[The Moon]
Arisu stood alone on the gray lunar soil, his back to the deep universe as he quietly looked down at the blue planet in the distance.
The Earth slowly rotated in his eyes, the sheen of its clouds and oceans flickering between light and dark, like a glass marble placed into the flow of time.
"Another cycle... is about to end."
Arisu sighed softly, his voice silently spreading through the vacuum.
Afterward, he put his hands behind his back and slowly paced across the silent lunar surface. His footsteps raised no dust, yet his figure looked especially lonely.
"I've forgotten how many years I've been alive..."
Arisu gave a bitter laugh, his tone carrying an almost hollow helplessness.
The longer one lived, the less like a human one became.
No friends.
No opponents.
No old acquaintances whose names he could still call out.
Even his only son had been sent back to the third-dimensional world by his own hand.
Now, only he remained, silently staying in this Naruto world, maintaining the established plot and the order of one cycle after another.
Thinking of this, Arisu's eyes dimmed slightly.
A lone man.
That phrase had never fit him so clearly.
Just then, the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Master, what's wrong?]
Arisu's footsteps paused slightly. Looking toward the Earth, he spoke softly. "I'm a little lonely. It feels like I'm living in a single-player world."
The system was silent for a moment before replying, [I'm here with you, Master. Isn't having me enough?]
Hearing this, Arisu could not help but smile.
"That's right."
"System, you've been with me longer than anyone else. Whether it's feelings, interests, or our relationship... you're the person I'm closest to."
[Mm-hmm.]
The system gave a simple reply, sounding somewhat happy, or perhaps seriously confirming it.
Arisu helplessly laughed again and raised his hand to rub his brow, his tone carrying a trace of genuine exhaustion and relief.
"After this cycle ends, I'm going back to Mount Myoboku to be my Great Sage again..."
He raised his head and looked toward the endless starry sky, his voice gradually lowering.
"Living like this alone... is a little too boring."
The system replied: [I'll go with you.]
Arisu's footsteps paused slightly at those words, and he was somewhat surprised.
"Aren't you afraid I'll disrupt the plot?", Arisu asked, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
"Like in the first cycle, when I changed Naruto beyond recognition?"
The system's voice came almost without pause, calm yet unusually serious: [Master is far more important to me than the Naruto plot.]
[It's just that... if Master disrupts the plot, you won't get any rewards.]
After hearing this, Arisu could not help but chuckle.
"With my current strength, I'm definitely number one in Naruto."
"Young Boruto hasn't been updated yet, and those Otsutsuki won't come knocking for a while. My current strength is already more than enough."
[Yes.]
[At present, Master's strength is indeed number one in the Naruto world.], The system replied.
Arisu nodded, suddenly remembering something, and casually asked, "System, what's the time flow between the Naruto world and the third-dimensional world?"
[One thousand years in the Naruto world is equal to one day in the third-dimensional world.]
Arisu was slightly stunned before laughing.
"In other words... my son has been in the third-dimensional world for less than a week?"
[Yes.]
Arisu stood where he was and looked at the rhombus-shaped mark on his hand.
The sensation from the Kama remained clear.
His son was still alive, and his aura was steady, without the slightest sign of weakening or suffering.
"Looks like..."
"That kid is doing pretty well in the third-dimensional world."
Arisu smiled softly, his voice carrying a rare trace of genuine ease.
There was no moon wind, yet the starlight remained cold and white.
He put his hands behind his back again and continued slowly forward across the silent lunar surface, the smile at the corner of his mouth lingering for a long time.
Just as Arisu's mood had relaxed a little, his brow suddenly moved slightly.
An extremely familiar chakra quietly appeared in the space near the Earth.
Arisu's movements stopped at once.
"Is that it?"
Arisu made no sound. His figure merely flickered slightly, and his entire person disappeared into the void, leaving not even a trace of his aura behind.
The next second, a figure appeared in the darkness between the Moon and the Earth.
Blue-and-white clothing, a strange hairstyle, and a pair of eyes filled with amusement and curiosity, Otsutsuki Urashiki.
