"Naruto, how are you? Are you alright?" Sakura shook the unconscious Naruto, her voice tight with worry.
Hearing his teammate, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. For a second, his gaze was unfocused. Then he saw Sakura's anxious face and Sai standing beside her.
"Sakura… Sai…" Naruto blinked hard, still dazed. "Are you two okay?"
"You idiot," Sakura snapped, rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache just looking at him. "What could happen to us? You and Captain Yamato were the ones swallowed by the Ryumyaku energy."
She imdiately checked both Naruto and Yamato from head to toe. When she confird they were perfectly fine, she finally exhaled in relief.
Naruto scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Sakura, you must have been really impatient waiting, huh? Mukade has been defeated. We can go back."
Naruto felt embarrassed. He and Yamato had eaten and played around in Rouran, while Sakura and Sai could only wait here in the ruins.
Sakura crossed her arms, clearly displeased. "Impatient? In your eyes, I cannot wait a few minutes?"
"A few minutes?" Naruto froze.
He turned to Yamato. In Naruto's mory, they had stayed in Roran for an entire month.
Yamato was just as puzzled. He imdiately asked Sakura to explain the Mukade pursuit mission from her perspective.
"You and Mukade were wrapped up in the Ryumyaku energy," Sakura said. "I almost got dragged in too, but Sai pulled back in ti. A few minutes later the energy faded, and I only saw you two lying here."
Sai nodded once, confirming every word.
Naruto swallowed. "Then where is Mukade? I do not see him."
Sakura looked equally confused. "Naruto, you said he was defeated, but there is no one here."
Naruto ran a hand through his hair, not knowing how to explain it. He also could not understand what was happening.
Yamato fell into thought. Then, almost on instinct, he reached into his tool pouch and pulled out a kunai engraved with the character for "sensei."
Imdiately after, Yamato tried to enter the Water Breathing state. There was no problem at all.
Mugetsu senpai's Flying Thunder God kunai was still in his pouch. Water Breathing still worked. It was not an illusion.
Yamato made a decision.
"Naruto and I have already defeated Mukade together," he said after a mont's thought. "Mission accomplished. We return to Konoha imdiately."
Ti travel was too unbelievable. If he explained it now, Sakura might think he had lost his mind, and worse, it could draw the attention of people who would try to exploit the Ryumyaku for criminal research.
Yamato chose silence for now.
After speaking, Yamato pulled Naruto aside and gave him a quiet reminder.
Sakura was still confused, but Yamato was the team leader. She did not press further.
Naruto's chest felt tight. "I wonder if Kakashi sensei and the others succeeded…"
Before returning, Naruto had been ready to vanish if history changed. He was happy to still be alive, but he was also terrified that Kakashi, Obito, and the others had failed.
Yamato was just as curious, but his mind worked faster. He began probing Sakura and Sai as they moved.
Naruto and Yamato had traveled through ti, but Sakura and Sai had not. If history had changed, their mories should have changed along with it.
"Sakura," Yamato asked carefully, "do you know a shinobi nad Hayate Mugetsu?"
Sakura thought for a mont, then shook her head. "I have never heard that na. Is he famous?"
Naruto and Yamato's hearts sank.
Yamato took a slow breath and looked at Sai. "What about you, Sai?"
"No." Sai shook his head.
Naruto could not hold back. "Is Granny Tsunade still the Hokage?"
Sakura stared at him like he had grown a second head. "Naruto, what nonsense are you talking about? If Lady Tsunade is not Hokage, then who is?"
Naruto's voice tightened. "What about Ero Sennin?"
Sakura's expression softened. "Naruto… I know you are sad, but he is already…"
Naruto's face drained of color. His eyes turned empty, lost.
So nothing had changed.
Mugetsu senpai and his father were still dead. Jiraiya still did not survive. He did not even know what happened to Obito and Rin.
Sakura searched her own words and found nothing particularly harsh, yet Naruto's reaction made her uneasy.
"Naruto, what is wrong?" she asked. "You are acting really strange."
Naruto stayed silent.
Sakura's annoyance rose. She was about to say more, but Yamato cut in.
"Focus on the road," Yamato said, voice low and firm. "We return to Konoha as fast as possible."
He did not bla Sakura. She knew nothing. But he could not let her ignorance dig the knife deeper.
Sakura nodded, chakra surging as she accelerated to full speed.
