The night air over Pallet Town was calm, the stars faintly reflected in the window glass. Tharion sat in silence beside Selene, watching little Aster sleep peacefully in her cradle. The glow of the G-Max Band and Z-Ring, now safely resting in Selene's care, dimmed faintly on the dresser beside them. Everything had finally settled after their long trials in Alola.
Selene leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "You look peaceful for once," she said softly, smiling. "No system missions, no monsters, no godly summons—just you, me, and Aster."
Tharion chuckled quietly. "For now, maybe." His tone held a strange gravity—as if some part of him knew the peace was about to end.
And then it happened.
A faint chime.Then another.Then the sound of a system boot sequence echoing directly inside his mind—an echo he hadn't heard since his last inter-world mission.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
World Disturbance Detected – Universe: NARUTO (Timeline Convergence Event)
Mission: Fend off invasion during the Konoha Crush.
Objective 1: Prevent the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Objective 2: Destroy the Four Violet Flames Formation Barrier.
Objective 3: Eliminate all Sound Village infiltrators.
Failure: Collapse of timeline and death of Sarutobi.
Reward: Temporal Core Fragment + Divine Access Key (World Tier 5).
Tharion froze. Selene turned to him immediately. She could see the faint golden data runes spiraling in his pupils. "The system again?"
He nodded slowly. "It's back."
Her expression softened with concern. "Where this time?"
"…The Shinobi World," he said quietly. "Sound Village's invasion. Orochimaru's attack on the Hidden Leaf. The death of Hiruzen Sarutobi… unless I stop it."
Selene's face went still for a moment. She knew this story—not from the anime, but from him. He had told her everything long ago. How he had once entered that world, protecting Minato and Kushina from their destined deaths, safeguarding Naruto for twelve years in secret, and even saving the Uchiha children by hiding them in a concealed mountain cave—untouched by Itachi's massacre.
"You'll see them again…" she whispered.
Tharion looked toward Aster, who slept undisturbed. His gaze softened. "I have to. I promised Minato I'd finish the work I left undone."
Selene nodded, already reaching for the bands on the table. "You'll need these."
But he stopped her hand. "No," he said gently. "Keep them."
She blinked. "Tharion—"
He smiled faintly. "You'll need to protect this world while I'm gone. The G-Max Band, the Z-Ring, and the Keystone Ring—they stay with you."
Selene's eyes shimmered with emotion. "You're planning to stay long this time, aren't you?"
"I don't know how long time flows between worlds anymore," Tharion admitted. "But when they are at their most desperate… I'll appear."
He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers. The faint pulse of aura energy surrounded them both—warm, familiar, eternal.
Selene's voice trembled. "Then promise me you'll come back. No matter what world the system sends you to next."
He smiled. "I always do."
The air around him began to distort—energy folding into fractal shapes of golden and crimson light. Reality itself bent as the system activated its cross-dimensional transfer sequence.
[SYSTEM: CROSS-WORLD TRANSFER INITIATED]
Destination: Hidden Leaf Village — Outskirts Forest (Timeline: Konoha Crush).
Identity Mask: Konoha High-Ranking Shinobi – Alias: Tharion Namikaze.
World Anchor Detected — Hidden Uchiha Refuge Operational.
Selene reached out, touching his hand one last time before the light engulfed him completely.
"Go," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Be their hidden guardian again… Uncle of Naruto Uzumaki."
And then he was gone.
The house fell silent except for the soft breathing of their child. Selene closed her eyes, holding the rings against her chest.
"Finish what you started," she murmured, her tears catching the glint of moonlight.
Meanwhile – Hidden Leaf Village (Moments Before the Invasion)
Deep in the forest outside the village walls, a ripple of space tore open silently. Golden energy flickered, bending the surrounding trees as Tharion emerged, cloaked in the long black-and-gold coat of the Namikaze line. His presence was masked completely—neither chakra nor spirit signature detectable.
He gazed toward the distant glow of the Hidden Leaf Village. Even from this distance, he could sense the brewing storm—the signatures of Orochimaru, the Sound Four, and the approaching chaos of battle.
Tharion took a deep breath, eyes narrowing. "So it begins again."
