Kitahara Kaede noticed Shukaku was cowering, and a certain chubby fox had its back turned to everyone, hiding in the corner.
"Whew…"
"You okay?"
Hinata visibly relaxed when she saw Kitahara Kaede peek his head in.
"Eh?"
Hinata was stunned for a moment.
Kitahara Kaede's little ninja bunny also hopped up in front of him—but froze as well.
Because… all three of them had the same eyes.
All of them—pure white.
Hinata had the Byakugan—everyone knew that.
And Kitahara Kaede's little ninja bunny also had the Byakugan. Everyone in the Descendant Chat Group knew that too. Even Hinata herself often felt, whenever the bunny stared at her, it was like she was being looked at as some kind of inferior creature.
So she naturally became timid.
She accepted this.
But the current situation was…
"Eh!?"
Hinata's small mouth opened slightly, surprise clearly written on her face.
Because when Kitahara Kaede entered, his eyes were the same as hers.
Byakugan!?
"Hmm?"
Kaede had been about to hold her hand when he noticed her expression.
"You're worried about that, huh…"
He covered one eye with a hand, then lifted it—and his pupils returned to their usual golden hue.
As if the white Byakugan from earlier was just an illusion.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: …
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Huh.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: I… don't get it anymore.
[Filial Son - Black Zetsu]: …
[Filial Son - Black Zetsu]: I don't get it either.
Because—
Since when could Ōtsutsuki bloodlines be suppressed at will?
It had never seen Kaguya-sama's Byakugan change into regular black eyes or a Sharingan or anything.
But now—
Black Zetsu watched as the little bunny at the center of the chat group floated toward Kaede, lifted its neatly trimmed little paws, and patted his face.
As if to confirm whether his eyes were really Byakugan.
Clearly—
It wasn't wrong. Kaede must've absorbed Toneri's Tenseigan and obtained an Ōtsutsuki body.
Otherwise, Kaguya-sama wouldn't be acting this extreme.
"We're safe for now," Kitahara Kaede said. "Things turned out different than I expected… I need to re-plan."
"I originally thought this was just a single world…"
"But…"
"I didn't expect the movie timeline to get mixed in…"
Kaede said.
"Huh?" Hinata blinked.
Even Black Zetsu frowned, its big eyes filled with confusion.
[Tobirama Senju]: …
[Tobirama Senju]: …
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: ?
[Tobirama Senju]: Earlier, we assumed Kitahara Kaede might be from the future, right?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Yeah.
[Minato Namikaze]: I agree as well.
[Minato Namikaze]: Because otherwise, how would he know so much?
[Minato Namikaze]: He even helped prevent my Naruto from having an even more tragic life.
[Tobirama Senju]: …
Tobirama felt like he'd been stabbed in the back.
But he couldn't refute what Minato said.
Because the Third Hokage's inaction—no, misaction—was very real.
If he put himself in that position… if Tsunade had been made a Jinchūriki and treated like Naruto had, he might've gone on a rampage through Konoha himself.
Because—
If a village can't protect, and even purposely harms its descendants… what's left worth protecting?
Back on topic.
Not just Minato—Tobirama himself believed Kitahara Kaede was from the future.
Because when anyone joined the group, the second thing they saw was the group's description: it connects the past, present, and future.
The present was Kakashi and crew, the past was the previous Hokage…
So a link to the future wasn't strange at all.
Not at all.
Maybe Kaede's refusal to become the next Hokage was because he already did in the future and was exhausted by it.
And given that the group's alternate name is Kitahara Kaede's Livestream, wouldn't it be weird if he wasn't the key figure?
After repeating this to himself a few times, Tobirama accepted Minato's viewpoint.
That was his conclusion.
[Tobirama Senju]: But the issue now is—Ōtsutsuki Toneri appearing on-site goes beyond his expectations.
[Tobirama Senju]: Meaning… have our appearances and various changes caused the future to shift?
[Tobirama Senju]: Was Toneri never supposed to appear in his known timeline?
[Minato Namikaze]: If that's the case… then did my Naruto change destiny?
[Minato Namikaze]: …
Minato fell silent.
After everything, he'd watched Naruto work hard in the group to gain recognition. Even without Kaede, Naruto might've still become Hokage one day.
Because Minato believed in his son—he believed Naruto was like the never-give-up protagonist in Jiraiya's stories.
But the key was: how much suffering would he endure along the way?
And most of that was because of him—Naruto's irresponsible father, the Fourth Hokage.
"..."
Minato couldn't deny his role in it. But he really didn't want Naruto to keep suffering forever.
That's why—
He actually accepted or even preferred the change Kaede brought about.
Less suffering. More hope.
He got teammates, teachers, and friends he could count on.
[Tobirama Senju]: …
[Tobirama Senju]: Then… could my presence have changed the original story too?
[Tobirama Senju]: If Orochimaru hadn't joined the group, I wouldn't have known he'd Edo Tensei me.
[Tobirama Senju]: I wouldn't have been able to take charge of the village like now…
[Tobirama Senju]: …
[Tobirama Senju]: So is my presence the reason the future's path has changed?
[Fourth Raikage - A]: So Kaede knew everything, and if nothing changed, my Cloud Village wouldn't have been destroyed?
[Fourth Raikage - A]: Konoha, you owe us big time!
The Fourth Raikage suddenly snapped.
[Tobirama Senju]: Eat dirt!
Tobirama responded coldly.
[Tobirama Senju]: Don't forget—you sent people to kidnap Hinata!
[Tobirama Senju]: Given Kaede's relationship with her, did you really think your Cloud Village would've been left alone?
[Fourth Raikage - A]: …Ugh…
The Raikage fell silent.
Because honestly, no one told them Hinata was off-limits.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: …
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: So the appearance of Toneri wasn't part of Kaede's original story?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Was it because of me? When Madara showed up, maybe I was supposed to fight him, but Kaede stepped in knowing I'd lose.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: And that caused Toneri's appearance?
[Filial Son - Black Zetsu]: …
[Filial Son - Black Zetsu]: …
At this point, it understood.
Everyone in the chat believed Toneri's appearance was abnormal—not part of the original timeline Kaede knew.
So they all assumed it was their fault. That their interference using the group had altered reality and summoned Toneri—the massive boss-level threat.
In other words—it wasn't supposed to happen.
And…
Where there's a cause, there's a consequence.
Black Zetsu knew—this one might be on it.
Because originally, Kitahara Kaede probably didn't know Toneri was on the Moon.
If he did, he wouldn't have sent Black Zetsu to check on Kaguya-sama's condition up there.
"..." Filial Son - Black Zetsu.
"..." Filial Son - Black Zetsu.