After several days of relentless rain, the skies finally cleared.
At that moment, dozens of shinobi departed from the battlefield. Every one of them was an elite from a prominent clan. Despite such a large group moving openly across the war zone, not a single person dared stand in their way.
Each carried news that would shake the entire shinobi world.
News that would change history itself.
The era later remembered by historians as the final stage of the Warring States Period had reached its climax. With the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan locked in an all-out war, the Land of Fire had been completely divided into two opposing camps.
After nearly a year and a half of constant conflict, the nation had undergone dramatic change.
Countless shinobi clans had been destroyed, fallen into decline, risen to prominence, or abandoned their ancestral lands in search of survival elsewhere.
Among the most famous events was the battle in which Senju Hashirama, head of the Senju Clan, fought fifty elite members of the Kaguya Clan alone. He slew six of their greatest elders, including the clan leader himself, sending shockwaves throughout the shinobi world.
As descendants of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Kaguya Clan suffered a devastating blow. Left with no other choice, they crossed the sea and relocated the remnants of their clan to the Land of Water.
The Uchiha Clan lost one of their strongest allies.
At nearly the same time, Uchiha Madara, already feared as the Shinigami, infiltrated the Hyuga Clan alone. He killed Hyuga Ichizoku, the wielder of the clan's strongest Byakugan, and devastated nearly half of the Hyuga territory.
The ancient Hyuga Clan was nearly destroyed by that battle. Forced into survival, they abandoned their position as allies and became dependents of the Senju Clan.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha effortlessly secured control of the Akina Mountain region without spilling a single drop of blood.
Incidents like these occurred across the Land of Fire.
The war between the Uchiha Alliance and the Senju Alliance had reached an unprecedented level of intensity.
Previous conflicts during the Warring States Period were usually fought between individual clans. Even battles involving several allied families rarely lasted more than a few months.
This war was different.
Nearly every major clan in the Land of Fire had been drawn into the conflict. Its scale and duration surpassed anything recorded in the history of the era.
Calling it a full-scale civil war within the Land of Fire would not have been an exaggeration.
Few people, however, knew what had truly ignited this conflict.
It all began when Madara's younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, was killed by Senju Tobirama.
Izuna had been Madara's last surviving brother.
After his death, any remaining restraint between the Uchiha and Senju disappeared. Both sides abandoned all pretense and carved the Land of Fire into their own spheres of influence.
Every clan was forced to choose a side.
Those who refused, or attempted to remain neutral, were simply erased.
Once the opposition had been eliminated, Madara ignored every objection and led the Uchiha Alliance into a final campaign against the equally powerful Senju Clan.
Yet the course of the war unfolded in unexpected ways.
Following several major battles, the Senju Alliance, once holding the clear advantage, gradually began to lose ground.
The reason was simple.
Madara had transplanted Izuna's Mangekyō Sharingan.
His eyesight was restored, and he awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Its power elevated him to an entirely new level.
More importantly, he gained access to the ultimate form of Susanoo, the Perfect Susanoo.
Faced with that overwhelming power, no shinobi could stand against him.
Not even Senju Hashirama.
The Senju Alliance suffered one defeat after another, retreating more than two hundred miles north of the Naka River.
The Uchiha reclaimed all of their lost territory in a single sweeping advance.
Morale within the Senju Alliance began to falter.
Hashirama disappeared from the battlefield for many days, giving rise to countless rumors throughout the Land of Fire. Many confidently claimed that the only man capable of matching Madara had finally succumbed to his injuries.
Then, without warning, Hashirama returned.
When the fighting resumed, he once again stood on equal footing with Madara.
The reason soon became apparent.
He had mastered Sage Mode.
As the battles continued, Hashirama's control over Senjutsu steadily improved, while Madara gradually began to lose the advantage.
Not long afterward, the Senju Clan's ally, the Uzumaki Clan, launched a surprise invasion into the Land of Fire, striking the Uchiha Alliance from the flank.