Lightning flickered faintly around his arm, forming into seals—each bearing the crest of the Namikaze clan and his own mark of divine authority.
[SYSTEM NOTICE] Mission Timer Initiated: 00:59:37 until Barrier Formation.]
He smirked. "Plenty of time to rewrite fate."
As he vanished into the forest, the screen of the system interface shimmered in gold, marking his return to a world where legends had fallen—and where one forgotten brother of the Fourth Hokage was about to rise again.
The night over Konoha split open with fire.
From the tallest cedar tree on the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf, Tharion stood like a silent sentinel, the wind teasing his black-and-gold cloak. Below him, the peaceful air of the Chunin Exams shattered—explosions burst near the stadium, plumes of smoke and debris rising in jagged columns.
His eyes narrowed. Right on time.
The faint shimmer of his system interface danced across his vision.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]Barrier Ninjutsu forming: Four Violet Flames Formation – 00:03:42.Primary Target: Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.Orochimaru Summoning Ritual initiated: Manda confirmed.
Tharion's gaze sharpened. "So it begins again…"
Below, chaos was already spreading.His students—Kakashi, Anko, Guy, and Iruka—had rallied without hesitation. The mark of his previous mentorship still echoed in their instinctive coordination.
Kakashi's Sharingan glowed beneath his headband as he commanded the ANBU. "Secure the spectators! Evacuate the injured!"
Might Guy, already surrounded by enemy Sound-nin, shouted, "Youth burns brightest in defense of home!" as he unleashed the Seventh Gate, a storm of green energy erupting around him, scattering the attackers like leaves in a gale.
Anko, eyes fierce, whipped her snakes forward, tearing through the enemy line as if vengeance itself had possessed her. "You picked the wrong village, freaks!"
Iruka shielded the children and the young genin contestants with chakra barriers, his arms trembling yet unbroken. "Stay behind me! No one moves!"
Tharion smiled faintly from above. "You've all grown… good."
But his focus shifted to the far east of the stadium where the ground split open—and three massive serpents rose from beneath, each roaring with enough force to shake the trees around him. One, covered in black markings, bore Orochimaru's personal seal.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]Summoned Beasts: Triple Serpent Convergence detected.Threat level: S-rank – comparable to Bijuu-class chakra output.
The air rippled again, and a familiar golden flash illuminated the battlefield.
Flash Step – Flying Raijin Mark detected.
Tharion's eyes softened. "…Minato."
The Fourth Hokage appeared in a blaze of lightning and wind, slamming Rasengan into one serpent's skull. The explosion of chakra tore through the forest line, collapsing half the creature's body in one hit.
Golden streaks darted everywhere as Minato teleported between his kunai marks, tearing through Orochimaru's summons, pushing them away from the village. His cloak—the one emblazoned with Fourth Hokage—fluttered violently in the heat of battle.
From his vantage point, Tharion watched his younger brother fight. Pride filled his chest, followed by a faint ache. Still so reckless…
Then he moved.
In an instant, he vanished from the treetop—reappearing in the midst of chaos with a single flash of azure light. A serpent lunged toward a group of Leaf shinobi, only to have its head cleaved cleanly in two by an unseen force.
The air cracked like thunder as Tharion landed beside Minato, his coat fluttering under the wind.
Minato blinked, startled—but only for a moment. Recognition struck immediately, and the corner of his lips curved upward in disbelief and relief. "You really have the worst timing, brother."
Tharion smirked beneath the faint glow of his eyes. "Every time I return, this village is either burning or being invaded."
Minato laughed once, weary yet amused even in battle. "Then I suppose it wouldn't be Konoha without chaos to greet you."
Tharion turned his gaze upward—the barrier over the stadium was already beginning to shimmer into existence, sealing off the Third Hokage and Orochimaru within. "I'm going after that barrier. You keep the snakes off the streets."
Minato nodded, tightening his grip on a Flying Raijin kunai. "Don't die on me again."
Tharion's grin was sharp and confident. "I don't die. I just take long detours."
With that, his form blurred into light, vanishing in a streak of azure and gold toward the stadium's rooftop, where destiny waited—and where the hidden brother of the Namikaze line would once again alter the course of a world meant to fall.