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"So, then Sasuke wanted to overthrow the Five Nations, Naruto challenged him to a final battle at the Valley of the End—winner becomes Hokage, loser gets Sakura…"
Time flowed slowly as Chiba spun his vivid, dramatic tale. Boruto listened with rapt attention. Sasuke, long past the point of caring, had given up all resistance.
As for Minato? He'd bolted to find Kushina the moment he could. A rare day off from work? No time like the present. Today was the day. He wanted a daughter, and he wanted one now!
"Sage Art: Storm Style Light Fang!"
On the other side of the clearing, just as Chiba finished regaling Boruto and Sasuke with the entire plot of the original series, a beam of violet light shot from Madara's mouth. It finally nailed Urashiki, who'd been flailing uselessly in the air.
"Hmph. Effortless," Madara declared, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulder and shooting a challenging look at Chiba.
"Izanami."
Chiba's gaze fell on Urashiki. The world reset. His injuries vanished. The Ōtsutsuki sat up, perfectly healed and no longer on death's door.
"You bastard! Why'd you save him?!" Madara almost choked. Half a day's work, undone in a blink. He was seeing red.
"Yeah, why did you save me?" Urashiki asked from the ground, genuinely curious.
Chiba said nothing. His eyes were on the system screen floating before him. Why? For the Ōtsutsuki-tier rewards, of course.
Ding! Treatment successful. Host has obtained: [Ōtsutsuki Byakugan (Toggleable)], [Dōjutsu: Temporal Rewind]!
"Not bad. As a reward, you get to live," Chiba smirked.
Shun!
Sasuke's Rinnegan didn't even catch the movement. By the time his brain registered it, Chiba was already behind Urashiki.
"Heh. Caught fair and square." Urashiki offered a bitter smile. No resistance. No matter how many times he rewound time, he couldn't dodge what came next. This was his fixed fate.
Thwump!
Chiba's own dōjutsu, overwhelmingly powerful, brutally overrode Urashiki's space-time technique. Then, a hand—fast as lightning—punched straight through his chest.
"(òwó?)! What the hell?!" Boruto and Sasuke stared, utterly bewildered. Save him just to kill him? What was the point? Just so he could die by your hand?!
'This Chiba guy is completely unhinged. How could Mother possibly… like him?' Sasuke's thoughts were a tangled mess.
"You… what are you?" Urashiki gasped, his chakra utterly suppressed. He forced his head around to look at Chiba, confusion etched on his face.
Chiba ignored him. He raised a hand, conjuring a shimmering portal of distorted space. With a casual toss, he threw the powerless Urashiki through it.
Shun!
On the other side, a flash of white caught the falling body.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
After several… extended and thorough sessions of "cultural exchange," Kaguya had been thoroughly subdued. She obeyed Chiba without question now.
Feeling a bit bad about taking further advantage of the naive goddess, Chiba had been pondering how to power up. And then, Urashiki delivered himself right to their doorstep.
A perfect assembly line was born.
Kaguya would drain Urashiki dry. Chiba would then "heal" him, collecting system rewards. Kaguya would drain the restored Urashiki again. Rinse and repeat.
Thanks to the system, nobody lost out. It was, for all intents and purposes, a perpetual motion machine.
(Urashiki: …What about me?)
"Uncle Sasuke… am I dreaming?" Boruto tugged on Sasuke's empty sleeve, his voice filled with disbelief.
An Ōtsutsuki they'd risked their lives against… handled so easily by Chiba?
'So the past Hokage were this strong after all. Dad and the others just weren't cutting it,' Boruto thought, the conclusion seeming perfectly logical to him.
"Hmph! Told you I didn't need help. You just had to butt in, you meddling brat!" Madara snorted, feigning calm as he stormed off. He'd decided: never show off when Chiba was around. The kid was his natural-born kryptonite.
"Well, you two don't have to worry about that Ōtsutsuki anymore." Chiba waved Madara away, turning to Boruto and Sasuke. He pointed to a small house nearby. "Speaking of which, Boruto… want to meet your grandparents?"
"Can we, Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto's eyes lit up. He immediately turned his pleading, hopeful gaze on Sasuke.
"…Fine." After a moment's silence, Sasuke gave a slight nod.
Theoretically, they shouldn't interact too much with this era. They were supposed to erase memories, too.
But first, he lacked the power to enforce that on someone like Chiba. Second… this timeline was already a complete train wreck. What did a few more rules matter?
Boruto excitedly ran to knock on the door. A frantic scuffling sound came from inside, as if Minato and Kushina were in the middle of… something… and had been rudely interrupted.
Sasuke and Chiba stood side-by-side on the street, watching in silent, awkward solidarity.
A heavy feeling settled in Sasuke's chest. Boruto got to meet family he never could. Sasuke wasn't even sure who his own "parents" were supposed to be anymore.
After a long while, Sasuke glanced at the similarly pensive Chiba beside him and spoke slowly.
"Chiba, right? My mother, she…"
"Very… moist."
Chiba blurted it out, then immediately realized his mistake. "Ahem! I mean, your mother is great. Fantastic person. Top-tier."
Sasuke: "…"
Trying to have a normal conversation with Chiba was officially the worst decision of his life.
"Anyway, Sasuke," Chiba swiftly changed the subject. "How about you take me back to your time with you?"
"The Ōtsutsuki will invade our world eventually, too. I want to gather intel on them in your era. And I can help you deal with the ones already there."
Truth was, Chiba had only caught a few scattered episodes of Boruto: Next Generations—Actually We're Just Here For Your Dad. His knowledge of the Ōtsutsuki crew was spotty.
Plus, his own world was getting a bit… peaceful. Boring, even. A change of scenery sounded fun.
"That… Alright. But once we're there, you'll need to follow mine and Naruto's lead." Sasuke paused, then glanced at Chiba's easy smile. A realization dawned: he didn't really have the power to refuse. After a moment's thought, he agreed.
"Don't worry. I'm the most cooperative guy you'll ever meet." Chiba thumped his chest. "That's exactly why the Third Hokage saw my potential and passed the Fourth's seat to me."
Sasuke gave him a long, silent look. He didn't believe a single word anymore.
…
Inside the sleek, high-tech interior space of Karasuki.
Madara looked around curiously, then crossed his arms, his face cold. "You only brought me because you didn't trust me alone in the Leaf, didn't you?"
Chiba shook his head, scoffing. "Karasuki is a time machine. I can return to the exact moment we left. I brought you along because I was worried you'd get bored."
Madara just grunted. No further argument. With the world at peace, he was bored out of his skull, just like Chiba. The monotony was driving him insane.
"Karasuki. How much longer? Can you send us to a point shortly after our departure?" Sasuke asked the turtle's holographic projection in the center of the platform, his tone slightly strained.
Being around Chiba made his skin crawl. It felt like… like being stuck in a room with a much younger stepfather.
"Affirmative. The long journey has been taxing. Please wait a moment. We will soon arrive in your original era." Karasuki's response was robotic.
As they say, fear attracts the very thing you dread. Sasuke was trying to be invisible. Chiba just strolled right over and slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Killing time. Hey, Sasuke, let me fix up those injuries of yours."
"Injuries?" Sasuke was confused.
The next instant, his empty sleeve suddenly filled out. A brand new left arm materialized as if printed in 3D, flesh and bone forming in a blink.
Ding! Treatment successful. Host has obtained: [Mental Fortitude Enhancement]!
"Who gave you the right?!" Sasuke stared at his restored arm. No joy. Only a simmering anger directed straight at Chiba.
"U-Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto flinched. Sasuke, the picture of stoic calm, suddenly exploding? He looked between them, unsure what to do.
'Please don't fight, please don't fight, we are so outmatched it's not even funny…' Boruto chanted internally.
"Take it or leave it. Don't want it? Chop it off yourself." Chiba had already gotten his reward. He waved a dismissive hand, his tone impatient.
He knew Sasuke kept the arm off as penance, to sever ties with the past, to show the world he'd paid a price… So what? That wasn't his problem.
He healed people based on his own whims, not their consent. Just ask Zabuza.
Sasuke: "…"
"Uncle Sasuke… maybe you should keep it?" Boruto stepped between them, trying to defuse the tension. "Brother Chiba meant well. Dad will be really happy to see you with both arms again."
"…Fine." What else could he do? Actually chop it off again?
The familiar, gnawing frustration returned. This unhinged, unpredictable Chiba… How could his mother possibly…?
Hummm!
A golden light flashed, yanking all four of them out of Karasuki's interior and dumping them back into the real world. The time-turtle shrunk back into its shell form, landing in Boruto's hand.
Of course. Main character privileges.
Shun!
Chiba's figure instantly appeared atop a nearby building. His gaze swept the horizon, landing on the seven distinct faces carved into the distant mountain cliffside.
Hokage Rock.
"We're back! Finally!" Boruto cheered.
A wide, predatory grin spread across Chiba's face.
In this different time, he could do so many… interesting things.
"Naruto and the others should still be in the Hokage's office, planning how to deal with Urashiki," Sasuke said, creating a shadow clone. "Boruto, go with my clone and explain the situation to Naruto. Chiba, you two come with me."
"Right!" Boruto followed the clone, disappearing down a street.
Chiba and Madara fell in step behind Sasuke's real body as they walked onto the main thoroughfare of this future Konoha.
"Tch. So this is the Leaf of the future. Lots of new things," Madara grunted, eyeing the neon-lit streets. Even at night, the place buzzed with life. Massive, high-def screens, electric railcars, modern shops—it was a world of technology.
The old-timer was impressed.
Chiba? He was green with envy.
Are you kidding me? They have gaming consoles in this ninja world?!
'Damn it. The moment I get back, I'm putting Orochimaru on double shifts. We're getting Wi-Fi and PCs. Kaguya's fun and all, but games are forever!' Chiba vowed internally.
"Wait. Is that…?"
A graceful, cool-looking figure flashed past a side street. Chiba's eyes locked on. He couldn't look away.
"Hyūga… Hanabi."
Seeing his reaction, Madara beside him snorted. "Heh. Can't take two steps when you see a pretty girl, can you?"
"No. You don't get it." Chiba shook his head, his voice dropping to a reverent whisper. "That's Hyūga Hanabi. The ideal type… one of them, anyway. I'm already here…"
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