Uchiha Akira studied the man in his thirties standing before him, before shifting his gaze to the blond teenager beside him.
The boy appeared to be around twelve or thirteen, just a couple of years younger than Akira. Of course, at that age, a boy's physical development could vary greatly, which explained why there was such a noticeable height difference between them.
Noticing the boy's golden hair and blue eyes, which were just like Naruto Uzumaki's, Akira felt a surge of realization. He probed cautiously, "Are you... Boruto?" Hearing this, both strangers' expressions shifted dramatically.
The blond teen couldn't help but exclaim, "Who are you? How do you know me? That's impossible!"
"So it is him," Akira thought, his heart sinking.
To be honest, Akira had only been familiar with the original Naruto series before crossing over. As for Boruto, he had always considered it nothing but an unnecessary extension, a "sequel that ruins the original." He had only watched the movie out of curiosity and had a rough idea of the storyline. As for the anime? He didn't know much about it.
Yet, here Boruto was, appearing in Konoha at this time. How could this be possible?
What was even more confusing was that Akira and Hinata were currently getting along so well. Logically, Boruto shouldn't even exist in this timeline. Had he been cheated on? Or had Naruto somehow stolen Hinata away?
"Boruto, look! Something's not right with this Konoha!" Sasuke said, raising his head to look at the Hokage Rock, his expression one of disbelief.
Hearing his teacher's words, Boruto followed Sasuke's gaze.
The statues of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage all looked as they should—nothing unusual there.
But then, the Fifth Hokage...
"Who... Who is the Fifth Hokage?" Boruto stammered, his face twisting as if he'd seen a ghost when he saw the face of Fugaku Uchiha carved into the rock.
"Is this really Konoha? Why does it look completely different from the village I know?"
"The Fifth Hokage is Uchiha Fugaku," Sasuke said, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the Hokage Rock. "He... he's my father..."
Sasuke and Boruto were completely dumbfounded.
What was going on here? They had traveled through time, and they had indeed arrived in Konoha. Judging by the timeline, this was during the reign of the Fifth Hokage.
But why was the Fifth Hokage not Tsunade?
This was completely different from the history they knew.
The one who was most stunned was Uchiha Sasuke himself. Wasn't his clan supposed to have been wiped out?
Yet the moment they arrived, he encountered a member of the Uchiha clan.
Then, seeing his father's face carved into the Hokage Rock, Sasuke was even more bewildered.
No wonder he could see Uchiha clan members freely roaming the village. It was because his father had become the Fifth Hokage!
But what in the world had happened to this timeline?
The First through Fourth Hokage were all as he remembered, so how had his father become the Fifth Hokage? Even Sasuke found his mind in turmoil, unable to make sense of things.
"I see, so they're not from the future, but rather from a parallel universe," Akira thought to himself. "That explains it. Naruto wouldn't betray me, and Hinata wouldn't fall for someone else!"
Although their exchange had been brief, Akira had deduced from their conversation that this was a matter of parallel universes.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have reacted with such shock upon seeing Fugaku as the Fifth Hokage.
"Two visitors from a future Konoha... Shall we talk?" Akira said after realizing who they were.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, trying to suppress his shock, his eyes fixed on Akira.
Indeed, this Konoha was strange—many things didn't make sense. But the Uchiha standing before them, with horns sprouting from his head—who exactly was he?
He could recognize Boruto at a glance and knew they had come from the future?
Logically, that shouldn't have been possible.
"I'm afraid this isn't a negotiation, I'm informing you as the Head of Konoha's Anbu," Akira said, not answering Sasuke directly but instead speaking with an air of authority.
Heading to Iwagakure to assist was indeed important.
But now, having encountered a version of Sasuke and Boruto who had traveled here from a parallel universe, Akira felt that these two were even more crucial.
"Alright, let's find a quiet place to talk," Sasuke said after a moment of silence. He understood that if this Uchiha before them was indeed the Head of Anbu, then a fight would cause too much commotion. So he nodded in agreement.
