In the streets of Konoha, two suspicious-looking figures were currently in the middle of a very serious clothing problem.
"Uh… I seriously don't get your taste in clothes, Sasuke."
"Deal with it," Sasuke said flatly. "You're not supposed to exist in this era. If someone sees you wearing a forehead protector, it'll only cause unnecessary problems."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Boruto stuffed his hands into his pockets and puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.
Sasuke glanced at him. "Where's Karasuki?"
"He ran out of chakra, so he went back inside his shell," Boruto said helplessly, though a grin quickly crept onto his face. "So I just stuffed him into my pouch."
"I see."
Boruto looked around at the village again, his expression shifting.
"But seriously… this place feels completely different from the Konoha I know." He rubbed his stomach and let out a groan. "Man, now I'm suddenly craving a Thunder Burger. I wonder what it'd taste like if it existed right now."
Sasuke gave him a sidelong look, a faint trace of dry amusement in his eyes.
"Too bad for you. It doesn't exist yet."
"Are you serious?! No way!"
Boruto immediately dashed toward the spot where the burger shop should have been. A second later, he dropped to his knees right in the middle of the street, looking like his entire world had collapsed.
The villagers nearby slowed down and began giving him odd looks.
Sasuke's expression stiffened slightly, as if he wanted no part in this embarrassment.
"Boruto," he said in a low voice, "stop that. We're here to find Naruto. That comes first. We have to protect him before Urashiki shows up."
Boruto's face changed at once. The joking mood vanished, and he quickly got back to his feet.
"Right…" He looked at Sasuke seriously. "Where do you think Dad is? Do you have any idea?"
Sasuke swept his gaze across the village streets before answering calmly.
"At this point in time, Naruto would most likely be either at home or at Ichiraku. Since he's not there…" He paused briefly. "Then home is the most likely place."
Boruto nodded firmly. "Then let's go."
The two of them quickly moved through the streets of Konoha.
At the same time, inside Obito's Kamui dimension, the atmosphere was far calmer.
A warped projection floated in midair, showing Boruto and Sasuke as they headed toward Naruto's house. Obito stood silently in front of it, his Sharingan spinning lazily as he observed their movements.
After a moment, he turned his head slightly toward the two figures behind him—White Zetsu and Tobi—who were watching the projection with obvious curiosity.
"So," Obito said calmly, "did you manage everything?"
White Zetsu immediately straightened, sounding oddly proud.
"Aye aye, captain! Just as you required. Hinata and Kurenai have both gone out on a mission—perfectly normal on the surface."
He raised a finger, continuing his report.
"Jiraiya the Gallant has also left for Mount Myōboku to check something, with Lady Tsunade's approval."
"And everything else followed exactly as you said. Not a single mistake. I swear on this idiot Tobi."
Tobi, who had been staring intently at Boruto and adult Sasuke in the projection, slowly turned his head toward White Zetsu.
"Zetsu… you swore on me so easily."
White Zetsu frowned. "So?"
Tobi tilted his head. "Does that mean if something goes wrong… you're volunteering to explode instead of me?"
White Zetsu immediately took a step back.
"…Why would I explode?"
Tobi pointed at him. "You're literally half plant. You look extremely flammable."
White Zetsu's face twitched.
"And you look extremely replaceable."
Obito ignored the two of them completely, his gaze returning to the projection.
"Good," he said quietly. "Everything is moving according to plan."
"Speaking of the plan, Captain… who the hell are those two?"
"Yeah. For you to go to such lengths and set things up like this… what's going on?"
Hearing the word plan, both White Zetsu and Tobi stopped bickering and turned toward Obito, their attention shifting back to the projection.
Their boss was clearly in one of his mysterious, chūnibyō-like moods again.
Obito glanced at them, then answered calmly, not bothering to hide anything.
"They are Boruto Uzumaki… and Sasuke Uchiha."
"…"
"WHAT?!"
Tobi immediately started flailing his arms.
"How can that be?! Sasuke-kun? That huge guy is actually Sasuke-kun? What happened? Did he just suddenly mature overnight? I mean… I'm not complaining…"
He staggered around dramatically like an idiot.
"Idiot," White Zetsu muttered, clearly unimpressed. Then his expression shifted to confusion.
"Boruto Uzumaki? Why does that name sound familiar… Boruto… Boruto…" He paused, eyes narrowing. "Wait… Naruto? Boruto… BORUTO?!"
He suddenly shouted as if he had solved a major mystery, his gaze snapping back to the projection. He carefully examined Boruto's face—his hair, his eyes, even his expressions.
