"I… I'm sorry."
That strange form of address instantly froze everyone present—especially Hinata.
As the future heir of the Hyūga clan and the only direct disciple of Yuki Yoru, Hinata's heart had long been claimed by someone. Normally, no one in the entire shinobi world would dare to speak to her so casually—let alone with such blatant disrespect.
Yet now, this golden-haired boy who had just fallen from the sky, who even vaguely resembled Naruto, had actually called her… "Mom"?
"How—how dare you! Such insolence!"
Hinata's hand lifted sharply, pure spiritual power erupting from her palm—an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm blasted toward the blond boy with terrifying force.
The roar of displaced air made the black-haired man beside him turn pale.
That kind of attack would annihilate Boruto instantly!
His left eye, hidden beneath a curtain of black hair, flared with power—his body and the boy's suddenly swapped positions, placing himself between the attack and Boruto. The Vacuum Palm struck him instead, forcing him back several paces, boots grinding against the earth.
But the onlookers—especially Uchiha Fugaku and Hyūga Hiashi—frowned deeply.
"…That's a space-time jutsu," Fugaku murmured.
Hinata's star-filled eyes narrowed coldly. "Who are you?"
The strange brilliance in her eyes made the older Sasuke's pupils contract.
He hadn't been present for the battle against the people of the moon—but he knew exactly what those eyes represented.
The Tenseigan.
But how—?
At this age, shouldn't Hyūga Hinata have just graduated from the Academy?
Back then, he'd never spoken to her personally, but Sasuke had known of her—first as the Hyūga clan's heir, and later as Naruto's wife. Both identities were unforgettable.
Yet now, this young Hinata possessed power equal to or beyond the Rinnegan.
That made no sense.
While the older Sasuke was still reeling, Hinata made her decision.
Anyone who could manipulate space-time was a threat.
And since this man refused to identify himself—he would be treated as an enemy.
The starry gleam in her eyes intensified, her entire body shrouded in emerald spirit-light. Around her, several black orbs—Truth-Seeking Balls—rose into the air.
This was—
Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
"Impossible…" Sasuke muttered.
A metallic clang! rang out as Hinata summoned a golden sword into her hand—
the power of the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion bursting forth.
In a flash, she was upon him.
The older Sasuke's lone arm whipped to his side, drawing the Kusanagi blade just in time—steel met golden light with a ringing chime that echoed through the courtyard.
Hinata's expression was cold and flawless. Her Gentle Fist flowed seamlessly with the divine light of the Golden Wheel—every strike precise, unrelenting.
The older Sasuke parried and deflected, his stance purely defensive.
But to the side, Fugaku, Itachi, and Hiashi all frowned simultaneously.
That movement—that sword style—
It was unmistakable.
Uchiha-ryū Kenjutsu.
The unique taijutsu and swordsmanship of the Uchiha clan.
And not just that… something about this man's movements—his chakra, his aura—felt painfully familiar.
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
Hinata's clear voice cut through the air as she shifted her stance. Her golden blade clashed against Sasuke's sword, her left palm suddenly opening—
a blinding spiral storm erupted from her hand, surging forward like a divine hurricane.
Sasuke's expression darkened. His Rinnegan flared beneath his bangs.
The violent whirlwind froze midair—then collapsed inward, sucked into the void itself, devoured by his eye's power.
"Rinnegan?!" Fugaku's pupils contracted, his Sharingan spinning rapidly until three tomoe merged into the shape of a Mangekyō.
Beside him, Itachi's eyes too transformed—into the kaleidoscopic Mangekyō pattern—
and at once, a suffocating wave of spiritual power filled the courtyard, cold and razor-sharp.
"Father… has a Mangekyō Sharingan too?"
The middle-aged Sasuke could feel the chill of the powerful chakra around him.
When he turned his head and saw the whirling Mangekyō pattern in Fugaku's eyes, his heart nearly stopped.
At this point in time—shortly after his younger self had graduated from the Academy—the Uchiha clan should already have been wiped out.
He should have been consumed by hatred, and his brother should have defected long ago.
But now… not only was Itachi still here, alive and loyal, even his father still lived.
And Hinata… Hinata possessed the Tenseigan.
This world was absolutely not the same one he came from.
After a few seconds of tense silence, Sasuke's brows furrowed.
He called out firmly, "Please, everyone—wait. I believe this is a misunderstanding!"
