Strolling

The little girl corrected him with a straight face, saying that only Jonin could accept S-rank missions, to which the boy nonchalantly replied that they could Jonin together.

"Becoming Jonin together," Yaoyu repeated, his tone ambiguous, a mix of sarcasm and wistfulness. "The Senju Clan and Uchiha, going on S-rank missions side-by-side. We've never seen that kind of scenario played out on our side before."

"That's why it's worth a look." Natsu stopped at the Dango stall on the street corner and bought three skewers of three-colored Dango, one for each of them.

Yaoyu paused for a moment when she took the Dango, but Natsu had already taken a bite, chewed it a couple of times, and nodded slightly. "It tastes better than the one near the Naka Shrine. That one is too sweet."

"Young Master Natsu, you really have the mind to compare the sweetness of the Dango." Yaoyu smiled wryly, but still obediently took a bite, and then had to admit that they were indeed delicious.

Yakumi silently munched on Dango, then suddenly blurted out, "Lord Natsu Yin, if the Uchiha Shin coexist peacefully with the Senju Clan, then what about us?"

The question came as abruptly, but Natsu did not answer immediately.

He casually tossed the bamboo skewer into a bamboo basket by the roadside, gazed at the bare cliff face of Hokage Rock in the distance, and after a moment spoke, "Consider it a warning. A warning that peace is never obtained through the charity of others."

The Uchiha in this world can stand on equal footing with the Senju Clan because Madara is still alive, and the Uchiha still have the power to turn against them. Once they lose that power—"

"You'll be ostracized, monitored, and treated as a threat," Yaoyu finished the sentence for him, his tone as calm as if stating a fact that had already been proven.

"So how long do you think this world's peace can last?" Natsu turned her gaze to the two brothers.

Yaoyu thought for a moment and said, "Let's see how long Madara can live. As long as he doesn't die, Tobirama Senju won't dare to openly attack the Uchiha."

"What if Ban dies?" Yakumi asked, unusually.

Yaoyu was silent for a few seconds, then broke the bamboo skewer in his hand and threw it into the bamboo basket. "Then let's see if the Uchiha has a second Madara. If not—"

"It will become us," the Yakumi finished for him.

The atmosphere among the three suddenly became somewhat heavy.

The streets were still bustling with people, and the Senju Clan and Uchiha children were still chattering and arguing in front of the notice board about whose battle record was stronger. But to the three Uchiha clan members from another time and space, it was like watching a movie whose ending they already knew.

"Alright, stop standing there in a daze." Natsu took the lead and walked towards the village entrance. "Come on, let me show you how well the Uchiha of this world has trained."

The three walked through the streets of Konoha, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.

The Training Ground was exceptionally quiet in the Dusk, broken only occasionally by the dull echo of Shuriken striking wooden stakes and the laughter of children chasing and playing.

Natsu, carrying Yakumi Yaoyu, found an inconspicuous spot at the edge of the Training Ground and sat down, quietly watching the young Uchiha clan members sweat profusely in front of the wooden stakes.

Their actions were exactly the same as those of the Clan Academy on Origin Island, but their eyes lacked the heaviness of being shrouded in the shadow of annihilation.

These children don't need to pick up Kunai war at the age of six, nor do they need to learn to distinguish between friend and foe in the world of Tsukuyomi.

They grew up in the sunshine and don't yet know what it means to be abandoned by the whole world.

"Lord Natsu Yin, you said they can train like this until dark without worrying about the Anbu suddenly coming to check on them." Yakumi suddenly spoke up, his tone still indifferent, but Natsu could tell that something was pressing down beneath that indifference.

"Well, at least for now." He leaned against an old camphor tree by the Training Ground, arms crossed, watching the tireless young figures in the Dusk.

As the last rays of sunlight sank below the Training Ground, the Chakra lamps on the sidelines automatically lit up, illuminating the entire Training Ground as if it were daytime.

The three of them sat quietly in the shadows, watching the Uchiha of another world grow up in the light.

When Tobirama Senju pushed open the wooden door of the Hokage Building, the moon had already risen over the Naka River.

He rubbed his throbbing temples, his fingertips still stained with ink—he had processed seventeen official documents today, three of which were reports of friction between the border patrol and the ninjas of the Flame Ninja Village, five were mediation applications from various ninja clans over territorial disputes, and the rest were all routine administrative tasks that Hashirama and Madara hadn't finished reviewing that day and had pushed onto him.

Only the light in his office was still on in the entire building; even the old man who was responsible for cleaning had long since gone home.

He walked along the stone path toward his home. The night breeze, carrying the moisture from the Naka River, swept over him, finally clearing some of the jumbled lists and numbers from his mind.

But what couldn't be dispelled was the restlessness that had been building up from morning till night.

Uchiha King Flame Ninja Village has once again impeached Konoha before the Daimyo, claiming that Konoha monopolized the Land of Fire's weapons orders, and even produced a so-called "list of evidence."

Tobirama had seen the list; half of it was fabricated out of thin air, and the other half was a misinterpretation of normal trade transactions.

But the Daimyo didn't care about any of that. Daimyo wanted was for the two ninja villages to check and balance each other, so that neither could become the dominant power.

He understood this art of balancing perfectly well.

What infuriated him even more was that no one had figured out where this Uchiha King had come from.

A distant relative of Madara Uchiha?

Or was it a branch leader who broke away from the main clan and acted independently during the Sengoku period?

He was able to withstand the pressure from Ban and lead a branch of the clan to establish their own, and even dragged some members of the Uzumaki Clan into his group.

Although the main force of the Uzumaki is still in the Land of Whirlpools, the sheer skill with which he managed to influence the Senju Clan Iron Alliance is enough to make Tobirama move him up several places on the threat list.

But none of these were the biggest headaches for him.

What troubled him most was that Hashirama and Madara would both be absent tomorrow.

The eldest brother's reason was as upright and honorable as ever—to go to the Clan Academy to teach the children about the Will of Fire, "This is the most important work."

Ban's reason was absurd—the cherry blossoms Naka River were in bloom, and he wanted to go see them, "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to see them."

Tobirama passed by the Naka River at noon today, and the cherry blossoms hadn't bloomed at all; the leaves hadn't even fully grown yet.

That guy just made up some excuse not to approve the documents.

He rubbed his temples, too lazy even to muster the energy to curse. All he wanted was to go back to bed and finish deriving the Forbidden Technique theory he was only halfway through researching in his dreams.

As I passed by the Training Ground, I glanced inside as usual and saw several young members of the Uchiha Clan still practicing Shuriken lamplight.

He withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.