Recognizing the opportunity, Tobirama immediately mobilized the allied forces and unleashed a relentless series of rapid offensives.
His swift and aggressive tactics shattered the Uchiha battle lines before they could reorganize.
At the same time, Madara was completely occupied by Hashirama.
Together, these factors led to the decisive victory at the Battle of the Naka River.
The Uchiha were driven into the canyon west of the river, cut off from their allies, and completely surrounded.
The Senju Alliance celebrated.
Victory seemed inevitable.
Anyone with military insight could see that the Uchiha Clan stood on the brink of defeat, and the Senju Clan appeared destined to become the dominant power in the Land of Fire.
Yet under those circumstances, Senju Hashirama, hailed as the greatest genius the Senju Clan had produced in a thousand years and a man whose strength rivaled an entire nation, made a decision that would be debated by generations of historians.
He abandoned the final assault.
Instead...
He proposed peace talks.
To demonstrate his sincerity, Hashirama released every captured Uchiha prisoner.
He even ordered a gap opened in the encirclement and withdrew his forces one hundred miles.
The trap that had cost the lives of ten thousand shinobi disappeared overnight.
To many, it was the same as handing away the hard-earned victory of the Battle of the Naka River.
Although heavily battered, the Uchiha still retained enough strength to continue the war once they reconnected with their remaining allies.
For the first time in their lives, Hashirama and Tobirama found themselves in serious disagreement.
Tobirama believed the retreat had given the Uchiha a chance to recover.
He argued they should wipe out the clan completely before establishing a unified force led by the Senju.
Normally calm and compassionate, Hashirama rarely lost his temper.
This time, however, he openly rebuked his younger brother and insisted that peace was the only path forward.
His determination was eventually rewarded.
Half a month later, Madara accepted the proposal.
The two leaders formally signed an agreement to establish a new hidden village together.
Konohagakure.
The shinobi leaving the battlefield carried that historic news back to their respective clans.
As word spread across the Land of Fire, it struck like a thunderbolt beneath a clear summer sky.
The Warring States Period was coming to an end.
A new era was about to begin.
...
Within that changing world, a man slowly opened his eyes.
Hayashi awoke.
He stared at the ceiling of the tent above him before rubbing his aching eyes.
One glance was enough to identify it as an Uchiha tent.
The familiar fan crest was clearly embroidered on the fabric.
So this illusion was different from the last one.
It wasn't recreating a life from his previous world.
He was still in the shinobi world.
The shinobi world is much better...
Hayashi let out a long breath of relief.
If he really had to spend decades reliving his previous life, he doubted he could endure it.
"Am I injured?"
The sharp scent of medicinal alcohol filled his nose, while pain spread throughout his body.
Battle wounds.
That had to be it.
Could this illusion be recreating the aftermath of the Fourth Great Ninja War, after he had fought Kaguya Ōtsutsuki for hundreds of exchanges before finally defeating her?
If so, ending up heavily wounded certainly made sense.
But after taking another careful look around, Hayashi realized something was terribly wrong.
Very wrong.
Everything inside the tent looked... old.
Not worn out.
The equipment was well maintained.
It simply belonged to another era.
The armor resting on the nearby chair immediately caught his attention.
Its design was unmistakably from the Warring States Period, the same style of armor Madara had once worn.
It looked completely out of place compared to the equipment used by the Shinobi Allied Forces.
Has this kind of antique become fashionable again?
He couldn't understand modern trends.
Still confused, Hayashi stopped overthinking it as a headache throbbed through his skull. He slowly sat up and tried moving his right arm.
Just then, an excited cry came from outside the tent.
A little Uchiha girl, no older than seven or eight, with twin ponytails, stared at him in disbelief. She waved her small arms frantically and shouted,
"Kagami! Hurry! Your father is awake!"
Hayashi fell silent.
"..."
This time, whatever force was behind this illusion had taken the joke far too far.