A black spatial rift opened, and four figures slowly emerged—Jiraiya, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Hinata!
The moment they stepped out, they were stunned by the sight before them.
A massive shadow loomed over the sky, and near the area where Konoha stood, two tendrils of black mist descended, seemingly obscuring something.
"What… is that?" Hinata murmured in disbelief.
"Konoha…"
Jiraiya turned to look at them and asked thoughtfully, "What exactly are you seeing?"
Naruto was shocked. "Pervy Sage, you don't see it?"
Jiraiya slowly shook his head.
In his vision, the sky was clear, and the distant city was flourishing with prosperity.
Sasuke pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Let's go to Konoha and check on the Emperor's situation."
"Alright!"
The last time they had visited Konoha, they were still young and couldn't fully grasp the scale of its strength and grandeur.
Now, it felt entirely different—the towering giant standing outside the village left them in awe.
They didn't encounter much trouble entering Konoha and soon arrived near the palace.
The area shrouded in black mist was precisely the front hall of the palace.
"Is the Emperor inside?" Sasuke speculated.
"Can you see anything?" Naruto asked him.
Sasuke shook his head.
His eyes allowed him to manipulate space, but the power of time was beyond his reach.
The group stood before the black mist, at a loss for what to do.
Just as they hesitated about whether to approach and investigate, a familiar voice suddenly called out beside them:
"Jiraiya?"
They all turned their heads at once—only to see a very familiar blonde-haired woman.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya's face lit up with joy.
"Granny Tsunade?" Naruto was also surprised.
Hokage Tsunade stared at them in shock.
A blond Naruto calling her "Granny Tsunade"… What was going on?
"You're Naruto, right? Where did you all come from?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
Jiraiya recalled that there was another Tsunade in this village.
Though he had never met her, it seemed that this one knew Naruto.
He then began explaining everything to Tsunade.
"You can see the black mist too, right?" he asked.
"…Yes."
Tsunade suddenly found it hard to accept. "Do we really have to save that guy?"
Jiraiya said, "The Great Toad Sage said that only Hyuga Makoto can defeat the god. Right now, the god is trying to consume him. If that happens, everything will be over."
Everything… That included Shizune, and all of them.
Tsunade looked at the Naruto in front of her and suddenly asked, "Hey, brat, are you married?"
Naruto scratched his head. "Yeah, I married Hinata. We have two kids—Boruto and Himawari."
He felt that this Tsunade seemed younger than the one he knew.
"What about Sakura?" Tsunade continued, glancing between Naruto and Hinata.
Naruto pointed at Sasuke beside him. "Sakura married this guy. They have a daughter together."
Tsunade sighed in relief.
Sakura was her disciple, and she cared about her deeply.
Sasuke interjected, "Enough catching up. We need to figure out our next move."
Tsunade turned to look at the palace's front hall, which was shrouded in black mist, her expression complicated.
Saving that guy…
"Just the few of us won't be enough. Let's get some reinforcements."
Half an hour later, inside the main palace hall.
All of the Ten Crown Guards, except for Yakushi Kabuto, had gathered—summoned by Tsunade using her authority.
"Kakashi-sensei? Bushy Brow-sensei?" Naruto shouted in excitement upon seeing them, his voice filled with surprise.
Kakashi: "Sensei? Me?"
Guy: "Who are you calling Bushy Brow?"
Hakumen: "Who is this guy?"
Being called "sensei" by someone who looked even older than himself felt strange.
Hakumen observed Hinata's Byakugan, thinking hard but unable to recall anyone like her in the clan.
However, Hinata recognized Hakumen and smiled at him. "I'm Hinata."
Hakumen's pupils widened in shock, filled with disbelief.
Sasuke remained silent, simply staring at the young version of Itachi.
Tsunade: "We're still missing one person, aren't we?"
"Kabuto is probably busy with something," Shisui replied.
Tsunade seemed thoughtful for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, "Something's wrong!"
She quickly stepped outside the main hall, looking toward another area where a second dark mist had descended—it appeared to be Kabuto's biotechnology research facility!
"What exactly is going on?" Kakashi asked.
Jiraiya once again explained everything to the gathered group.
