"The Tsukuyomi world..." Mamoru murmured to himself, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in the silence.
Spreading his hands, he found his palms had shrunk a size. His body had returned to the state of a young child, just as it was when he first transmigrated into this world.
He looked around. The familiar house structure, the familiar furniture arrangement...
This was clearly his home, except all color had been drained away, leaving only an oppressive black and white.
"This is our home."
Itachi's voice sounded from the void, ethereal and drifting, as if from far away yet right next to his ear.
Two people suddenly appeared on the floor in the center of the room.
Fugaku and Mikoto sat kneeling upright, their expressions terrifyingly calm.
Behind them, Itachi from his Anbu period slowly emerged, the gaze beneath his mask as cold as frost.
"Wuu..."
The sound of sobbing from beside him caught Mamoru's attention. He saw Sasuke sprawled on the ground, crawling forward while crying helplessly.
Seeing this, Mamoru finally couldn't take it anymore. He frowned deeply and shouted at the empty room, "That's enough!"
A phantom figure coalesced behind him, and Itachi's voice rang out again. "You are weak. For the next twenty-four hours, you will wander through that day."
As the voice echoed, the Anbu Itachi behind Fugaku and Mikoto raised the long blade in his hand high and slashed down without hesitation.
"Stop it!" Sasuke, lying on the ground, cried out loudly.
White blood blossomed and sprayed, splattering onto the floor like oil paint.
Two black-and-white heads rolled to Mamoru's feet. He glanced down, and the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably.
The two headless corpses collapsed and white 'blood' gushed from the severed necks, quickly staining the entire room's floor a ghastly white.
"Aaaah... why... why... why..."
Sasuke curled up in the pool of blood, wailing in pain, questioning over and over.
Mamoru, who normally had no qualms about killing, felt a wave of nausea at this moment and instinctively took a step back.
Just then, Itachi's figure suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind, his cold voice echoing in his ear. "You have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to seek refuge."
Meanwhile, the Anbu Itachi standing in the pool of white blood gave a cold sneer.
The scene changed again.
On a street outlined in black and white, Mamoru stood in a daze. He quickly recognized it as the commercial street of the Uchiha compound.
Before he could adapt to this new scene, the image suddenly shifted to Itachi massacring the clansmen on the street.
Clansmen fell one after another, white 'blood' merging into a river.
When the last Uchiha fell, Itachi turned and walked toward him, getting closer and closer.
Itachi gazed down at him. "Someone like you isn't worth killing, my foolish little brother. If you want to kill me, then resent me, hate me, and then, live an ugly life. Run with all your might, and cling to life with all your might."
Mamoru slowly closed his eyes and said calmly, "Unfortunately, I have no resentment or hatred for you, nor do I want to kill you."
He opened his eyes again, and a deep blue color abruptly broke into the black-and-white world.
"And... I'll be borrowing this world for a bit."
As soon as he finished speaking, the black-and-white street seemed to be hit by an invisible hurricane. The black and white peeled off like wall paint and vanished with the wind, replaced by a world of vivid colors.
Suddenly, the sound of clamor reached his ears. Figures moved on the street, and Mamoru stood quietly amidst the bustling crowd.
Mamoru looked at his clothes, he had returned to his appearance in reality.
Then, he looked around again. Everywhere he looked, there were things printed with the folding fan pattern—on walls, pillars, shop doors, curtains, lanterns, and the backs of pedestrians.
Everything before him was both strange and familiar. Was this the scene of the Uchiha clan before the massacre?
"Haha... Hurry up, Mamoru!"
"Wait for me, Sasuke!"
The tender voices behind him snapped Mamoru out of his daze. Just as he was about to turn his head, two small figures passed right through his body, one after the other, running forward and leaving ripples across him.
This sudden phenomenon made Mamoru freeze for a moment, but he quickly realized that the people around him couldn't see him, these were all memories of the past.
Those two small figures were the young Mamoru and young Sasuke from before his transmigration.
Mamoru stepped forward and followed the two lively figures.
A burly man with an apron wrapped around his waist was standing at a shop entrance smoking. Seeing the two children chasing and playing in the crowd, he called out, "Aren't these Sasuke and Mamoru?"
Hearing the shout, Sasuke stopped, turned to look, and seeing that it was someone he knew, he ran straight to the man.
He looked up and greeted him loudly, "Hello, uncle!"
Following that, Mamoru stood beside little Mamoru. He watched as he also ran over, but he seemed a bit shy and hid behind Sasuke.
"Hurry, Mamoru, you say hello too." Sasuke urged, tilting his head.
Hearing Sasuke's words, kid Mamoru finally peeked out from behind Sasuke's back and said softly, "Hello, uncle."
"Haha, two cute little fellows. Are you heading home now?"
The man put out his cigarette and crouched down to pat the two children's heads.
"Yes, we're going home now. Goodbye, uncle."
"Goodbye, uncle."
Sasuke waved his hand, grabbed kid Mamoru, and started running.
"Hey, be careful! Slow down!"
Seeing the children's frantic pace, the man reminded them loudly.
"Okay!"
The children's tender voices echoed from the crowd.
The two little figures nimbly wove through the bustling crowd, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down, sometimes stopping, but always running forward until they gradually grew distant and finally disappeared from Mamoru's sight.
After standing for a moment, he quickened his pace forward, ignoring the flow of people and passing through the crowd without hindrance. Following the familiar route along the familiar road, it didn't take long before he arrived at the entrance of his own home.
Without thought, without hesitation, and without knocking, his body passed directly through the door. Passing the familiar entrance hall and the familiar floor, he walked slowly into the house.
"Mamoru, honestly, you're always such a spoiled child."
A woman's gentle voice sounded from inside the room.
"Exactly, Mamoru is too childish."
Then came Sasuke's voice, speaking in a tone like he was trying to act like a little adult.
At this point, Mamoru also arrived outside the room.
The scene inside came into view: Mamoru was snuggling in Mikoto's arms, acting spoiled, while Sasuke stood to the side with his lips pouted.
Seeing this scene, Mamoru awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Was the original Mamoru really like this?
Sasuke suddenly asked happily, "Mom, where's big brother?"
Mikoto replied with a smile, "Itachi is probably in the backyard practicing with shuriken."
"Then I'm going to see him." Sasuke turned and ran quickly toward the backyard.
"I want to go too! Wait for me!"
The original Mamoru hurriedly scrambled out of Mikoto's arms and quickly chased after Sasuke's back.
Facing the oncoming Sasuke and OG Mamoru, Mamoru stood still and let them pass right through his body.
"You like your big brother so much, mom is going to be jealous." Mikoto looked dotingly at the two small figures running away.
To the sound of the receding tender laughter, Mamoru gazed deeply at Mikoto, only to unexpectedly find that her gaze seemed to be falling right on him, with a faint, indiscernible smile.
This discovery made him freeze slightly. His eyes grew hot and his nose felt tingly, this sudden surge of emotion caught him off guard.
Almost instinctively, he turned his face away and, in a near-hurried manner, turned and walked quickly toward the backyard, as if to use the movement to shut out the emotions that left him at a loss.