"Something's not right… Where the hell am I?" Izuna frowned.
He had scanned the venue back and forth several times, yet had not found his counterpart in this parallel timeline.
By all logic, at such an important occasion, he—as the acting leader of the Uchiha clan—should be present without fail!
"Don't tell me that bastard Senju Tobirama came to this parallel timeline just to kill me?"
A sudden chill struck Izuna's heart. He furrowed his brows and muttered, "That shouldn't be possible, right? Sure, we've had our differences, but we fought side by side. Would he really still hate me enough to go that far?"
Izuna felt a pang of heaviness in his chest.
Though he had come looking for Tobirama's misfortune, loudly claiming he wanted to ridicule him—
—in truth, after they had stood shoulder to shoulder against the Ōtsutsuki, his relationship with Tobirama had become more like that of strange companions, forged by the hammer blows of history into a peculiar bond.
They could fight to the death in a spar, yet when facing a life-threatening enemy, they could hand each other their backs without hesitation.
It was a relationship impossible to capture in a single word—"friend," "enemy," "comrade," or "frenemy" all fell short.
At least, that was how Uchiha Izuna saw it…
The problem was—
—if Senju Tobirama had truly killed him in this parallel timeline, that would leave him cold to the core.
The playful attitude Izuna had carried began to fade, his thoughts turning heavier.
And just as he was searching again and again for his counterpart in this parallel world—
—Uchiha Izuna finally lifted her head, leaning close to Tobirama's ear to whisper something.
At that moment, Izuna no longer cared what kind of woman Tobirama had chosen.
What mattered more was the suspicion gnawing at him: why would that bastard come to a parallel timeline only to kill him? Even if there might be explanations, the thought still weighed on him unbearably.
'Sigh… Maybe his prejudice really never went away…'
Uchiha Izuna shook his head in dejection. Perhaps it had only been his own wishful thinking that they had reconciled.
But just then—
Izuna's gaze froze.
He suddenly noticed a problem…
The Uchiha clinging to Senju Tobirama's arm—why did she look a bit like him?
In that instant, the sky collapsed!
Uchiha Izuna's eyes flew wide open as he stared fixedly at Izunai, his mouth hanging slack without conscious thought.
—"No way, bro, YOU!!"
—"What the hell are you doing?!"
—"And that me—what the hell are you doing too? Why are you holding onto Senju Tobirama's arm?!"
Izuna honestly didn't know what to say anymore…
At first, he had thought Tobirama had once again played him—
That this inherently evil Senju still harbored prejudice, and the moment he entered a parallel timeline he had killed him.
But now it seemed clear—there was no prejudice at all…
"Huff… huff… huff…" As though waking from a nightmare, Uchiha Izuna pulled out of the illusion, drenched in sweat. He looked weakly at Kazuki and asked: "Kazuki… tell me the truth. Was that me?"
"Don't worry, it wasn't! Even if individuals in different parallel timelines share the same appearance, they're still completely different people…" Kazuki reassured him.
"Besides, the genders are different. How could it possibly be the same person?"
Gradually, light returned to Izuna's eyes.
"Let me check Tobirama's memories… Here it is. The Uchiha who's going to marry him is called Izunai. See? Completely different from you!"
"Uh… looks like she's also a relative of Uchiha Madara—his younger sister…"
Kazuki's voice grew smaller and smaller until it was nearly silent. In the end, he quietly patted Uchiha Izuna's shoulder. "Stay strong, Izunai… I mean, Izuna…"
With Kazuki's comfort—
—the man was already like ashes burned to nothing.
Kazuki cast a discreet glance at the utterly devastated Izuna and allowed himself a faint smile.
He wanted to find material to mock Tobirama with? Best forget it!
What was amusing, though—
—was that Uchiha Izuna and the Tobirama of the parallel timeline now wore the exact same expression: blank, dazed, stupefied.
Both of them couldn't figure out the same question—
Why, of all people, did Izunai choose him/me?
...
[Sensing Uchiha Izunai's violent surge of emotion, a vast amount of alien temporal aura has been absorbed.]
[Your Sage Body has been fully unlocked.]
[Your perception and absorption of natural energy are now unlocked; you can enter Sage Mode.]
The voice of Kazuki rang in Tobirama's ears. His strategy had been a complete success!
Whatever else could be said, Izunai's emotions had indeed been stirred violently, and that alone loosened the shackles on Tobirama within this restricted parallel timeline.
In this Warring States era, so long as the Ōtsutsuki did not appear, Tobirama already stood unmatched!
Even if Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama joined forces at their peak, with his sheer power and advantage in intelligence, Tobirama had full confidence that he could take on the two legendary shinobi alone and prevail.
But the problem was—strength, in the current situation, no longer mattered.
It's hard to lash out at someone who's smiling at you—especially when that smile belongs to the bride clinging happily to your arm.
Thus, the invincible Tobirama-sama, unchallenged among mortals of this era, now stood in the hall as stiff as a wooden post.
He was thinking about one question…
Why had things developed so differently from what he envisioned?
According to the script, wasn't he supposed to shatter Izunai's self-righteous questioning, then in grand fashion overwhelm her dōjutsu and proceed with his plan to absorb the Uchiha clan?
If Tobirama had broken free of her ocular power and Izunai had chosen to attack—
Then he would have had absolute confidence. With his classic combination of a heavy stick in one hand and moral high ground in the other, coupled with the natural legitimacy of wielding the Mangekyō Sharingan he now possessed—
He could have brought the Uchiha clan under his banner in the Warring States era, making them serve him!
But this peerless Senju strategist had clearly never considered the present scenario—Izunai had married him!
So what now?
