Ripples spread across the void…
"Is this what Dad's era was like back then?"
A slightly immature voice rang out. Compared to the sturdier figure beside him, the speaker appeared slender—almost delicate. Dressed in a black robe, he lowered the hood covering his head, revealing long golden hair. He looked like a boy of only eleven or twelve.
What stood out most were his eyes. Despite his young age, they carried a mysterious, almost divine quality—bright yet tinged with an unnatural maturity.
"Yes…"
The black-robed man beside him, clearly older, exhaled softly.
A complicated emotion flickered in his eyes.
"Yes, these past few years truly were an era of miracles. If not for everything that happened back then… In our time, things aren't like they are for you now—where prodigies pop up every month. Even graduating into the Super Class required strength on par with the Five Kage."
His tone carried excitement, nostalgia, and a faint bitterness.
Despite his young appearance, the boy's chakra was astonishing—calm and dense. Anyone who sensed it would realize he was already comparable to the present-day Five Kage.
This boy was Uzumaki Boruto.
"Sasuke-sensei, tell me about your past!"
Boruto's voice was clear, earnest. The person he admired most was his father—Uzumaki Naruto. And the man beside him, shrouded in mystery and maturity, was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.
But not the Sasuke of this era.
This was Future Sasuke.
The two continued their conversation while moving forward without slowing down—lightning-fast, thunderous in momentum.
Within moments, the pair vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, deep within Konoha, in a heavily fortified base, alarms suddenly blared.
"Alert! Alert! Immense chakra detected! Activating sealing protocol—barrier formation—zzzt… Error! Program halted! System shutting down!"
The sharp alarm sent every shinobi in the base scrambling.
"What happened?! Why didn't the external detection array activate?!"
"Damn it—did an enemy infiltrate? Why is the defense system shutting down?!"
"To break in here… they'd have to be at least S-rank!"
Ninja quickly mobilized, rushing toward the point of anomaly.
Yet the intruders did not flee. They stood still—waiting.
Inside a sealed chamber, two black-robed figures calmly lowered their hoods.
The squad leader arriving on scene froze, then blurted:
"Sasuke—what are you doing?! You know spatial ninjutsu is forbidden here!"
"Wait."
His comrade grabbed his sleeve. "That's… not Sasuke. At least not our Sasuke. He's too… mature."
"Tenten, what are you saying? He's clearly Sasuke! Didn't he just marry Sakura? Newlyweds, y'know… maybe he's just a little drained, haha!"
Inuzuka Kiba—now grown and entrusted with serious duties—spoke with absolute confidence.
Tenten, stationed here as well, shot him a glare. Both shinobi possessed strength on par with the Five Kage.
Future Sasuke's brow twitched. A vein pulsed at his temple.
Being slandered like this was… intolerable.
Suppressing the urge to silence Kiba permanently, he raised his gaze. With a single motion, his Sharingan spun to life—ensnaring the room.
Everyone except Kiba and Tenten dropped unconscious as Sasuke erased and rewrote their memories, implanting the illusion of a routine training drill.
Their identities could not be exposed.
When the two regained clarity, their faces paled in shock.
Because the man before them—identical to Sasuke yet far more weathered—was the Sasuke of the future.
He radiated an aura of someone who had survived endless battles. A stern, seasoned, almost uncle-like gravitas.
Tsk… why does he look like he's running on half a kidney? Sakura must've squeezed him dry…
Kiba smirked internally, mind wandering someplace dark.
Tenten noticed the stupid look on his face.
Without hesitation, she slammed her fist onto his skull.
"What are you thinking about?! Go inform Naruto right now!"
She snapped at him, then turned back and bowed to Future Sasuke, apologetic—yet her eyes flicked curiously to the young boy at his side.
"This child is…?"
Before Tenten could finish speaking, the boy smiled brightly and said:
"Hello, Aunt Tenten. My name is Boruto!"
The moment she saw him up close, Tenten immediately understood. In the future, she must be very familiar with this child. But this resemblance… could he be Naruto's son?
The idea flashed through her mind, and the more she examined the boy's features, the more undeniable the similarity became. Even his gaze carried echoes of Naruto's stubbornness and sincerity.
But more importantly—
That chakra.
The aura surrounding the boy wasn't just strong—it was overwhelming, denser and more refined than her own. This wasn't merely a prodigy. This was someone already standing at the peak.
He looked only eleven or twelve years old.
And his strength was already at the level of the Five Kage.
When did reaching the Five Kage level become so easy?!
Tenten was briefly speechless.
But then she remembered who his father likely was.
Right… he's Naruto's kid. Of course he's a monster.
No matter how she looked at him, the golden hair alone made one thing clear—it definitely wasn't Sasuke's child.
Not long after, Naruto—who now spent most of his time cultivating at Mount Myōboku, relying on its rich Natural Energy to further enhance his power—received the urgent message and rushed over.
Soon, other significant figures arrived as well. Even Orochimaru, who rarely left his research labs, abandoned his experiments and hurried to the scene after learning what happened. For someone like him, the appearance of a future version of Sasuke was far too intriguing to ignore.
Among the newcomers, one pair of eyes went wide with shock.
It was present-day Sasuke.
Confronted with a version of himself who looked almost identical—yet older, calmer, and far more seasoned—Sasuke's expression wavered, revealing a rare hint of disbelief.
Boruto, on the other hand, quietly observed the younger version of his father. Curiosity and admiration sparkled in his eyes… but faint sadness lingered at the edges. Only he knew what burdens the future Naruto carried.
After Tenten's brief explanation, everyone grasped the basics of the situation.
Future Sasuke had come to deliver a message—
A warning.
"The future is cruel," Sasuke said calmly. His tone carried a weight only those who had truly lived through despair could possess. "I come from twelve years ahead. And in the next ten years… our future selves lost."
He delivered the words without hesitation.
The room instantly fell silent.
Shock rippled across the gathered shinobi.
Lost?
What did that mean?
Naruto's eyes narrowed, his expression turning solemn. Was this warning related to the Ōtsutsuki Clan? Had more of them descended? Or worse—something beyond even that?
While Naruto remained composed, many of the others reacted far more visibly.
"The future is harder and more merciless than we ever imagined," Future Sasuke continued, a faint sorrow flickering within his voice.
The former Raikage stepped forward, disbelief written all over his face.
"How is that possible? With our current strength alone, we could defeat ten of our past selves without effort! And in another ten years, all of us will only grow stronger. How could we lose?!"
Although the traditional village system no longer existed, the Raikage—backed by years of leadership and many loyal supporters—still held immense influence. And like everyone else in this era of rapid growth, his power had soared as well.
Yet even he struggled to believe the future could be so dire.