"Oh!"
Naruto hurriedly rummaged through his ninja gear pouch.
First, he pulled out the mission scroll and handed it to his dad, Minato Namikaze.
Minato opened the mission scroll.
[Mission Rank: S-rank]
[Mission Details: Prevent Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki from sealing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.]
[Mission Status: Completed.]
[Notes: 1 failure.]
"Dad, when did you put one of your kunai in my ninja gear pouch?"
Naruto had been searching for quite a while. Before he could find the mission reward from the scroll, he instead pulled out one of his dad's kunai.
Minato Namikaze looked puzzled. "I didn't put one of my kunai in your ninja gear pouch. Could the Fourth Hokage version of me have put it there?"
After Kushina was resurrected, Naruto naturally moved in with the Fourth Hokage, Minato, and Kushina. The three of them lived in a cozy, comfortable little house in Konoha.
Kannabi Bridge Minato, meanwhile, continued living with his three students in the Kakashi family's old mansion. He did not necessarily see Naruto every day.
It would not have been strange for the Fourth Hokage, Minato, to leave one of his kunai in Naruto's ninja gear pouch. He had probably done it so he and Kushina could reach their son immediately if Naruto ever ran into trouble.
Naruto handed the kunai to Kannabi Bridge Minato, then continued searching his ninja gear pouch. When he still could not find anything resembling an S-rank mission reward, everyone turned to stare at the kunai.
"Could this thing be..."
"The reward for the S-rank mission?"
Everyone fell silent.
Obito, Young Kakashi, and the others carefully examined the kunai in Minato-sensei's hand. It was indeed the distinctive design they all recognized. Four exceedingly romantic and rather overdramatic characters were engraved on its handle:
[Sword of Love]
Izuna Uchiha rolled his eyes. He had a feeling this mission could easily rank among the ten worst losses of his entire life.
"I may have to reevaluate your luck, Naruto," Tobirama Senju said.
Even the Second Hokage sighed and joined in the complaints.
"After overcoming countless difficulties and nearly losing one of our people, the reward is a ninjutsu I developed myself. What a complete loss!"
"Tobirama, Tobirama." Hashirama Senju quietly nudged his younger brother and pointed toward Naruto. "If you and Izuna keep talking like that, Naruto's going to get depressed."
They followed Hashirama's finger and saw Naruto curled into a small ball, looking utterly miserable.
"Don't copy my idiot big brother's habit of sinking into despair!"
"But..." Naruto still looked aggrieved. "This mission nearly got Ashura-kun killed, dattebayo."
Sasuke was just about to say something to comfort the dead last.
"To be precise, Ashura did die once," Indra said coldly. "It would be best if your future missions stopped involving us."
"B-Big Brother."
Ashura quickly stepped between them to smooth things over. "It's all right, Naruto. My brother is just angry right now. He'll calm down soon. Sorry."
Then he hurriedly turned to reaffirm his loyalty to his brother.
"Even though I came back to life, nothing I said to you then was false. In my eyes, you have always been the most suitable heir to the ninshū. I sincerely hope you'll surround yourself with companions and become the leader of the ninshū!"
After saying that, he even copied the pleading look Hashirama always used whenever he wanted to leave Tobirama helpless.
"Big Brother."
There was always something capable of subduing even the most difficult person. Faced with Ashura's earnest gaze, Indra had no choice but to look away first.
"We'll discuss that after we return to our own era."
Everyone watched the interaction between Indra and Ashura and silently reached the same conclusion.
The Uchiha ancestor had backed down.
For some reason, however, Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha both felt strangely embarrassed.
Naruto and Hashirama, meanwhile, laughed louder than anyone else, completely oblivious to how the two Uchiha felt. Hmph!
"Although S-rank mission rewards are usually related to abilities such as ninjutsu or Kekkei Genkai..."
Tobirama Senju took the Flying Thunder God Technique kunai that the mission scroll had issued as a reward from Minato Namikaze.
The four large characters spelling out [Sword of Love] made the corners of his eyes and mouth twitch at the same time.
Still, he did not feel it was appropriate to comment on a junior's personal tastes. Instead, he channeled chakra into the kunai and began analyzing the formula engraved within it.
A moment later, his white brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of confusion appeared in his vermilion eyes.
"What's wrong, Second Hokage-sama?" Minato Namikaze asked immediately upon noticing his reaction.
"Do you normally add this section to your Flying Thunder God Technique formula?" Tobirama asked. "The formula I designed contains nothing like it."
"Huh?"
Minato Namikaze froze, looking like a blond dog that had failed to understand what it had just been told.
He took the kunai and used his chakra to examine the Flying Thunder God Technique formula engraved within it. Sure enough, after several seconds, he also noticed something unusual.
"Second Hokage-sama, this kunai really does contain a section of the formula that I don't recognize! Do you know what it means?"
