Sasuke Uchiha woke from the darkness filled with pain under a gaze that made him rather uncomfortable.
In the battle against Jigen, the leader of Kara—or rather, against Isshiki Otsutsuki—he and Naruto Uzumaki, who had already become Hokage, had exhausted every trump card and held nothing back.
But against that enemy, who held a higher status than Kaguya Otsutsuki and had hidden himself even deeper, they still paid an extremely heavy price before finally obtaining victory.
Yet just as everyone could not help letting out a breath of relief because of Isshiki's death, and had begun preparing to wrap up that earth-shaking battle, a crisis that no one had realized in advance suddenly erupted.
Momoshiki Otsutsuki, who should clearly have already been defeated and killed, used the Kāma he had implanted into Boruto Uzumaki's body before his death to abruptly strike.
The moment Sasuke Uchiha's body and mind relaxed, Momoshiki pierced his Rinne Sharingan in one blow.
Then, using Boruto Uzumaki's body, he prepared to wipe out everyone present in one fell swoop.
At the critical moment, Sasuke Uchiha, who was nearly exhausted to the point of burning out completely, stood in front of Naruto Uzumaki, who had fallen unconscious because of using Baryon Mode, intending to stop Momoshiki Otsutsuki from hunting Naruto down.
But just as he gritted his teeth and prepared to use his own body to block the ninjutsu attack Momoshiki released, the Otsutsuki treasure "Karasuki," which he had always carried on his person and carefully sealed, suddenly awakened because of Momoshiki's chakra.
Then, under circumstances no one had expected, it sucked both him and Naruto Uzumaki inside.
Because Karasuki's activation was not controlled by Sasuke Uchiha, he unsurprisingly became separated from the severely injured and unconscious Naruto Uzumaki during the process of crossing space-time.
When he finally arrived in the era Karasuki had set, he himself lost consciousness because his chakra was almost completely depleted and his spirit was under immense pressure.
Only now did he slowly wake.
"Naruto… are you there?"
Sasuke Uchiha gazed dazedly at the ceiling above him, asking a question that he had, in truth, long since known would not receive an answer.
"Hm? This time, it is not messy sleep-talk? In other words, Uncle, are you awake?"
But something that left Sasuke Uchiha even more dazed happened.
A voice that could not be called merely familiar, but rather engraved into his bones, sounded beside his ear and answered the question he had asked without any expectation.
Although this voice was far more childish and immature compared to the one he had grown used to, there was no doubt about it.
That was Naruto Uzumaki's voice.
Thus, Sasuke Uchiha instantly woke completely.
He abruptly sat up and looked with stunned disbelief at the blond boy sitting carelessly on another bed in the room, both hands behind his head as he greeted him.
Beside the boy was a mature woman with red hair.
As she helplessly punched the blond, spiky-haired boy, she spoke apologetically to Sasuke Uchiha, who had suddenly sat up.
"Sorry about that. Naruto has been going through a bit of a rebellious phase recently, so he does not pay much attention to manners when he speaks…"
"Mom! How am I not paying attention to manners?"
Naruto Namikaze covered the large bump that had been punched onto his head and glared angrily at his mother.
"This uncle was someone I rescued from a little alley that no one was paying attention to! What is wrong with speaking a little more casually in front of him?"
"Even if you saved his life, he is still an adult much older than you! Show the necessary respect and manners, Naruto!"
"Oh—"
Looking at Naruto Namikaze deflating like a punctured balloon, Kushina Uzumaki could not help shaking her head helplessly.
Then she turned to look at Sasuke Uchiha, whose eyes were trembling violently, and spoke gently.
"Sorry. I let you see my child acting willfully."
"It is fine. When it comes to children, being a little willful should be allowed."
Sasuke Uchiha slowly withdrew his gaze from Naruto Namikaze.
While silently analyzing just how enormous the deviation between the world he was currently in and the world he originally belonged to might be, he tried to maintain a tone as calm as still water and politely spoke to Kushina Uzumaki.
"Thank you both for saving a stranger like me…"
"Are you really a stranger, Uncle?"
Hearing Sasuke Uchiha say that, Naruto Namikaze instinctively interrupted and refuted him.
"Naruto!"
Kushina Uzumaki glared fiercely at Naruto Namikaze, signaling that he should not recklessly say things he should not say.
That very serious gaze frightened him enough that he could not help shrinking his neck.
But even though the exchange between the two of them was so brief, it was already enough for Sasuke Uchiha, who had spent years traveling outside to gather intelligence and solve problems, to sense something.
Naruto saw through my disguise?
No, that is not right. The person before me looks as if he has only just entered the Ninja Academy. It should be impossible for him to do something like that…
Then did Lady Kushina, who for some reason did not die during the Nine-Tails incident, see through something?
But from Naruto's tone, that does not seem to be the case either…
As he thought, he suddenly remembered a casual sentence he had heard from Naruto when he first woke up.
This time, it is not messy sleep-talk?
It… It could not be that he had mumbled something while unconscious and let Naruto discover something, could it?
Looking at Sasuke Uchiha suddenly falling silent, Kushina Uzumaki could not help shaking her head helplessly.
Then she took the initiative to open the conversation honestly.
"Sorry, sorry. We really should not have collected intelligence in this way… But there was no helping it. In the information you unconsciously revealed in your sleep, Naruto's name appeared again and again.
"An outsider heavily injured, someone no one in the village recognizes, kept murmuring my child's name in a tone filled with concern and worry… As a mother, I truly could not continue simply watching from the side."
"…I apologize. I lost composure."
For a moment, Sasuke Uchiha somewhat wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl inside, so that he would not have to face another world's Naruto and his mother under such unguarded circumstances, without any room to maneuver.
But after sensing his current physical condition, Sasuke Uchiha gave up on that unrealistic idea and sighed.
"Perhaps you believe that the Naruto I called out to while unconscious refers to your child… But in truth, I should have been talking about the name of the companion from whom I became separated. He is also named Naruto. His surname is merely different from your child's, and there is a great difference in age as well… I apologize for causing you unnecessary misunderstanding."
"But we have not exchanged surnames or names with you yet. So why can you be so certain that your companion's surname is different from mine, Uncle from the Uchiha clan?"
Naruto Namikaze lightly hopped down from the empty bed.
Then, with those clear eyes, he stared straight into Sasuke Uchiha's eyes as his expression abruptly changed. Very seriously, he spoke.
"I do not really know how to handle this kind of thing where I casually rescued an uncle from the street, only to discover he has a whole lot of secrets… But since I saved you once, Uncle, we should be able to have a little more trust between us, right?"