Following that, Akira arranged for them to use a secluded room in the Anbu headquarters, dismissing all other personnel and personally hosting Sasuke and Boruto.
"This place looks good. Now, I have a few questions for you," Sasuke said once they sat down.
Suddenly, Sasuke's hair rose up, revealing his left eye.
The left eye transformed into a Tomoe Rinnegan, while his right eye shifted into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Akira felt a powerful Genjutsu acting upon him—Sasuke was clearly full of doubts and intended to use Genjutsu to control him to gather information.
However, Akira's own eyes transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he took a deep breath, activating Sage Mode from Ryūchi Cave, causing his chakra to surge dramatically.
"So, are we going to fight before having a proper conversation?" Akira said, blocking Sasuke's Sharingan Genjutsu.
"Mangekyō!" Seeing Akira's Sharingan, Sasuke's expression grew serious, and he withdrew his own Sharingan.
While the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was theoretically a half-step superior to a regular Mangekyō, practically, their functionalities were no different—only that the Eternal Mangekyō didn't risk going blind from overuse.
Seeing that the other person also had the Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke knew it was unrealistic to try to control him with Genjutsu.
"My apologies. I was just curious; I had no intention of actually fighting," Sasuke said, his attitude easing.
The power that Akira had shown left Sasuke wary. Mangekyō Sharingan, chakra reserves on a Super Kage level, combined with Sage Mode—Sasuke was secretly astonished by Akira's strength.
It was hard to believe that such a young and powerful Uchiha existed in Konoha. Even in his younger days, Sasuke hadn't been this strong at this age. Who was this guy?
Everything about this Konoha seemed strange.
"Very well. I'm not unreasonable either."
"Since we agreed to talk, let's talk properly."
"I have many questions, and I'm sure you do too, so let's take turns, one question each," Akira proposed.
"Alright, I'll start," Sasuke nodded, accepting Akira's suggestion. He then asked his first question, "Who are you, and how do you know about us?"
"That's two questions. I'll answer the first one: My name is Uchiha Akira. I'm a member of the Uchiha clan and the Head of the Konoha Anbu," Akira answered.
He then posed his own question, "How did you two arrive in this timeline?"
In the original Boruto storyline, were there methods to travel through time or cross parallel universes?
Akira genuinely didn't know.
After all, his understanding of Boruto was really just surface-level.
"We came here using the abilities of Ōtsutsuki Urashiki," Sasuke answered after a brief silence. Following Akira's approach, he didn't fully disclose everything, only mentioning how they got here, without elaborating on Urashiki's background or purpose. Akira nodded slightly, inwardly astonished. As expected of the most powerful clan in the original story, the Ōtsutsuki even had the ability to traverse parallel universes?
"Now it's my turn. How did you know we existed?" Sasuke asked Akira.
"That's... not easy to answer," Akira replied, contemplating Sasuke's question.
He couldn't very well say that in his previous life, he had watched an anime where their lives were portrayed, could he? That everything they experienced was part of a fictional series?
After some thought, Akira said, "Let's just say it's an ability of mine. I can see fragments of both the past and future."
He glanced briefly at Boruto and added, "More specifically, fragments of potential futures."
"So, it's similar to the Great Toad Sage's abilities in Mount Myōboku?" Boruto asked.
As Naruto Uzumaki's son from another timeline, Boruto was evidently aware of the Great Toad Sage's prophetic abilities.
"Alright, let me ask another question then: Why did Ōtsutsuki Urashiki come to this timeline?" Akira asked.
At the same time, he realized that the figure in the Life Simulator with the golden Rinnegan must have been Urashiki Ōtsutsuki.
"His purpose is to travel back in time to find a young Naruto and take the Nine-Tails from him," Sasuke answered plainly.
Having said that, Sasuke followed up with another question, one he personally most wanted answered.
"My father... Lord Fugaku Uchiha, how did he become the Fifth Hokage?"
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POWER STONE!!!
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 300+ at patreon.com/Emik01.