Prophecy Fulfilled, Time Reversed, Memories Remain—The Uchiha Massacre Must Be Stopped

As white light shone from Uchiha Shadian's right eye, a burst of dazzling radiance suddenly bloomed in the dark world. Light enveloped the entire world, and at that moment, everything fell silent.

Everything came to a standstill.

Leaves hung suspended in midair, pedestrians froze mid-step, streams stopped flowing, birds ceased flying. Everything had been pressed on pause.

Tick-tock-tock...!

A mysterious clock began ticking.

Its hands were not moving forward, but backward.

Tick-tock-tock...

No one knew how much time passed.

Clang!

The clock let out a deafening chime.

Crash!

The entire world shattered like a broken mirror, then gathered together again, forming a new scene.

Clang!

Tick-tock-tock...

The clock resumed moving forward.

The frozen world began operating once more.

But everything had changed.

The ruined Konoha reappeared.

Uchiha Mikoto stared doubtfully at the spatula in her hand. "Didn't I kill myself? Why am I holding a spatula and cooking?"

Fugaku Uchiha was seated at the head of the Konoha Police Force. He abruptly rose to his feet. "Wasn't I killed by Shadian...? How am I still alive?"

The other Uchiha Clan members also wore stunned expressions.

"Didn't I die?"

"Wasn't I killed by Itachi?"

"Wasn't my head cut off?"

"What is going on? Weren't we dead?"

For a moment, the entire Uchiha Compound erupted into commotion.

It was not just the Uchiha Compound. Throughout Konoha, and even the entire Land of Fire, nearly everyone immediately realized something was wrong.

Kakashi Hatake: "What is going on? Wasn't I killed by that Izuna Uchiha? Why am I alive now? Am I under a genjutsu?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "This is the Hokage Building. The village is still here. Why did I suddenly appear here? Am I under a genjutsu? No, I'm not under a genjutsu, but what exactly happened? Why has the village Shadian destroyed reappeared? I was clearly in a tent, waiting for news of Guy and the others pursuing Shadian."

"Didn't I die?"

"Wasn't I swallowed by the Netherworld Cave summoned by Uchiha Shadian?"

"Why am I here?"

"Wasn't Konoha destroyed?"

"Wasn't I fleeing?"

"Mom, weren't you dead?"

"What is going on? What exactly is going on? Why does it feel like I had a dream?"

Everyone in Konoha was utterly dumbfounded.

They had clearly died, clearly been fleeing, and Konoha had clearly been completely destroyed.

Yet now, everything was intact, as though nothing had ever happened.

Why?

Could everything they had experienced have been a dream?

"What is going on?"

"Wasn't I being forced to train in Sage Mode at Mount Myoboku? Why did I suddenly appear in an inn at Shukuba Town?" Jiraiya stared dumbly at himself soaking in a hot spring, holding a magnifying glass up to a crack in the wooden wall as he peeped into the women's bath across from him.

"Was everything a dream?" Jiraiya frowned. "No! It all felt so real. It couldn't have just been a dream."

Jiraiya sat cross-legged and began gathering Sage Chakra.

Not long afterward, Jiraiya entered Perfect Sage Mode.

"I succeeded?" Jiraiya was stunned. He had merely wanted to test it. After fighting Uchiha Shadian in Perfect Sage Mode, coupled with the several days of forced training at Mount Myoboku, he had already begun to grasp the method for Perfect Sage Mode.

Yet now, with one attempt, he had actually succeeded?

Disbelief filled Jiraiya's eyes.

"Something is wrong. Very wrong."

"How could I have learned Perfect Sage Mode in a dream?"

"Summoning Jutsu." Jiraiya bit his finger and immediately summoned the two sages.

Having mastered Perfect Sage Mode, he instantly summoned Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima.

"Do you two sages find this strange as well?" Jiraiya asked.

"It is strange! Little Jiraiya, you noticed it too?" Fukasaku said.

Jiraiya said gravely, "I was clearly at Mount Myoboku, being forced by you to continue training in Sage Mode, but I suddenly appeared here."

Shima said, "I sent a toad to investigate Konoha. The message it brought back was that the destroyed Konoha has been fully restored, and everyone who died has come back to life. It is as if nothing ever happened."

Fukasaku said, "Little Jiraiya, do you remember the words the Great Toad Sage gave you?"

Jiraiya recited, "The world's fate has changed. Everything that was experienced will be reversed. The red beast has returned everything to its starting point."

Fukasaku said, "That's right. What is happening now is as if everything has been reversed. Everything has returned to the starting point. The only difference is that we still retain our original memories."

Jiraiya said in shock, "So everything really happened. It was simply reversed by someone."

"Who was it? Who could possess such power?"

Fukasaku said, "Who knows? Perhaps we will know the answer once we find the red beast."

Shima said, "No matter who reversed everything, Little Jiraiya, I believe our top priority is to return to Konoha immediately and stop what is about to happen."

Shima said solemnly, "If we do not stop it, Konoha will fall into another great calamity."

Fukasaku said solemnly, "That's right, Little Jiraiya. We must return to Konoha immediately and stop the order from Konoha's higher-ups to exterminate the Uchiha Clan. Otherwise, history will repeat itself."

Jiraiya nodded solemnly.

Fukasaku said, "Summon Bunta and the other two!"

"We must return to Konoha as fast as possible."

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Three enormous clouds of smoke rose in Shukuba Town, and the massive forms of the three giant toads—Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro—appeared.

"Return to Konoha immediately, at top speed," Fukasaku said solemnly to the three toads.

"Yes, Boss."

The three Gamabunta brothers nodded, then carried Jiraiya and the two sages away in rapid leaps.

Bang!

Another enormous cloud of smoke rose.

A gigantic Katsuyu appeared in Shukuba Town.

"Is that Jiraiya?" Katsuyu carried Tsunade and Shizune as she rapidly approached the three giant toads.

"Tsunade, you're in Shukuba Town too?" Jiraiya looked at Tsunade in surprise.

Tsunade nodded. "It feels as though I had a dream. I dreamed that Konoha was utterly destroyed and the village suffered unimaginably heavy losses."

"It wasn't a dream. It really happened," Jiraiya said. "Our time should have been reversed."

Tsunade said in surprise, "What? Jiraiya, what exactly is going on?"

"How do you know time was reversed?"

"It was the Great Toad Sage's prophecy," Jiraiya said.

"The world's fate has changed. Everything that was experienced will be reversed. The red beast has returned everything to its starting point." Jiraiya repeated the prophecy aloud.

"The most crucial part, I believe, is the red beast mentioned in it," Jiraiya said. "I think that red beast refers to the Nine-Tails."

"The Nine-Tails!!!" Tsunade fell into thought.

Jiraiya said solemnly, "But the most important thing now is to go back and stop the village's operation to exterminate the Uchiha Clan."

"Otherwise, your disciple Shadian will destroy everything."