hand and used Uhijini to alter the properties of the air.

A vast galaxy appeared before the four of them.

"This is a galaxy. Any of those twinkling lights might have life on them. The Shinobi World is just one among them."

The four of them gazed at the galaxy in a daze, yearning in their eyes.

If every one of those lights might have life, how many lives must there be in this galaxy?

"And this galaxy is just a speck in the universe. The real universe is far larger than you can imagine."

Looking up at the stars, Uchiha Kei fell into thought as well.

He had been reborn in the Naruto World. Was Earth, where he had lived before, somewhere in this starry sky, too?

"Then will you come back, Teacher?"

Hashirama looked at Uchiha Kei with teary eyes.

Compared with the level-headed Madara, Hashirama was undeniably more sentimental.

What mattered more to him than the vast starry sky was Uchiha Kei.

Uchiha Kei ruffled Hashirama's watermelon-shaped hair. "Maybe we'll meet again, but it'll be a long time from now. Maybe your teacher will be very weak by then."

"That's fine! We'll protect you then!"

The other three nodded solemnly, too.

In just one month, they had gone from not even being shinobi to becoming elite jonin. They owed it all to the young man before them.

"Good. Then I'll look forward to that day."

Uchiha Kei ruffled each of their heads in turn, his smile growing wider.

"Madara, you're too rational, and too extreme. No matter what happens in the future, I hope you can get along peacefully with Hashirama. Don't turn against your own."

Uchiha Kei looked at Madara, their future coming into view before his eyes.

Madara glanced at Hashirama, then nodded solemnly.

"Hashirama, you're the opposite of Madara. You're too sentimental and too naïve. Wherever there are people, there will be conflict. Absolute fairness won't bring peace. Do you understand?"

Hashirama might have created the Ninja Village system and divided the Tailed Beasts equally among the allied villages.

But to Uchiha Kei, that was a rotten kind of kindness, one that would only embolden others.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Shinobi World War, or even the Fourth Shinobi World War.

At the end of the day, Uchiha Kei's way of thinking was much like Madara's.

Just as he'd told Madara from the beginning:

End war with war; end killing with killing!

Bloodshed might lay waste to lives for a time, but it could bring lasting peace.

As a great leader from his previous life once said:

"Win one battle, and you'll spare yourself a hundred more!"

Deterrence was the right way to secure peace.

That was also why Uchiha Kei wanted to support Itachi's bid to become Hokage!