A massive buzzing of energy began to fill the entire space, and the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.
At the center of the altar, the sealed Dragon Vein energy began to stir and churn!
The seal was being released layer by layer. Vast as an ocean, the Dragon Vein chakra broke free of its restraints and began surging upward like mad!
"Now! Hurry and go in!"
The Queen of Rōran looked at the Dragon Vein, which was on the verge of completely losing control, and shouted loudly at the two of them.
If this dragged on any longer, Rōran would definitely be destroyed by the overwhelming power of the Dragon Vein!
Renya and Danzo exchanged a glance and rushed together into the pillar of light.
There was no violent tearing or pain like they had expected.
Entering the Dragon Vein felt more like sinking into an ocean.
Their bodies were enveloped by immense energy, while the scenery around them flowed past at high speed.
Light twisted around them, forming bizarre and dazzling spacetime passages.
Their consciousness remained clear, and they could distinctly feel themselves traveling through the fabric of time at a speed beyond all common sense.
So this is the power of the Dragon Vein?
Almost the instant their figures disappeared into the pillar of light, the hand seal formed by the Queen of Rōran abruptly changed.
She had to immediately reseal the Dragon Vein to prevent its leaking energy from causing catastrophic destruction to Rōran!
The golden energy that had just become active slowly calmed down unwillingly under the restraints of the runes, eventually returning to stillness.
Only the light on the altar seemed slightly dimmer than before.
...
Renya and Danzo felt as if they had merely gone through a brief moment of closing and opening their eyes.
The warm sensation of energy vanished, replaced by the forest's distinctive air, carrying the scents of soil and vegetation, along with dappled sunlight filtering through dense branches.
The two steadied themselves and quickly scanned their surroundings.
"This should be the territory of the Land of Fire..."
Shimura Danzo voiced his guess. As a Hokage, he naturally knew the geographical features of the Land of Fire.
Renya didn't care where in the ninja world they had appeared; he only wanted to know what point in time it was.
"Let's go to the village and take a look."
As long as they went to Konoha, he would be able to determine the time period and whether this was a parallel world.
The criteria were simple. If there was no Konoha, then it was the Warring States period.
If Konoha existed, then he would look at the Hokage Rock. If the Third Hokage was Danzo, then it wasn't a parallel world.
If the Third Hokage was Hiruzen, then this was the original canon world following its normal course.
Shimura Danzo nodded. He very much wanted to know how the village had developed in the future.
The two headed toward Konoha.
...
Konoha Village, at the main gate.
Shimura Danzo stared at the Konoha before him, which had been ruined beyond recognition. His mouth hung open in shock, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.
"This is Konoha Village!?"
As far as the eye could see, there were no familiar streets, no prosperous buildings, no bustling crowds or curling cooking smoke.
There was only a massive crater so huge it made one's heart tremble.
And inside that crater, countless busy ninja were rebuilding houses...
"Wait, why is the Third Hokage on the Hokage Rock Hiruzen?!"
Shimura Danzo spotted the Hokage Rock in the distance, and this shocked him even more than the crater he had just seen.
You've got to be kidding!
Why is that guy Hiruzen the Hokage?!
By all logic, the Third Hokage should have been Shimura Danzo himself. Even if Hiruzen became Hokage, he should have been the Fourth!
The moment he saw Hiruzen's carved head, his entire mind went blank.
He had no idea what was going on.
Renya looked at the Hokage Rock, from the First to the Fifth, then glanced at the ninja rebuilding the village inside the crater, and instantly understood the time period they were in.
They had arrived in a parallel world—or rather, the original canon world.
This crater was created when Nagato, controlling Pain, used Shinra Tensei...
Since Konoha was already being rebuilt, it looked like Uzumaki Naruto had already talked Nagato into abandoning his plan with talk-no-jutsu.
It could only be said that the protagonist's talk-no-jutsu was truly on another level.
The current time period should be around the Five Kage Summit, before or after Uchiha Tobi announced the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Danzo, don't get worked up yet. This is different from the spacetime we were in. It should be a parallel spacetime."
Renya noticed his friend's expression of existential crisis and immediately spoke to comfort him.
Looks like not seeing himself on the Hokage Rock was a huge blow to him!
"So that's how it is. I was wondering why I wasn't on the Hokage Rock..."
As Danzo spoke, his expression grew even uglier.
Since Hiruzen had become Hokage in this spacetime, it meant that he himself had not become Hokage here.
Just imagining Hiruzen using his authority to suppress him made him feel awful all over.
"Enough, Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Danzo: "..."
He never imagined that after suppressing Hiruzen for so many years, the version of himself in this spacetime would instead be suppressed by Hiruzen.
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
He could only conclude that the version of himself in this spacetime was simply trash.
He couldn't even beat Hiruzen!
Renya: "???"
Hadn't he just said this was a parallel spacetime?
So why did Danzo's expression look even worse now?!
"Danzo, let's go gather some information first."
Renya had no idea what Danzo was thinking, so he could only change the topic to divert his attention.
Shimura Danzo nodded at that, and the two of them openly walked into Konoha.
In Renya's view, since this was the original canon timeline, slightly changing the plot didn't really matter.
So he couldn't be bothered to hide his identity.
Besides, no one in this spacetime knew him anyway.
The Uchiha clan had been wiped out ten years ago by Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Tobi.
And the canon Uchiha Renya had probably died long ago in one of the previous ninja wars.
Shimura Danzo, on the other hand, had no intention of hiding his identity.
Even though Hiruzen had become Hokage, with his abilities he should still be respected by the villagers.
If not the position of Hokage's assistant, then surely Hokage advisor, right?
The reason he didn't hide his identity was because he wanted to see the reactions of the villagers and ninja.
Unfortunately, he overestimated things.
The villagers and ninja who passed by looked at him as if they didn't recognize him at all.
Shimura Danzo: "..."
In reality, the Danzo of this spacetime had long achieved his dream of becoming the so-called Fifth-and-a-Half Hokage, so the villagers and ninja naturally knew him.
But the Danzo who had crossed over was physically intact, with both eyes unharmed and no scars on his face.
On top of that, he was about twenty years younger.
Compared to that bandage-wrapped, gloomy acting Hokage, he looked like a completely different person.
It was only natural that the villagers and ninja didn't recognize him.
But to Danzo, their reactions meant something very different.
The villagers and ninja didn't even recognize him.
Just how trash was this version of himself?!
Letting Hiruzen become Hokage was bad enough, but he didn't even have any prestige in the village.
Forget prestige—no one even seemed to know who he was!
"Trash!"