On the seventh day, at four in the morning.
The sky was still dark, without even a hint of dawn. Shuo stood at the village entrance with a candy in his mouth, its sweetness slowly seeping down his throat. Sai stood beside him. Neither spoke; there was only the sound of the wind.
After about five minutes, three figures emerged from the darkness-Minato, Kakashi, and someone unexpected: Gaara.
Shuo blinked, a little surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Gaara looked at him, his voice flat but earnest. "I owe you. For that candy last time."
Shuo paused, then the corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile. "All right."
The five of them headed east. The place Obito had mentioned was on the border of the Land of Fire, in the Valley of the End-where Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had fought their decisive battle.
After an hour of walking, the sky gradually brightened. Two enormous stone statues appeared ahead, facing each other with their hands forming seals, their imposing presence frightening. Madara stood on the left and Hashirama on the right, with a great waterfall between them. Its thunderous roar made their ears go numb.
"We're here." Shuo stopped, his gaze settling behind the waterfall.
A cave lay hidden there. Lightspeed Thinking kicked in instinctively-there was an enormous mass of chakra inside, along with another, very familiar presence: Obito.
"Come out," he called toward the waterfall.
Behind the waterfall, space suddenly warped like crumpled paper. A figure stepped out, wearing an Akatsuki cloak and still wearing the Spiral Mask over his face.
Obito looked at the five people before him, his voice unruffled. "You're here. More of you than I expected."
Shuo stepped forward. "Where's Rin?"
Obito raised a hand, and space began warping again. Behind the waterfall,