The Chief's doubts still echoed in Ishiki's head.
"Ishiki… these are dreams. Fantasies. Impossible for the world we live in."
His expression had held no malice, only the grounded scepticism of a man who had lived his entire life surrounded by war, pain, and the slow erosion of hope.
Ishiki, however, had merely smiled.
If I had been born in this era, I wouldn't believe it either.A village of peace? A structured system? Ninja serving their people instead of clans? Impossible.
But he was not a child of this world.He carried knowledge from the future.He possessed the System.And he believed in miracles, because he had already lived one.
After assuring the Chief he would return for dinner, Ishiki headed toward the Naka River, the meeting point he, Hashirama, and Madara always used.
The path felt strangely quiet.Empty.A reminder of the emotional cracks that yesterday's revelations had created.
Hashirama and Madara…Their friendship had been forged so purely, so simply.Yet learning the truth, that they were sons of rival clans, must have struck them like lightning.
Ishiki hoped the week's silence meant they were simply grounded or recovering.Not that their bond had shattered.
The Naka River flowed peacefully, its surface glinting in the afternoon sun.
Ishiki waited.
And waited.
Hours passed. No sign of them.
His stomach growled in protest, so he got to work. With a flick of his newly crafted Denkomaru-Lasso Combo, he caught several large fish with almost comedic ease.
As he roasted his meal over a small campfire, the smell of cooking fish drifting lazily through the trees, he noticed two small silhouettes approaching from opposite sides of the riverbank.
He squinted.
"…No way."
Two boys emerged from the forest shadows, each no more than nine or ten years old.
Tobirama Senju.Izuna Uchiha.
Younger, shorter, angrier versions of Hashirama and Madara.
And the moment their eyes met,
Pure, inherited bloodlust exploded.
Their tiny bodies tensed.Their eyes sharpened.Their faces twisted into identical expressions of warrior rage.
Ishiki barely had time to step between them before,
They lunged.
Not at each other, but at him.
He grabbed their heads mid-charge, stopping them like misbehaving puppies.
"Oi. Calm down,"
But they twisted free with surprising agility for their age, leaping back and drawing weapons with practised hostility.
Tobirama's kunai gleamed.Izuna's shuriken flashed in the sunlight.
And before Ishiki could even finish inhaling,
They attacked.
Kunai slashes.Shuriken flurries.Wild charges.Angry screams.
Ishiki sighed.
He performed a seamless Body Replacement, a log replacing him just as weapons struck.
Reappearing nearby, he drew his Combo Weapon lazily.
"Really? You two also want a fight first thing in the afternoon?"
His weapon automatically parried every attack with insulting ease.Kunai bounced off.Shuriken were sliced mid-air.
Meanwhile, Ishiki stood there smiling, as if merely entertaining two kittens clawing at his ankles.
"Why are you two brats angry at me today?"
Izuna exploded first.
"SHUT UP! It's because of YOU that my brother was punished!"
He hurled a shuriken with enough force to take off someone's ear.
Tobirama followed, teeth clenched.
"My brother too! What did you SAY to Hashirama?! My father was furious!"
Ishiki blinked.
Ah.
Punishments.Groundings.Parental wrath.
Because two clan heirs came home talking about protecting a village together… after fighting alongside an enemy.
He almost laughed.
So they chose their friendship.Despite consequences.Despite everything.
That warmed him more than he admitted.
But right now,
He had two angry, weapon-wielding gremlins to restrain.
With a flick of his wrist, the Infinity Lasso snapped out, glowing faintly as it extended in mid-air.
Before Tobirama or Izuna could react,
SHWIP!
The rope wrapped around them both like a giant serpent.
"W-WHAT?!""LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD!!"
Ishiki tightened the lasso,
And tied them to a nearby tree. Together.
Pressed face-to-face.
He dusted his hands dramatically.
"Alright. Since you two clearly want to fight each other more than me…"
He leaned in with a wicked grin.
"If either of you struggles even a little,You'll kiss."
Both boys froze.
Eyes widened in horror.
"…You wouldn't," Tobirama growled.
"…Try me," Izuna spat.
Ishiki shrugged.
Then, deliberately, he tugged the lasso.
Their faces, so close already, smashed together with a soft, humiliating fwip.
A moment of horrified silence.
"YOU PIKE-HEADED FREAK!" Tobirama shrieked.
"YOU KISSED ME FIRST, YOU DUMBASS!" Izuna screamed back.
Their tiny bodies shook the tree violently, both furious enough to combust.
Ishiki collapsed to the ground laughing, clutching his stomach.
Hearing the humiliating chaos, both boys turned their united rage toward him.
Slowly.
Silently.
Murderously.
Their deadly, synchronised fury was almost adorable.
"Oh, now they're working together," Ishiki wheezed, wiping tears from laughter.
"Cute."
The two prodigy brothers, future monsters of the shinobi world, swore they would get vengeance.
On him.
Together.
And that, Ishiki realised…