Akira continued speaking.
"And the third—and final—point of today's meeting…"
His voice remained calm, steady.
"Every S-Level individual will be granted three chances of resurrection."
The hall froze.
"And every SS-Level individual will receive seven resurrection tokens."
The silence shattered into shock.
"With one resurrection token, you may revive one person."
Just as the meaning of his words began to sink in, Akira stopped speaking.
For a brief moment, no one said anything.
Then—excitement erupted.
Even though Akira had already revived everyone who died during the Fourth Great Ninja War, countless people in both worlds had lost loved ones long before that war ever began. Parents. Children. Comrades. Teachers. Friends.
This wasn't just power.
This was hope.
The people of Vivienne World were shaken to their core.
Even those from Chronarch World felt their hearts stir. In their world, resurrection had existed—but it had always been limited, rare, and bound by strict circumstances.
Now… they finally had a chance.
Akira resumed speaking, his tone unchanged.
"However," he said, "resurrection is not without conditions."
The excitement settled as everyone listened carefully.
"First," Akira said, "if a person died of natural causes, then even if I revive them, their body will only sustain life for a few days to a few months."
Everyone nodded silently, committing the rule to memory.
"Second," Akira continued, "even for unnatural deaths, I can only grant a maximum lifespan of ten years after resurrection."
A brief pause.
"After that, continued life will depend on that person's own contributions to the Imperial Council of Shinobi."
No objections were raised.
They understood—life itself now carried responsibility.
Akira's gaze sharpened slightly.
"And the third… and most important condition."
The hall grew completely silent.
"If a person's soul has degraded too far, resurrection may fail."
"Even if someone died at ten or fifteen years of age—if their soul has remained dead for too long, it may already be collapsing."
He continued evenly.
"Even if I forcefully revive such a soul, they may not have much time left to live."
Akira looked across the hall.
"That is why I recommend reviving those who died recently, or those who possessed strong soul power."
Then came the final statement—one that carried true weight.
"The number of people whose souls can survive one hundred years after death can be counted on one hand."
Only the strongest souls endured that long.
Some faces dimmed—realizing certain losses were truly permanent.
Others, however, still burned with hope.
Akira straightened slightly.
"With that," he said calmly, "the first joint meeting of the two worlds comes to an end."
He gave them a moment before continuing.
"Submit the names of those you wish to resurrect to Nagato."
"Those selected will undergo the resurrection ceremony next month."
Akira smiled faintly.
"Until then—goodbye."
The next moment, space folded silently.
Kagami no Hikan
Akira vanished from the meeting hall, returning to Chronarch's worlds, leaving behind a world forever changed.
---
Capital of the Imperial Council of Shinobi — Konoha
Eastern Royal Garden
Akira lay flat on the cool grass, one arm resting behind his head, his gaze unfocused as it lingered on the canopy of trees above him.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering soft shadows across his face. The branches swayed gently, forming a natural shelter that blocked the harsher heat of the day.
Beside him, a pair of girls sat close together.
They laughed, whispered, and occasionally nudged each other, their voices light and carefree.
They looked exactly the same.
Same face.
Same figure.
Same expressions.
Both were Yamanaka Ino.
Akira didn't bother listening to what they were talking about. Their conversation drifted in and out of his hearing, blending with the rustling leaves and distant sounds of the village. His mind was occupied elsewhere.
It had been three days since the two worlds had fully converged under his conscious oversight.
And in just three days, problems—unexpected and complicated ones—had begun to surface.
The first problem was identity.
Two people with the same face, same personality, and nearly identical life histories now existed in the same world. Confusion had been inevitable. After several close calls and a few near-incidents, the Imperial Council of Shinobi had been forced to act.
New regulations were established.
Travel between worlds now required a special identification card that clearly stated one's world of origin. Every citizen from both worlds had been issued a new ID, encoded with chakra signatures unique to their respective realities.
The rules reduced chaos—but didn't eliminate it.
Mistakes still happened. Misunderstandings still occurred. And tension still lingered beneath the surface.
The second problem was far more delicate.
Marriage.
Akira's arrival had altered the course of Chronarch World drastically. But Vivienne World—especially its Naruto-era foundations—remained much closer to the original timeline.
That difference created fractures.
Widows and widowers from Vivienne World now discovered that their spouses were alive in Chronarch World. Families that had mourned for years were suddenly confronted with impossible choices. Existing marriages clashed with past bonds, emotions resurfaced, and relationships became tangled in ways no law could neatly resolve.
It wasn't a problem that could be solved with power.
Only time—and painful decisions—would address it.
And then there was the third problem.
Akira slowly turned his eyes toward the two girls beside him.
Both Yamanaka Ino.
One from Chronarch World.
One from Vivienne World.
