Chapter 2 — The So-Called Mission, Drawn into the Gate — Who Is Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?
After discussing it among themselves for a while, the group still couldn't make sense of the situation. As they stared at the open white door before them, a lingering unease quietly crept into their hearts.
What exactly… was that thing?
Where did the other side of the door lead?
Why was it standing here?
And who exactly was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya? What did it mean to "rewrite history"?
"How about we go inside and take a look?" Naruto Uzumaki suggested boldly, his curiosity already getting the better of him.
"Idiot Naruto! What if it's dangerous?" Sakura shot back immediately, her tone sharp with concern.
"But just standing here is boring… and I don't think this door feels hostile," Naruto said as he stepped closer, circling around it and examining it from every angle.
"I think the dead last has a point. Standing here won't get us anywhere. We might as well go in and see for ourselves," Sasuke said calmly.
"See? Even that smug Sasuke agrees! And I'm not dead last!" Naruto protested loudly.
Kakashi remained silent, his gaze fixed on the door as though trying to see through its surface. After a moment, he let out a quiet sigh.
"…He's right. Standing here won't solve anything. Let's—"
Before he could finish—
Naruto was suddenly seized by a powerful suction force and violently pulled toward the swirling vortex within the door.
The scene was shocking!
"Naruto!"
Sasuke reacted instantly, reaching out to grab him—but he was a step too late. In the next moment, another surge of force erupted, dragging Sasuke in as well.
"Naruto, Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted.
Whoosh!!!
The suction intensified, like a raging storm tearing through everything in its path. Kakashi and Sakura were pulled in one after the other without resistance.
Bang!!
The door slammed shut.
Then—
It vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Silence returned.
...
...
Night.
Deep within an unfamiliar bamboo forest—
Bang!!!
The white door burst open once more.
Four figures were thrown out violently, crashing onto the ground—it was Team 7.
"Ow, that hurts! You guys are heavy!" Naruto groaned from the bottom of the pile, his voice strained with pain.
All three of them had landed on top of him at once—he had nearly been crushed flat.
After all, he was the smallest—and the lightest—among them.
The four quickly got to their feet and looked around at the unfamiliar bamboo forest.
"This place… where are we?" Confusion filled their minds. Just moments ago, they had been on the road to Konoha—now they were here.
"Could this be the place mentioned in the mission?" Kakashi lowered his head slightly, deep in thought.
"Hahaha! Then as long as we find Kaguya, we can go back, right?" Naruto said with a bright grin, already trying to simplify the situation.
"But the problem is—we don't even know who Kaguya is!" Sakura replied helplessly. All she wanted was to return to Konoha as soon as possible.
And now they had been dragged into a completely unknown place.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll protect you!" Naruto puffed out his chest confidently.
"Y-You? Forget it. S-Sasuke-kun, if something dangerous happens… actually, I can handle it too—" Sakura started confidently, but her tone softened immediately when she turned toward Sasuke.
"Boring."
"Sasuke, Sasuke… what's so great about him anyway? Always acting cool. He's seriously annoying," Naruto grumbled inwardly.
BOOM!!!
At that very moment—
A brilliant meteor streaked across the night sky, tearing through the darkness at incredible speed—
RUMBLE!!!
It slammed into the ground not far from Naruto, creating a massive crater as the earth shook violently beneath their feet.
"What was that?!" Kakashi's expression changed instantly. For a brief moment, he felt an overwhelming pressure—as if even the flow of chakra had been disrupted.
"This is my chance!" Naruto thought, eyes lighting up.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'll go check it out!" Without waiting for a response, Naruto dashed toward the impact site.
"Naruto, don't act recklessly!" Kakashi called out—but Naruto had already disappeared into the distance.
"That idiot," Sasuke muttered, yet he was the first to follow.
"Honestly, Naruto just loves causing trouble!" Sakura complained as she hurried after them.
...
Within the crater—
A pale figure lay at its center.
Her face was flawless, almost unreal in its perfection, and her blue-white hair flowed like a cascading waterfall, stretching all the way to her feet.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
They were pure and blank—like untouched white paper.
Byakugan.
The first thing she saw… was a strange face.
A blond boy, with six whisker-like marks on his cheeks, and a pair of bright blue eyes filled with curiosity.
She froze, staring at him in confusion.
The two locked eyes.
Wide eyes meeting wide eyes.
Naruto stared back at her, equally stunned.
Beautiful.
That was his first impression.
"You're from the Hyūga clan, right? Did you see anything strange? Like monsters… or suspicious people?" Naruto asked loudly, completely missing the tension in the air.
Those white eyes—weren't they the trademark of the Hyūga clan?
Running into one here might actually help!
Even if he didn't interact much with them, there was someone in his class…
Hyūga Hinata. That quiet, somewhat strange girl.
Strange person?
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze still fixed on Naruto.
Then she slowly raised a finger and pointed at him.
Did he count as a strange person?
With those whisker-like marks, he looked exactly like a little fox.
"Naruto!!"
Kakashi and the others arrived just in time, and Kakashi immediately smacked Naruto on the head.
"I told you not to rush in recklessly. What if that had been dangerous?" Kakashi reprimanded him.
"Got it, got it! I won't do it next time!" Naruto stuck out his tongue.
Then—
All of them turned their attention to the figure before them.
No—
Calling her a "woman" didn't feel accurate.
She was overwhelmingly beautiful.
Even Sakura, as a girl, couldn't help but feel stunned by her appearance.
"Kakashi-sensei, she looks like she's lost," Naruto said.
Byakugan…
Kakashi focused on her eyes.
There was no mistake—that was indeed the Byakugan, the signature of the Hyūga clan.
But…
Her clothing… her presence…
Everything about her felt out of place.
"Who are you? And that power… why do you possess it?"
She suddenly grew wary, her gaze sharpening as she stared at them.
That presence… that aura…
There was no mistaking it.
It had to be—
The power of the Ōtsutsuki clan!
Why would humans here…
"Power? What are you talking about?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.
Power?
Did she mean chakra?
Everyone had chakra—what was so strange about that?
"Why… do you have that kind of power…?" she stepped back repeatedly, her expression filled with vigilance.
Her Byakugan flared open completely.
"Um… miss, calm down. Let's talk this through," Kakashi said, raising a hand slightly, trying to defuse the tension.