Parallel Ninja World
"My uncle said that the Uchiha Clan's main gate faces due east, and the first ray of sunlight each day falls on the Gunbai emblem." Yaoyu looked up at the stone Gunbai emblem carved on the torii gate. The morning light was shining through the ridgeline to the east, gilding the entire emblem with a layer of pale gold.
"That's true. I wonder how thick a layer of dust has settled on the gates of our Naka Shrine over there."
"We can sweep it again when we get back." Natsu said calmly, but her eyes kept scanning her surroundings.
The Naka Shrine in Konoha was almost identical to the one they remembered—blue tiles and wooden beams, Gunbai- shaped patterns carved on the eaves, and even the dents worn by time on the stone steps were exactly the same.
The only difference is that the shrine here is still alive.
Fresh incense sticks were inserted into the incense burner, and the Gunbai flag on the offering table was spotless, clearly indicating that someone takes care of it daily.
"Let's go for a stroll around the streets. Let's see what Konoha is like in this era." Natsu withdrew her gaze, turned around, and walked towards the street outside the shrine. Yaoyu and Yakumi exchanged a glance and followed her.
The streets of Konoha were bustling with people.
The Uchiha and Senju Clan clansmen walked side by side across the street corner, arguing heatedly about the rotation arrangements for the Shuriken shooting range.
The children in the Clan Academy threw Kunai, then grinned and went to buy Dango with their arms around each other's shoulders.
There was no surveillance, no alienation, and none of the wariness and hostility etched into every glance that existed during the Third era.
"Young Master Natsu, are you sure we haven't come to the wrong place?" Yaoyu frowned slightly as he looked at the scene before him.
"Uchiha and Senju Clan kids playing together? If this happened back home, the elders of both families would start fighting right there."
"That's why I said we came to the right place." Natsu leaned against the wall at the alley entrance, her gaze falling on the children who were arguing fiercely over the flavor of the Dango. "This is what Konoha looked like when it was first built."
Yakumi rarely spoke, but when he did, his tone was unusually puzzled. "It all feels unreal. A thousand-year-old feud, and they're just making peace like that?"
"Reconciliation?" Yaoyu snorted. "Only monsters like Hashirama and Madara could suppress old grudges. The people below still hate, they're just holding it in for now."
Natsu did not respond.
He looked at the scene on the street for a while, then straightened up and walked towards the street corner.
Several Konoha Ninja who were chatting saw him approaching and instinctively looked up, about to ask who he was, but met a pair of scarlet eyes.
The Sharingan flickered slightly in their pupils, and their expressions simultaneously relaxed, their eyes becoming unfocused, as if they were half-asleep.
"Find someone to ask about the current organizational structure of Konoha," Natsu said casually, as if instructing someone to buy a cup of tea.
The Yaoyu and Yakumi had already stood on either side, blocking his view of everything around him.
Pedestrians continued to come and go on the street, and no one noticed this corner.
Before long, Natsu got the answer she wanted.
He withdrew his Sharingan, letting the men collapse to the ground, leaning against the wall as if they were asleep.
"Lord Natsu Yin, how is it?" Yaoyu asked in a low voice.
"Hashirama was quite generous, letting Madara sit next to the Hokage. Now Konoha has one Hokage and one Vice Hokage. Power is divided equally, with the Uchiha and Senju Clan each holding half."
"The Police Department is also under the jurisdiction of the Uchiha, but all operations must be coordinated with the Senju Clan's Police Force." Natsu's tone was flat, as if he were reading an insignificant official document.
"Vice Hokage?" Yakumi was taken aback. "Is Madara in the village now?"
"Yes." Natsu's gaze swept across the street, landing on the silhouette of the Hokage Building in the distance. "And it's right there in the Hokage Building."
Yaoyu followed his gaze, a slow smile curving her lips, "Lord Natsu, you've come all this way, aren't you going to greet the clan leader of this world?"
"We'll have to meet sooner or later." Natsu withdrew her gaze and strode towards the village entrance. "But before that, let's check out the Training Ground in the mountains. In case our presence is exposed, we need a place where we can act freely."
"It's just the three of us. I really miss the training grounds on Origin Island," Yakumi muttered softly, a rare hint of nostalgia in his voice.
Yaoyu smacked him on the back of the head. "Missing home? You've only been away for a few days."
"No." Yakumi rubbed the back of his head expressionlessly. "It's just that the Uchiha in this world seems to have a really tough life."
Natsu walked at the front without turning around, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
The three walked through the streets of Konoha and headed towards the primeval forest upstream of the Naka River, which had not yet been designated as a forbidden area.
After leaving the shrine, the three did not rush to leave the village, but Earth Flow along the banks of the Naka River.
Konoha had only been established for a short time, and the village was far smaller than the ninja village they remembered, which had accumulated decades of experience. However, a sense of prosperity emanated from every newly paved stone road and every shop that still exuded the fresh scent of wood.
"I must say, Hashirama is a fighting madman, but he's quite adept at construction." Yaoyu's gaze swept over the row of neat two-story wooden buildings on the street, her tone somewhat critical, but despite her criticism, she didn't stop walking.
The three of them blended into the bustling street scene like any other ordinary Uchiha clan members.
No one gave them a second glance, and no one realized that these three "kin" came from a place they could not understand at all.
"It's all just for show." Yakumi rarely spoke up, but his tone remained indifferent. "The feuds between different clans aren't so easily resolved. It's just that Hashirama and Madara are like two mountains pressing down on us, so no one dares to take the lead."
"That's not necessarily true." Natsu's gaze swept over the Senju Clan and Uchiha clan members walking side by side across the street corner, her tone flat.
"Look at those over there, a mixed patrol Jonin Uchiha and Senju Clan, their movements are quite coordinated. It's not an act."
"They've been brainwashed by Hashirama's ' Will of Fire '," Yaoyu muttered softly, before being poked in the ribs by Yakumi's elbow.
Just as the Yaoyu were about to kick in, the gaze that followed the smell of the Yakumi landed on the notice board in front of the Hokage Building.
Several children were standing on tiptoe, craning their necks to look at the wanted posters and newly issued assignments. Their Clan Uniform were of different colors: there were Red-and-White Fan Uchiha fans, Senju Clan double leaf patterns, and a few small clan emblems that he didn't quite recognize.
A little Uchiha boy, holding the hand of a little Senju Clan girl, pointed excitedly at the highest mission list on the notice board and shouted that when he grew up, he wanted to form a team to take on S-rank missions like this.