"It spoke!"
Boruto gripped the turtle-shaped object and shouted, lifting it up. Sasuke glanced over, examining the artifact his son held.
"Warning! Warning! Program error!"
"This location has completely deviated from the time-travel coordinates set by Lord Urashiki Otsutsuki. Please correct immediately! Please correct immediately!"
The turtle-shaped object emitted another cold, mechanical voice.
"Time travel?"
Sasuke frowned, hearing the information. "Are you saying this isn't an alternate version of Konoha, but a point in our past?"
"Error! Error! This is not the predetermined time path!" the turtle-shaped object declared again.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Boruto angrily tapped the object's head. "Explain yourself clearly! Stop talking nonsense!"
While Boruto was confused, Sasuke understood immediately.
"You mean this isn't our original world's timeline. We've been transported to another world's timeline?"
"Correct!" the turtle-like creature replied. "Due to the influence of an unknown force, this is another world's past timeline! Our current point in time is the same era as when Tsunade was Hokage in our original world!"
"The era ruled by the Fifth Hokage?"
Sasuke scanned the surrounding ruins and guessed, "Could this be the time period after Pain attacked and killed Jiraiya?"
"Pain attacked Konoha!" Boruto exclaimed, his face lighting up with excitement. "Then let's hurry and help! We have to save this world's Konoha!"
Even an Otsutsuki was defeated by Boruto. What could Pain possibly do to them?
Sasuke immediately shook his head. "No."
"We cannot interfere with the development of this world. We must remain hidden to avoid causing chaos. After we deal with Urashiki Otsutsuki, we'll leave immediately."
Although the worlds were different, Sasuke, as a guardian of darkness, didn't want to interfere with the course of history and cause unpredictable consequences.
Their only goal was to defeat the intrusive Urashiki and bring everything back on track.
Wait—what if Urashiki arrived at a different time than them?
If that were the case, they had to leave immediately and return to their own timeline!
Thinking this, Sasuke asked Karasuki again, "Did Urashiki come to this world like we did?"
"Yes," Karasuki answered readily. "Lord Urashiki set the time-travel coordinates to Naruto Uzumaki's childhood. However, due to an unknown force during the spatial shift and a mishap during movement, the arrival was delayed. Lord Urashiki separated from us and will arrive here in a few days."
Hearing this, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. "At least he's in the same situation."
"It seems Urashiki's target really is the Nine-Tails chakra inside Naruto Uzumaki. He couldn't handle the adult Naruto, so he's targeting the young, weak version."
Boruto's face twisted with rage. "What a despicable bastard! Targeting my dad as a kid!"
"Even though he's not my dad from my world, I'm still going to protect this world's Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Exactly," Sasuke nodded, agreeing with his son. "We caused this crisis, so we have to resolve it."
Sasuke guessed that it was probably because he and Urashiki fought during the transfer that they ended up in another world. Therefore, he had a responsibility to deal with Urashiki and protect Naruto in this timeline.
Just as Sasuke finished speaking, the object in Boruto's hands spoke again.
"Although this time transfer is an inter-world transfer, as per protocol, I must convey the precautions after arrival."
"Precautions?" Boruto shook his head, shaking the artifact. "Aren't you Urashiki's comrade? Why are you telling us this?"
"I am a time-space transfer artifact, Karasuki. I don't possess the concept of 'comrade' you mentioned. Therefore, I have no vested interest in Lord Urashiki or any of you. My mission is simply to execute the time travel and convey the relevant precautions."
"Tsk, you're so old-fashioned, just like Shino Aburame." Boruto looked disgusted.
Sasuke, standing nearby, understood the importance of rules. "What precautions?"
Karasuki replied, "Those of you from the future cannot reveal any relevant information, especially the fate of those closely connected to you. If you reveal information about the future, or interfere with predetermined fates, it will completely change the timeline. A person could disappear, or a new person could appear."
"That scary?" Boruto sounded incredulous.
Karasuki continued, "None of the above precautions apply to this world. The interference and alteration of this world will not cause changes to the future of your world."
"Then what the hell are you talking about, you bastard!" Boruto immediately gripped Karasuki tightly with both hands in fury. "After listening for so long, it turns out we didn't need to follow a single one!"
"Passing on precautions is my duty," Karasuki continued.
"You wretched turtle!"
Boruto was about to teach Karasuki a lesson, but Sasuke stopped him.
"Stop, Boruto. It's just doing its duty. Now we must find this world's Naruto quickly and protect him."
"I'll let you off this time, turtle!" Boruto put Karasuki away and followed Sasuke, running quickly toward the center of the village.
But the more they ran, the more uneasy they felt.
It was too quiet. They hadn't seen a single living person along the way.
Just when the two thought Konoha had moved and the village had been abandoned, they finally saw a refugee camp filled with cries of despair.
"What happened?"
Everywhere they looked, there were villagers without ears, or with bandages wrapped around their heads, like walking corpses.
Boruto stared at the scene, equally incredulous, and turned to Sasuke. "Was this how the Pain invasion was? There were so few people! This is completely different from what we learned in history class!"
"Something's not right. We shouldn't expose ourselves." Sasuke pulled Boruto back to prevent him from impulsively rushing out.
Suddenly, commotion erupted in the refugee camp ahead, with large numbers of villagers scattering in all directions. Simultaneously, a figure emerged rapidly from the depths of the camp, followed by a group of Konoha ninja throwing projectiles.
"Is this a chase?" Boruto stared at the fleeing figure, his eyes widening in disbelief. "That person is carrying young Konohamaru Sarutobi!"
Sasuke, equally incredulous, asked, "Asuma Sarutobi's being chased?"
Without waiting for Boruto's reply, he grabbed him and quickly gave chase.
"Come on, let's go see what's going on."
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