At that moment, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had just finished experiencing each other's entire lives.
Neither had died with any regrets.
Yet after witnessing the other's death, both were filled with melancholy.
One had entrusted his dream to future generations. The other had arranged everything and waited for Obito and Nagato to resurrect him so he could continue the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Madara Uchiha had spent his entire life trying to surpass Hashirama Senju, while Hashirama Senju had never been competing with him in the first place.
Their Seal of Reconciliation ended as the chakra carrying their memories and convictions faded away.
Just like when the Uchiha and Senju formed their alliance and the two Clan Heads shook hands as representatives of their people, Madara Uchiha was always the first to pull his hand away.
However...
Just as the two prepared to leave, the troublemakers arrived.
Two figures flew over their heads!
Perhaps because they were only trying to cause trouble rather than fight for real, the two kids were too embarrassed to shout anything like "Sasuke!" or "Naruto!"
They simply formed hand seals. Sasuke unleashed Lightning Release: Chidori, while Naruto created two shadow clones to help him push beyond his limits and form an even larger Rasengan.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had yet to recover from experiencing each other's lives, memories, and emotions.
Two dark shadows shot past them. The piercing cry of Chidori and the roar of Rasengan exploded beside their ears!
Madara Uchiha: "What?!"
Hashirama Senju: "What's happening?!"
The others who had been watching them form the Seal of Reconciliation were equally dumbfounded.
"It's Naruto and Sasuke!" Tobirama Senju exclaimed.
Izuna Uchiha shouted, "What are those two brats doing over there?! Are they fighting? Now of all times?!!"
Adult Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke's teacher, was also stunned.
Adult Obito was equally bewildered. Since this world's history had been completely rewritten, he now also held the position of teacher to Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.
Everyone had been focused on Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. No one had noticed when Naruto and Sasuke slipped away!
Obito wanted to use Kamui's Dimension to bring them back, but Chidori and Rasengan were already about to collide.
Separating them blindly at this point would be extremely dangerous.
"This isn't the level of power Naruto and Sasuke should possess right now!" Kannabi Bridge Minato said in surprise as he analyzed the situation.
"It's the Nine-Tails! Kurama lent them his chakra!"
"He lent them that much chakra?!"
"I'm afraid Naruto has already undone the Nine-Tails' seal."
Despite his young age, Minato Namikaze had already begun living like an old father, worrying every day about the unexpected things his son might do.
Tobirama Senju calmly remarked, "You should be grateful that the strange little Uchiha named Obito didn't join them. Otherwise, their unpredictability would have doubled."
Young Obito: "..."
Adult Obito: "..."
As they spoke, Sasuke's Nine-Tails Chakra Chidori collided with Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Rasengan, creating an enormous shock wave.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stood frozen for a moment before belatedly preparing to act. Hashirama began forming hand seals for Wood Release, while Madara gathered chakra to activate Susanoo.
Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze seemed to understand what Naruto and Sasuke intended. They used the Flying Thunder God Technique one after the other, stopping Madara from activating Susanoo and Hashirama from using Wood Release before bringing them back to the others.
"Tobirama." Hashirama looked at his younger brother. "What are Naruto and Sasuke trying to do?"
"Even if they want to fight, they should choose a better time!" Madara Uchiha snapped unhappily.
The mood created by his reconciliation with Hashirama had been slightly ruined.
Naruto and Sasuke were evenly matched, and Kurama had given them equal amounts of chakra. As long as their thoughts and convictions were aligned, barring any accidents, the destructive forces they created would be almost perfectly equal.
"This scene..."
Adult Obito stared with his remaining eye, shocked to realize that Naruto and Sasuke were recreating the final clash he had witnessed while experiencing Naruto Uzumaki's life. The last attack Naruto used while trying to stop Sasuke.
"No way?!!"
Young Obito's face went pale.
"What about their arms?!"
Rin and Sakura were just as anxious. If they suffered the same injuries as the Sasuke from that parallel world, their Medical Ninjutsu would be completely useless.
Should that actually happen, they would have no choice but to seek Orochimaru's help.
Madara Uchiha was not concerned in the slightest.
"What does it matter?" He gestured toward Adult Obito. "This brat barely had any body parts left back then, but I still put him back together using White Zetsu, didn't I?"
Adult Obito's expression darkened.
"Thanks a lot."
"Brat, did I never teach you to respect your elders?"
"Come on, you two. Don't start fighting again," Hashirama said.
"Exactly." Tobirama Senju nodded. "This is a famous landmark in the Land of Fire, after all. It brings in a certain amount of tourism revenue for Konoha."
"Wait, Tobirama. Doesn't it hurt to make money off your big brother?"
"No. Next question."
Thud!
The brotherly bond between Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju once again left the Uchiha brothers speechless.
Izuna Uchiha: Why do I feel no sympathy at all? Why do I actually want to laugh?
Madara Uchiha: This is absolutely ridiculous. Hashirama spoiled him rotten!
Had it been me, I would have...
Never mind. Izuna would never act like that. Hmph!
Naruto's Rasengan and Sasuke's Chidori swallowed the surrounding light, forming a black sphere of energy that gradually expanded until even the stone statues of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha disappeared inside it.
Only after about half a minute did the light begin to fade.
