Naruto thought back to the earth-shattering changes that had taken place after he and Sasuke returned from the Warring States Period to their parallel world. It had taken both of them a long time to adjust.
From being ignored to being addressed as "Young Master Naruto."
From the orphan of the Uchiha Clan to a prodigious young genius of the Uchiha's new generation.
Sasuke, at least, had simply returned to the life he had known before the age of seven.
But for Naruto, it was almost like...
Like being reborn into another world.
If the appearance of the mission scroll and Minato Namikaze at the Kannabi Bridge was like someone holding an umbrella over him in the middle of a downpour, then this world...was the clear sky after the rain.
It was a rainbow appearing after the storm, sweetness after endless bitterness.
It was as though the pain in his heart had been immersed in a healing bath, with countless tiny wounds slowly mending one by one.
The first time Naruto went to the Uchiha Clan territory to find Sasuke and Obito Uchiha, he discovered that outsiders were no longer unwelcome there. On the contrary, everyone treated him warmly.
Sasuke's mom was quite different from his own, and Sasuke's dad was practically the complete opposite of his own father in personality.
But while sitting in the residence of the Uchiha Clan Head, Naruto could feel a different kind of family atmosphere.
This place...was where Sasuke had grown up.
And to Naruto, Sasuke was the one companion he could never do without, the most special and important companion of all. He was Naruto's lifelong bond.
Just like the First Hokage and Madara.
It was the obsession passed down from Indra and Ashura across a thousand years, one that even in their generation had been impossible to untangle.
"The Uchiha are the Hokage's other half."
Naruto remembered the scenes they had seen before, of Madara and Hashirama as children discussing how they would build a village where they could protect their younger brothers.
He remembered Indra's hysterical frenzy after Ashura was struck by All-Killing Ash Bones.
"The Hokage's other half?"
That statement left Boruto, Sarada, and the other Konoha Genin dumbfounded.
Even Sasuke had never expected Naruto to describe the Uchiha that way. He stared at Naruto in surprise, curious to hear why he thought so highly of the Uchiha.
"The name 'Konoha' was coined by Madara Uchiha, because the First Hokage specialized in Wood Release."
...
Inside Kamui's Dimension, as Naruto spoke, Hashirama Senju was happily using Wood Release: Wooden Man and Wood Release: Wooden Dragon against Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
"And the title 'Hokage' came from Old Man Hashirama wanting Madara to become the First Hokage. It was named after the Fire Release that the Uchiha Clan excels at."
Inside Kamui's Dimension, Madara Uchiha planted a hand on Hashirama Senju's shoulder for leverage and shot toward Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, unleashing the Great Fire Annihilation Technique!
While Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was occupied with Madara and his Fire Release, Hashirama Senju's Wooden Man brought one massive palm crashing down and brutally slammed Isshiki Ōtsutsuki into the ground!
The Wooden Man lifted its palm.
There was nothing underneath.
But thanks to Kaguya's intelligence, they already knew about Isshiki's other ability. He could shrink himself to escape.
Hashirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, and the Seventh Hokage, Naruto, immediately entered Senjutsu Mode and heightened their perception of everything around them.
With that enhanced perception, they instantly locked onto Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's position!
The previous attacks had all been feints. Their true purpose was to disrupt Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's rhythm and leave him no time to pay attention to Tobirama Senju, who had yet to make a move, or Minato Namikaze, who had yet to use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
...
Outside Kamui's Dimension, Naruto told Sarada, "Even though the Second Hokage and Izuna-kun used to be enemies, if it hadn't been for the conflicting interests of their clans, those two would've made the best partners."
Shock still lingered in Sarada's eyes. She had yet to recover from Naruto's declaration that "the Uchiha are the Hokage's other half."
...
Meanwhile, inside Kamui's Dimension, it was almost as though the scene itself were proving Naruto's words.
Izuna Uchiha had recently figured out the ability of his Mangekyō Sharingan's other eye. It worked somewhat like the Flying Thunder God Technique. Anyone he marked could share in the slowed flow of time created by his ability.
Put simply, after Izuna Uchiha gave Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze a tap, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and slowed the flow of time around Isshiki Ōtsutsuki almost infinitely.
Tobirama and Minato, now sharing the effects of that power, immediately found that everyone around them seemed to be moving in seventy-two-times slow motion!
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki in particular looked absurd. The speed at which he expanded from tiny to full size was so slow in their eyes that it resembled an internet connection lagging endlessly!
Compared to their own speed, the difference was like the gap between 5G and having no internet at all!!
They had no time to marvel at it.
In an instant, the two appeared in front of and behind Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, trapping him between them as they simultaneously reached out!!
[Senju's Bident Crest]
[Sword of Love]
The moment those two marks were branded onto Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, whose body was barely the size of an arm, the battle was effectively already over.
The two marks covered Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's entire body.
To put it in ABO terms, it was as though every inch of him, from head to toe, was covered in someone else's pheromones.
No matter how large or small he made himself, he would remain completely within their grasp at all times.
Unless he changed bodies entirely, those marks would never disappear.
They would remain on him forever!
...
