"Uzumaki Naruto?"
A voice called out. At the same time, a Truth-Seeking Ball rose into the air, continuously emitting abundant light and heat, instantly illuminating the entire space inside the sealing jar.
Naruto struggled to lift his head, looking forward. He only saw an unfamiliar figure cloaked in a white robe floating in the air.
"This?"
Lux waved his hand, instantly pulling out all the black rods pinning Naruto's body, granting him freedom once more.
Though the black rods seemed ordinary, when they locked an entire body, it was nearly impossible for someone to break free. Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have remained pinned in place for so long.
"Huuu—!"
Freed from his restraints, the chakra in Naruto's body began to flow rapidly, allowing him to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Combined with the vitality of Kurama's chakra, he quickly recovered much of his strength.
"Thank you!"
"But who are you?" Naruto looked at Lux, first expressing his gratitude.
Whoever this person was, saving him was something to be thankful for. But seeing that this stranger could enter this place and float in the air made Naruto extremely curious. After all, the number of people in the world who could fly could be counted on one hand. After losing his Six Paths power, Naruto himself could no longer fly.
"Have you ever met the Sage of the Six Paths?"
"Of course, I know that Great-Grandfather."
"I'm his father."
"What?!!!" Naruto was stunned: ミﾟДﾟ彡!
"Hahaha, just kidding."
"Just call me Tenshou Sennin. I'm acquainted with Hagoromo— you could say I'm his senior." Lux laughed cheerfully, finding it amusing to tease the grown-up Naruto.
Naruto took a deep breath, calming down a bit.
"You scared me."
"So, you're Great-Grandfather's senior? Tenshou Sennin, my respects!" Naruto scratched his head and grinned innocently, recalling the help Great-Grandfather Hagoromo had given him and Sasuke.
Since Lux was Hagoromo's senior, Naruto immediately felt more at ease, even willingly lowering his guard a little.
"You're still as naive as ever."
"Hahaha, I guess so. But Sennin-sama, did you come to save me? Did Great-Grandfather ask you to?"
"Yes and no." Lux slowly descended, landing on the ground, and with a slight wave of his hand, a table appeared before him, along with several steaming bowls of ramen.
"You must be starving. Eat first."
"We'll talk when you're full."
Naruto saw the ramen and instantly perked up: "This? Ichiraku Ramen?!!! How did you get it?"
"It's freshly made, and I paid for it with your money, so just eat."
Such a small trick was nothing to Lux now.
"Huh?"
Naruto was a bit confused, but since he was starving, he didn't bother thinking too much—time to eat! He immediately started slurping, devouring the ramen quickly. Naruto didn't suspect poison or anything like that; a Sennin who knew Great-Grandfather wouldn't harm him. Besides, with Kurama, hardly any poison in the world could kill him. He was the world's toughest survivor, someone even Jigen was wary of!
Not long after.
Naruto slurped down ten bowls of Ichiraku Ramen in a row.
Meanwhile, at Konoha's Ichiraku Ramen shop, Ayame, who was serving, felt like she'd seen a ghost that day. She watched as the freshly made ramen disappeared bowl by bowl, yet the payment was never short. She was so confused she almost thought her eyes were playing tricks from exhaustion.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"So, full yet?"
"More or less. Almost full—stru. I could probably eat one or two more bowls." Naruto patted his stomach, answering with great satisfaction and comfort.
In front of this Great-Grandfather-level Tenshou Sennin, he could finally let go of his Hokage status and image, acting freely. And this time, after just ten bowls, he was nearly full, showing how weakened he was—far from his record of 30 bowls in his youth.
"Then, here's the last bowl." Lux waved his hand, and an ordinary bowl of tonkotsu ramen appeared.
Naruto grabbed the bowl and continued slurping. But after one bite, something felt off.
Compared to the authentic, delicious Ichiraku Ramen earlier, this last bowl tasted very ordinary. The broth was rich, but the noodles were average, even slightly below par. Overall, it was just decent. If someone with such skills opened a shop, they'd probably go bankrupt quickly!