He floated in the vacuum with his arms crossed, looking with interest at the blue planet below, as if conducting some preliminary reconnaissance.
Clearly, he had only come alone to scout the place first. His real operation would have to wait until later, when he came together with Kinshiki and Momoshiki.
Arisu quietly watched that figure, a complicated look flashing through his eyes.
Of course, he recognized Urashiki.
In the original work, this eccentric and troublesome Otsutsuki would eventually cause quite a stir during the Boruto era.
But right now...
Arisu thought for a moment and ultimately chose to stay put.
According to the original plot's trajectory, he should not have intervened at this point in time.
The more he interfered, the more variables there would be.
He simply hid quietly in an even deeper shadow.
"Hahahaha! Finally found it!!!"
Otsutsuki Urashiki floated in space, looking at the blue planet below, a fanatical light flashing in his eyes.
He suddenly spread his arms and spoke to the empty universe, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement and arrogance.
"Finally... I've finally arrived in the ninja world!"
"This time, I'm going to tear through the entire ninja world and let these natives see for themselves, just what kind of strength I, a transmigrator, possess!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Urashiki threw his head back and laughed. His laughter silently spread through the vacuum, while his figure had already turned into a streak of light and charged toward Earth without hiding anything.
In the distance, Arisu, who had remained hidden in the shadows the entire time, witnessed everything.
He had originally been calmly watching, even thinking, "Urashiki was just like this in the original work."
But the instant Urashiki's words, "I, am a transmigrator," clearly entered his perception...
Arisu suddenly froze.
The next second, he shook his head hard, as if trying to shake what he had just heard out of his mind.
"That's not right...", Arisu muttered, his eyes instantly becoming sharp.
"Are transmigrators really this blatant?"
"And 'I, am a transmigrator'? He just announced it directly to the air?"
Arisu's expression instantly darkened, becoming so black it seemed almost capable of dripping ink.
Another one.
And this one did not pretend at all, starting with a high-profile declaration.
Inside Otsutsuki Urashiki's shell, there was fundamentally not the Urashiki from the original work.
"...This is troublesome."
Arisu stood on the lunar surface, his expression frighteningly gloomy.
He had originally planned to let things proceed according to the plot and leave him alone. But now, it seemed that this guy would probably turn the entire ninja world upside down the moment he landed.
He raised his hand, and a trace of dangerous fluctuation appeared at his fingertips.
This time, it seemed he could no longer be the hands-off manager.
"He actually dares to cause trouble in my territory..."
"Just because you transmigrated into Otsutsuki Urashiki, you think you're invincible? Don't you know this old man is cracking down hard on transmigrators right now?"
"The last person who transmigrated into Otsutsuki Isshiki, I sent him to the Pure Land for over a thousand years!"
Before he finished speaking, Arisu raised his hand and drew across the void.
A pitch-black portal silently split open.
Arisu's figure flashed and instantly disappeared behind the door.
———
[Konoha, Senju Hashirama's Residence]
Hashirama had been leaning against the window, quietly watching the night sky. Suddenly, his brows furrowed, and the chakra within his body instantly tensed.
An extremely unfamiliar yet immense aura that made one's heart tremble descended over Konoha without warning.
"Who is it?"
He had just muttered to himself when, in the next second... Space warped slightly.
A strange-looking man in blue-and-white clothing appeared directly in the middle of the room.
Urashiki had both hands tucked into his sleeves. He tilted his head and stared at Hashirama with a strange grin, his eyes full of amusement and provocation.
Hashirama abruptly turned around.
"Who are you?"
"Hehehe, Senju Hashirama....."
Urashiki softly laughed, his laughter frivolous and unrestrained.
"Me..."
Urashiki slowly spoke, his tone as if announcing something interesting.
"I'm an alien."
"I came all this way specifically to see for myself, the strength of the God of Shinobi."
Urashiki leaned forward slightly, a fervent battle intent flashing in his eyes.
"Senju Hashirama, let me see just how strong you are."