Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto and Nagi were halfway through their bowls when an elderly voice sounded beside them.
"Mind if this old man sits here?"
They looked up.
It was the Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto beamed.
"Gramps! You're here for ramen too?"
"Of course. The ramen here is excellent. I never tire of it."
Hiruzen sat down beside Naruto.
"Ahahaha, Lord Third, you flatter me," Teuchi said sheepishly as he approached.
"Teuchi, the usual."
"Right away!"
Hiruzen chatted casually with Naruto about school life, occasionally glancing at Nagi.
The boy sat there with a faint smile, calmly listening. He didn't appear nervous at all in the Hokage's presence.
Naruto eagerly introduced Nagi, then grumbled:
"Yesterday's test must've been graded wrong. There's no way Nagi deserved that score."
Hiruzen: "..."
After they finished eating, Hiruzen turned to Nagi.
"You're Nagi, correct?"
"Yes, Third Hokage-sama."
"Haha, no need to be so formal. Why don't you accompany this old man on a short walk to the Hokage Tower? We'll call it helping digestion."
"Alright."
"Naruto, you head home first."
"Aww… okay."
Naruto had wanted to keep chatting, but he left reluctantly.
Hokage Tower
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen spoke gently.
"Have a seat. Let me find something."
Instead of searching, he picked up a document from his desk and handed it to Nagi.
"Take a look."
Nagi opened it.
It was a copy of his test paper.
Hiruzen exhaled slowly.
"My child… do you perhaps misunderstand the Will of Fire—or me?"
But Nagi didn't respond. He simply stared down at the paper.
As Hiruzen prepared to continue—
Nagi suddenly raised his head.
A flash of blue light flickered in his eyes.
Hiruzen stiffened.
Before he could react—
The world shifted.
He found himself standing in a vast, mysterious blue space.
"This is…?"
He scanned his surroundings.
Then—
"Monkey."
The familiar voice struck him like lightning.
Hiruzen whirled around.
"…S-Sensei?!"
Standing before him was Tobirama Senju.
Hiruzen immediately disrupted his chakra flow, suspecting genjutsu.
"Stop that," Tobirama said coolly. "I brought you here myself."
"…Second Hokage-sama… is this truly you?"
"What? Are you implying your teacher is a fake?"
Tobirama stood with arms folded, eyes narrowed sharply.
Hiruzen's heart pounded.
That posture. That tone.
It was unmistakable.
Without hesitation, Tobirama began exposing Hiruzen's childhood embarrassments—getting drunk and rambling nonsense, peeking at Koharu during training, yanking Danzō's trousers down as a prank—
"Alright, alright! I know it's you, Sensei!"
Hiruzen hurriedly cut him off, terrified his teacher might reveal even more.
Still stunned, he blurted:
"Sensei… you didn't die?!"
Tobirama gave him a faint, dangerous smile.
"If I hadn't died, do you think you would've kept the Hokage seat for this long?"
Cold sweat poured down Hiruzen's back.
"T-That's not what I meant!"
"Hmph. You said I misunderstood the Will of Fire. Then explain it to me."
Tobirama's voice grew colder.
In front of his newly accepted disciple, he had received a zero.
Did the Second Hokage not have dignity?
"…That exam… you were the one who answered it?"
"Indeed. You called it flowery and impractical. I would very much like to know—where was I impractical?"
Hiruzen's mind went blank.
Criticizing his own teacher?
Was he courting death?
"S-Sensei, it was my ignorance. I—"
"Enough."
Tobirama cut him off.
"Let us return. I want to see what Konoha has become under your leadership."
Hiruzen blinked.
He was back in his office chair.
Across from him stood Nagi—
But the aura was unmistakably Tobirama's.
Hiruzen immediately walked to the window and dismissed the ANBU stationed outside. Then he ordered that no one was to enter under any circumstances.
After ensuring complete privacy, he respectfully guided Nagi behind the Hokage's desk and even pulled out the chair for him.
He himself stood to the side—like a student awaiting punishment.
Nagi opened a drawer, removed several sealed scrolls containing village records, and broke the seals.
As Tobirama read—
His expression darkened.
And darkened further.
Until it was black as night.
Hiruzen barely dared to breathe.
After a long silence—
"Ha…"
Tobirama looked at him with a thin smile.
"Well done, Monkey. Truly well done."
Hiruzen trembled like a squirrel in winter.
He could feel the storm gathering in his teacher's voice.
"Explain to me—what happened to the White Fang?"
Hiruzen swallowed.
"He… failed a mission. Afterwards, Danzō leaked information. The villagers began condemning him…"
"And you allowed it?" Tobirama snapped. "Are you the Hokage, or is Danzō the Hokage?!"
"I—"
"Did you fear that the White Fang's fame threatened your authority? Did you intend to suppress him, only to find he took his own life instead?!"
"I never—"
"And Naruto Uzumaki? The villagers abused him daily. What if he had broken? What if he had killed himself? What then? The Nine-Tails would have run rampant again!"
"I—"
"Silence."
Hiruzen lowered his head.
Regardless of right or wrong—
Before Tobirama, he was simply a student.
There were also matters that genuinely confused Tobirama.
"For example—the night of the Nine-Tails' attack. Why did the Fourth Hokage use the Reaper Death Seal? Why not simply reseal the Nine-Tails back into his wife?"
"…What?"
Hiruzen stared.
"That… was possible?"
[Minato Namikaze: It could have been resealed? Wouldn't a jinchūriki die once the tailed beast is extracted?]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Yes… I felt my life slipping away rapidly.]
[Tobirama Senju: Of course it could. Your ignorance regarding tailed beasts is astonishing. Kushina Uzumaki had not died immediately. If the Nine-Tails had been resealed into her at once, with the vitality of the Uzumaki clan, she could have survived.]
Silence fell over Minato and Kushina.
If that was true—
Then their deaths had not been inevitable.