None of the Senju Jonin on guard noticed anything amiss. Their memories had been rewritten to show that Hashirama Senju had never left, and none of them realized that an hour had vanished from their lives for no reason.
"Young master!"
With a rush of air, a middle-aged ninja landed in the courtyard. The Jonin guards reflexively used the Body Flicker Technique to rush inside, then hurriedly bowed when they recognized him. "Elder Shin!"
"Grandpa Shin!"
Hashirama Senju called out in his childish voice.
Seeing that Hashirama Senju was all right, Shin Senju's expression eased. Only after carefully confirming that Hashirama Senju was completely unharmed did he wave away the Jonin around him.
"Young master, Grandpa Shin is here to take you all back. Play in the courtyard for a while. I'll go inform the mistress first."
"Okay, Grandpa Shin."
Shin Senju knocked and went inside. Little Hashirama bent down in the courtyard and found a suitable pebble. With a flick of his hand, the stone skipped repeatedly across the pond, only bouncing back into the water after it struck the wall.
The Senju Jonin, who had been watching the courtyard the whole time, were utterly baffled. Hadn't the young master been all thumbs before? How had he suddenly gotten the hang of it?
They understood now. His talent for throwing shuriken had awakened!
As expected of a ninja prodigy who had inherited the clan leader's bloodline!
"So you can't go backward along a timeline you've already visited, but you can jump forward. Is that right?"
[Once a waypoint has been recorded, you can choose a later point on that timeline the next time you enter, but repeatedly jumping back and forth is not permitted.]
"Got it."
As the sun sank in the west, Josen ate freshly charcoal-grilled wild