The underground chamber was warmer than usual, lit by a ring of pale chakra flames. Scrolls and jars lined the walls — some old enough to crumble at a breath. Orochimaru moved between a row of sealing tables, his hands almost gleeful as he adjusted a cluster of glowing seals.
"Fasten the final array," Tobirama ordered curtly.
"I don't take orders from you," Orochimaru teased, though his hands didn't stop working. "But in this case, your methods are impressively… efficient."
The two men stood over twin forms, each originally reanimated corpses — Hashirama and Tobirama's — but now gradually filling with living flesh.
Orochimaru murmured, "The Kato clan's corporeal restoration technique — merged with my own adjustments to your reanimation seals."
"I refined the chakra-vessel link," Tobirama added, not hiding his satisfaction. "Now these aren't just puppet bodies. They will breathe, bleed, and live."
Hashirama flexed his fingers slowly as skin regained colour. "Feels strange…and good. Like I'm not a shadow anymore."
Izuna's eyes narrowed in appreciation. "A Senju built by two of the most dangerous men in history. That is both terrifying and… useful."
Across the room, Uchiha Mali sat with his eyes closed. His breathing was deep and even, but the faint glow of his Sharingan aura had everyone's attention.
Then, quietly, his eyelids lifted.
"There's another world," Mali said, voice calm but carrying across the chamber.
Hashirama's head snapped toward him. "Another… world?"
Mali's gaze sharpened. "I can feel it. Not like a different land — like a completely separate plane. A thread pulling from my eyes."
Hashirama grinned like a boy offered a challenge. "Boy, if you can open that portal, let's see what adventure that world holds!"
But before Mali could move, Tobirama's voice sliced in. "Brother, no! We don't know its power levels — its weapons, its threats. Entering blind is suicide."
Hashirama rolled his eyes. "You were always the cautious one."
Tobirama picked up a small injector filled with soft green fluid. "Before anything, strengthen your vessel. This is extracted from the divine cells we recovered — stabilises chakra under dimensional strain."
He stepped to Mali and, without flinching, pressed it into his arm. A rush of warmth and pressure spread through the Uchiha's body. His vision sharpened, the already-crisp tomoe of his Mangekyō Sharingan settling into a frightening clarity.
The feel of his dojutsu changed — not by gaining a new pattern, but by removing all resistance in its movement. Every spin was so smooth, it felt like his eyes were part of the air itself.
"You're ready," Tobirama admitted, albeit reluctantly.
Mali exhaled once and let his Mangekyō fully bloom.
The air in the chamber bent like heat over stone. Seals on the floor lit in deep red. The space in front of Mali shimmered before tearing open into an oval of rippling black shot through with red lightning.
Through it, shapes emerged — a horizon of endless blue ocean… and ships. Dozens. No — hundreds. Some cut the sea with titanic prows, while others flew above the waves like wingless birds. Cannons flashed between them.
And in the middle of it — a man the size of a mountain, wielding a bisento, surrounded by a hail of cannon fire and men in identical white uniforms.
"Marines fighting a giant?" Izuna frowned. "This is not our ocean."
"It's the entrance to their world," Mali confirmed. "We're linked now. If I step through—"
Hashirama was already halfway forward. "Then let's—"
"Not without me," Tobirama snapped, following. Orochimaru's lips curled in curiosity, and Izuna didn't even hesitate, stepping close behind Mali.
Mali stepped into the portal. The shift was instant.
They emerged above a vast stretch of ocean glinting in brutal sunlight. Air hit their lungs — heavier, cleaner, almost sweet. But the weight…
Hashirama staggered a half-step. "Gravity— stronger than home—"
Mali's boots sank harder into the wooden deck under him, but he held firm. Tobirama and Izuna felt it worse; it pressed down on them like a hundredweight of stone.
However, the sky was impossibly deep blue. Clouds were whiter than snow. The purity of the air almost hummed in their skulls.
A roar echoed over the water. The giant man turned his head — white mustache arched upward, eyes focusing on the newcomers. His shadow fell across the deck of his own massive ship.
And from the other side, the men in white coats — "justice" written in black across their backs — froze at the sight of the portal hanging above the sea, and the long-haired, black-and-red-eyed youth stepping calmly out of it… followed by a grinning forest giant in red armor, a scowling silver-haired man with a blade, and a sly-eyed Uchiha warlord.