"…It's the same… no way…"
White Zetsu seemed to connect the dots. After recalling their earlier conversation, an absurd thought formed in his mind.
Obito watched their reactions with a faint smile. Even he knew that time travel—no matter the world—was something shocking.
"Just as you guessed, White Zetsu," Obito said calmly. "They're both from the future… or more precisely, from an alternative timeline different from this one."
He then began explaining the situation in detail.
For a moment, both White Zetsu and Tobi stared at the projection after hearing Obito's explanation.
Tobi was the first to react.
"Wait… you're telling me Naruto actually found someone willing to marry him?" He pointed at Boruto, asking what he clearly considered the most unbelievable part of all this.
White Zetsu snorted. "That's the part you're stuck on?"
Tobi ignored him completely and turned toward Sasuke's older figure in the projection, gasping dramatically all over again.
"And Sasuke-kun turned into that? He got taller, cooler, and he actually looks like he doesn't hate everyone anymore…" He placed a hand over his chest. "Unbelievable."
White Zetsu replied dryly, "No, he just matured. Unlike you."
Tobi immediately perked up.
"Oh! So if we beat them now, do we unlock future loot?"
"…"
White Zetsu went silent for a second, then slowly turned to look at him.
"That… actually sounds like something Captain would think of."
He let out a long sigh.
Honestly, just thinking about the fact that their captain had been secretly camping two people from the future left him with mixed feelings. This was really too shameless, even by Obito's standards.
Tobi instantly sprang back to life.
"Is that true, Captain? Should I just—"
He immediately started shadowboxing the air, then pointed at Boruto and Sasuke in the projection before dragging a finger across his neck. The meaning could not have been clearer.
"You can't beat them," Obito said calmly, shutting down the idiotic suggestion without hesitation.
Sasuke was genuinely at the Six Paths level.
Even if his chakra was heavily depleted, underestimating someone at that level could easily lead to a disastrous outcome.
And Boruto was even more troublesome than he looked. Obito was certain that the moment Boruto completely ran out of chakra—or suffered serious enough injuries—Momoshiki would appear.
At that point, the real problem would no longer be who would win the fight.
It would be whether they could keep everything hidden afterward.
A battle between monsters on that level would definitely cause massive destruction, and that was the last thing Obito wanted to see happen right now.
Tobi's arsenal centered around Wood Style—extremely powerful, but also far too destructive.
As for Momoshiki…
He was practically a walking Rasengan disaster.
Of course, Obito had absolute confidence in himself. If he personally stepped in and used all of his trump cards, then in a one-on-one fight, he was certain he could kill both Sasuke and the Momoshiki that might emerge during this period.
As for Momoshiki at his peak, Obito couldn't say for certain just yet.
But he was equally sure of one thing—
He would not lose.
The reason was simple.
Kamui—especially his own Kamui, now that his eyes had reached the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan stage—was no longer an ability that could be judged by normal standards. It was the kind of power that could cross levels and ignore common sense.
The best example of that was Kakashi's brief clash against Kaguya.
If Kaguya had not possessed immortality, that strike could have killed her on the spot.
Yes, there had been the element of surprise. But even so, it still proved one undeniable truth—
With a powerful enough ability, it was entirely possible to kill someone far stronger than yourself.
"Huh?! Me? Lose? To Sasuke-kun?" Tobi instantly exploded. "I don't believe it!"
He immediately threw himself onto the ground, rolling around and pounding the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.
White Zetsu looked down at him with open disgust before turning back to Obito.
"Is he really that strong in the future?" he asked, now stroking his chin more thoughtfully.
If even Obito was being this cautious, then the situation was far more troublesome than it looked.
That meant one thing.
They absolutely could not act rashly.
"Then, Captain… are you going to make a move personally this time?" White Zetsu asked thoughtfully, trying to sound composed, though the slight excitement in his voice still gave him away.
To his surprise, Obito simply shook his head.
Then he smiled.
A dark, knowing smile.
"Bush camping," Obito said. "You should know what that means, White Zetsu."
White Zetsu stared at him for a moment.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Wait… don't tell me…"
He muttered the words to himself, but his voice was loud enough for both Obito and Tobi to hear.
"There's a third party coming?" His expression shifted as the pieces fell into place. "And you want to wait until both sides wear each other down, then step in at the perfect moment—taking the greatest benefit for the smallest cost…"
White Zetsu looked at Obito with something close to admiration.
"As expected of you, Captain."
Then he let out a long sigh.
"I was wrong. For a second, I actually thought you were planning to go out there and fight them head-on."
