The ruins of Loulan.
At the collapsed entrance leading to the Dragon Vein altar, four figures stepped out.
"We're finally back," Yamato muttered as he reached the exit.
"I never thought we'd experience something like that—and return with our memories intact," Sai said quietly, eyes flickering.
Is this a blessing… or a curse?
He knew all too well what it meant—he was still a Root operative. If Danzō asked, he would have to answer. And if that happened, the Dragon Vein might inevitably draw that man's attention.
"Naruto, don't be sad. We should be looking at—" Sakura began, trying to comfort him, only to freeze mid-sentence.
Ahead of them, in the ruined walkways of Loulan's city, stood a pink-haired girl.
Before she could speak, she stared straight at the figures emerging from the entrance. At the same time, crisp footsteps sounded behind the four.
Yamato's scalp went numb. He turned sharply.
Under the sunlight, three familiar silhouettes were reflected in his eyes.
"Just as I expected," Kaito said calmly as he walked out from behind them.
His gaze swept over the girl who resembled Queen Sara's daughter, then lingered briefly on the chakra blade in her hand—and finally on Naruto's scabbard.
"So," he said lightly,
"not everything got 'fixed,' huh."
"Wh—cough—Director! Where… where is this place?"
Yūhi Ryuun almost slipped up, but Kaito shot her a sharp look. She immediately corrected herself.
Hashirama… no—Nawaki—raised his head against the dazzling sunlight, scanned the surroundings, and came to a conclusion.
"Loulan."
Behind the mask, Ryuun's eyes widened.
"Eh?!"
"How did you get here?!" Sakura blurted out. She hadn't expected the All-Powerful Minister of that world to be capable of crossing worlds as well.
Kaito glanced at them indifferently. "Using the coordinates Hundred-Feet left behind."
"Establishing a passage is enough."
"H-Hundred-Feet?!" Sai's hand snapped to his blade. "Didn't you kill him?"
"No need to be that tense," Kaito replied.
"More precisely, I repaired his heart."
Everyone froze.
"In the end, I used that heart to open the gate between worlds."
Three minutes earlier
Kaito had noticed something unusual when the four of them departed—
a peculiar energy lingering on their bodies.
It was Dragon Vein chakra… yet subtly different.
After Sally escorted Jiraiya and Minato away, Kaito brought Ryuun and Nawaki over, retrieved the incomplete heart from Hundred-Feet's remains, and regenerated it using ROOM.
The heart was restored—but the soul was gone.
Even if it beat, whether placed into a clone or a puppet, it possessed no consciousness.
More importantly, the heart bore the same abnormal Dragon Vein imprint as the four of them.
"So as long as the Dragon Vein chakra nourishes it, the world gate opens?"
Kaito's eyes gleamed with pure curiosity.
The ring on his finger stirred.
From deep underground, violet Dragon Vein energy surged upward and poured into the heart.
It didn't rupture.
Instead, the imprint embedded within the heart activated.
A terrifying force bloomed in Kaito's palm.
Guiding the energy with brute control, he projected it forward.
The space ahead fractured—
A white, indistinct door appeared.
Kaito couldn't see what lay beyond. He didn't dare step through himself.
So he sent a shadow clone first.
The result surprised him.
The warped spacetime passage—laced with shattered spatial fragments—
was functionally no different from an ordinary doorway.
Freezing the heart's state with the Op-Op Fruit, Kaito led the other three through the rift.
They arrived successfully at future Loulan—the heart of the Dragon Vein altar.
Collapsed bridges. Broken ceilings.
No different from Loulan in the original records.
Behind them, the door slowly dissolved.
Kaito had a hunch:
as long as he released the heart's suspended state in his pocket, their bodies would naturally return to their original world.
Back in the present—
Kaito watched Sara's daughter explain the queen's past to her caravan before leaving, and muttered:
"…Is she an NPC or something?"
"…." x2
Nawaki and Ryuun were speechless.
"You're coming back to Konoha with us?" Yamato asked warily.
