Hearing what the ANBU said, Hoshiyomi suddenly felt a spark of excitement. Sure enough, his memory hadn't failed him — Minato wouldn't summon him personally unless something important had happened.
Since the Fifth Hokage rarely bothered him otherwise, Hoshiyomi was certain this must be something worth his attention.
After sincerely complimenting Teuchi's ramen a few more times, Hoshiyomi left the shop, curiosity brimming, and followed the two ANBU toward the Hokage's office.
Inside the office, Minato — who had only recently taken up the title of Fifth Hokage — was sitting at his desk, writing quickly and neatly.
Unlike Tsunade, who was spoiled by Hoshiyomi and often delegated her duties, Minato preferred to handle most matters personally.
Shikaku Nara, now serving as his advisor, had quietly rejoiced countless times because of this.
"Ah, sensei, you're here."
Minato lifted his head from his paperwork and greeted Hoshiyomi with a smile.
Taking the tea Shizune handed him, Hoshiyomi nodded.
"All right, Minato, what's so urgent that you had to call me over in such a hurry?"
Minato smiled lightly.
"It's not exactly an emergency. It's just… something unusual came up, something I've never heard of before. I wanted to hear your opinion, sensei."
Hearing that, Hoshiyomi's interest was immediately piqued.
Combined with the thought he'd had earlier at Ichiraku Ramen, his curiosity only grew stronger.
Straightening his posture, Hoshiyomi said,
"All right then, what's going on?"
Minato reached under his desk and took out a sealed letter.
"Sensei, please take a look at this."
As he handed the letter over, he continued,
"Have you ever heard of a small country near the Land of Wind called Rōran?"
At those words, Hoshiyomi froze for a moment, letter in hand — and suddenly, it all clicked.
He finally remembered what the opening of Ichiraku Ramen had foreshadowed.
It was connected to exactly what Minato was talking about now: Rōran.
The story he had nearly forgotten was none other than the plot of Naruto: The Lost Tower!
That movie had left quite an impression on him in his previous life — and for good reason.
It featured one of the elements he cared about most: time travel.
In The Lost Tower, Naruto had pursued Suna rogue shinobi Mukade to Rōran, where he used the Ryūmyaku to travel through time — all the way back to the Rōran of the past — and even met Minato there, leading to some very interesting interactions.
Thinking about that storyline, Hoshiyomi couldn't help rubbing his hands together in excitement.
Time travel… a future Naruto… how could I possibly miss out on something like that?
Of course, the answer was obvious — no way.
From the moment he heard the name Rōran, Hoshiyomi had already made up his mind:
No matter what, this time he, Gekko Hoshiyomi, was going to Rōran.
He unfolded the letter and skimmed through it quickly, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
Sure enough, it was just as he remembered.
The letter was written by none other than the current Queen of Rōran — the mother of Sara, the queen who appeared in the original story.
Its contents were almost exactly as expected:
A mysterious man calling himself Anrokuzan had suddenly appeared in the kingdom. Using the power of the Ryūmyaku, he had begun changing many things in Rōran — strange, unnatural changes that alarmed the queen.
Feeling uneasy about this "Anrokuzan," she had secretly sent this letter to Konohagakure, asking the Leaf's shinobi to help her investigate his true identity.
"Sensei? Hoshiyomi-sensei?"
Just as Hoshiyomi was lost in thought, recalling the plot and imagining what might happen when he encountered the Ryūmyaku himself, Minato's voice brought him back to reality.
"Sensei, are you all right?"
"Ahem— I'm fine, just got a bit… distracted. What were you saying?"
Seeing his teacher like that, Minato could only sigh helplessly and shrug his shoulders.
"I just said," Minato continued, "that as soon as I received the letter, I immediately sent people to investigate. We've confirmed that this so-called Anrokuzan appeared out of nowhere.
"To make sure, I even visited Pakura personally. She told me that during her time in Sunagakure, she had never seen or heard of anyone by that name. She also mentioned that the puppets this Anrokuzan created are unlike any she's ever encountered — far more advanced and powerful than most of the puppets in Sunagakure.
"Hearing that, even I started to feel that something about Anrokuzan was suspicious. So I wanted to hear your opinion, sensei — regarding this Rōran mission, how many people do you think we should send?"
At those words, Hoshiyomi snapped out of his daydream completely.
Right…
Konoha today was already very different from the Konoha of the original timeline. His existence had already caused so many butterfly effects.
For instance — under normal circumstances, Minato shouldn't have become Hokage for another six months or so. Yet here he was, already sitting as the Fifth Hokage.
Which meant this Rōran mission might not be as straightforward as it was in his memories.
And besides — now that Minato was Hokage, he definitely couldn't go to Rōran himself.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi suddenly stood up.
"I've decided."
Just as Minato was wondering if his teacher had zoned out again, Hoshiyomi straightened his back and said decisively:
"There's no need to send anyone else. This mission… leave it to me."
Minato blinked, confusion written all over his face.
For a second, he felt like his teacher wasn't acting particularly smart today.
But then again — this was his teacher.
And somehow, Hoshiyomi always managed to say things that made perfect sense in the end.
After all, was there any mission in this world that his teacher couldn't handle?
With that reassuring thought, Minato smiled and nodded.
"Since you're so interested in this mission, sensei, then I'll leave it in your hands."
Hoshiyomi confidently patted his chest.
"Don't worry, I've got this. Oh, and make sure you tell your teacher's wife — I'll be back in a couple of days, so she doesn't need to worry."
Minato blinked.
"You're not planning to go home and tell her your—"
Before he could even finish the words goodbye, Hoshiyomi had already stepped onto his flying sword and leapt straight out the office window.
Minato stared at his teacher rapidly disappearing into the distance, shaking his head with a faint smile.
"Sensei is sensei… No matter how much time passes, his thoughts are always impossible to predict."
...
Hoshiyomi soared high above the village on his sword, the thrill in his chest finally beginning to settle.
Only then did he start to scold himself a little — for rushing off like that without even saying goodbye.
Still, it wasn't a big deal. Minato would tell Tsunade anyway, and he'd be back soon enough.
After all, this mission shouldn't take long.
If it was anything like in the original timeline, it'd all be over within an afternoon.
That guy Mukade might have control over the Ryūmyaku, but he was still just a weakling.
With Hoshiyomi's current strength, taking care of him would be a piece of cake.
He already had the plan in mind — fly to Rōran, take a quick look at Naruto, then kidnap Mukade, interrogate him about the future, and eliminate him before heading straight back.
Yes, no matter how he looked at it — there was no way anything could go wrong.
A new chapter begins: The Rōran Arc.
Of course, it won't follow the original storyline — so stay tuned.
...
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