Three days later.
After receiving treatment, the injuries around Nagato's eyes had stabilized.
The sudden loss of vitality, followed by the life force that had been replenished afterward, had also returned to normal levels.
Just as Fugaku had suggested...
Isshin and Fugaku went together to visit Mito and, on behalf of the Uchiha Clan, offered a sincere apology for what Seisui had done.
They hoped Mito would understand that children could be reckless, and if Nagato needed them, the Uchiha were willing to provide a Sharingan.
Mito naturally had a pleasant conversation with them.
After all, the Uchiha weren't really to blame.
The real culprit was Tobirama's bloodline...
After all, Seisui's Uchiha blood came from Izuna.
Back then, Izuna certainly hadn't lacked emotional intelligence.
Later, Tenzō also came to see her.
There had never been any conflict between the Hyūga and the Uzumaki.
He simply felt that the Uchiha shouldn't be allowed to steal all the credit.
Since the Main Family had benefited from the situation, it was only proper to show their gratitude as well.
If a pair of Byakugan ended up in an outsider's hands, it would be a disgrace.
But if they were given to the village—to Mito, who represented Hiruzen—
Then it became a contribution.
Mito enjoyed the conversation, but she also found herself at a loss.
It reminded her a little too much of the way Tobirama used to handle things.
Why was everyone so determined to graft every Bloodline Limit they could find onto Nagato?
It was far too wild!
Even so, Mito didn't immediately accept the offers.
No matter what, Nagato was still a shinobi of Amegakure.
Even if they belonged to the same clan, she still needed to understand what was truly in his heart.
The Sharingan and Byakugan might have been offered to the Uzumaki...
But in reality, they were being offered to Konohagakure.
Mito understood that perfectly.
At Konoha Hospital.
Nagato lay quietly in bed.
After learning that Hiruzen had rescued Hanzō, Yahiko, and Konan, and that all three of them were safe...
Although he had lost his eyes, he remained surprisingly calm.
As long as his companions were safe.
That was enough.
Even so, the desire for greater strength inevitably began burning within him, accompanied by a complicated turmoil in his heart.
I'm too weak.
His parents had died during the war against Konohagakure.
Yet he and his closest friends had been saved by the Hokage.
It felt like a cycle he couldn't quite understand or put into words...
One that left a heavy weight on his heart.
"..."
Nagato let out a quiet sigh.
He still couldn't get used to the endless darkness before him.
Who would willingly accept becoming blind?
Just then...
Mito gently knocked on the door before entering.
She sat down beside his bed with a warm smile.
"I'm Uzumaki Mito..."
The moment she entered, Nagato immediately sensed a familiar chakra.
Among the Uzumaki, although not everyone awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, they all possessed exceptionally keen sensory abilities.
In a sense, they served as the clan's second pair of eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Nagato."
Nagato hurriedly sat upright.
"Go ahead and lie back down. I only came to chat for a while..."
"Whenever I learn that another member of our clan is still alive, it always brings me comfort," Mito said kindly as she settled into the chair beside his bed.
That vivid crimson hair...
That unmistakable chakra...
There was no longer any need to question his bloodline.
"Hm?"
As Mito examined him more carefully with her senses, she detected another familiar aura.
The distinctive presence of the Senju Clan.
Although the Uzumaki and Senju were close relatives, the two branches had developed separately for several centuries after splitting apart.
There were still subtle differences between them.
"My child..."
"I may actually be one of your relatives."
Mito spoke softly.
"What were your family's names? Did any of them have red hair?"
"My mother did."
"Her name was Fusō."
The moment he mentioned his gentle mother, Nagato's mood visibly darkened, and his heart began to churn with emotion.
"Fusō?"
Something stirred in Mito's heart.
"Do you happen to know your grandmother's name?"
Nagato thought for a moment.
"Uzumaki Hana."
"But I've only heard my mother mention her a few times."
This time...
It was Mito who fell silent.
After a long moment of silence, Mito spoke softly.
"Uzumaki Hana was my younger sister's daughter..."
"Which means she was your grandmother."
Nagato's heart skipped a beat.
"Combined with the Senju blood flowing through your body, I think I know your family history."
Mito let out a long sigh.
