"Why does it feel like seventeen-year-old Naruto is even stronger than the Seventh Hokage version?" Jiraiya muttered.
He could clearly sense it. Seventeen-year-old Uzumaki Naruto was stronger than the Seventh Hokage who appeared earlier. Not just a little stronger, but by a wide margin.
Was it because he'd grown weaker in middle age?
That shouldn't be the case.
A ninja's thirties were usually their prime. Physical growth might slow down, stamina might dip slightly, but experience and battle sense more than made up for it.
There was no way someone would regress that much.
Even the Seventh Hokage version of Naruto was already far beyond anything Jiraiya could comprehend. Yet compared to his seventeen-year-old peak, the gap was obvious.
"Is that what Kaede Kitahara's diary meant by Super Kage Level?" Jiraiya murmured to himself.
He was certain of his judgment. In that state, Uzumaki Naruto had definitely reached what could only be called Super Kage Level.
Far beyond ordinary Kage Level.
Neither the Third Hokage nor the Fourth Hokage had any real solution when facing the Nine-Tails. Yet Naruto handled it effortlessly. That alone proved he had surpassed that tier entirely.
"And what did Naruto mean at the end? 'This isn't Boruto. This is Naruto Shippuden.'"
Hatake Kakashi caught that line immediately.
He remembered Kaede Kitahara mentioning Boruto and Shippuden in his diary before.
"So they're terms used to divide different time periods?" Kakashi frowned. "Seventeen-year-old Naruto and Sasuke belong to Shippuden. Then Boruto refers to Naruto's son…?"
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
The appearance of this IF timeline had shaken him deeply. A completely new branch of time.
He recalled the diary's explanation of parallel worlds.
So this is what it meant.
Something must have happened in the future, something he didn't understand yet.
Seventeen years old…
That was only four or five years from now.
And judging by the braided man's reaction in the footage, it seemed that middle-aged Naruto and Sasuke had originally been his opponents. That meant the enemy was from a future ten or twenty years ahead.
That must be the so-called Boruto era Kaede Kitahara kept mentioning.
But how could seventeen-year-old Naruto and Sasuke be stronger than their future selves?
That went against everything Kakashi knew.
The diary recording ended.
But today's update had been overwhelming. Too much information. Too much shock.
Meanwhile, in the past parallel timeline, Kaede Kitahara had just finished writing his diary.
In front of him, a translucent roulette wheel appeared.
It was time for the daily diary lottery.
"Stop… stop…"
He muttered inwardly.
The semi-transparent wheel, visible only to him, slowly came to a halt.
"Sealing Ninjutsu Theory: From Beginner to Master."
Kaede Kitahara blinked.
Sealing theory?
"Fuse. Fuse."
He chose to integrate it.
The item dissolved into a stream of light and merged into his mind.
In an instant, countless theories related to sealing-type ninjutsu flooded his thoughts. It felt as if someone had been patiently teaching him since childhood, pouring years of knowledge into him piece by piece.
He didn't gain any specific sealing techniques.
But the foundational principles, the logic behind the formulas, why certain symbols were drawn in certain ways, what kind of effects they would produce… he now understood all of it.
Before this, the knowledge Queen of Loulan Sara had passed down to him about sealing the Dragon Vein had been something he could only mechanically memorize. He couldn't truly comprehend it.
It had been the same when he first drew the Flying Thunder God. He couldn't grasp its underlying mechanics at all.
But now, he could.
He even understood why certain parts of the formation had to be structured the way they were.
At this point, he was basically a theoretical expert in sealing, despite not knowing any actual sealing jutsu.
Even without learning ready-made techniques, he could rely on his theoretical understanding to begin developing his own sealing formulas.
After all, every sealing technique in existence had been invented by someone.
If others could create them, so could Kaede Kitahara.
It would just take time.
Of course, learning established techniques would still be faster.
"You finished writing?" Sara asked from nearby, watching him close the diary with curiosity.
She had never seen anything like this before. A major battle was looming, yet he still had the leisure to write in a diary.
