【A crazed Okhema soldier was seen fighting a person from Suspended Blade, and at their feet lay seven or eight corpses of Suspended Blade citizens.】

【"Haha... Perdiccas! Even the wails of livestock being slaughtered sound more pleasant than that name."】

【The wounded person from Suspended Blade showed no fear: "Say what you will, you lowly Okheman... 'Better to die in battle than return in shame'—the spirit of Suspended Blade will defend me forever!"】

【"Stupid barbarian, since you're in such a hurry to die, I'll grant your wish!"】

【Stelle immediately moved to stop them, but the two combatants before them were merely phantoms. Stelle's bat passed right through the soldier's head, and she could only watch helplessly as the Suspended Blade man was inevitably stabbed to death by the Okhema soldier.】

【Mydei closed his eyes and turned his head slightly, unable to bear watching his subject die a tragic death.】

【"Ah... ah... Mydeimos... My King..." With a cry of pain, Perdiccas fell into a pool of blood. As he died, he reached out a blood-stained hand toward the sky, his voice full of confusion and grief, "Why have you... left us to the butcher's knives of a foreign land?"】

—

Naruto.

"This is... Phainon's trial content?"

Hashirama was stunned, not understanding why so many people from Suspended Blade would appear in Phainon's trial. He remembered Castorice saying that Mydei had brought the people of Suspended Blade City to Okhema at the end of the Golden War. Was Phainon already in Okhema back then?

But what caught his attention even more were the Okhemans on the Celestial Screen. For some reason, he suddenly thought back to when Konoha was first founded and how the people in the village treated the Uchiha clan.

Although Konoha was more inclusive at the time and the village enjoyed a long peace, Tobirama had always viewed the Uchiha clan as an unstable element. Looking at it now, if even the people of Suspended Blade and Okhema—who were once so divided they drew swords against each other—could cast aside their grievances and share peace, then his vision of peace back then was not a pipe dream...

If only he could have persuaded Madara to stay when he decided to leave. If Madara had continued to lead the Uchiha clan, just as Mydei does now, perhaps none of the subsequent chaos would have happened.

"Brother, I know what you're thinking." Tobirama frowned. "The people of Suspended Blade are different from the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha are born more prone to extremes than others; it's etched into their bloodline. Whereas the Suspended Blade people simply have a different culture than Okhema; after generations of education, they can become one whole."

"Furthermore, the Uchiha clan is internally very exclusionary, which destined them to never truly integrate into peace."

Hashirama shook his head: "That was also because we didn't give them our trust at the beginning..."

"Brother!" Tobirama grew agitated. "Unconditional trust only turns into indulgence for the Uchiha clan! We heard about what happened later; they eventually turned to rebellion anyway."

Now, the Uchiha clan only had Sasuke left. Accommodating one person was much simpler than accommodating a whole group. Although the process was cruel, at least the peace his brother longed for was finally showing some promise.

—

【Suddenly, Mydei felt the surrounding air become hot and dry.】

【"This is..."】

【The crazed Okhema soldier slowly turned around, his body gradually twisting and deforming, transforming into the appearance of a Nicadori minion: "You are... Heh, the leader of the wild dogs has delivered himself to my door! Since the Suspended Blade people are so eager to die—then I'll give you a quick end!"】

【The monster roared and charged, but in the next second, Mydei grabbed its head. Accompanied by the sound of stone crumbling and cracking, the head of the soldier who had just been gloating was crushed, turning into a pile of stone powder on the ground.】

【"This bottomless killing intent... it is the wrath of Nicadori." After dealing with him, Mydei spat disdainfully, "...Utterly ridiculous. I recognize this Okheman; he was an upright warrior, yet he was molded into such a twisted form by Strife. And that noisy sound... when it rings out, the killing intent in one's heart becomes impossible to suppress."】

【"Phainon must have been overwhelmed by this war cry and lost himself... Hmph, useless fellow." As he spoke, Mydei tilted his chin high, appearing extremely arrogant.】

【The two continued forward along the main road and soon encountered an acquaintance of Mydei's—the master craftsman Hartonus, who had previously helped them repair their weapons.】

【He had completely fallen into madness, incessantly hurling insults at Mydei. He fished a signet ring out of his pocket and threw it at Mydei, barking at him to get out of Okhema.】

【"This... my mother's signet ring?"】

【Seeing the mark of the Titan of Strife on the ring, the surrounding air grew hot again. Mydei sensed something was wrong and grabbed Stelle, pulling her back several steps.】

【"—Watch out!"】

【Just as Hartonus was about to transform, a slender figure streaked through the air, piercing through Hartonus's phantom. Dan Heng retracted his spear and kept a distance of four or five steps from them, looking at them with a wary expression.】

【"Is it a phantom of Dan Heng this time..."】

【"Wait. His aura is different; it's very calm." Mydei stopped her.】

【"Correct, it seems we can still communicate. You there, grey-haired warrior, answer me—" Dan Heng cleared his throat, "—What was the last thing you said to me before I parted the waters at Scalegorge Waterscape?"】

—

blue archive.

"Huh?? Who could possibly answer a question like that? Does Dan Heng himself even know the answer before asking it?"

In the rabbit park at night, Saki's voice startled several birds resting on the branches. Her shadow was projected onto the tent, and it was clear she was very agitated.

Moe sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag, holding a cup of hot cocoa in both hands. she tilted her head and thought seriously: "Hmm... he probably knows? But it's not important, hehe... If he confirms that everyone here is an enemy, then he can just use the power of the Imbibitor Lunae without restraint and summon that big water dragon~ and wash away all of Okhema—"

At the thought of Dan Heng's water dragon smashing those monsters to pieces, Moe couldn't help but cradle her face and let out a "hehe" giggle.

"Ahem...!" Miyako coughed lightly and interrupted, "Alright, it's actually not as complicated as you think, Saki. With such a tricky question, only those who can answer it are the enemies, and those who can't are our own people—no, that's not quite right either. If it were Miss Himeko or Mr. Welt, maybe they'd have a slight impression?"

"But more than this trivial question, the focus is still this strange trial—it's clearly Phainon's trial, yet why is everything appearing related to Mydei, and they're all scenes he doesn't want to face?"