"You're saying His Majesty is trapped?!" Mei was shocked.
"His Majesty is so powerful… how could this happen?"
The others also found it difficult to believe.
Their own strength was among the highest in the world, but compared to the Emperor, they were nothing more than flickering candlelight before the sun.
The group stepped out of the hall, looking toward the pavilion.
However, they couldn't see the black mist—otherwise, they would have noticed the massive shadow looming over the sky long ago.
Hakumen activated his Byakugan to observe the pavilion's interior, only to realize that something was blocking his vision.
Kakashi muttered, "Orochimaru…"
Memories of the past surfaced once again in his mind.
He looked at the blond man before him, his heart growing heavy.
The unresolved grudges of the past had resurfaced once more.
"Anko, what's wrong?" Guy suddenly noticed that Anko was standing there in a daze and called out to her.
Anko snapped out of her daze and, realizing that everyone was looking at her, quickly said, "It's... it's nothing!"
Lord Orochimaru...
Jiraiya's words had stirred up many thoughts within her as well.
Everyone had their own concerns, but Hakumen was the first to make a decision.
"Let's head to the front hall first and see if we can get inside to meet His Majesty!"
With that, the group moved in force toward the front hall.
According to Jiraiya, His Majesty was trapped in a prison of time, and something was trying to devour him.
After some discussion, Hakumen decided to test the situation by stepping in first.
He activated his Byakugan, ready to trigger his Sage Seal at any moment.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Hakumen stepped through the main entrance of the pavilion—only to emerge from it the very next moment, looking utterly shocked.
It was as if the door led right back to the same place, like a mirror reflecting light back upon itself.
Unwilling to give up, Hakumen turned around and stepped through the door again.
However, instead of seeing the expected interior of the pavilion, he once again found himself staring at the Ten Crown Guards, Jiraiya, and the others waiting outside.
He couldn't get in…
Sasuke furrowed his brows at the sight and suddenly activated his Rinnegan.
"The space there is distorted. The entrance is no longer the front door—it's been displaced. You won't be able to enter normally," he explained to the group.
"Is there a way to get in?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke pondered for a moment before answering, "It's not just space—there's another power here, something that unsettles me. Since it's a prison of time, we won't be able to break through unless someone possesses the power of time."
He turned his gaze toward another location covered in black mist and muttered in surprise, "The power there is much weaker."
That place was the Biological Science Research Institute—where Kabuto was supposed to be.
The group suddenly reconsidered why Kabuto hadn't shown up.
Leaving Hakumen behind to monitor the situation, the rest of them hurried to the research institute.
The institute occupied a large area, but since it was located on the outskirts of the village, the streets in front of it were mostly deserted.
After carefully observing the surroundings, Sasuke concluded, "There's no time-related power here—only a spatial distortion."
With that, he activated his Rinnegan and conjured a swirling black portal at the entrance.
"We can go in now."
Sasuke stepped through first.
Kakashi hesitated for a moment and then said, "Let's not all go in at once. Shisui, Guy, and the rest of you stay outside for now."
The ones who entered through the spatial rift along with Sasuke were Naruto, Hinata, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Anko.
The spatial vortex led to the interior of the Biological Science Research Institute.
Although there was a proper main entrance, they had to use the vortex to get inside.
Naruto and the others had no time to marvel at the technology within the institute and instead followed Sasuke closely.
Inside, several research staff members were still working as usual, seemingly unaware of anything unusual.
Some of them moved forward to question the sudden intruders, but with Kakashi and Anko—both members of the Crown Guard—present, the situation was quickly pacified.
Sasuke eventually stopped in front of a tightly sealed door.
"This is Kabuto's lab," Kakashi said as he retrieved an access card and swiped it on the identification terminal nearby.
However, the door remained unresponsive.
Kakashi frowned. "The identity of a Crown Guard holds top-level clearance anywhere in the Empire—there's no way we shouldn't be able to open this door."
Without wasting words, Sasuke activated his Rinnegan again, creating a space vortex directly on the door and stepping through.
The others quickly followed.
However, as soon as they entered the lab, they were met with a shocking sight.