"Yeah." Kaede Kitahara smiled but offered no explanation.
Not far away, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Naruto were still talking.
Kaede put away the diary and walked over.
"Would you two like to know what really happened during the Nine-Tails incident?"
"The Nine-Tails incident?"
Namikaze Minato's eyes widened. He almost instantly pieced things together.
He had always found it strange that Naruto had grown up without ever seeing his parents. The only logical conclusion he could draw was that something had gone wrong during Kushina's childbirth.
Now, hearing this, his suspicion solidified.
"The Nine-Tails incident?" Uzumaki Naruto repeated in shock. "You mean what happened back then?"
"Yes. What happened that night. Anyway, your memories will be sealed later. Knowing now won't change anything."
Kaede Kitahara looked at him. "Namikaze Jonin, are you interested?"
Minato thought for a moment.
He already knew so much. Learning a little more wouldn't matter. Just as Kaede said, their memories would eventually be sealed.
And truthfully, he was curious.
"This will be presented in the form of genjutsu."
Kaede Kitahara opened his Sharingan and cast the illusion instantly.
With their strength and resistance, both Minato and Naruto were highly resistant to genjutsu.
But Kaede was no longer weak. And since neither of them resisted, the technique took hold smoothly.
Moments later, Uzumaki Naruto broke free from the illusion, tears streaming down his face.
He had never known so much had happened on the day he was born.
To protect him. To protect the village.
His parents had sacrificed their lives.
He might have grown up an orphan, but he was never unloved.
They had loved him deeply.
They just hadn't been able to stay by his side.
When he saw them pierced together by the Nine-Tails' claw to shield him, his chest felt like it was tearing apart.
Not long after, Namikaze Minato also came back to his senses.
Now he understood everything that had happened in the future.
A masked man had attacked Kushina's delivery site, slaughtering the Anbu and even the Third Hokage's wife, Sarutobi Biwako. Though Minato had driven him away, the Nine-Tails had already been released.
With Kushina on the brink of death, Minato had chosen to seal half of the Nine-Tails into Naruto.
He had placed immense hope in his son.
"Dad…"
Naruto wiped his tears.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. Your mother and I couldn't stay by your side. You must've suffered a lot growing up," Minato said gently.
"It's okay. I'm the Fourth Hokage's son."
Naruto's lips curved into a bright smile.
"I'm proud to be the son of two heroes. Yeah, I had it rough sometimes. I didn't have the happiest childhood. But I met a lot of amazing people. Grandpa Third Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei… and Sasuke and Sakura.
And now I get to come back to this era and see you. I'm already really happy."
Minato couldn't help it.
He pulled Naruto into an embrace.
Even knowing the future, even seeing how he had died, his heart still felt unbearably heavy.
Suddenly, he turned toward Kaede Kitahara.
"That just now… was a Sharingan, wasn't it?"
Kaede froze.
He hadn't expected to be noticed, especially while wearing colored contacts.
These top-tier shinobi really were sharp.
Even Kakuzu hadn't sensed him using the Sharingan before. Yet Namikaze Minato had caught it.
Seeing his hesitation, Minato continued.
"One of my students had a Sharingan. I've also worked alongside members of the Uchiha Clan. The chakra fluctuations when they use it are similar to yours. I was just guessing. Looks like I was right."
"…That's correct."
At this point, there was no reason to deny it. Doing so would only make Minato more suspicious.
"But I heard Naruto say earlier that the Uchiha Clan was wiped out," Minato said.
During their conversation, Naruto had mentioned that after Minato's death, Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered the clan, leaving only Uchiha Sasuke alive.
So Minato couldn't help wondering.
If Kaede Kitahara possessed a Sharingan, why wasn't he from the Uchiha Clan?
Was it transplanted?
"Yes. The Uchiha Clan has already been destroyed. In our timeline as well," Kaede nodded.
Back when it happened, he had just been an insignificant student at the academy.
There was no way he would have dared involve himself in something like a clan massacre.
He had stayed far away.
He learned about it afterward from classmates' discussions.
He knew the truth.
But he never dared reveal a single word.