Three days later, in a forest beside a village outside Konohagakure.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several kunai suddenly shot out from both sides of a large tree, accurately piercing the vulnerable eyes and ears of a wild boar, robbing it of both sight and hearing.
"Squeeeal—!"
Even though the boar was massive, nearly the size of a half-grown water buffalo, a sudden crippling blow to its vital points still sent it into a panic. It went berserk and began charging wildly in every direction.
The other members of the boar herd saw their leader attacked and immediately turned tail and fled deeper into the forest.
Rescue the boss? Unite against the enemy?
Sorry, they were just boars.
Even if chakra had made them unusually large, they were still mindless beasts.
The three members of Team Seven rushed out from behind the trees. Naruto drew his short blade and used a Vacuum Blade to kill the wounded boar leader in a single strike. He then worked together with his teammates to pursue the herd and wipe out most of it.
Only two large boars and several piglets managed to escape.
That had been the client's request.
When boars became too numerous, they had to be culled; otherwise, the village's crops would be destroyed.
But they couldn't all be killed. Some had to be left alive to reproduce, allowing the village farmers to occasionally supplement their diets through hunting.
Sakura said, "Mission complete. That was easy."
Sasuke grumbled, "Damn it. It's always these simple D-rank missions. There's no challenge at all."
Naruto replied, "Your patience really sucks, Sasuke. Come on, let's head back and inform the villagers so they can collect the boar carcasses. They're worth quite a bit of money."
After carefully wiping his ninja blade clean, Sasuke followed his teammates toward the village.
Hidden within the nearby forest, the adult Sasuke and Boruto continued their covert protection detail. But several days had passed in complete peace and quiet. Urashiki still hadn't appeared.
Makoto's figure suddenly appeared behind them.
Boruto asked, "Makoto-sensei, why is your Flying Thunder God different from Grandpa's? Did you leave technique markers on us or something?"
After spending several days together, the boy had started calling him "sensei" just like Naruto and the others. He also constantly referred to Minato and Kushina as Grandpa and Grandma.
Thanks to that relationship, nobody in Konoha restricted their movements. Naturally, the two had gathered quite a bit of information around the village and learned a great deal about Higashino Makoto.
Makoto said, "Boruto, you really don't need to worry. Just like hand seals become unnecessary once you've mastered a ninjutsu, when you eventually reach the end of the ninja path and begin exploring space itself, you'll naturally be able to do this too."
Boruto sighed.
"If only it were that easy. In our world, nobody developed a human-compatible Senjutsu training system like you did."
"No rush. Maybe someone will in the future. Speaking of which, do you think Urashiki might have gone to another world instead?"
"Another world?"
"Now that we've confirmed there are two parallel worlds, why can't there be three, four, or even more?"
Boruto couldn't wrap his head around it.
"..."
The adult Sasuke said, "Only Karasuki probably knows the answer to something like that."
At that moment, Makoto sensed a slight fluctuation in space somewhere in the distance.
"Oh? Looks like we won't need to ask that annoying little turtle after all."
"The target has arrived."
...
Team Seven was walking back toward the client's village.
Suddenly, the space ahead of them distorted.
A figure appeared high above the team.
He didn't descend.
Instead, he simply floated there in midair.
Sasuke and Naruto reacted instantly, drawing their blades and taking up defensive positions while shielding Sakura behind them.
The newcomer had pale white skin. His eyes and clothing were white as well. His light-blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, and a carefree smile rested on his lips.
Exactly as the adult Sasuke had described.
The newcomer was none other than Ōtsutsuki Urashiki.
Sakura said, "So it's this guy? He can fly just like Sensei too."
Naruto felt a bit annoyed.
He still couldn't fly freely, which naturally put him at a disadvantage.
Sasuke, on the other hand, couldn't care less. His three-tomoe Sharingan spun to life as fighting spirit surged from him.
Looking at his target, Urashiki smiled brightly.
"My, my, Uzumaki Naruto. You were quite difficult to find."
Sasuke said, "You're Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, aren't you?"
"Oh?"
"You all know who I am?"
"It seems those two arrived here ahead of schedule after all."
"What a nuisance."
"I should've gotten rid of them when I had the chance."
Sasuke snorted.
"So you're all talk after all."
Urashiki wasn't angry. Surprisingly, he remained calm.
"You're the Sasuke of this space-time node, aren't you? What a weak little existence."
