Rin didn't recover for three whole days.
When she woke up, her first coherent thought was… why did the world change while I was asleep?
The strange orange cat that had been quietly lying beside her was no longer 'some magical tangerine-colored cat.'
He had become the Great Cat God, a legendary existence who had casually played chess with the First Hokage, argued with the Second, and made even Uchiha Madara wary.
And Rin… had somehow become the priestess of the Great Cat God's temple.
Under the aggressive publicity of the Senju clan, Garfield's existence was quickly acknowledged by the entire ninja world.
With his absurd combination of Kama Taj sorcery and something suspiciously similar to a certain magic academy's spell system, Garfield effortlessly demonstrated what it meant to be a 'Master of Time and Space.'
Even Sunagakure far across the desert, could not ignore him.
Though there was a bit of deliberate exaggeration involved, most of it was backed by undeniable strength.
Garfield was more than happy to blend into Konoha, the village where nearly every major tragedy and turning point of the ninja world would eventually originate.
And thinking about it…
Why did the First Ninja World War happen?
At its root, it was Senju Hashirama's doing.
By distributing the tailed beasts across the nations, he unintentionally created an arms race. Power-hungry leaders rose.
Worse still, his younger brother died. Konoha's strength declined sharply after that.
Fortunately, the Third Hokage was still strong enough to hold things together.
The Second Ninja World War was born from unresolved hatred.
Those who survived the first war carried grudges into the second. Combined with severe economic imbalance between nations, war became the fastest solution.
And once again, countless people died. That war planted many seeds.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade fought Hanzo the Salamander and earned the title of Konoha's Sannin.
Jiraiya later took in Yahiko with his companions and discovered Nagato's Rinnegan.
Hatake Sakumo killed Sasori's parents, earning the fearsome name Konoha's White Fang.
Senju Nawaki died after stumbling into an explosion pit, his body found torn open.
Dan Katō died from severe injuries, causing Tsunade to abandon the Hokage position and develop her fear of blood.
And behind much of it was… Madara's shadow.
The Third Ninja World War was little more than the hatred of the second war spilling over.
Black Zetsu.
Madara.
Schemes layered atop schemes. There was never any peace to speak of.
As for Madara himself, he was stubborn.
He blamed Izuna's death on Hashirama and Tobirama, even though death was commonplace in that era of endless war.
Some legends claimed Madara fell in love with Uzumaki Mito, Hashirama's wife, and tried to steal her away, leading to a battle that ended with Izuna's death at Tobirama's hands.
Others said Madara opposed the marriage outright, attempted to 'teach Mito a lesson,' and clashed with Hashirama over it, burying old and new grudges together when Izuna died.
No one knew which story was true.
Perhaps none of them were. Then came the Third War's most famous event…
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge.
Rin's teammates Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito followed their teacher, Namikaze Minato, to destroy Iwagakure's supply line.
Minato became a legend there.
Rin was captured.
Obito went to rescue her.
He was crushed beneath rubble or so everyone believed.
From the shadows, Madara saved Obito, reshaped him, and turned him into a tool.
Later, at the end of the war, Madara seized his chance.
He controlled Kirigakure, captured Rin, sealed the Three-Tails Isobu inside her, and placed a cruel curse on her heart.
Then he arranged everything.
Rin was escorted back toward Konoha, another ambushed the Konoha ninja forces.
And tragedy followed, exactly as Madara intended.
If they really dragged Isobu all the way back to Konoha, Garfield was certain of one thing…
The moment they arrived, Kurama, sealed inside Uzumaki Kushina, would absolutely beat the life out of it.
It wasn't even a question.
Sure, Kurama liked to come out for fresh air now and then, but the psychological trauma inflicted by Senju Hashirama still lingered.
The fear of being dominated by that smiling lunatic was deeply engraved into his soul.
Honestly, most of the tailed beasts weren't bad by nature.
They were painstakingly created by the Sage of Six Paths, good kids, just… unruly.
Especially Shukaku.
That raccoon was practically suicidal. He loved provoking Kurama, teasing the tsundere fox at every opportunity, only to get beaten senseless and then somehow not learn his lesson.
Tailed beasts hated being sealed.
They hated being disturbed even more.
And right now, Kurama was living his best life, roaming freely, unsealed, and enjoying peace.
Garfield stretched lazily.
He decided it was time to go check on that tsundere fox.
After all, in the future, Kurama would inevitably be beaten half to death by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara both.
Maybe Garfield could establish a good relationship in advance.
If he couldn't take the real thing, a clone would do. Raising a fox sounded fun.
As for the Fourth Ninja World War?
That storyline was practically mandatory reading.
After the Third War ended, Namikaze Minato married into the Uzumaki clan and became Uzumaki Minato.
Later, when Uzumaki Kushina became pregnant and gave birth to Naruto, Madara stirred the waters once more. Obito, already broken by hatred, took action.
Kurama, who had been enjoying peaceful days with Kushina, was forcibly dragged back into chaos.
Controlled by Obito, the tsundere fox rampaged through Konoha.
Minato stepped in.
Obito got thoroughly beaten by his teacher had barely escaped, but not before succeeding in his objective.
Konoha was devastated.
With no other choice, Minato split Kurama into Yin and Yang sealing one half into himself, and the other into his newborn son.
After that?
Garfield sighed. That mess belonged squarely to the Third Hokage.
Raising a naturally kind and obedient Naruto like a stray dog… honestly, if Naruto hadn't been born with an absurdly strong heart, he would've become Madara 2.0 out of sheer resentment.
If someone had treated Garfield like that?
He would've dropped a planet destroyer and personally escorted every ungrateful bastard to the God of Death.
Rolling over lazily atop the Hokage Building's roof, currently still just a modest earthen structure, Garfield looked down at the village.
Below him, Senju Hashirama was leading everyone in morning exercises.
Garfield felt… oddly reassured.
Hashirama raised his hands high and shouted cheerfully, "Alright everyone! The Fitness Seaweed Dance begins!"
"I am seaweed, seaweed, seaweed blown by the wind!"
"Seaweed!"
"Seaweed!"
"Seaweed!"
The entire village swayed awkwardly, bodies shaking in strange rhythm, attempting to 'feel the pulse of nature..
This, apparently, was youth.
Uchiha Madara and Izuna were nowhere to be seen.
Since that day, the two brothers had been deliberately avoiding Garfield. Rumors from within the Uchiha clan suggested they'd been arguing endlessly in the family shrine.
Garfield didn't care.
Sooner or later, when the God of Death came knocking for Izuna, Madara would have no choice but to lower his head whether he liked it or not.
Garfield would wait until Madara came begging.
Honestly, Garfield sometimes thought…
If Hashirama hadn't married Uzumaki Mito and instead stayed with Madara… maybe none of this nonsense would've happened.
Then again, that would've broken the world even harder.
It also made Garfield realize something amusing. The author had definitely left a loophole here.
If a Senju and an Uchiha intermarried… and then mixed in Uzumaki blood… what kind of monster would that create?
As Garfield pondered this terrifying thought, another rumor reached his ears.
Tsunade was back in the village.
Garfield's eyes lit up. He rolled onto his stomach and called down casually,
"Rin! Come with me, let's see Tsunade!"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Phantom your way through a treasure trove of chapters waiting on P@treon!
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