Looking at the man reflected in the small mirror, Hayashi fell into deep thought.
This was only a temporary battlefield hospital, so finding a proper mirror should have been impossible. Fortunately, the little Uchiha girl loved looking at herself and always carried a small hand mirror, which Hayashi had borrowed.
The mirror itself wasn't important.
The man staring back at him was.
It was unmistakably his own face, but much older. Judging by his appearance, he looked to be around forty years old.
Combined with the girl's earlier shout, Hayashi finally understood what the Taikōjin's genjutsu had done.
It wasn't showing him his own future.
Instead, it had placed him in the role of Uchiha Kagami's father, who also happened to be Hayashi's grandfather.
Honestly, the experience wasn't bad.
Hayashi had been born in Konoha's twentieth year and had never seen the village during its founding era.
As the thought crossed his mind, he looked into the mirror once more and sighed.
"Even at forty, I'm still this handsome."
"Cough! Cough!"
The little girl, who had been happily eating an apple, immediately choked.
Hayashi gently patted her back until she caught her breath before tossing the mirror back to her.
She hurriedly caught it, shot him an annoyed glare, and carefully tucked it back into her ninja pouch as though it were a priceless treasure.
"Who gave it to you?" Hayashi asked with a grin. "You seem awfully protective of it."
He was confident in his ability to read people. A tiny detail like that wasn't going to escape his notice.
"N... no one!"
The little girl stopped eating and clutched her pouch even tighter, looking as though Hayashi might steal it at any moment.
"Don't tell me it was a gift from Uchiha Kagami."
Hayashi smiled teasingly.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
"Tsk. Not bad. Learning how to win girls over at such a young age."
He nodded with satisfaction, wearing the expression of a proud father.
Then he suddenly froze.
"Wait... that's not right."
"What about Utatane Koharu?"
Clearing his throat, Hayashi looked at her seriously.
"Little girl, what's your name?"
She blinked in confusion.
Leaning over the bed, she reached out and placed a hand on his forehead before comparing it with her own.
"You don't have a fever," she muttered. "So why is something wrong with your head?"
Hayashi chuckled and lightly tapped her forehead before ruffling her hair.
"What's your name?"
She puffed out her cheeks but didn't move away from his hand.
"Mister, are you really confused? I'm Mikoto."
"Mikoto..."
Hayashi was stunned.
Wasn't that his mother's name?
Wait...
So this meant...
She was the one who ultimately married Uchiha Kagami.
Poor Utatane Koharu had lost after all.
Hayashi had been an orphan in both lives. By the time he was reborn into this world, Uchiha Kagami and Mikoto had already passed away, so he had never developed much attachment to them as his parents.
Ironically, he had spent more time with Utatane Koharu and felt closer to her.
Because of that, he had often thought it would have been nice if Kagami had ended up with Koharu instead.
Now, seeing his mother as a little girl, his feelings became rather complicated.
At last, he understood why Koharu had lost.
Kagami and Mikoto had grown up together as childhood friends.
Koharu, on the other hand, had arrived later.
She never really stood a chance.
While Hayashi was lost in thought, Mikoto washed another apple and happily took small bites from it.
Sitting beside the bed, her fair legs swung back and forth as she ate with obvious delight.
Hayashi glanced at the empty fruit plate beside his bed and raised an eyebrow.
"Mikoto, let me ask you something."
"Weren't those fruits brought here for the patient?"
"How did you end up eating all of them?"
"Here."
Without hesitation, Mikoto offered him the half-eaten apple in her hand.
Hayashi looked at it with obvious disgust.
"I'll pass."
Mikoto giggled and continued eating as if nothing had happened.
Hayashi could only stare at her speechlessly.
...
Since Hayashi had entered this constructed world through the Taikōjin's genjutsu, he hadn't inherited any of this body's memories.
To avoid raising suspicion, he simply pretended to be suffering from memory loss.
The excuse worked surprisingly well.
Before long, he had learned a great deal from Mikoto.
The current leader of the Uchiha Clan was Uchiha Madara.
The Uchiha and Senju had reached an agreement and were preparing to build the first hidden village in the shinobi world.
Konohagakure was about to be founded.
Unfortunately, Hayashi's current identity, Uchiha Kagami's father, had been gravely wounded during the final battle between the two clans.
With the current state of medical ninjutsu, the injuries were considered permanent.
He would likely spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair, much like Might Guy after the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Still, there was one silver lining.
With the village about to be established, generous benefits were being introduced to encourage other clans to join.
In other words, Hayashi would become one of Konoha's first retired shinobi to receive a war pension.
He had managed to catch the benefits of a new era.
It was proof of the advantages offered by the hidden village system.
Even so...
That wasn't exactly something worth celebrating.
Instead of feeling happy, Hayashi wanted to cry.
One thing, however, was certain.
The Warring States Period was drawing to a close.
Peace and unity were finally coming to the Land of Fire.
...
Ironically, the closer peace came, the more chaotic the Land of Fire became.
The reason was simple.
Later generations only remembered the glorious tale of the First Hokage ending the age of war and founding Konohagakure.
History books praised the achievement with endless admiration.
Reality, however, had been far harsher.
The process of creating Konoha had been at least ten times more complicated, and ten times more brutal, than the records suggested.
For over a thousand years, the shinobi world had revolved around independent clans.
Never once had they been united under a single organization.
Now, the two strongest clans in existence were joining forces to create an entirely new system.
Naturally, every other clan viewed the idea with suspicion.
Many even convinced themselves that the Uchiha and Senju were using the village as a trap to seize their secret techniques and clan inheritances.
That was simply the mindset of the era.
Faced with such a massive change, confusion and fear were inevitable.
But history had little patience for hesitation.
The choices were simple.
Submit.
Or be swept away by the tide of the times.
That was the cruel reality.
Why had only Konohagakure emerged within the Land of Fire?
Was it because every clan had willingly embraced the hidden village system?
Of course not.
Whenever another group attempted to establish a rival hidden village, they were crushed before it could take root.
There had been no mercy.
Only bloodshed.
Many clans, unwilling to surrender their independence, fled to neighboring countries in hopes of surviving on their own.
They had no idea that, once the Five Great Hidden Villages were established, independent shinobi clans would gradually be hunted down and disappear from history.
This was the final struggle of the Warring States Period.
Its last burst of defiance before the dawn of a new age.
___
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