Meanwhile, inside Konoha's Hokage Office, the atmosphere was unbearably oppressive. None of the fervor outside reached this room; only heavy solemnity and worry remained.
Tsunade stood by the window, gazing at the shifting light of the Sky Screen overhead. Her eyes were distant, her heart weighed down by the passage of ages, as she slowly spoke with a sigh.
"Those days were so very long ago... Ages passed, and the world changed beyond recognition."
"Even now, Imu still lives in a hidden Pocket World, immortal and undying, cut off from the world, silently looking down on our broken, chaotic Shinobi World."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat upright in his chair, gently tapping his fingertips against the desk. His aged eyes held the weariness and helplessness of someone who had seen through the ways of the world, and he let out a long sigh.
"Immortality truly is the most alluring, most ruinous, and most inescapable temptation in this world."
"Now I finally understand why Imu, despite living in the Pocket World, remains so deeply obsessed, repeatedly seeking to return to the Living World and interfere with the changes in the Shinobi World."
"This is the world it swore before a god to protect, the world it personally promised to safeguard."
Tsunade's brows knitted tightly. Worry filled her heart, and deep unease colored her voice.
"But in the end, it was forced to leave."
"The Shinobi World today is plagued by endless war, entrenched hatred, confused hearts, and collapsing order. It is no longer the peaceful world the god entrusted to it."
"No one knows when Imu will emerge from hiding and truly return. Nor does anyone know whether that departed god will one day descend upon this world again."
"For our Shinobi World, that would be anything but good news."
"The order, peace,