Obviously, it was far too late to back out.
Izunai harbored no other schemes—she truly meant only to test Tobirama's sincerity, and having confirmed it, she had honored her word and the agreement to join their clans through marriage…
There was no fault to be found.
Izunai's demands had indeed been harsh, but she had truly married him! What more could he say?
And if Tobirama were to suddenly regret it now, everything would collapse.
Such humiliation was something the proud Uchiha clan would never tolerate…
Not only Izunai, but also Uchiha Madara and the rest of the Uchiha would see Tobirama—and the entire Senju clan—as their greatest enemy, fighting to the death for the dignity of their young clan head!
And within the Senju clan, Tobirama's own reputation would be in ruins…
Setting aside the others for the moment, just Hashirama alone would be driven to boundless fury.
Right now, he was laughing so happily with Uchiha Madara.
If Tobirama broke faith, imagine how violently enraged Hashirama would become.
And Tobirama himself—his entire purpose in orchestrating this was to swiftly unite the Uchiha and Senju, to gather the broken shinobi world into a single whole as soon as possible, so that with the strength of an organized force he could help Kazuki seek the Shibai's remains.
If he overturned everything now, wouldn't that only delay Kazuki's cause?
'Have I truly reached the end of the road?'
Tobirama cautiously glanced at Izunai leaning against his shoulder. Slowly closing his eyes, he thought helplessly to himself: This was never my intention—never my intention!
'It seems that even similar counterparts, once exposed to new variables, will undergo a change in nature… On the path of research, and in my understanding of the Uchiha clan, I've gained yet another insight.'
By now, as Tobirama calmed down, he realized the blind spot in his earlier judgment.
He still remembered the story that Sasuke of the alternate timeline had told him.
In another timeline, Uchiha Obito had been manipulated by Uchiha Madara, who used Rin—Obito's childhood crush—as a pawn, guiding him step by step into becoming a deranged madman.
If it had been in Tobirama's own timeline, he could have understood Obito's logic. After all, Rin (Black Zetsu) had saved his life upon her very first appearance, and deep within she was nothing less than a calculating schemer behind the scenes.
Controlling someone like Obito would have been simple enough.
But in the timeline where Sasuke lived, Tobirama truly could not understand why Uchiha Obito had lost himself to such extremes—even turning on his own sensei's entire family.
The only conclusion was this: once emotion was factored in, the Uchiha became utterly uncontrollable.
For these Uchiha with such powerful emotional traits, what others might dismiss as trivial could in their hearts become an insurmountable mountain for life, a mental barrier that twisted them into demons.
And the difference between Izunai and Izuna lay precisely here—Izunai was far more emotional.
This emotionality made her ocular power and ocular techniques stronger, and in dealing with others it allowed her to rally her clan with greater cohesion. But because of that very same quality, she carried an even deeper streak of obsession in her heart.
And when compared to Obito and Izunai…
It was only now that Tobirama was startled to realize—if Izunai had believed his words from the start, then the persona he had crafted was in fact far more compelling than anything Black Zetsu had ever devised.
Even more intoxicating to the emotional Uchiha.
Their once-deadly enemy, long concealing his true strength, seemingly locked in a clash of blades, yet in reality enduring silently since childhood—defying his clan's hatred and his father's commands—secretly protecting her all along…
Not only that, he bore Uchiha blood himself, and had awakened a Mangekyō more dazzling than even that of Madara, the so-called strongest clan head in history.
On top of it, he had uncovered the Sage's hidden hand that sought to manipulate both Uchiha and Senju alike…
In strength, in intellect, in bloodline, in status—he was of the highest grade.
And he had passed Izunai's Izanami trial in the most forceful and straightforward way possible, proving his sincerity.
Truly flawless across a lifetime.
Wasn't this, pure and simple, the perfect man?
At that moment, Senju Tobirama finally realized that he had, by sheer accident, strayed onto another path entirely—and had completed it with perfection.
'This really… was all a misunderstanding!'
Tobirama was still pondering what to do next.
His normally rigorous and cool-headed mind—a mind that never faltered even before the Ōtsutsuki—suddenly felt sluggish, as if jammed.
And just then—
Izunai leaned in slightly, fixing her gaze on Tobirama's wooden expression. Her breath, soft and fragrant, brushed against him as she said: "What's the matter? Weren't you loud enough inside Izanami just now? Why so speechless now?"
"I…" Feeling that faint fragrance, Tobirama's chest tightened, and he instinctively turned his head away.
But Izunai, to his surprise, seized Tobirama's chin, forcing him with no small amount of strength to meet her gaze.
"What's this? Tobirama, the Senju genius who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan—can't even face a weak woman like me?"
"Don't be so useless!"
Forced to look into Izunai's eyes, Tobirama had countless complaints welling up inside.
Weak woman, you? Enough already!
And those provocative words of yours might sound strong, but your face is red enough to burst!
Yet beneath the grumbling came a startling realization as he found himself staring into Izunai's eyes at close range.
Uchiha Izunai… was actually quite beautiful.
Silky, flowing black hair, a delicate, sweet face, crimson eyes like rubies, a sultry voice that stirred his heart, and that strange mix of shy yet bold in her tone—
If he married a woman like this… maybe it wouldn't be such a terrible thing after all.
Besides, things had already reached this point.
For Kazuki's sake…
Tobirama felt he ought to accept it. Better to go along with it now and turn a mistake into something else.
After all, even if it wasn't his original plan, the strategic outcome was the same… perhaps even better!
The Uchiha and Senju were now united as one. Compared to his initial plan, he'd even gained Izunai herself, a brilliant strategist. It was practically a buy-one-get-one-free bargain!