Yamato moved beside Naruto and patted his shoulder. "Let us get back to Konoha first and confirm everything. Maybe history changed in a way that kept Minato sama from becoming Hokage."
Naruto pulled out the photo Obito had taken of him and Minato. He gripped it tightly, then nodded hard and ran at full speed.
Truthfully, Naruto did not even need to return to Konoha to confirm everything. He could have just asked Sakura who the Fourth Hokage was.
But Yamato did not say that. He hoped the road would dull Naruto's pain, even a little.
The four of them were not ordinary shinobi. Moving at full speed, they returned to Konoha quickly.
The Hokage Monunt stood on the cliff behind the village, visible from nearly anywhere in Konoha.
Yamato used to like that. He could look up and see the faces of those who fought for the village.
Now he felt that being too visible was not always a good thing.
Naruto lifted his eyes.
The stone face of Minato Namikaze stared out over the village.
Naruto's eyes dimd.
They really had not changed anything.
Guilt clawed at him. If he had known more, maybe Kakashi and the others could have succeeded.
Yamato hesitated, not knowing how to comfort him. His own mood was complicated too.
At first, Yamato did not want to change history. He feared it could destroy Konoha or warp the shinobi world in disastrous ways.
But after spending ti with Mugetsu and the others, after seeing Minato and Naruto recognize each other, Yamato began to feel that changing the future was not necessarily wrong.
If Konoha in a new history had Mugetsu and Minato, then Konoha would not be worse than it was now.
Yamato could only disband the team first. Then he and Naruto went to find Kakashi, hoping to get answers.
"The mission went smoothly," Kakashi said, briefly lifting his gaze from the book in his hand. "You are back quickly."
But that glance was enough.
Kakashi noticed Naruto's emotions were wrong. He closed Icha Icha Paradise and looked directly at Naruto.
"Kakashi senpai," Yamato asked, "do you know Uchiha Obito and Rin Nohara?"
Hearing those nas reopened mories that had been sealed away for years.
Kakashi's visible eye constricted.
He sighed and nodded. "They were my friends. They died during the Third Shinobi World War. Where did you hear those nas?"
Even after more than a decade, Kakashi still could not forget them. The guilt never truly left.
Yamato was stunned. He had not expected Obito and Rin to die so early.
Did they sacrifice themselves together to save Mugetsu?
Naruto forced himself to steady his breathing. aningless sadness was not his style.
If one attempt failed, he would go again.
But first, he needed answers.
"What about Mugetsu senpai?" Naruto asked, staring at Kakashi. "Did he also die in the Third Shinobi World War?"
Yamato looked at Kakashi too. If Mugetsu's death existed in this world, it might be the key reason history never changed.
Kakashi frowned. "Mugetsu senpai? Which Mugetsu are you talking about?"
Naruto's brow twitched. "Hayate Mugetsu. Kakashi sensei, he was your teacher. Did you forget him?"
Naruto was not joking. He felt like punching Kakashi twice.
How could Kakashi forget soone like that?
Naruto's intensity made Kakashi doubt himself for a mont. But Kakashi replayed every person who had taught him from childhood, and there was no one nad Hayate or Mugetsu.
"Naruto," Kakashi said seriously, "I do not know where you heard that, but I can tell you clearly. I do not have a teacher nad Hayate Mugetsu."
Kakashi's expression was too serious to be a joke.
Naruto and Yamato exchanged a look, both shocked and confused.
"How…" Naruto's eyes grew hazy as he recalled everything from Rouran. "Little Kakashi sensei respected Mugetsu senpai so much."
Even if Mugetsu died in the Third Shinobi World War, Kakashi would not simply forget him. Kakashi still rembered Obito and Rin.
Yamato felt his mind spinning.
Not only had history not changed, Kakashi's reaction itself was impossible to reconcile.
"Did sothing happen to you during the mission?" Kakashi asked. "You were normal when we last t."
That ant sothing went wrong out there.
Yamato finally decided to lay it all out.
"We were in Roran pursuing the Sand Village rogue shinobi known as Mukade. Hundred Feet swallowed the Ryumyaku sealing, the Ryumyaku went berserk, and then Naruto and I traveled back to the past. We t a younger Kakashi senpai, his teammates, and your teacher…"
"Ti travel, and you even t a younger ?" Kakashi frowned.
It sounded like the plot of a cheap shinobi novel.
But Kakashi could tell they were not joking. At the very least, Naruto and Yamato believed it was real.