Kabuto lay unconscious on the floor, his condition unknown, while Second Hokage Senju Tobirama was struggling to cast jutsu repeatedly on a young boy.
"Second Grandpa!" Tsunade exclaimed in shock.
Tobirama looked extremely strained.
Seeing the newcomers, he said, "You're here. What about Hyuga Makoto? Has he noticed anything?"
Kakashi's expression shifted uneasily.
Just what had Orochimaru become?
He had reached a state where even Kakashi couldn't perceive him—yet he had already silently threatened the Empire's very existence.
"His Majesty… is trapped as well."
"What's happening to this child?" Sasuke asked.
"Something is trying to take his soul," Tobirama replied.
"Lord… Lord Orochimaru…" Anko stared blankly at the unconscious red-haired boy.
"It's Lord Orochimaru… I'm sure of it! This is Lord Orochimaru!"
Tobirama took a deep breath and explained, "A part of Orochimaru's soul resides within this child."
Sasuke nodded slightly. "That explains everything. That so-called god wants to reclaim the missing piece of Orochimaru's soul to make itself complete."
Naruto frowned in deep thought for a while before suddenly speaking, "The part inside this child should be his benevolence. That god has been corrupted by the countless evils split off from Orochimaru. If it absorbs this part of his soul… is there a chance it could be restored?"
Sasuke, however, shook his head. "It's not that simple. That god has already devoured an entire world, and its malice has grown exponentially because of it. If it seeks to consume this soul fragment, it's likely only to make itself even stronger."
Tobirama couldn't help but interject, "Can you all stop discussing and help me first?"
Sasuke calmly stepped forward and placed a hand on the red-haired boy, Shiroe.
The moment he made contact, his eyes widened in shock.
A flood of furious screams erupted in his mind—countless wailing voices, piercing through his very consciousness.
He was assaulted by visions of twisted, monstrous faces, roaring and lunging toward him in a terrifying frenzy.
Quickly, he withdrew his hand from Shiroe.
"Sasuke, what happened?!" Naruto asked.
Still shaken, Sasuke finally responded after a moment, "I saw… those 'evils'!"
"What?!" Naruto was stunned.
Sasuke then looked down at his own palm, where an embedded eye suddenly snapped open— a crimson Mangekyo Rinnegan staring back at him.
At that moment, Shiroe's body was abruptly swallowed by a swirling vortex of space—vanishing without a trace.
As soon as all this was done, the giant "hand" extending from the black shadow—originally connected to Shiroe—slowly withdrew.
"What did you do?" Tobirama asked.
"I merely transferred him to my personal time-space for now," Sasuke replied.
The Mangekyo Sharingan embedded in his palm belonged to Obito from his own world—his Obito had already died.
The black shadow still loomed over the sky, visible even from within the research facility.
Tsunade quickly treated the unconscious Kabuto, bringing him back to consciousness.
The first thing Kabuto did upon opening his eyes was cry out, "His Majesty!"
He momentarily froze upon seeing the people in the research facility.
"Where is His Majesty?!"
"His Majesty… is trapped in a time prison," Kakashi said.
Kabuto's expression darkened, shifting between uncertainty and determination before he finally said in a grave tone, "It's Orochimaru!"
The others were slightly surprised.
They had only learned about Orochimaru's involvement through the Great Toad Sage, but how did Kabuto know?
Jiraiya once again recounted everything that had happened leading up to this moment.
"That god just tried to devour its missing soul fragment," Sasuke said.
"No!" Kabuto shook his head.
"I've been researching souls for years… That so-called 'god' wasn't trying to reclaim its missing soul—it was trying to destroy Orochimaru's remaining soul fragment! If Orochimaru's soul were to become whole again, it would affect its consciousness."
Sasuke frowned. "But that fragment is so weak… The 'evil' within that thing has already grown far too vast. How could it still be influenced?"
Kabuto's expression turned serious. "Orochimaru's missing soul fragments… aren't just limited to that one."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Anko.
Sasuke suddenly sensed something—another wave of black mist was descending from the shadow above!
Anko's pupils shrank, her voice trembling as she whispered, "R-Ryuchi Cave…!"
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