"Yes."

Kazuki sat in his usual spot, took a bottle of water from Kushina's hand, took a delightful sip, and enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere in the courtyard.

Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, looking at Mito with disbelief.

He clearly felt that Mito's vitality had significantly decreased compared to half a year ago, by at least about one-fifth.

This was a phenomenon that had never occurred before, and even the Nine-Tails's Chakra seemed to be starting to overflow.

Clearly, the Nine-Tails was not very well-behaved during this time. It was probably taking advantage of Mito's aging, and its restless inner self began to stir.

Just as Kazuki was about to say something, he was stopped by a look from Mito. He knew that Mito did not want to expose this in front of others.

This forced Kazuki to swallow the words he was about to say, while inwardly sighing softly. Mito didn't want anyone to worry about her, even in the end.

He knew that with Mito's vitality beginning to show a clear decline, her aging would continue, and he wondered how long she could last.

Mito couldn't possibly wait until she was completely on the verge of death to transfer the Nine-Tails. She will transfer it when she is about to lose her ability to suppress it. And once she loses the Nine-Tails, Mito will die.

Thinking of this, Kazuki felt a sense of sorrow. This elder had treated him like a grandson over the years. In his growth, Mito was the one who helped him the most.

Soon, Kazuki thought of another matter. If he could retain some of the Nine-Tails's Chakra for Mito, would she be able to live a few more years?

As long as Mito was still alive, those troublesome figures in Konoha wouldn't be able to cause trouble.

Even if Mito was on her last legs, everyone, including Danzo, wouldn't dare to stir up trouble.

This wasn't a matter of strength, but because Mito was currently the only core elder who had founded the village, the wife of the First Hokage. She had once saved the village from a desperate situation.

"Kazuki, I heard you successfully learned Sage Mode and defeated Hanzo. Are you very strong now?" Kushina asked Kazuki with great curiosity.

Kazuki let out a light laugh and said, "Although Hanzo is called a Demigod, his strength is not as great as imagined. Once the Salamander poison is dealt with, his deterrent power will decrease significantly."

"My grandfather is called the God of Shinobi. Hanzo boasts of being a Demigod, isn't that trying to leech off my grandfather's fame? He isn't a match for my grandfather." Nawaki was quite bothered by Hanzo's title of Demigod.

How could Hanzo be worthy of being called a Demigod?

"There's a big gap between him and the First Hokage." Kazuki nodded in agreement.

Hashirama was qualified to be called the God of Shinobi, not only because of his strength but also because he established the One-Country One-Village system.

For the entire Ninja World, Hashirama was a great person, there was no doubt about that.

Even though the current Ninja World had already proven that the peace Hashirama desired had failed, it was undeniable that the Ninja World was relatively peaceful in normal times.

As for strength, even ten Hanzos combined couldn't defeat one Hashirama.

Hanzo's most potent Salamander poison posed minimal threat to Hashirama. The Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest could help its user become immune to most poisons.

"I knew it. Even my gramduncle could probably defeat Hanzo very easily." Nawaki nodded in agreement, then looked at Kazuki.

"But speaking of which, now that you've learned Sage Mode, can your strength advance further? I wonder what level you've reached now."

"I don't know the exact level, but there should still be some gap from the First Hokage's peak." Kazuki said, then looked at Mito, who was close by.

Mito's condition was not very good now, and her strength was definitely incomparable to before, but he should now have the confidence to fight her.

Unbeknownst to him, Kazuki had grown to become one of the peaks of the current Ninja World.

Of course, this was based on the premise that those hidden old foxes did not emerge.

"You fellow." Nawaki looked at Kazuki with a complicated expression.

From Kazuki's demeanor, it seemed he was very confident about catching up to his grandfather in the future.

But for himself to catch up to Kazuki, that would be incredibly difficult.

…

"You're here."

At night, in Mito's small courtyard, Mito did not go directly indoors to rest. Instead, she was waiting in the courtyard for Kazuki's arrival.

"I'm here, Grandma Mito."

Kazuki sat down not far from Mito with a complicated expression.

"Your body…"

"It seems you really noticed, but there's no need to worry about me. I'm already very happy that you can worry about this old woman's body."

Mito looked at the night sky. For some reason, the stars were exceptionally bright tonight.

"Everyone from my era has already passed away. Hashirama is gone, Tobirama is gone, Uzushiogakure was destroyed, and my clan is also gone."

"I seem to have started to feel out of place with this world."

"If it weren't for protecting Konoha and suppressing the Nine-Tails, I probably would have gone to find Hashirama long ago."

Kazuki pursed his lips, but couldn't bring himself to speak. He didn't know how long he could live in the future.

The Otsutsuki were quite long-lived, but what about Kushina and Mikoto?

"Before, I worried that once I was gone, there would be no one in Konoha who could suppress the Nine-Tails. Outside the village, there were even unknown presences lurking, which forced me to live in this world."

"Fortunately, you did not disappoint me. You are even more excellent than I imagined."

Before Kazuki could say anything, Mito continued to ask, "Kazuki, how much do you know about Madara?"

"A man whose birth was accompanied by slaughter, and a very dangerous individual. In that era, no one except the First Hokage was a match for Madara. Perhaps all others combined might not have been a match for Madara."

Kazuki's gaze deepened. Could it be that Mito had discovered something?

"If I told you that Madara is still alive, what would you think?" Mito gazed intently at Kazuki.