But Naruto didn't say anything. He wasn't picky; as a kid, he'd eaten expired ramen and wild vegetables. Compared to that, this was fine. Besides, it was a gift from Tenshou Sennin, so even if it wasn't tasty, he had to finish it!
Soon after.
Naruto finished the last bowl of ramen. Straightforward as ever, he wiped his mouth and asked:
"Grandpa Tenshou Sennin…"
"Don't call me that. Just call me Lord. If that's too much, Uncle Tenshou Sennin works too."
"Oh, oh! Sorry, Lord. Where did this last bowl of ramen come from? The taste…"
"Not as good as the Ichiraku Ramen before?"
"Yeah…" Naruto scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, though he answered honestly, feeling a bit like he seemed picky.
"It's fine. This ramen was freshly made by your mother, Kushina, and Minato."
"What?!!!"
ミﾟДﾟ彡!
Naruto was stunned again, his tired brain, worn from governing duties, unable to process this answer.
His parents had been dead for years—how could he eat ramen they just made? Was Tenshou Sennin lying to him?
More importantly, Naruto had never once tasted his parents' cooking. He had no memory of their culinary skills or the taste of their food! He couldn't tell what was real or fake!
"T-that's impossible!"
"Kaa-san and Tou-san are… they're already…"
"Unless you can really travel through time or revive them, how could…" Naruto's eyes suddenly reddened, filled with disbelief and suspicion.
Even at the peak of his Six Paths power, he couldn't reverse time! Revival might have a slight chance…
"I know it's hard for you to believe, but time travel isn't impossible."
"You've done it once yourself and have related memories."
"Me? What memories? Why don't I know? Could it be…" Naruto was still confused, completely unaware of what Tenshou Sennin was talking about.
"Then let me help you remember."
"After all, these sealed memories are from the past. Recalling them won't affect this timeline anymore." Lux snapped his fingers, instantly unlocking two seals in Naruto's memory.
The first was Naruto's memory of time-traveling to the ancient Land of Rōran via the Ryūmyaku's power, where he met and fought alongside a young Minato. That memory was sealed by Minato himself.
The other was a memory from Naruto's childhood, meeting Boruto and Sasuke, who had time-traveled via Karasuki. That memory was erased by Sasuke. But such tricks were nothing to Lux now.
The next moment, Naruto's seals broke, and the erased memories flooded back. The two memories etched in his heart overwhelmed his mind, leaving Naruto stunned.
After a long while, Naruto slowly processed the two lost memories. When he came to, the mighty Seventh Hokage was already in tears.
"Dad, and Boruto too…"
"I really did meet them before! But I could never remember…"
"Hahaha! So, in Boruto's eyes, I was pretty awesome too? And Sasuke—that's the Sasuke I know!"
"Oh, and Dad—he was so cool when he was young! And in that memory, he figured out who I was, didn't he?"
"Is this what they call time travel? It can actually be done!"
"When Sasuke told me about it back then, I didn't remember at all…"
Naruto, now recalling all his memories, felt both joy and sorrow.
Joy because he had actually met his father and Boruto, sorrow because he couldn't change anything… If he could have shared critical information with his father back then, maybe his parents wouldn't have died, and he wouldn't have grown up an orphan.
"Do you want to change the past?"
"More than anything!" Naruto admitted honestly, but then his expression dimmed: "But I know I can't. Sasuke told me once that recklessly changing the past would only lead to unimaginable disasters…"
Just like "an unknown punishment breeds immeasurable fear." The uncertainty of what would happen in the future if the past were altered was the scariest part.
The greatest fear was that even a small disturbance could have massive consequences over time, potentially even destroying Konoha. So how could Naruto dare take that risk? Even if he desperately wanted to.
The Ryūmyaku's power was depleted, and Karasuki was gone; he had no way to time-travel again!
"So, this really is ramen made by Kaa-san?"
"Yes."
With that definitive answer, Naruto's nose stung, and he broke into tears again. Unable to help himself, he grabbed the ramen bowl and licked it clean, almost as if possessed by Orochimaru.
He had no choice—he couldn't hold back from savoring his mother's cooking any longer. After all, this was the first, and only, time Naruto would ever taste his mother's cooking…