Then everyone finally realized what had happened.
When the Rasengan of Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable ninja, collided with Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori, the friction between the two forces, combined with the ingenious and extremely precise angles of their attacks, caused both techniques to rebound toward the statues where the boys had previously been standing.
Chidori carried Sasuke toward one statue, while Rasengan carried Naruto toward the other!
Naruto charged toward Hashirama Senju's statue with Rasengan raised in his hand.
Sasuke rushed toward Madara Uchiha's statue with Chidori.
Rasengan struck the hand Hashirama's statue held in the Seal of Confrontation.
Chidori struck the corresponding hand of Madara's statue.
Empowered by the Nine-Tails' chakra, the two techniques shattered the arms of the enormous stone statues with a series of loud cracks.
Honestly, watching their own statues being destroyed left Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju with complicated feelings. They even considered making a token effort to stop it.
But the idea of using Susanoo and a Wood Release wooden figure to hold the statues upright in their original poses seemed rather strange, so neither actually acted.
Thus, in full view of everyone, the arm of Madara Uchiha's statue snapped off and fell to the ground.
The arm of Hashirama Senju's statue also broke and fell.
The perfectly good Valley of the End had become the Mountain of Severed Arms.
"Are you two asking to have your backsides beaten by Susanoo and a Wood Release wooden figure?!!"
Madara Uchiha had not finished speaking when Hashirama stretched out a hand to stop him.
Following Hashirama's astonished gaze, Madara finally noticed that the two fallen stone hands between the statues had landed neatly on top of each other.
The two extended fingers had broken at the joints.
From where they stood, the hands formed...
The Seal of Reconciliation!
Naruto rested his interlocked hands behind his head and grinned at the stunned Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
"In another parallel world, Sasuke and I had a huge fight and each lost an arm. Back then, we ended up making First Hokage-sama and Old Man Madara's statues look like this too. Sakura gave us a terrible scolding afterward, but I always thought it made a pretty meaningful memorial, dattebayo!"
Sasuke said nothing, maintaining his usual cool image.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stared at the statues that had symbolized their rivalry.
Neither they nor Tobirama Senju had ever imagined that the statues could be transformed into a symbol of reconciliation under such circumstances.
Even Tobirama Senju, the person responsible for creating the statues, was completely stunned by this seemingly fated reconciliation.
From the moment the Seal of Confrontation had first been created, the pose of the Seal of Reconciliation had already been determined.
Yet none of them had imagined that destroying the two opposing statues would reveal a hidden path to reconciliation.
Naruto wore a bright grin, while Sasuke smugly maintained his cool and composed expression.
Everyone who had not experienced Naruto Uzumaki's life in the illusion stared at the scene with wide eyes.
No one had expected the prank Naruto dragged Sasuke into to bring them such an incredible surprise.
"The severed hands have fallen between the two statues," Adult Kakashi said thoughtfully as he studied the seemingly interlocked fingers. "Even if people see them centuries or millennia from now, they'll never know that these statues once formed the Seal of Confrontation."
Adult Obito gave him a sidelong glance, remembering the Seals of Confrontation and Reconciliation he and Kakashi had formed in their youth.
It took Hashirama a long time to recover from the shock.
Like an excited child, he pointed at the stone hands forming the Seal of Reconciliation and urged Madara to look. Tears of emotion nearly spilled from his eyes as he repeatedly thanked Naruto and Sasuke for helping him and Madara fulfill their dream of reconciliation in this way.
Naruto rubbed his nose, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
Madara recovered from his surprise even later than Hashirama.
When he extended his hand toward Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, everyone else was startled.
With Madara's stern expression, he looked more than a little frightening. Anyone seeing him reach out would have assumed he intended to grab the two boys.
Instead, Madara Uchiha merely placed his black-gloved hand on their heads and patted each of them twice.
"You two…"
"Will have a future different from mine and Hashirama's."
Hashirama had not expected Madara to say that.
His expression immediately softened, and his gaze shifted from Madara to Naruto and Sasuke. It was as though he could once again see himself and Madara as children reflected in the two boys.
There had been no Senju and no Uchiha.
Only two older brothers who wanted to protect their last remaining younger brothers amid a chaotic age.
Hashirama.
Madara.
Naruto froze for a moment after hearing Madara's words. He felt certain he had heard them somewhere before.
"Ah! I remember!"
"In another world, those were the words Old Man Hashirama said while seeing Old Man Madara off, just before the Edo Tensei Reincarnation was released and he returned to the Pure Land!"
"I never expected those words to circle back and come out of Old Man Madara's mouth."
Naruto looked at Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju in surprise.
The two exchanged a meaningful glance.
Nearby, Ashura had been repeatedly glancing at his older brother with envy ever since Naruto and Sasuke, then Hashirama and Madara, formed the Seal of Reconciliation.
The words "Brother, let's reconcile too!" might as well have been written across his face.
Even saying that he looked desperate with longing would have been an understatement.
But Indra seemed lost in thought. He showed no reaction and did not spare Ashura so much as a glance.
Ashura was nearly driven into the same Thud-style depression as Hashirama Senju.
At that moment, the A-rank mission on Naruto's scroll was marked as complete.
Before anyone could recover from their emotions, everyone present was instantly transported onto a battlefield.