"Your grandfather was named Senju Yō. He was one of those from the Senju and Uzumaki Clans who married across the two families back then. Because he disliked the way Senju Butsuma led the clan, he married into the Uzumaki Clan instead."
"Your mother was their daughter..."
"In other words..."
"I'm your great-great-aunt."
Among great clans like the Uzumaki and the Senju, becoming relatives through marriage was nothing unusual.
Ordinarily, it would have been an entirely ordinary matter.
But with the Uzumaki Clan now nearly wiped out, it carried a sense of familial warmth that had become all too rare.
"I..."
Nagato didn't know what to say.
During the period when Hanzō had been giving special training to the Amegakure shinobi, Nagato had attended quite a few lessons himself. Naturally, he knew who Mito was—a figure who stood in Konoha like the pillar that steadied the sea.
A powerhouse from the Warring States Era.
The First Hokage's widow.
The Uzumaki Princess.
But no matter how hard he tried, he had never imagined they shared such a close blood relationship.
He didn't doubt Uzumaki Mito was telling the truth.
Who was she?
Why would someone of her status bother deceiving a blind cripple like him?
"You..."
Nagato's heart tightened painfully.
Didn't that mean...
His parents and the Konoha shinobi had simply fallen victim to a tragic case of friendly fire?
They had all been family...
"Nagato, if something is weighing on your heart, say it."
Looking directly at the empty sockets where his eyes had once been, Mito spoke gently.
"If you keep everything bottled up, it'll only fester until it crushes you."
"I'll help you find a way through it."
"You're my grandnephew."
Nagato's hands trembled slightly.
"Great-Aunt-Grandmother... my mother and father died in the war."
"They were mistakenly killed by Konoha shinobi..."
"But..."
"But please don't misunderstand."
"I know now that it's really all the fault of those damned Iwa and Suna shinobi. They were the ones who deliberately escalated the war. It wasn't Konoha's fault."
"It's just..."
"Knowing now that my family had such deep ties to Konoha... only for things to end like this..."
Tears streamed down Nagato's face.
Why...
Why did this cursed shinobi world have to be so twisted and cruel?
Fate seemed especially fond of tormenting people.
Again and again, loved ones ended up killing one another on this land.
Mito sighed as well, her expression growing heavy.
"For that..."
"I owe you an apology, Nagato."
"When all is said and done, the Uzumaki Clan should have joined Konohagakure."
"But my father, Uzumaki Ashina—who was also the clan head at the time, and your great-great-grandfather—became obsessed with researching Kinjutsu."
"He and Hashirama and Tobirama could never reach an agreement, so in the end he founded an independent country and village."
"After that, I settled permanently in Konoha."
"No one could do anything about my father's stubbornness."
"The technique he developed caused great dissatisfaction among many members of the Uzumaki Clan because it required children to serve as compatible subjects."
"So a small portion of the clan left Uzushiogakure several years before the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed."
"Judging by your age..."
"Your mother was probably one of them."
"If I had been able to stop my father, every Uzumaki child would have been born in the Land of Fire, in Konohagakure, under the village's protection..."
A trace of sorrow filled Mito's voice.
The Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal was to the Uzumaki Clan what the Mangekyō Sharingan had been to the Uchiha—
A bloody chapter of their history.
Back in the Warring States Era, everyone had been consumed by madness in their pursuit of power.
As long as it could produce one top-tier warrior, sacrificing part of the clan was, in the clan head's eyes, a bargain well worth making.
"None of that was your fault..."
Nagato fell silent.
He could hear the helplessness in Mito's voice.
He understood as well.
Once a daughter married into another family, she could hardly turn around and interfere in the affairs of Uzushiogakure.
Not even if her husband had been Senju Hashirama.
"I just..."
"The moment I sensed your chakra..."
"It reminded me of my family."
"It reminded me of my mother."
Nagato was now certain they truly were related.
At such a close distance, even without any specialized sensory training, his Uzumaki blood allowed him to sense that part of Mito's chakra felt remarkably similar to his mother Fusō's.
"I miss my mother..."
"Great-Aunt..."
Nagato silently broke down in tears.
The thought of his mother, combined with the endless darkness before him, only deepened his grief.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he began frantically searching around.