"At this point, there's no reason to hide it anymore," Kaito replied.
"After all, I'm the only one who controls the spacetime gate."
He slowly raised a hand and removed the rabbit-ear mask.
Ryuun did the same. So did Nawaki.
Yamato and the others stared in disbelief.
"White— I mean— Kaito, the genin?!"
"And… um… who is this lady?" Yamato asked awkwardly.
Ryuun's forehead vein bulged.
"Yūhi Ryuun! Yūhi Clan jōnin! We've met before!!"
She clenched her fist, itching to punch him.
Only then did Yamato remember—
that day on the street, when he'd seen Kaito with Ryuun and a jōnin named Yakushi Nono.
"Sorry, sorry. Took me a second," he said, scratching his head.
Sai, however, remained tense.
"Why is a Konoha shinobi acting as Loulan's All-Powerful Minister?"
"In other words—this was all an act, wasn't it?"
The atmosphere grew heavy.
They were already on the road back to Konoha, within the Land of Rivers.
"Don't misunderstand," Kaito said smoothly, lying without blinking.
"I arrived in Loulan first and became the All-Powerful Minister."
"If not for me, you know what Loulan's fate would've been."
"…." x4
Sai recovered first.
"You're dodging the question. Why did a Konoha ninja become Loulan's minister?"
Kaito tilted his head.
"Why should I explain that to you?"
"And besides—
why is a Root operative like you assigned to a normal squad?"
"…!"
"Don't worry about it. I have my reasons!"
"Enough," Nawaki cut in. "If you want answers, beat him first."
"Without strength, questions only add to your stress."
"Nawaki-senpai's right," Yamato agreed. "Let Lady Tsunade handle it."
"…Actually," Nawaki said suddenly, "what am I like in this world?"
Silence.
Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"…I think you're dead? There's no one named Nawaki in our village."
Yamato and Sai shot him murderous looks.
Saying that now?!
Nawaki's smile drained of color.
"…I died?"
"And what about me?" Ryuun asked curiously.
"…Same, I guess. And you too—uh—Kaito-senpai," Naruto answered honestly.
Crack.
Both Nawaki and Ryuun mentally shattered.
"Enough," Kaito said calmly.
"A discarded future, that's all. Fate already changed the moment we met."
The two exchanged looks.
They understood.
Without Kaito, they really would've died.
They reached Konoha before nightfall.
Year Konoha 63.
Hokage Office
A grown-up Shizune stood beside the desk, holding Tonton.
Behind the desk, Tsunade leaned forward, examining the returning four—and the three strangers with them.
"…Who are they?"
Her gaze froze on the brown-haired young man with a ponytail.
Yamato hesitated.
"They're… from the past."
"…The past?"
Before she could process it, the young man raised his hand.
"Big sis. You really became Hokage in the future, huh?"
"It's me. Nawaki."
Boom.
Tsunade's body shook. Her legs gave out.
Shizune rushed to support her.
"…A transformation jutsu?" Tsunade muttered, still in denial.
"Pathetic. You're Hokage now," Kaito added dryly.
Vein pop.
"And who are you? And that woman?" Tsunade snapped.
"I'm Yūhi Ryuun, Yūhi Clan jōnin~" Ryuun said cheerfully.
Tsunade sneered.
"The Yūhi Clan disbanded long ago."
Ryuun froze.
"…Uncle Shinku disbanded it?"
"…Yūhi Shinku died years ago," Tsunade said softly.
"…Then who's left?"
"Only Yūhi Kurenai," Shizune answered.
Ryuun grabbed Kaito's sleeve.
"Good thing you existed. Otherwise my family line would've ended."
"…."
Later.
Nawaki stared at Tsunade.
"So… how did I die?"
Kaito yawned.
"Probably stepped on a paper bomb trap."
"No way!!"
Silence answered him.
"…I died at twelve?" Nawaki broke down.
"…And you knew, didn't you, Kaito—?"
"…."
The Hokage's office dissolved into chaos.
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