Sun Empire, Water Province.
Above the vast and boundless ocean, three dark figures were flying at high speed, their bodies skimming close to the water's surface, stirring up waves in their wake.
The figure at the forefront suddenly came to an abrupt halt, turned around, and flung two golden energy blasts toward the two pursuers behind.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the two behind barely managed to dodge.
The golden blasts struck the water, exploding with a thunderous roar and sending towering waves several meters high.
Splash—
It was as if rain had begun to fall around them.
"Are you two done yet? Keep chasing me, and I won't be polite!"
"Hinata, hand over the artifact!"
The girl, around seventeen or eighteen years old, had an air of vibrant confidence.
Her bright, pearly white eyes signified her royal lineage—this was none other than the Empire's eldest princess, Hyuga Hinata.
Standing against her, a black-haired boy shouted angrily, "You reckless brat! There are limits to how far you can go! Neji is about to ascend the throne, and you actually stole the Time Power that was meant for him!"
Hinata scoffed, "That Neji guy is nowhere near Father's level. He's completely unworthy of the throne. It'd be better if I took over instead. Naruto, you might as well resign yourself to being his lapdog for life!"
"You—!" The boy was furious at her words.
Beside him, another young man with a slightly colder demeanor spoke, "Neji is our eldest brother. He should rightfully inherit everything from Father."
Hinata sneered, "Who says being the eldest means getting everything? He was just born a few years earlier, that's all. Yet even now, the two of you still can't beat me."
"That's only because you got Father to grant you the power of space!" Naruto retorted.
Hinata found it amusing as she looked at her brother, whom she considered foolish.
"I fought for this myself. Mom was right—everything in this world has to be earned, not pitifully handed down by others. If you two don't understand this, then you'll spend your whole lives trailing behind Neji."
Sasuke frowned. "There's no need for more words. You're coming back with us today, no matter what!"
Hinata sneered. "I'd like to see you try!"
Just as the three were about to clash, Hinata's expression suddenly changed.
She swiftly turned to look behind her, only to see a pitch-black spatial rift tear open over the vast ocean.
From within stepped out a refined and handsome young man.
Hinata's face darkened slightly as she looked at him, her gaze filled with wariness.
"Hinata, go back," the man said gently.
His voice carried no hostility, and his eyes were striking—his pupils resembled a black hole continuously radiating white light, surrounded by a soft blue glow.
There were only three people in the world who possessed such eyes.
One was her father, the founding emperor of the Hyuga Empire.
The second was her older brother, the empire's crown prince.
And the third was the man before her—Hyuga Toneri.
"You're here too? Did he send you?" Hinata asked coldly.
Toneri sighed. "Hinata, what you did really hurt Neji."
Hinata scoffed. "Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me!"
Naruto shouted angrily, "You stole from him! And you still have the audacity to say it's none of your business?!"
Toneri added, "Hikari also wants you to come back."
Hinata hesitated for a moment, her expression wavering.
However, before she could respond, a blinding white light suddenly descended from above, enveloping her entirely.
Hinata's eyes widened in alarm, but she reacted swiftly, forming a barrier around herself to block the incoming light.
Then, a yellow light descended, and from it emerged a humanoid mecha standing about two to three meters tall.
Its headpiece opened, revealing a chubby face inside.
The man inside called out in distress, "Toneri! Lady Hinata's spatial power is too troublesome—I can't handle it!"
Hinata gritted her teeth. "You people again!"
Even Toneri, usually calm and gentle, looked troubled.
The next moment, he suddenly formed a hand seal with one hand, activating a powerful sealing technique.
A massive spell formation appeared out of thin air on the ocean's surface below them.
He shouted, "Deploy the spatial seal! Don't let her escape!"
Naruto, Sasuke, and another person named Kensuke immediately moved in response.
However, Hinata merely let out a cold snort, and a pale yellow light surged around her.
Instantly, everyone around her slowed down by thousands—no, millions of times.
With that, she calmly walked up to Toneri and delivered a fierce kick to his chest.
Feeling it wasn't enough, she kicked him again, sending him tumbling downward.
Then, she approached Kensuke's mecha, yanked the chubby man out from inside, and tossed him down as well.
Even after doing all this, the others remained frozen in place.
They were no longer in the same temporal flow as her.
Hinata then walked up to her two brothers and pinched their cheeks hard.
Finally, she let out a mocking sneer. "I'm done playing with you."
With that, a pitch-black vortex appeared behind her, slowly pulling her in.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, everyone snapped back to normal, only to realize that Hinata had completely disappeared.
Kensuke flailed as he splashed into the sea, letting out a startled yelp.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "What just happened?!"
Sasuke frowned. "She's already mastered time manipulation?!"
Toneri slowly levitated back into the air, deep in thought. "I doubt she has full control just yet. She likely forced it."
"Then can we still find her?" Naruto asked anxiously.
Toneri sighed and shook his head. "If she has slipped into the timestream and deliberately erased her coordinates, then with billions of parallel worlds out there… how could we ever track her down?"
Down on the ocean's surface, Kensuke stood there in a disheveled state, looking up at the others in the sky and shouting, "How are we supposed to explain this to Lord Neji and Lady Hikari now?"
Thinking about their other, even more troublesome sister, both Naruto and Sasuke felt an oncoming headache.
Naruto snapped irritably, "This is your fault! Why didn't you control her from the start?"
Kensuke cried out in grievance, "I'm being framed here!"
...............
Hinata slowly regained consciousness, finding herself lying in a dense, shadowy forest.
The scattered light filtering through the gaps in the leaves flickered across her face.
She sat up, rubbing her aching head, and scanned her surroundings, realizing that most of her chakra had been depleted.
With a slight turn of her hand, a pale yellow orb of light appeared in her palm.
Hinata muttered, "Why is this thing so hard to use? If I had absorbed it back then, I wouldn't have to use so much of it now… There's not enough left to go back."
She soared into the air, surveying the area, and eventually found a small town.
After gathering some information, she was shocked to learn that she had ended up in the midst of a war.
The Five Great Nations still existed, as did the Five Great Ninja Villages.
The current Hokage of Konoha was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and a certain ninja known as the 'Yellow Flash' was making a name for himself.
"The Third Great Ninja War…" she murmured to herself.
"That means Dad is only in his teens right now!"
Taking out the glowing orb again, her mind spun rapidly.
Her gaze suddenly sharpened, and a cryptic smile crept across her lips.
"Why bother going back? I might as well turn the world upside down and have some real fun!"
With that, she clenched her fist tightly, shattering the pale yellow orb with a boom.
It dissolved into countless specks of starlight, scattering in all directions.
###
TL note : This book ends here. It is time for it to come to a close.
There is a sense of regret and helplessness, but more than anything, I want to express my deepest gratitude once again to all my readers.
Without you, many things would have been much, much more difficult.
The ending came a little late and somewhat rushed—I sincerely hope you won't hold it against me.
As for the new book, I already have pick the new one, and if all goes well, I will start uploading after a few day.
Finally, once again, and once again—thank you all for your support!