Kakashi thought carefully. "Is it possible the Ryumyaku has a hallucinatory effect, and everything you experienced was an illusion?"
Compared to ti travel, that was far more plausible.
Kakashi did not know any Hayate Mugetsu, and in Kakashi's own mories, he had never t Naruto or Yamato when he was young.
"This would also explain why you felt like you stayed for a month, while only a few minutes passed in reality," Kakashi continued. "It is like Tsukuyomi. I once endured seventy two hours in that illusion, but in reality only an instant passed."
"It cannot be an illusion," Naruto said imdiately.
He pulled out a photo and handed it to Kakashi.
In the picture, Minato Namikaze smiled warmly beside Naruto.
Kakashi's expression changed.
If it was not ti travel, this photo should not exist. Minato in the picture looked only four or five years older than Naruto.
Yes, soone could forge sothing like this with Transformation Technique, but this situation clearly did not fit that explanation.
Yamato stepped forward as well. "Kakashi senpai, that was not an illusion. This is the Flying Thunder God kunai Mugetsu senpai gave before the battle with Mukade. An illusion cannot create sothing out of nothing."
He pulled the marked kunai from his pouch.
"And it is not only Naruto who has proof," Yamato added. "Kakashi sensei, you do too."
Naruto produced more photos.
A photo of Naruto and Obito.
A photo of Mugetsu, Minato, and their three disciples.
A group photo of everyone together.
"Obito… Rin…" Kakashi murmured.
Seeing those familiar faces, identical to his mories, Kakashi fell silent.
The photo of Mugetsu, Minato, and the team struck especially hard. For a mont, uncontrollable emotion rose in Kakashi's chest, and he could not calm down.
Yamato continued, "Besides the kunai, I can also use ninjutsu Mugetsu senpai taught ."
He demonstrated a perfect defensive Water Style: Water Wall, then a Water Style: Water Severing Wave with terrifying destructive force.
Naruto leaned forward. "Kakashi sensei, do you really not rember Mugetsu senpai?"
Kakashi shook his head. "What you experienced was not an illusion, but I truly do not know a shinobi nad Hayate Mugetsu."
Then Kakashi's voice turned heavier.
"If that shinobi was as outstanding as you claim, and so similar to Minato sensei, how could I possibly forget him?"
Kakashi could not figure it out either.
After careful thought, he spoke again.
"Tell in detail about the young Kakashi you t. His age. His rank. Every technique he used."
mories of Obito and Rin were distant, but Kakashi knew exactly what abilities he had at every stage of his own life.
Yamato recalled everything he could.
"He looked about ten, but it seed he had not had his birthday yet. He was a chunin. Even as a chunin, his strength was already above so jonin. His Lightning Release sword technique was unbelievably sharp. When he used it at full power, it could instantly kill an ordinary jonin. He mainly used Lightning Release and Earth Release. There was also a powerful purple lightning type Lightning Release that did not require hand seals…"
Kakashi was stunned.
Instantly killing a jonin before ten?
A purple lightning technique?
None of that matched him.
Yamato asked the question that had been bothering him. "Kakashi sensei, if your Lightning Release sword technique is so strong, why do you not use it now?"
Kakashi went silent.
He did not even know what Yamato was talking about.
Was that really him?
"The Kakashi you t was not ," Kakashi said, reaching a conclusion.
"I am not talking about age. He simply was not . Even when I beca a jonin at twelve, I did not have any technique that could guarantee an instant kill on a jonin. And I do not have purple lightning."
Not only were the strength and techniques different, Kakashi rembered that he had been withdrawn at that age. The Kakashi Yamato described sounded more like Kakashi's current self, only overly serious.
Naruto looked down at the photos, then back at Kakashi. "You are saying that was not you?"
Kakashi's tone was decisive. "He looks like my past self, but he was not . You cannot know better than I know myself."
Then Kakashi offered a new hypothesis.
"You may not have traveled to the past," Kakashi said. "You may have traveled to another world."
Naruto and Yamato stiffened.
"That world is extrely similar to ours. It has Kakashi Hatake and Minato Namikaze. But it is still not the sa world. That world has Hayate Mugetsu. Our world may have people who do not exist there as well."
Kakashi stood, jumped onto a nearby tree, and plucked two leaves. He held them out to Naruto and Yamato.
"These leaves look the sa. But if you look closely, there are differences in size, thickness, and shape."
He let the taphor sink in.
"Perhaps our two worlds are like this. Similar, but not identical."
