Inside Ichiraku Ramen, Qiu Xia saw two familiar figures. Two "yellow-haired kids"though their hair and styles differed slightly. One was a lighter shade, the other darker; one had spiky hair, the other a more unruly style.
He blinked in surprise. Uzumaki Boruto and Sasuke hadn't left yet? Why were they still here? Then he remembered: they had come to protect Naruto and deal with Urashiki Otsutsuki. But Urashiki was already gone, and since they hadn't seen him, they hadn't felt safe leaving.
Qiu Xia pondered whether he should tell them that Urashiki was dead. But would they believe a stranger? He decided to leave it be. They could stay or go as they pleased.
Just then, he overheard Boruto speaking to Naruto. "Naruto, Sasuke and I are heading back!"
Qiu Xia: "..."
Naruto was stunned. "You're leaving? You're not going to wait for Urashiki?"
"The plan was to wait, but both you and I saw a massive increase in strength half a year ago. Jiraiya-sensei is going to take you to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Arts soon. Once you learn those, Urashiki probably won't be a threat to you anymore. We have things to handle in our own world; we can't stay forever."
"Is that so? Well, thank you for everything, Boruto!" Naruto was clearly reluctant to see him go, but he knew he couldn't force them to stay.
Eating his noodles quietly, Qiu Xia thought to himself, I thought I'd have to break the news, but you guys figured it out on your own. Fine by me. But before you go, let me give you a little something.
He finished his ramen, left the money on the table, and slipped out. He tracked down the future Sasuke, who was talking to Jiraiya.
"Time Stop!" With a mere thought, time froze in the immediate area. Qiu Xia flickered to Sasuke's side and fed him a pill. He placed a seal on the elixir so it would only take effect once Sasuke returned to his parallel timeline.
After that, Qiu Xia went to Naruto's apartment. He hid another pill inside one of Naruto's "treasured" limited-edition instant ramen cups and sealed it with Genjutsu and Ninjutsu.
Sasuke and Boruto left faster than expected. After eating at the ramen shop, they returned to Naruto's place to exchange parting gifts. Boruto left his favorite gaming console, and Naruto gave Boruto his prized instant ramen.
With their goodbyes said, Sasuke and Boruto returned to the future Konoha through a space-time rift. Because they were moving between parallel worlds, Sasuke didn't use the Rinnegan to seal anyone's memories this time.
Back in his own Konoha, Sasuke briefed Naruto on the situation and then headed to the old Uchiha Clan Hamlet. He wanted to look at the ruins of his clan's home to remind himself that the other world had been a parallel reality.
While he had stayed in the other world for over half a year, he never revealed his identity to the Uchiha family there, only watching his parents from the shadows.
Standing among the ruins of his clan's estate, Sasuke suddenly felt a surge of energy in his stomach. Startled, he thought he was being ambushed and tried to suppress the energy with his chakra.
However, his chakra couldn't contain it. The energy ignited within him, diffusing into every cell. Intense pain flared in his eyes and at the stump of his missing arm. Anyone else would have screamed, but as the "coolest" of ninjas, Sasuke gritted his teeth and endured.
The pain eventually caused him to lose consciousness. After an unknown amount of time, Sasuke woke up. He pushed himself off the ground with both hands. He pausedboth hands? He stared at his arm in shock. Hadn't he lost one? It had completely regrown.
His chakra and ocular power had also expanded massively. He drew a kunai and looked at his reflection in the blade. He activated his eyes. Where there should have been one Eternal Mangekyō and one Six-Tomoe Rinnegan, he now possessed two Six-Tomoe Rinnegan.
"What is this? Why did my body change like this?" Confused and shocked, Sasuke hurried home to have his wife examine him.
Meanwhile, Naruto was delighted by the "treasured" ramen Boruto brought back from the parallel world. He immediately prepared hot water and shared it with Boruto. Just like Sasuke, Naruto was "hit" by the elixir's effect. Since Boruto was there, Naruto was quickly rushed to the hospital.
After the transformation, Naruto's prosthetic armcreated from Hashirama cellshad become a real, living arm. Wood Release manifested within him, and his already vast chakra reserves surged once again.
In the following days, Konoha investigated the sudden changes in Naruto, his son, and Sasuke. They found nothing, only observing that the energy surge was not a threat; in fact, it had left them in better shape than ever.
Despite their new power, Konoha's think tank felt it wasn't enough. Sasuke and Boruto were sent to Ryūchi Cave to study Sage Arts. They believed Sage Arts and Taijutsu were the best ways to counter the Otsutsuki.
Regarding Taijutsu, Konoha only had Rock Lee, but using the Eight Gates was essentially a suicide mission or a crippling one. Sasuke and Boruto, as high-end combatants, needed every advantage.
In the original timeline, Naruto's family and Sasuke had suffered much. But because of Qiu Xia, the threat within Boruto was removed, and Sasuke didn't have to become a "one-eyed dragon." Moreover, Sasuke and Naruto had regained their peak strength from the Great War and could even use Truth-Seeking Balls again.
Isshiki Otsutsuki, who had been a lurking "schemer" for years, was about to find that the "easy mode" encounter he expected had jumped straight to "hell difficulty."
After Sasuke and Boruto returned to their timeline, Qiu Xia intended to return to his retreat. However, he thought of the Isshiki hiding in his own timeline. Leaving that "lurker" in the shadows sat poorly with him. He had already left the Akatsuki as a wildcard; there was no need to keep Isshiki or the Kara organization around.
Within half a day of making his decision, Isshiki was utterly terminated. Qiu Xia seized the God Tree Isshiki possessed and began modifying it.
Originally, the God Tree would mindlessly devour natural energy until it produced a Chakra Fruit, turning into the Ten-Tails once harvested. However, Qiu Xia used his Source Essence to adjust it.
Now, while the God Tree still absorbed natural energy, it also helped balance it and lacked a beastly form. Once it absorbed enough energy, it would produce various "Bloodline Fruits." Consuming these would grant the user natural power, allowing them to convert natural energy into elemental or other unique abilities.
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