After only a few short days with Shingetsu, Edo Madara suddenly understood why the birth of a single child had set his other self on a completely different path in life.
He also understood just what he had missed out on all those years ago.
Shingetsu knew Madara far too well. Sensing him approach, she merely cracked her eyes open, still half asleep.
Once she confirmed it was him, she closed them again without a worry and mumbled:
"Master... let me sleep five more minutes. Just five..."
With that, she sank back into a deep slumber.
Shingetsu could sleep so soundly because Edo Madara had never truly intended to kill her.
But that wholehearted trust only made him envy his incredibly fortunate other self all the more.
Looking at the foolish child curled up and snoring away, utterly oblivious to how narrowly she had just escaped disaster, Edo Madara shook his head. She hardly seemed like a shinobi at all, yet a faint smile still tugged at his lips:
"You really never grow up."
For her to have been sheltered this thoroughly, his self in that world must have loved her dearly.
Just then, Izuna sensed something was wrong and pushed the door open. Though the scene before him looked heartwarming, his heart instantly raced so fast it nearly leaped out of his chest:
"Brother!"
As the memory gradually faded from his mind, a bitter smile appeared on Izuna's face.
Over the past few days, he and Hashirama had truly been scared out of their wits, staying by Shingetsu's side every moment.
Originally, neither of them had wanted to leave so soon. They simply couldn't trust those two fools to run a country.
Now, however, they were even more eager to leave than Shingetsu, terrified that Edo Madara would do