Inside Konoha Village.
After the Hokage succession ceremony, Jiraiya found Naruto. "Naruto, do you want to become stronger?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Why, pervy sage, are you going to train me now?"
"Of course, but I still need to gather some... materials. If you want to train with me, you'll need to leave Konoha."
"Why? Are you mentally prepared? I'm going to push you hard this time," Jiraiya said, finding a convenient excuse. In truth, training was just part of the plan—his main goal was to protect Naruto.
Because of Kirito's chaos in Konoha, and with Sasuke not yet driven to defect to Orochimaru, events were progressing differently from the original timeline. Jiraiya feared that delaying would lead to further instability.
Therefore, he decided to take Naruto out for training earlier.
This was also why Urashiki from the parallel universe chose this period to travel back. Any later, and Naruto would have already left Konoha.
Naruto thought of Fujiwara Kirito, his fists clenching as his resolve hardened. "Humph, I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Good. Then go say goodbye to your friends. You might not be back for a while." Jiraiya raised his right hand, turned, and walked away.
When Neji, Rock Lee, Shikamaru, and other strong Konoha shinobi heard that Naruto was leaving for training with Jiraiya, they all gathered to see him off.
Only Sasukae stood alone, head half-lowered, his bangs casting shadows over his eyes. His fists were clenched tightly.
He knew that when Naruto returned, he would be stronger.
And he couldn't allow himself to stagnate.
He needed to grow stronger too.
Quietly, the image of Orochimaru surfaced in his mind.
Perhaps it was time to leave.
Meanwhile, the older Sasukae appeared in Konoha, standing atop the water tank Naruto had smashed in the original story.
He surveyed his surroundings, shock evident on his face. "This is Konoha... from the past."
"There are fewer Hokage faces. Dad, Kakashi-sensei, and Granny Tsunade's faces aren't here! There's no Thunder Train or Shinshi Street either. So many streets are missing!" Boruto stood nearby, equally stunned.
Traveling through time and space was no small matter, and even Boruto couldn't stay calm.
He pulled out the turtle that had brought them here, and after some investigation, he confirmed the truth of their time travel.
Nearby, a crowd near the Hokage Building caught Boruto's attention. "Mr. Sasukae, look! There's a large crowd over there."
"Let's check it out. But first, we need to disguise ourselves. Our goal is to protect Naruto, and we can't risk disrupting this era or altering history," Sasukae instructed, vanishing in a flicker with the Body Flicker Technique.
Boruto followed closely.
As the two leapt from the water tank, the younger Sasukae happened to pass by below.
In that brief moment, the older and younger Sasukae's eyes met.
The younger Sasukae paid it no mind, dismissing the older man as a weirdo, and continued toward the Uchiha compound to practice a summoning technique left behind by Kirito.
But the older Sasukae froze in place, his heart pounding as he recognized his younger self.
"Mr. Sasukae, what's wrong?" Boruto asked, noticing the tension.
"There's no doubt about it—that was me, as a teenager. But..." Sasukae closed his eyes briefly. From what he remembered, this was the succession ceremony of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and he hadn't been present. At this time, he had still been recovering in the hospital after Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
"But what?" Boruto asked, confused.
"No, it's nothing," Sasukae replied, shaking his head.
As they wandered the village, they encountered many familiar faces: Sakura with an awkwardly cut hairstyle, and Hinata, who treated Naruto without her usual shyness. Everything seemed subtly different from what they remembered.
To investigate further, Sasukae led Boruto to a tavern—always a reliable place to gather intelligence. People tend to talk more freely after drinking.
After listening in, they pieced together some shocking details. The village had just experienced the Konoha Crush and Chunin Exams yesterday. The Third Hokage had died, but his death hadn't sparked much grief.
Instead, a traitorous ninja named Fujiwara Kirito had exposed many of the Third Hokage's scandals. As a result, most villagers didn't mourn his passing.
What shocked them even more was the revelation that, in this timeline, not only had the Uchiha clan been wiped out, but so had the Sarutobi and Shimura clans. All three had been destroyed on the same night.
All of this pointed back to the actions of Fujiwara Kirito.
Adding to the chaos, Danzo had also betrayed Konoha, defecting after being exposed for his illegal transplantation of Sharingan and Hashirama cells.
Boruto was stunned. "Mr. Sasukae, does this mean we're not in the past but in an alternate timeline?"
"It seems so. Many things here don't align with our world," Sasukae replied, deep in thought.
"Does that mean my dad here is... different too?" Boruto's voice was filled with uncertainty.
"It's possible. But no matter what, our priority is to find Naruto before Urashiki does. We cannot let him fall into Urashiki's hands," Sasukae said firmly as he stepped out of the tavern.
At a nearby table, Fujiwara Kirito and Pakura, both disguised, had been eavesdropping.
Pakura tilted her head curiously. "Lord Kirito, what were they talking about?"
Kirito smiled faintly. "You heard it, didn't you? That man, Sasukae, is the same as the current Sasukae—but they come from different timelines. This world has many parallel dimensions, and the one we live in is just one of them."
"Even if the world looks similar, events differ across dimensions. For example, in their world, I don't exist. And in that timeline, you likely died at the hands of Kirigakure."
As he spoke, Kirito's expression shifted. A faint smirk appeared. "Pakura, it's a good thing we stayed in Konoha. Things are about to get very interesting."
"Interesting? What do you mean?" Pakura asked, puzzled.
Kirito's smile widened. "Uchiha Itachi and Kisame have already entered Konoha."
Leaving a few bills on the table, the two vanished into the shadows.
(End of this chapter)
Want to read 70 more chapters check out my patreon!!!
https://www.patreon.com/john_smith_
Every 300 Power Stones+1 (5 ⭐ Review) = 1 Chapter+1Chapter