Outside Kamui's Dimension, Naruto casually threw an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and told Sarada, "Then there's Sasuke and me. We might argue all the time, but when it really matters, it doesn't matter how many powerful enemies we're facing. As long as the two of us are together, we can beat them!"
Sarada and Boruto slowly widened their eyes.
Naruto was worried that he was too clumsy with words to properly convey everything he was thinking and feeling, so he shared a small portion of his chakra with the young ninja from the future, almost like a Nine-Tails cloak.
There was very little chakra, and only a handful of memories within it.
But those brief images contained the bond between the Seventh Hokage, Naruto, and the Sasuke Uchiha of that era.
It was the kind of life that this era's Naruto and Sasuke had only been able to experience through the rewards from the mission scroll.
Arguments, fighting side by side, facing powerful enemies together, flawless teamwork.
After defeating an enemy, they did not even need words. A glance and a smile were enough. Then Sasuke Uchiha, if he still had the strength to stand, would reach down and pull Naruto Uzumaki up from the ground.
Distance, separation, refusing to give up, losing their way, risking their lives to save one another...
If the lives of those two were a book, then the images appearing now were like photographs cut from its pages, snapshots of a life bound together by countless ties, projected directly into the minds of Sarada, Boruto, and the other young ninja of this era.
...
Meanwhile, inside Kamui's Dimension, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki faced a group of Uchiha wielding Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan, along with Hokage capable of Senjutsu or of "forcibly boosting their combat power to Senjutsu levels using Sage Points."
Worse still, he could not escape from Obito Uchiha's Kamui Dimension.
After Tobirama and Minato planted their Flying Thunder God marks on him, Isshiki was forced entirely onto the defensive!
What followed was practically showtime for the Hokage and the Uchiha.
Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God Technique excelled at manipulating the spatiotemporal coordinates of those he had marked, while Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique excelled at taking other people with him as he moved between spatiotemporal coordinates.
Madara Uchiha, Indra, and Sasuke Uchiha all brought out their Rinnegan.
One wielded a Gunbai Uchiwa and a scythe and possessed the power of Limbo.
One was the creator of the technique and possessed the concept of reincarnation.
And the last had obtained a Rinne Sharingan during the Fourth Shinobi World War. In his hand was the Kusanagi Sword he had taken from Orochimaru and never once considered returning, and he possessed abilities such as Amenotejikara and Amaterasu.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki had long since been beaten out of his former gentlemanly composure. He looked like a stray dog on the verge of defeat, trying to spring up and bark a few times, only to immediately take a Kamui Raikiri straight through the chest from Adult Obito and Adult Kakashi's Susanoo.
Hashirama Senju and the Seventh Hokage, Naruto, stood side by side in their Senjutsu forms.
Gone was their usual easygoing demeanor. Once the two became serious, their presence alone was enough to make anyone hold their breath and stop in their tracks.
Ashura?
Ashura was the only one left out.
Ever since the accidental death during the previous incident, Indra had entered Kamui's Dimension, discovered that Obito Uchiha had brought his younger brother in as well, and immediately turned furious. He cursed Obito Uchiha several times and ordered him to throw Ashura back out.
So at that very moment, Ashura was squatting miserably inside Konoha's shelter, surrounded by Konoha ninja holding kunai to his neck. He kept both hands raised in surrender, desperately showing that he meant absolutely no harm.
...
Outside Kamui's Dimension, Naruto passed the emotions he wanted to convey directly to the young ninja of this era.
Boruto and Sarada suddenly realized something.
Compared to lives filled with such twists, hardships, and struggles...their own lives seemed so pale and hollow.
Like a false dream. Beautiful, yet somehow as though someone were coaxing them into sinking deeper and deeper into an illusion.
It was completely different from the strength Naruto and Sasuke had earned by staking their unyielding determination and their very lives.
Boruto suddenly became aware of a strange feeling.
Could he really say he had worked hard?
Not really. He had never steadily pushed himself forward one step at a time.
Could he say he had risked everything?
He had never truly fought for something with everything he had, much less staked his life on it the way Naruto and Sasuke had.
He had never been like Sasuke, willing to become a rogue ninja and join Orochimaru, the man who killed the Third Hokage!
He had never been like Naruto, who caught Kabuto Yakushi's fist with his own forehead protector and told Tsunade behind him, "I won't die before I become Hokage! Because becoming Hokage...is my dream."
The immediate crisis might still have been resolved in the end.
But Naruto had influenced and changed others through his own steady effort and growth. He had not simply talked to someone once and instantly turned a villain into a hero, reversing everything on the spot.
When Boruto looked back at himself...he finally realized that his life felt as though someone had desperately searched for flimsy excuses just to keep spoon-feeding him more and more.
He clearly had not reached that point yet. He clearly still had strength to spare.
And yet the enemy would always beat him to it.
"I acknowledge you! Here, take my power!"
It reminded him of the games he played.
His life was like his game console, packed with too many built-in cheats. That was precisely why everything felt dull and uninteresting, and why he could never find a real goal.
Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada exchanged glances.
They were Team 7 too.
And yet they realized that no matter what they did, they could never seem to share the same sense of connection that Sasuke and Naruto had.
If they absolutely had to describe the feeling of their own lives, then it would be...
They just couldn't get fired up.
***
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