"It isn't part of any formula I designed. I'll need some time to decipher it."
With that, the two of them entered full research mode, discussing and analyzing the additional formula inside the kunai.
Hashirama and Naruto tilted their heads in exactly the same way, their faces filled with confusion. To them, everything their younger brother and dad were saying might as well have been written in some incomprehensible scripture.
They were not alone. No one else present could understand the conversation either.
Space-Time Ninjutsu formulas, coordinates, chakra circulation, sensory abilities, reverse Summoning Jutsu, Summoning Techniques, and Fūinjutsu.
The subject covered an enormous range of knowledge. It was like a group of physical fighters surrounding two mages and listening to them explain how to use arcane arts to launch a wide-area magical attack.
Or perhaps...
It was like watching two programmers stare at an ocean of code while trying to identify the exact line responsible for a bug.
No one understood it, but they were deeply impressed.
Hashirama Senju tilted his head in confusion, then took the lead and sat cross-legged on the ground, listening as Tobirama and Minato modestly exchanged ideas on the subject.
He did not forget to turn toward Madara and Izuna and boast about how brilliant his younger brother was.
Naruto behaved exactly the same way, proudly bragging about his dad to Kurama inside him, as well as Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei beside him.
"Hmph. That's about the only good quality he has," Madara Uchiha admitted reluctantly, satisfying Hashirama's vanity by acknowledging his praise for his younger brother.
Izuna silently added that being fairly good-looking could barely count as another good quality.
Meanwhile, Kaguya and her maid Aino approached Indra and Ashura.
"You have awakened the Rinnegan."
Her words were clearly directed at Indra.
Since Ashura's previous death had been caused by another Kaguya Ōtsutsuki from a parallel world, Indra was extremely wary of her. He immediately revealed his Rinnegan and glared at her.
Ashura stood helplessly just behind his brother and tried to explain everything to their grandmother.
He wanted to conceal the fact that his father and uncle would one day try to seal her away. Combined with the fact that Ashura had never been particularly good at thinking things through, his explanation quickly became a confused mess.
Indra found the whole thing troublesome and simply revealed the truth, making Ashura break out in a cold sweat.
Sure enough, when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki heard that the two children still in her womb would eventually choose to seal her away, a brief flash of astonishment crossed her face.
Aino, standing behind her, found it even harder to believe. She demanded to know why the brothers' father and uncle would do such a thing.
"Kaguya-sama endured so much to give birth to them! How could they bear to seal their own mother away with their own hands?!"
The thought of Kaguya-sama spending the future alone in the heavens, gazing down at the earth below, made Aino's heart ache so badly that she forgot her place as a maid and began arguing with the brothers.
Indra's explanation was simple.
"Our father is beyond saving."
In the previous parallel world, Indra's opinion of his young father had fallen below freezing the moment Hagoromo gave up on saving Ashura.
Hearing his brother speak so bluntly, Ashura hurried to defend both him and their unborn father.
"There were actually many complicated circumstances involved. After Grandmother ate the Chakra Fruit, she became too powerful and too far removed from everyone else. She could no longer understand the feelings of ordinary people. Later, she even used living people as sacrifices to cultivate the God Tree. That was why Father had to..."
"Living people as sacrifices?!"
Aino stared at Indra and Ashura in shock, unable to believe what they were saying.
She wanted to defend Kaguya-sama. Kaguya-sama desired peace more than anyone, so how could she possibly sacrifice living people?
Moreover, Kaguya was the person who understood best that no one should approach the God Tree. When Aino had once brought up the subject, Kaguya had personally confirmed that the rumors were true. Anyone who approached the God Tree would have their vitality drained away.
Unlike Aino, whose emotions remained in turmoil, Kaguya had shown astonishment only for an instant. She soon returned to her usual serene, ethereal composure.
Just then, Young Kakashi was sent over to find Indra and Ashura. He told them that the Second Hokage-sama and Minato-sensei had finished deciphering the meaning of the unusual formula inside the special Flying Thunder God Technique kunai.
"We only have one chance to test it. Minato-sensei asked everyone to come over so we can discuss it together."
Indra had previously told Minato Namikaze not to involve the two brothers in any more missions. However, neither he nor Ashura could remain in this world forever, so his earlier warning could only be treated as something said in anger.
Indra and Ashura returned with Kaguya and Aino to where Minato Namikaze and the others had gathered.
Tobirama Senju explained, "The additional formula inside this Flying Thunder God Technique kunai allows us to channel chakra into it while envisioning either a place or a person. The power contained within the kunai will then take us directly to that location or to that person's side."
Kaguya might have seemed detached and ethereal, but she understood exactly what the white-haired, red-eyed man was implying.
She extended one pale arm.
"I shall take you to Isshiki Ōtsutsuki."