"You're nowhere near the other Sasuke."
"My apologies, but I have no interest in you or the little girl."
"Would you mind handing Naruto over to me? He has something inside him that I need."
Sasuke's expression darkened.
"Quit looking down on people."
Naruto grinned.
"You're after the Nine-Tails, aren't you? Then come take it yourself."
"Oh?"
"You're willing to give it to me?"
"Then I won't be polite."
As he spoke, Urashiki swung the crimson glowing rod in his hand downward.
The red energy line extending from its tip reached the three of them in the blink of an eye.
Naruto and Sasuke leapt to opposite sides.
Sakura jumped backward to evade.
She knew she wasn't as strong as her teammates and had no intention of arrogantly joining the front line. Right now, her job was simply to protect herself and support her teammates from the sidelines.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Earth Release: Heavenly Cover!
The moment Naruto and Sasuke landed, they launched ninjutsu from opposite flanks.
A blazing fireball and a massive wind blade formed a pincer attack.
Even Sakura, while retreating, chose the perfect moment to provide support. She summoned a gigantic earthen lid that had been prepared in advance with Earth Release, causing it to descend from the sky and block Urashiki's escape route.
The three worked together seamlessly.
It was obvious they had planned this battle strategy beforehand.
But it was useless.
Urashiki had no intention of dodging.
He allowed the attacks to strike him directly.
Yet they failed to harm him in the slightest.
Instead, he absorbed every bit of the ninjutsu.
However, after absorbing them, his expression briefly twisted.
It was as if he had eaten something bad and was suffering from indigestion.
After a moment of discomfort, Urashiki took a deep breath and put away his smile.
"Something's wrong with this space-time node."
"It doesn't feel like twenty years ago."
"There's something wrong with the ninjutsu you three are using as well."
"Just like the outside world, they contain something I dislike."
Sasuke smirked.
"That just means this world doesn't welcome you."
Urashiki's carefree smile returned.
"That's fine."
"I wasn't planning to settle down here anyway."
Naruto said, "Sasuke, ninjutsu isn't very effective against him. Use taijutsu."
"I know. I don't need you to tell me."
Despite his words, his coordination with Naruto was flawless.
The two charged almost simultaneously, blades raised as they rushed toward the airborne enemy.
Urashiki flicked his rod, knocking away a kunai Sakura had thrown.
Then he reversed the swing and brought it down.
The slender crimson rod looked light and delicate, but the force behind it was tremendous.
Sasuke was smashed straight into the ground.
Boom!
A huge crater formed beneath him.
"Sasuke!"
Sakura cried out and immediately rushed over.
Looking into the crater, she found the pitiful Sasuke curled up on his side.
He looked like a famous painting.
Fortunately, before being sent flying, he had already created an opening for his teammate.
Naruto appeared behind Urashiki.
His short blade drove viciously toward the enemy's heart.
"Die."
Urashiki didn't turn around.
The smile remained on his face.
At some point, however, his Byakugan had transformed into a blue Rinnegan.
Just as Naruto's blade struck him, Urashiki's body dissolved into a flock of crimson paper cranes that scattered in every direction before disappearing completely.
Naruto couldn't understand what kind of ninjutsu this was.
He had clearly felt his blade pierce the target.
Yet an instant later, it felt as though he had stabbed empty air.
His instincts suddenly screamed danger.
While falling from the sky, he reflexively used Wind Release: Light as the Wind, shifting his body sideways.
A crimson streak shot through the space he had occupied a moment earlier.
Only then did Naruto notice that the end of the red line was shaped like a fishhook.
A fishing rod.
A line.
A hook.
What the hell?
So this guy was actually a fisherman?
Naruto had no idea what the hook did, but he was certain that letting it sink into his body wouldn't end well.
A leisurely voice sounded behind him.
"Naruto-san, you're full of surprises."
"But you've already run out of places to escape."
Before the sentence was even finished, the hook curved through the air.
The crimson line extended and weaved around him, quickly surrounding Naruto from all sides.
Once it tightened, it would wrap him up like a rice dumpling.
At that moment—
Urashiki, who had been floating behind Naruto while holding the crimson fishing rod, suddenly vanished.
He reappeared on the ground.
Rasengan!
The newly materialized Urashiki didn't even have time to react before Boruto slammed a Rasengan directly into him and blasted him away.
"Ah~"
He had gotten careless.
He didn't dodge.