After Shisui and Sasuke left, the middle-aged Sasuke took a seat and said coldly:
"You are not the Naruto I know, and Konoha's Fifth Hokage is not Jiraiya. This is not the past I remember."
"The moment I saw Boruto, I knew you were from a different world. The child Hinata and I would have wouldn't be this naive... Wait, if I'm in a different world, then my wife must be someone else."
As he said this, Naruto deliberately glanced at Boruto.
Boruto immediately replied excitedly:
"My mother is Uzumaki Hinata, not some other woman!"
"That's good. I quite like Hinata-chan, and I was just about to go on a date with her."
Seeing Boruto so worked up, Naruto decided not to tease him any further.
The future awaiting this kid was already pitiful enough.
Even his identity as Naruto's son had been stripped away. He became the adopted son accused of killing his own father and was hunted by the entire ninja world.
The middle-aged Sasuke remained on guard.
According to the information he had gathered, the Naruto before him had left Konoha on the night of the Uchiha massacre and founded Uzushio Village outside the Land of Fire. He was completely different from the Naruto in his memories.
The Naruto he remembered was a passionate idiot who only wanted to bring back the friend who had left.
And at this point in time, the girl Naruto liked wasn't Hinata—it was his wife, Sakura...
As though he had seen through Sasuke's thoughts, Naruto smiled faintly and said:
"I already learned some things about the future from Boruto. There seems to be a huge difference between me and the Naruto of your world."
"The turning point was probably our personalities. Because our personalities are different, our lives ended up completely different as well."
Naruto deliberately concealed part of the truth.
From his perspective, though, it would be abnormal if Naruto hadn't become cynical.
Either he had been affected by Kotoamatsukami when he was young, or he had been influenced by Asura's chakra.
The middle-aged Sasuke fell silent.
Facing this unfamiliar Naruto, he didn't know what to say.
The Naruto of this world was confident, calm, and powerful.
Although his strength might still be slightly below Sasuke's own, he was infinitely close.
Yet he still wasn't the Naruto Sasuke knew.
At that moment, Naruto pointed toward the direction of Uzushio Village in the distance and said with a faint smile:
"In this world, your clansmen and relatives are still alive. The Naruto from your world didn't save them."
The middle-aged Sasuke frowned.
"At this point in time, my brother Itachi is still alive."
Naruto shook his head lightly.
"I'm not talking about Itachi. I'm talking about your mother, Mikoto Uchiha."
"Aunt Mikoto's cooking is delicious. Don't you want to try it again?"
The middle-aged Sasuke fell silent once more.
The defenses around his heart were almost completely shattered.
After a while, he let out a bitter chuckle and said:
"If Mother is still alive, then little Sasuke's future must be a happy one."
The middle-aged Sasuke deliberately avoided mentioning Itachi.
Judging from Naruto's and Shisui's attitudes, Itachi Uchiha was probably still lurking within the Akatsuki, silently working for the village's peace.
Naruto and Shisui clearly had no intention of understanding him.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Boruto, who had been quiet for quite some time, suddenly spoke up:
"Mr. Sasuke, have you forgotten? We came back to the past to stop Urashiki Ōtsutsuki from attacking Dad."
"Wait... I think I overlooked something. That little turtle said revealing information about the future in the past could change history."
Hearing this, Naruto shook his head.
"This isn't the past of your world. Even if something changes, it won't affect your timeline."
"Besides, I already traveled into the past through the Dragon Vein two years ago."
"You traveled to the past before?"
The middle-aged Sasuke's eyes widened instantly.
Naruto nodded and continued:
"I went back to the era of the Third Great Ninja War. I defeated Mukade, who had traveled into the past, and told the Fourth Hokage about future events."
"But judging by what happened afterward, that should have been a parallel world as well."
Boruto felt dizzy from all the talk about parallel worlds.
Then he seemed to realize something and said:
"So you're saying that no matter what happens in this era, Dad, it won't affect our world?"
"As things stand now, you can talk freely about the future."
As he spoke, Naruto glanced at the middle-aged Sasuke beside him.
Although this Sasuke wasn't necessarily stronger than Naruto himself, he possessed a wealth of future knowledge and techniques—exactly what Naruto needed right now.
After thinking for a long time, the middle-aged Sasuke slowly said:
"If it won't affect the future, then I can tell you some things."
"But you should only use them as reference."
"In my world, you never defected."
"I was the one who left the village."
"Your teacher was Jiraiya, and it was from him that you learned Sage Mode."
"Hidden within the ninja world is an organization dedicated to collecting Tailed Beasts. Its leaders are Konan and Nagato, both former students of Jiraiya."
"In addition, there is a masked man whose real identity is Obito Uchiha."
"They eventually destroyed Konoha."
Hearing this, Naruto smiled and replied:
"I already know about the Akatsuki and Obito."
"As for Nagato, I've already persuaded him to abandon the Tailed Beast collection plan."
"And Obito... I plan to deal with him sooner or later."
The Akatsuki had abandoned the Eye of the Moon Plan...
Sasuke was somewhat surprised.
Still, he kept his explanation brief and continued:
"After that came the Fourth Great Ninja War."
"You and I joined forces and sealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"But more than ten years later, new enemies descended from the stars."
"This time, Boruto and I came to your world to stop Urashiki Ōtsutsuki."
"His target is the Nine-Tails inside your body."
"But judging from the current situation..."
"Urashiki might not even be your opponent."
After revealing most of the future in one breath, the middle-aged Sasuke looked at Naruto helplessly.
Even now, he couldn't understand why the Naruto before him possessed strength comparable to his own at only thirteen years old, while the Sasuke of this world was still so far behind.
Naruto fell into deep thought.
Based on Sasuke's evaluation, Urashiki wasn't particularly powerful.
Even at his peak before time travel, Urashiki's strength had only reached the level of Sage Mode combined with Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
He was far inferior to the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki or Kaguya herself.
By that logic, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki shouldn't be overwhelmingly stronger either—perhaps only around the level of the Ten-Tails.
After pulling himself out of his wandering thoughts, Naruto looked at the middle-aged Sasuke and smiled faintly.
"Your trip here wasn't completely useless."
"At the very least, you've provided me with a lot of information about the future."
"Now I know just how many crises the ninja world will face."
After a brief pause, Naruto continued:
"However, didn't you just say that Urashiki Ōtsutsuki will appear in Konoha in three days?"
"Would you be interested in joining my plan?"
"What plan?"
"The plan to hunt an Ōtsutsuki!"
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