Tobi immediately pointed at Obito.
"That would've been way too hot-blooded for Captain."
"As if you didn't just want to sit back and enjoy the show too," Obito replied calmly.
White Zetsu coughed lightly and looked away.
Obito gave a lazy shrug.
"And besides…" His smile deepened. "I'm a villain, remember? Why would I go out of my way to make things harder for myself?"
That was the truth.
Yes, if he personally stepped onto the stage, he was confident he could seize victory with his own hands.
But why take that risk?
Obito had seen too many idiots charge in for some grand, heroic one-on-one, only to end up dead for it. Whether it was arrogance, pride, or some delusion about dignity, the result was always the same.
A corpse was still a corpse.
As for things like plot armor…
Obito had no idea whether something like that truly existed in this world.
And he had absolutely no interest in being the first fool to test it.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of the eyes watching from the shadows, Boruto finally found himself facing a far more immediate problem.
"Haaa… so much happened today…" Boruto let out a tired breath, shoved his hands into his pockets, and took a step forward. "I'm gonna go find a place to stay for tonight."
Then—
"Hey! Where do you think you're going, kid?!"
Naruto suddenly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks.
"Eh?!"
"I mean, it's already bad enough that I lost track of that other guy…" Naruto said, scratching his cheek in frustration. "There's no way I can afford to let you out of my sight now…"
Before Boruto could say anything else, Naruto dragged him along, ignoring the slightly complicated look on Boruto's face as he pulled him toward his "home."
"I really don't want Granny Tsunade yelling at me again," Naruto grumbled. "I seriously can't let you run off. So you're staying at my place tonight."
Then, as if only just remembering, he turned back slightly.
"And… oh yeah, sorry! I didn't catch your name before."
"Oh… it's Boruto," Boruto replied simply, blinking once as he stopped himself from saying the rest of his name.
"Nice to meet you, Boruto! My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto closed his eyes and flashed a wide grin, proudly pointing a thumb at himself.
"Cool… yeah," Boruto said, caught a little off guard by his father's overwhelming enthusiasm.
Then his eyes drifted past Naruto and landed on the house in front of him.
It was… rough.
Boruto stared at it for a second.
So this is where my dad lived as a kid…?
"Don't pay attention to the mess, okay?" Naruto said as he stepped inside, his voice suddenly sounding a little awkward.
Boruto followed him in, curiously looking around the house before casually asking, "Do you live alone?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied while hurriedly moving expired milk bottles around and cleaning up scattered trash. "Always have. I never knew my mom or dad."
Boruto fell silent.
He watched Naruto casually cleaning the room, laughing like it was nothing, and felt something stir in his chest.
"…I see," he murmured softly.
Grrr…
The sudden growl of a stomach made the slightly depressing atmosphere instantly awkward.
Boruto froze and blushed.
Naruto, on the other hand, just laughed.
"Well, since you're my guest, I'm gonna make you a feast, so get ready!"
"A feast?" Boruto's eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked genuinely excited.
That excitement lasted right up until he saw the cup ramen.
His expression immediately went blank.
…A feast, huh?
"Let's dig in! Thanks for the food!" Naruto clapped his hands together cheerfully and started eating at once.
Seeing Naruto so excited, Boruto—who was still hungry no matter what—quietly picked up his food and kept his complaints to himself.
"…Well, thanks for the food."
Soon, night fell, and the two of them went to bed.
Boruto lay there quietly, staring up at the ceiling as pale moonlight filtered through the window and fell across his face.
I wonder where Sasuke went…
"You stay by his side and protect him," Sasuke had told him before disappearing. "I'll work in secret while checking a few things."
That was what Sasuke had said before vanishing.
What Boruto didn't know was that Sasuke was standing on the rooftop above the house, a faint frown on his face as he looked out over the sleeping village.
"Something's off…" he murmured. "But I can't quite put my finger on it."
During this time, he had secretly investigated quite a few things, yet everything seemed normal on the surface.
But his instincts told him something was wrong.
I hope I'm just overthinking it…
Maybe the time travel had simply left him more on edge than usual, Sasuke told himself as he lifted his gaze toward the moon.
PS: Unfortunately for all of you…
Bad news.
(Just kidding… mostly.)
I started another Naruto story.
Title: Naruto: Breaking The Limiter
The MC is Yujiro.
He breaks his limiter, gains increasingly illegal abilities, and eventually turns the Naruto world into his personal gym.
Anyway, give it a try and feel it yourself.
Tagged below 👇
PS: Fucking hell, the book was actually blocked, had to repost. Send some power stones or comments on it...