Without his eyes, panic spread across his face.
"Have you seen a small bottle?"
"You mean this one?"
Mito asked softly.
"The one with a lock of red hair inside?"
Beside Nagato's bed sat a small reinforced glass jar.
Inside was a single lock of his mother Fusō's red hair.
For all these years, he had carried it in his pocket as a good-luck charm.
Nagato let out a long breath, finally relaxing.
As Mito sensed the turbulent emotions surging through his heart, her eyes narrowed slightly.
At that moment, the Nine-Tails spoke up.
"The kid's talented enough..."
"But his emotions are unstable. Every now and then, malicious thoughts keep bubbling up."
"If you want to make use of him, you'll have to resolve the knot in his heart first."
Mito nodded.
Ever since the Nine-Tails had given Uzumaki Shio some of its chakra, and with Hiruzen's approval, it could now use Mito's assistance to project an artificial Shadow Clone in the form of a little fox and wander outside.
For the time being, however, it still wasn't allowed to roam freely over a wide area.
Mito had to take it out on walks little by little, giving the people of Konoha time to get used to seeing it.
Otherwise, people would panic too easily, and that could lead to unnecessary trouble.
Even so, this historic breakthrough, combined with the few books it had read, had left the Nine-Tails convinced that it was now one of Konoha's greatest strategists!
Taking part in the village's development was an entirely new—and surprisingly enjoyable—experience for a fox.
"I've got a plan. Just do exactly what I say, and it'll work perfectly!"
The Nine-Tails folded its little arms across its chest and declared confidently.
"Oh? You have a plan too?"
As Mito continued comforting Nagato, she replied.
"Doesn't he have his mother's hair?"
"Take a single strand, then head over to Konoha Prison and find an enemy spy or some other death-row inmate."
"Use Impure World Reincarnation."
"Let mother and son meet and talk."
"Wouldn't that solve the knot in his heart?"
"Look at how well Konoha's doing now. You're one of the village's highest-ranking figures, and you're this kid's relative. Any mother would want her child to have a good life. One word from her would do more than ten from you, wouldn't it?"
The Nine-Tails spoke bluntly.
A beast's moral standards had never been particularly high...
But its ideas worked.
"And if you're worried about that woman saying something she shouldn't, shouldn't Impure World Reincarnation be able to control her?"
"That won't be necessary..."
Mito immediately rejected the idea of controlling her.
Wouldn't that make her no different from Tobirama?
Even so...
She found herself genuinely tempted by the idea.
After all, she had once shown kindness to Nagato's branch of the family.
Had she not intervened back then, both Nagato's grandparents would have died at the hands of the Kaguya Clan...
Nagato's mother should have known about that.
As long as they could sit down and have an honest conversation...
Reconciliation was entirely possible.
The shinobi world really was a strange place.
The Uchiha and Senju had slaughtered each other for who knew how many years...
Yet in the end, they had been able to shake hands and make peace.
The Sarutobi and Shimura Clans had once viewed each other with intense hostility...
Yet Hiruzen and Danzō had become the best of partners.
"Nagato..."
"May I borrow a strand of your hair?"
Mito asked gently.
Nagato nodded.
He didn't think much of it, assuming only that Mito had grown sentimental after seeing someone connected to her family.
Mito rose to her feet and quietly left.
Leaving Nagato sitting there in bewilderment.
What was she planning?
About two hours later...
Mito returned to the hospital room once again.
This time, however, she wasn't alone.
Walking behind her...
Was Nagato's mother.
Fusō.
"My son!"
Fusō hurried to Nagato's bedside and wrapped him tightly in her arms.
"Mom!"
Nagato cried out as he embraced her just as tightly, tears pouring down his face.
He no longer had the presence of mind to wonder how this had even been possible...
Mito-sama and Konohagakure were simply too miraculous.
Silently watching the reunion, Mito slowly shook her head.
She had never imagined that one day she would willingly use the Kinjutsu Tobirama had created...
Especially the most sinister one of all—
Impure World Reincarnation.
'It's truly an excellent technique...'
'It just so happens that Tobirama was the one who invented it.'
Seeing the overwhelming joy on the faces of Nagato and his mother, Mito couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of her heart.
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