It was the most reasonable explanation Kakashi could co up with, and it resolved every problem they faced.
Yamato finally understood.
They had revealed so many future events, yet nothing changed at all. That had always been unreasonable.
Naruto did not know how to describe what he felt.
Good news, Obito and the others might not have failed. Minato, Mugetsu, and Jiraiya might live to see the future.
Bad news, that future was not Naruto's.
Minato in Naruto's world, Jiraiya in Naruto's world, none of them would co back.
Naruto truly envied the Naruto who would be born in that other world, because that child might grow up with everything Naruto never had.
Little Kakashi sensei, Obito, Rin, keep going, Naruto thought silently.
Even through envy, Naruto still sincerely wished his other self would not live Naruto's life.
If Minato lived, if Mugetsu existed as an elder, if Obito stayed that loud and bright big brother, then that childhood would be happy and full of warmth.
"Naruto is one thing," Kakashi said, tone turning sharper, "but Yamato, how could you be so reckless? If you truly traveled to the past, your actions could have caused consequences beyond imagining."
"I could not help it," Yamato replied with a forced smile, trying to deflect. "I could not refuse your pleading expression, Kakashi sensei."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then I beg you, Yamato, treat Naruto and to a bowl of Ichiraku Ran. No problem, right?"
Kakashi thought it might soften Naruto's sadness.
Yamato could only agree reluctantly, silently thinking that the Kakashi from the other world sounded better, at least he would not make Yamato pay.
"Let us go," Kakashi said, smiling like it was no big deal as he patted Naruto's shoulder. "Ran. Naruto, eat as much as you want. Yamato has saved plenty, so do not worry about him running out."
Yamato's eyes widened. Kakashi even knew he had money saved.
Naruto had not eaten Ichiraku Ran in a long ti. He missed it, so he agreed.
But after a few bites, Naruto's chest tightened.
Ichiraku Ran suddenly felt less delicious than he rembered.
It was far inferior to Mugetsu's ran, and it carried none of the warmth of the ran his father made.
"Naruto," Teuchi asked gently, noticing the change, "what is wrong? Is today's ran not to your taste?"
Teuchi's concern reminded Naruto of the kindness that man had always shown him.
Back when the entire village looked at Naruto with strange eyes, Teuchi was one of the few who did not.
Naruto sped up, finishing the bowl quickly. Then he forced a bright smile.
"No," Naruto said. "It is still as delicious as ever."
Naruto would miss Mugetsu and Minato. He might even search for a way back.
But he would also treasure what he still had in the present.
… … … …
"As expected, it still does not work," Mugetsu said quietly after Naruto and Yamato disappeared.
He could no longer sense the Flying Thunder God kunai connected to them.
Mugetsu had tried to see if he could use Flying Thunder God to travel between worlds. If he could, there would be many options for the fifth disciple slot, and it would be like gaining resources from another world.
The answer was clear.
No.
This was far beyond his sensory range.
Mugetsu was not too disappointed. He had already considered this possibility. Crossing worlds was never going to be that simple.
"I hope everything goes well for them," Minato said, sincerely thinking of Naruto's life after returning.
"It will," Mugetsu replied with a small smile.
With Yang Release Breathing, Naruto would only beco stronger than in the original path.
Then Minato's expression turned serious.
"To prevent history from changing, I think we should seal the mories of this Roran mission."
It was fine for future shinobi to know about the past. But if shinobi of the past learned about the future, that could beco dangerous.
The mont Minato said it, Kakashi and his two teammates tensed. They had recorded future information. If their mories were sealed, the effectiveness of that information beca uncertain, and their chances of changing the future would drop sharply.
Obito exchanged frantic glances with Kakashi and Rin.
Obito's eyes scread, What do we do? If the mories are sealed, we are finished.
Kakashi's eyes replied, Do not panic. Do not ntion changing history. First see what Mugetsu sensei says.
Kakashi forced himself to stay calm and silently warned Obito not to speak. He already suspected Minato did not want to change history. He simply did not expect Minato to go as far as sealing mories.
If mories were sealed, even Minato and Naruto's mories would disappear.
"I do not think we need to go that far," Mugetsu said, shaking his head. "If the future is unchangeable, then are we all puppets following a script? Since the future can change, why would we seal mories like these?"
Sealing the Roran mories would not affect Mugetsu much. As a transmigrator, he already knew the broader plot.
If Mugetsu truly wanted to avoid being sealed, his current sealing skill could fool Minato without difficulty.