"Father," Hinata said coolly, her tone sharp as a blade, "and Lord Hokage—anyone who wields the Rinnegan at this time cannot be taken lightly."
Her words froze Sasuke mid-breath.
Father—that he could understand.
Hyūga Hiashi was indeed her father.
But… Lord Hokage?
He followed her gaze—
and his pupils constricted.
Father… is the Hokage?!
Fugaku's expression was unreadable, the Mangekyō spinning slowly.
"You give me a very peculiar feeling," he said evenly. "But until we know who you really are, I suggest you behave yourself."
At his side, Itachi's Mangekyō glowed ominously, while Hinata stood poised in her Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
The combined pressure of the three was suffocating.
Behind Sasuke, Boruto swallowed hard, trembling. "Th-this era… it's way too messed up!" he whispered, before stumbling backward and landing on his butt.
Taking a deep breath, the older Sasuke stepped forward under the weight of their glares.
His black pupils spun—the three tomoe merged and twisted into a six-pointed star with an inner windmill.
"Mangekyō?!"
"No…" Itachi murmured, his eyes narrowing. "That's not an ordinary Mangekyō—
it's the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Fugaku's expression hardened.
Only a handful of people in history had ever awakened the Eternal Mangekyō—
to be precise, only two.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Madara.
Others who bore Mangekyō eyes survived only through Hashirama's cells or other spiritual means that delayed blindness—
but this man… this stranger… possessed true Eternal Eyes.
Fugaku's gaze locked on the middle-aged Sasuke, eyes narrowing.
For an instant, it felt as though his sight pierced through the man's body—
and fell upon the small figure hiding behind Itachi.
The older and younger Sasukes—
two silhouettes, overlapping.
Paired with the Rinnegan and the Eternal Mangekyō, an outrageous thought flickered through Fugaku's mind. His lips trembled slightly as he whispered, half in disbelief:
"…Sa—Sasuke?"
"Father?" the young Sasuke blinked, bewildered.
He didn't understand why his father would suddenly call his name while staring at this strange, one-armed man.
Fugaku's eyes did not waver.
The middle-aged Sasuke hesitated for a long moment—
then sighed softly.
He sheathed the Kusanagi sword, his expression unreadable.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, he finally spoke, voice calm and heavy:
"It's been a long time… Father."
Fugaku's expression froze for a heartbeat, emotions flickering behind his eyes—shock, disbelief, and a faint tremor of recognition.
"So it really is you," he said quietly. Then, turning his head slightly, his voice softened. "Hinata, calm yourself for now. I know what I'm saying sounds unbelievable, but I'm certain—this man truly is Sasuke."
His gaze returned to the one-armed stranger. "I believe you owe us an explanation, Sasuke."
"…Yeah."
The middle-aged Sasuke exhaled, his eyes sweeping slowly across everyone present—Hinata, Itachi, Fugaku, even the young version of himself standing off to the side. Then he reached out and ruffled Boruto's messy blond hair.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, from the eighty-second year of Konoha's calendar," he said evenly. "And this boy is Uzumaki Boruto—the son of Naruto. The reason he called you 'Mom,' Hinata… is because, in our world, you're Naruto's wife. His mother."
Hinata's expression stiffened, her brilliant Tenseigan dimming slightly with confusion and disbelief.
Before anyone could interrupt, Sasuke continued quickly, "We were in the middle of a battle—against an enemy who threatened the entire shinobi world. In the chaos, we were caught in a distortion of space-time. That's how we ended up here… in this world that looks like ours, but isn't."
"…A world that's not the same?" Fugaku murmured, brows furrowing as he analyzed every word.
He could feel it—Sasuke wasn't lying.
That aura of chakra, that familiarity in his blood and eyes… it was unmistakable.
But still—what Sasuke described was beyond reason.
If what he said was true, then this "future Sasuke" had accidentally crossed through time, arriving in a version of the past that wasn't his own.
In other words—
"A parallel timeline," Hyūga Hiashi said slowly, breaking the silence. "It seems this matter has already gone beyond what we can handle. Even if he's truly your son, Fugaku, we should let that person deal with it."
"…I understand." Fugaku nodded slightly.
He wasn't unfamiliar with the idea of parallel worlds.
Hidden within Kirigakure's archives were old scrolls that recorded legends of "Dragon Veins," the "Rōran Ruins," and other relics tied to time-space anomalies.