Their laughter sounded identical. Even the way they tilted their heads when amused was the same.
The Vivienne World Ino had settled into Konoha far too easily—something that would have been impossible for most people. But rules, after all, were meant for the weak.
And while Ino herself wasn't particularly powerful…
Her other self had connections at the very top.
The highest possible level of connections.
So residence approvals, permissions, and integration had all proceeded smoothly.
Too smoothly.
Akira exhaled softly.
What troubled him wasn't politics or law.
It was his future.
As his gaze met the Vivienne World Ino's eyes, he noticed the same sparkle—bright, honest, filled with starlight—that he had come to know so well. It was unsettling… and dangerous.
For the first time in a long while, Akira felt genuinely conflicted.
Married life… huh.
A strange thought surfaced, uninvited but persistent.
If fate was truly this twisted, then perhaps—
He chuckled quietly to himself.
Maybe I really am destined to marry twins.
Even if those twins were, in truth, the same person.
Akira closed his eyes again, letting the warmth of the sun wash over him.
"These," he thought calmly, "are the troubles of happiness."
---
Half an hour passed quietly.
Just as Akira was on the verge of falling asleep, a familiar voice suddenly echoed out of nowhere.
"Akira! Akira!"
Akira's eyes snapped open instantly. He turned his head toward the source of the noise, irritation flashing across his face.
A few seconds later, Naruto came rushing in.
Akira looked at him with a visible grudge. If Naruto didn't have something genuinely important to say, Akira had already decided he would beat him on the spot.
Panting slightly, Naruto finally spoke.
"Akira… Jiraiya-sensei has fainted."
Akira blinked.
"…Fainted?"
That caught his interest.
"Why?" Akira asked, genuinely puzzled.
Naruto's lips curled into a strangely sadistic smile as he began explaining.
"Well, you know… three months ago, when the other world connected to ours through the space-time portal, Jiraiya-sensei got unusually excited. And then he heard that the Jiraiya-sensei of the other world had already died."
Naruto paused for effect.
"At the same time, Grandma Tsunade was really depressed because of that."
Akira already had a bad feeling.
Naruto continued enthusiastically, "So Jiraiya-sensei thought—this is it. His golden chance. Over the past three months, he's been staying in Vivienne World, shamelessly courting Tsunade again. And since she didn't really have much work after everything settled down, she went along with him."
Naruto spread his hands.
"He thought his success rate was basically a hundred percent."
Then Naruto's grin widened.
"But then you announced the resurrection policy."
Akira's expression turned subtle.
Naruto went on, "Jiraiya-sensei asked Tsunade who she planned to revive."
Naruto cleared his throat dramatically.
"She said—Kato Dan."
Silence followed.
Akira froze for a second… then faint amusement flickered across his face.
Beside him, both versions of Yamanaka Ino—Chronarch Ino and Vivienne Ino—also showed faint, restrained smiles.
It wasn't that they wanted Jiraiya to suffer.
But Jiraiya was… Jiraiya.
A habitual peeper, a chronic troublemaker, and a man who had once been jailed for an entire year after the establishment of the Imperial Council of Shinobi for sneaking into a women's bathhouse.
Compared to that, this felt well deserved.
Akira then asked casually, "How's the Naruto from the other world?"
Naruto smiled faintly, but his words completely contradicted that smile.
"He's just a loud, obnoxious brat who hasn't learned anything."
Akira glanced at him.
One look was enough to know Naruto was lying.
If anything, those two had probably become good friends.
Akira didn't comment.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Akira's spine.
He looked back at Naruto.
Naruto was staring at him—with an expression Akira could only describe as dangerous. Gratitude mixed with something heavy and intense.
Akira felt uncomfortable.
It was the kind of look born from a tragic life—something Naruto had indirectly learned by interacting with his other self.
Naruto himself didn't even realize it.
Because of Akira, Naruto's life had been peaceful. He had grown up loved, acknowledged, and protected.
Naturally, gratitude followed.
But that kind of gaze still made Akira uneasy.
"…Enough."
Akira suddenly shouted.
"Yatagarasu."
The next instant, a black shadow dropped from the tree above.
KRAAA!
With a sharp cry, Yatagarasu spread its wings and descended before Akira, its massive form radiating pressure.
Akira pointed at Naruto.
"Take him into the sky," Akira said calmly, "and beat him for a few minutes."
Naruto froze.
"…Huh?"
Before he could say anything else, Yatagarasu screeched.
Its body expanded rapidly, growing to the size of a one-story building. Its massive claws grabbed Naruto by the neck, and with a powerful flap of its wings, it soared into the sky.
"AKIRA—!" Naruto's voice echoed from above.
"I'LL TAKE MY REVENGE!"
---