Chapter 38
Konohagakure was proclaimed. Itama watched from a hillside, tears streaming down the face of a copied stranger's body. He saw Hashirama and Madara stand together, saw the clans mixing, saw the beginning of something beautiful and fragile. His life's work, across two lifetimes, was embodied in those wooden walls and hopeful faces.
He knew the struggles to come—Madara's defection, the Nine-Tails attack, the wars. But he had fortified the foundation. His social frameworks were in place. His blueprints guided the architecture. His secret scroll was in Tobirama's hands, a guide for future Hokage on unity and the hidden dangers of discrimination.