But Mugetsu still objected.
Because these were mories worth keeping, especially for Minato and the others. There was no reason to erase them for sothing so hollow. With Mugetsu present, this world could never follow the original future completely anyway.
Obito's eyes lit up. Inside, he cheered hard for Mugetsu.
Minato did not back down easily. "I do not believe we are puppets. I believe we must be responsible for the people of the future."
Even if that future did not include him, Minato still wanted to protect it.
Because in that future, Konoha existed. His child existed.
If the future changed, that might no longer be true.
"Being responsible for the future has nothing to do with sealing mories," Mugetsu countered. "What we need is to use our efforts to create the best possible future."
Mugetsu's eyes were steady.
"I never asked Naruto and the others about future matters. Because I believe our future should be created by our own hands. The future is not unchangeable."
Minato wavered slightly. Mugetsu's words carried weight.
Kakashi imdiately stepped forward when he saw the opening. "Minato sensei, Mugetsu sensei truly did not ask about the future. He even warned us not to ask, saying that future shinobi carry their own hardships."
Obito rushed in before the chance vanished. "Minato sensei, I think Mugetsu sensei is right. And I do not want to forget the ti I spent with Naruto nii san."
Rin nodded firmly. "Minato sensei, we will not spread anything about this mission. Sealing mories is unnecessary."
Mugetsu stepped closer to Minato, voice serious. "Minato, trust us, and trust yourself. There is no reason Naruto has to beco an orphan."
Minato's expression turned helpless. "I cannot argue with you."
In the end, Minato was persuaded. If he had a choice, he did not want his future child to beco an orphan and suffer so much.
And Mugetsu had kept the future questions within a controllable range.
Seeing Minato drop the idea, Kakashi and his two teammates finally breathed again.
"It really has to be Mugetsu senpai," Obito thought, relieved they had Mugetsu with them.
After sending Naruto and Yamato back, Mugetsu's mission was complete. The group left Roran the next day.
On the road, Mugetsu and Minato discussed the report.
In the end, they agreed not to report the matter of future shinobi. The fewer people who knew, the better.
When they reached an area near the Land of Grass, Mugetsu and Minato temporarily split up. Minato headed toward the Land of Grass battlefield to find Jiraiya.
Jiraiya also knew about the future shinobi. Minato trusted his teacher's character, but he still believed discussion was necessary.
"Rest today," Mugetsu told Kakashi and the others after returning to Konoha. "Training as usual tomorrow."
Even with a day off, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin did not go ho. They went straight to the southern border forest to cultivate.
They needed strength. With their current level, claiming they would change the future felt arrogant.
anwhile, Obito wrestled with whether he should tell Shisui, another Uchiha, about the future massacre of the clan.
Mugetsu sent a Shadow Clone to watch over his disciples. His main body returned ho to check the gains from the trip.
[System: Disciple Kakashi Hatake and disciple Uchiha Obito diligently completed the entrusted mission, gained chakra 800. Additional reward for being led by the teacher personally, gained chakra 400.]
[System: Disciple Uchiha Obito's strength increased, reputation rose, qualifications increased, and the probability of becoming Hokage slightly increased. Progress reward gained: chakra 1400, S rank Ninjutsu Extraction Scroll, mastery level, Fire Release Great Fire Annihilation, mastery level.]
The chakra reward was a bit more than Mugetsu expected. This mission had almost no true danger, so the total was already quite good.
Mugetsu focused on Obito's second life mission settlent. That was the main reason he had gone on this mission.
Compared to the ten percent settlent, the twenty percent progress settlent gave more chakra. Mugetsu was not sure how the remaining rewards would compare.
In Mugetsu's view, mastery level Great Fire Annihilation and the Dragon Fla Release Song technique were on the sa tier. Neither was clearly stronger than the other.
As for the Bloodline Enhancent Scroll versus the S rank Ninjutsu Extraction Scroll, they were harder to compare. It depended on what the extraction scroll would actually pull.
This was Mugetsu's first S rank Ninjutsu Extraction Scroll. Previously, he only obtained an S rank Taijutsu Extraction Scroll, which extracted Golden Skyline.
Golden Skyline's power was unquestionable. It was one of Mugetsu's strongest offensive techniques, so he had high expectations for this one.
But this ti, Mugetsu did not want another pure offensive technique.
He already had too many ways to kill.
What he wanted now was a powerful functional ninjutsu.
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