[Konoha Year 83, Boruto Era]
The Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, was receiving the "White Eye" (cold stares) of the Hyuga clan. He sat in the courtyard of his home, one arm around his son Boruto, the other around his daughter Himawari.
He already knew most of the content being shown on the Sky Screen, so he was watching it like a movie, taking a rare break from his heavy administrative duties to relax.
When the Sky Screen evaluated the Akatsuki and Hashirama's dream, his gaze sharpened, and his expression turned serious.
"Boruto, Himawari."
"Although it's difficult, your dad wants to tell you this: peace can be achieved through dialogue."
The voice from the Sky Screen sounded again, interrupting Naruto's words.
[This path of seeking peace through dialogue was arduous from the start. Even the later, more powerful Uzumaki Naruto was nothing more than a larger-scale version of Senju Hashirama. The conflicts of interest between nations were never resolved; they were merely suppressed by an external enemy.]
Naruto's smile froze on his face.
"Huh?"
He widened his eyes, staring at the unfinished sentence on the Sky Screen.
External enemy... what did that mean?
---
[Konoha Year 50, Hokage Office]
Minato's expression became incredibly vivid—shock, confusion, and an indescribable complexity.
"Uzumaki... Naruto?"
He muttered the name repeatedly, countless thoughts flashing through his eyes.
He had just decided to name his unborn child Naruto!
Uzumaki... it couldn't be that coincidental, could it?
But since the Uzumaki clan's destruction, that surname had become uncommon, and the name Naruto was even rarer.
His unborn child would become a shinobi stronger than the First Hokage in the future?
---
[Konoha Year 60]
Naruto stood in the middle of the training ground, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
"Uzumaki Naruto... isn't that me?!"
He pointed at the Sky Screen, his face a wild mix of emotions.
"The Sky Screen is talking about me! The future me is strong! Way stronger than I am now!"
Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, his eyes sparkling like stars.
"Sasuke, did you hear that? The future me is really strong! Way better than whatever 'Team Hebi' you've got!"
Sasuke's expression darkened, and he let out a cold snort.
"Hmph, the Sky Screen also said your future self will most likely fail. What are you so proud of?"
Naruto's smile faltered for a moment, then he stubbornly lifted his chin.
"So what?! At least the Sky Screen admits I'm strong! What about you? Your track record is pathetic!"
"You—!"
The two boys started bickering again, while Sakura tried helplessly to mediate.
[Hokage Office]
Jiraiya stared at the name on the Sky Screen, silent for a long time.
"Uzumaki Naruto..."
That was the child Minato had left behind, wasn't it?
As a teacher, he had truly been irresponsible.
All these years, he had been wandering outside, searching for the Child of Prophecy, writing his "Icha Icha Paradise" series. And on the rare occasions he did return to the village, he had never paid attention to Minato's son.
"Jiraiya."
Hiruzen's voice sounded.
"Since you've returned, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."
"I would like to ask you to teach Naruto... just like you did with Minato."
"It seems now that this child has even better talent than Minato, only hindered by the Nine-Tails."
Jiraiya was silent for a few seconds, then walked to the window, his gaze fixed on his student's stone face on the Hokage Rock.
"That child... even if you hadn't mentioned it, Old Man, I was planning to teach him from now on."
[After being betrayed by Hanzō of the Salamander, Yahiko, the founder of the original Akatsuki, died, and Nagato officially became the leader of the second generation of Akatsuki. He turned Yahiko's corpse into Pain to walk the Shinobi World, while also inheriting Yahiko's dream of peace.]
[Only this time, he no longer sought a world of mutual understanding. Instead, he vowed to make the world feel pain, forcing the major nations to seek peace out of fear of war.]
The Sky Screen quickly flashed through the scene of Yahiko's death.
Three young figures were surrounded by countless Rain shinobis. Leading them was a man wearing a mask with sinister eyes—Hanzō of the Salamander.
The young Konan was being held captive by the shinobis, while Yahiko stood not far away, watching his companion being restrained, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.
Then, he moved.
He rushed toward Nagato and deliberately impaled himself on the kunai in Nagato's hand.
"No—!!!"
Nagato's roar tore through the rain.
Blood splattered, and Yahiko's body slowly fell.
---
Watching the Sky Screen, Yahiko finally realized: so in the future, it wasn't Nagato who died, but him?
That was truly great; as long as Nagato and Konan were safe, it was all that mattered.
Beside him, Konan's face was deathly pale, her hands tightly gripping Yahiko's sleeve, tears sliding down silently. Whether it was Yahiko or Nagato who died, it was equally painful for her.
And Nagato, who had been calm and was still comforting Yahiko, suddenly changed expression. His body began to tremble violently.
"Nagato."
Yahiko held his hand; those hands were frighteningly cold.
"Yahiko..."
Nagato finally spoke, his voice trembling severely.
"You... you're going to die..."
"That's the future. Not now."
Yahiko's voice was calm—so calm that both Konan and Nagato were momentarily stunned.
"Look, the Sky Screen has told us. Now we know that Hanzō will betray us. We know what will happen. So we can just avoid it."
Nagato finally turned to look at him, tears shimmering in those Rinnegans.
"But—"
"There's no but."
Yahiko interrupted him.
"Nagato, listen to me."
"The future you is very strong. You inherited the Akatsuki. You made the entire world remember our names. You accomplished what we couldn't."
Nagato's tears finally fell.
"But you died..."
"But you didn't let me die in vain. You used my body to keep fighting. However, you..."
He had wanted to say that Nagato should have continued his vision of peace, but putting himself in Nagato's shoes, he realized that would have been very difficult. So he changed his wording.
"You became that version of me. Honestly, it's actually quite cool."
Nagato was stunned, then the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
Konan, who had been crying, broke into a smile through her tears.
"Yahiko, even in this situation you're still—"
"I'm serious; those lip and nose piercings look very intimidating, and the Rinnegan is also very cool."
Nagato lowered his head, remaining silent for a long while.
"I won't let that happen."
Yahiko blinked: "Won't let what happen?"
"You know."
Nagato stared at him.
"Now that we know the future—that Hanzō will betray us, that we'll be in danger—we'll prepare in advance. I won't let anyone hurt you or Konan."
Yahiko froze, then he smiled—a very happy smile.
'Hanzō... it seems you now have an unavoidable reason to die.'
---
[Konoha Year 60, Hokage Office]
Jiraiya sat in a chair, his face full of complex emotions.
"Yahiko..."
He said the name softly. He had thought they were all dead, and then from the Sky Screen, he had assumed Nagato had died. But the truth was that Yahiko was the one gone.
And Nagato and Konan had turned into something else entirely—ready to make the world feel pain.
The character of these three children was indeed fine; Yahiko died protecting his companions, Nagato inherited his will and continued forward, and Konan stayed by his side through it all.
The problem was this world—a world that forced kind people to become monsters.
He had to find them. Once the situation with Orochimaru was settled and Tsunade took over as Hokage, he would immediately head out.
Well... maybe he could wait until Naruto was a little older too.
*****
Read ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister