As if sensing the gaze fixed on him, the red-haired boy slightly turned his head.
The crimson character for "love" printed on his forehead was especially clear amid the spreading dust.
"G-Gaara?"
The instant Boruto saw him, his mouth simply would not close.
"Why… why are you carrying bricks too?!"
He truly could not close his mouth!
Just what had happened to Konoha in the past?
Even Gaara was here!
This man would later become the famous Fifth Kazekage!
Hearing him, the black-ringed Gaara's steps paused. He slowly turned his head.
A pair of emotionless green eyes, surrounded by heavy dark circles, looked toward Boruto.
His gaze was icy.
Behind him, the sand gourd on his back kept writhing, strands of fine sand falling from it.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth. Under Boruto's shocked and expectant gaze, he said coldly,
"Brat… do you want to die?"
After saying that, he turned around and continued pouring the sand in his hand into the mixer.
"Hiss…"
With just one sentence, Boruto could not help shivering.
Cold.
Too cold!
Cold to the bone!
And it was the kind of cold that carried naked killing intent!
He had no doubt that if he said one more word, the red-haired boy across from him would absolutely kill him!
He could not understand.
He really could not understand.
Why?
Why had the later Fifth Kazekage Gaara, who was so gentle, reliable, steady, and considerate, been like this when he was young?
"Could it be… I recognized the wrong person? This isn't Gaara?"
He murmured, unable to believe his own eyes.
As Naruto's son, Gaara had always been a true elder figure in his heart.
But…
What kind of elder spoke like that?
He shook his head. Suddenly, a certain rumor surfaced in his mind.
It was said that the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, had been cold and inhuman as a child, fond of killing, and completely transformed by the Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, through Naruto's own efforts.
Back then, Boruto had scoffed at that story.
How could his useless old man possibly reform someone else?
But now…
He subconsciously looked toward the little Naruto crouching nearby, a trace of curiosity appearing in his eyes.
However, very soon, he no longer had time to be curious.
He discovered that his body was slowly rising!
Beneath his feet, there was nothing at all!
Then, while hanging upside down in midair, he was dragged backward directly.
The world began turning upside down before his eyes.
"This is… flying?"
He froze for a moment. Only then did he discover that a strand of sand had appeared around his ankle at some point.
And without any warning, it had directly dragged him in front of—
Uchiha Kai.
"He offended you. Do you need me to help you… kill him?"
Gaara's cold voice, empty of any emotion, slowly rang out.
Boruto: "????"
No!
Gaara, what is this?!
He was dumbfounded.
Among everyone present, even an idiot could tell who was using the sand.
But—
Since when had Gaara become so…
So eager to please a child?
That was right!
Eager to please!
Boruto had seen it clearly. Although Gaara's voice was still icy, there was no killing intent in his tone anymore.
Instead, there was a faint trace of—
Flattery?
Although it was very faint!
Still!
He had truly, genuinely heard it!
So—
Where exactly had this world changed?
Was he dreaming?
Or had traveling through time broken his brain?!
Boruto was now a little crazy.
He was only a little crazy, but future Sasuke was already a little dead inside!
When he saw Gaara's flattering little gesture, he froze completely.
"Gaara at this time should have just arrived in Konoha, right?"
"Is this still that Gaara from the Chūnin Exams… the one practically treated like a boss?"
"Why is he already so…"
His head was full of question marks. Even his temperament, honed and settled over many years, could barely withstand this.
As a child, he had suffered quite a bit at this guy's hands!
As if sensing Sasuke's confusion, the red-haired boy beside the mixer slightly turned his head.
Those emotionless eyes glanced at Sasuke.
Then—
He grinned, revealing a mocking smile.
As if saying:
Daring to provoke Lord Kai? You deserved it.
Across from him, Uchiha Kai looked at Boruto, who had been lifted upside down by the giant hand formed from sand, then could not help glancing at Gaara.
The satisfaction in his eyes grew even stronger.
As expected of a jinchūriki who had been properly trained.
Not only did he work diligently, even his attitude had become much more proper.
[Ding! Time-Space Traveler Uchiha Sasuke defeated. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, Host has obtained Legendary Trait: Chakra Devouring (Gold): After touching an opponent's body, you may absorb their chakra for your own use.]
"Hm??? Energy Absorption?"
Seeing the new trait, Kai was somewhat surprised.
This ability was basically the power of the Preta Path among the Six Paths of Pain.
Back when Pain fought, this ability had shocked many people.
Strong.
It was practically an unsolvable ability.
After all, in a battle between shinobi, physical contact was very hard to avoid.
Especially in front of the Deva Path's Banshō Ten'in, making contact was simply effortless.
After being reincarnated through Edo Tensei, didn't that old, weak, sick, and disabled Nagato recover to his peak strength by relying on the Deidara who delivered himself to his doorstep?
But later…
As Rinnegan patients appeared one after another, this ability became tasteless.
Even in the sequel, Sasuke was on the verge of running out of chakra several times, yet never once used it.
He insisted on acting cool to the death!
"However…"
After pondering for a moment, Uchiha Kai waved his hand and placed Boruto and Sasuke to the side before beginning to think.
"This and Alchemist do have a similar effect…"
"If these two traits fuse, will they spark something different?"
After thinking silently for a while, he shifted his gaze to his personal trait panel, preparing to study it.
"System, open the trait panel."
[Host's current traits: Thousand Years of Death (Black), Yin Release: Tormentor (Black), Alchemist (Black), Blade of Judgment (Black), Late Bloomer (Black).]
[Body of Light (Colorless), Weak Presence (Colorless), Six-Six Great Fortune (Colorless).]
[God-Sealing Chain Law: Infinite Lock (Gold), Three Feet Before Me (Gold), Flying Thunder God Technique (Gold), Nine-Tails Power · Five (Gold), Two-Tails Power · One (Gold), Dual Kamui (Gold), Octopus Tentacle Regeneration (Gold), Toad Sage Mode (Gold), Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path · Remnant (Gold), Kotoamatsukami Spores (Gold), Cultivation Body (Gold), Pure Byakugan (Gold)…]
[Tailed Beast Cloak (Purple), Mount Myōboku Toad Contract (Purple), Phantom Body Flicker (Purple), Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave (Purple), Mangekyō Sharingan (Purple), Byakugan (Purple), Mind Body Switch Technique (Purple), Rotting Decomposition (Purple)…]
After reading it, his gaze gradually locked onto the only three Colorless traits.
"If I remember correctly, it's been three months since the visit to Amegakure, right?"
"Six-Six Great Fortune… should be producing a higher-level enhancement point now, shouldn't it?"
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