Still, those things were considered impossibly obscure—even for someone like him or Hiashi.
Sasuke, however, caught the subtle phrasing—
that person?
Who were they referring to?
As the tension eased, the two sides exchanged more details, piecing together fragments of history. Sasuke recounted the key points of his own timeline:
—The Uchiha clan massacre.
—The Fourth Great Ninja War.
—Obito's awakening of the Six Paths power.
—The arrival of the Ōtsutsuki goddess, Kaguya.
The two worlds had followed eerily similar paths…
yet in every crucial detail, they diverged.
And at the root of all those differences—
stood one name that appeared again and again in this world's history.
Yuki Yoru.
The man whose existence had changed everything.
"The Fourth Mizukage—Yuki Yoru…"
Just the name itself carried a weight that shook the room.
The man who had changed the fate of the entire shinobi world with the power of his very soul.
And the Sage of Six Paths—did that old man truly have something like the "Pure Land" prepared as part of his plan?
If that were true, then what did it mean for the Sage of Six Paths in their world…?
Before he could think further, a sharp voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey, future me!" shouted the young Sasuke, eyes shining with excitement. "The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and even the Rinnegan—you're amazing! Did you become Hokage in the future?!"
"Hokage?" The older Sasuke froze for a second, then turned toward Fugaku and shook his head.
"No. In our world, after the Uchiha clan was destroyed, I became the last surviving Uchiha. As for the Hokage position… the Fifth was Tsunade, the Sixth was Hatake Kakashi, and the Seventh—" he paused, placing a hand on Boruto's shoulder, "—was Naruto Uzumaki. Boruto's father."
"Huh?! You didn't become Hokage?" the younger Sasuke muttered, then puffed up his chest, eyes gleaming. "Then I definitely will! Just you wait, future me—I'm going to surpass you and become Hokage!"
The older Sasuke blinked, taken aback for a moment.
When he had been that age, his world had already been consumed by vengeance.
All he could think about was revenge—power—Hatred.
He had abandoned the village, abandoned everything.
But here, in this world, the younger version of himself had both his father and brother alive… and even peace.
For the first time, Sasuke smiled faintly—bitter yet warm.
So this is the power of family… and of having people by your side.
"I don't know everything you've been through in your world," Itachi spoke softly for the first time, his calm gaze meeting Sasuke's. "But… you've done well, Sasuke. You've carried more than anyone ever should."
"Ni-san…"
For an instant, all the weight Sasuke had carried—his sins, his regrets, his endless mission—seemed to melt away.
Ever since that battle at the Valley of the End, he had been burdened by an unspoken duty: to protect the world in Naruto's stead, to atone for his clan, to shoulder the peace of the shinobi world alone.
That burden had made him distant… silent.
But hearing his brother's voice again—alive, proud—
it felt as though something heavy inside him had finally loosened.
"Father. Brother. Lord Hiashi… and Hinata." Sasuke took a deep breath, his expression solemn.
"The reason Boruto and I ended up crossing through time was because we were pursuing an enemy—Ōtsutsuki Urashiki. In our world, we managed to stop several of the Ōtsutsuki, but we never expected them to possess the power to travel freely through space and time."
"His goal is this era's tailed beasts. He wants to devour them to increase his power. I don't know if he's already arrived in this world—or if he'll appear before or after us—but whatever the case, you must all be ready. He's not an enemy to underestimate. You cannot let him succeed."
"Ōtsutsuki…"
Fugaku and Hiashi exchanged a grave look, the same thought flashing between them.
They had long been aware of the threat posed by the Ōtsutsuki clan—
and the most recent Kage Summit had been convened specifically to address that very danger.
Now, with Sasuke's arrival from the future, it was clear beyond doubt:
Yuki Yoru's fears were real.
The Ōtsutsuki were not merely a threat—they were the greatest calamity the shinobi world would ever face.
"Black and White Net… the Twenty-Two Bridges… the Sixty-Six Crowns…" Fugaku began to chant softly, weaving symbols through the air with his hands, forming a glowing spiritual lattice.
"Lord Yoru…"
A calm, Kiri line voice echoed from above, interrupting him.
"My apologies, Lord Fugaku," said Yuki Kiri, her tone gentle yet firm. "Lord Yoru has already begun his operation. If there's something urgent, you can speak with me first."
"Lady Kiri?" Fugaku exhaled deeply. "Understood. This matter may be troublesome. If possible, I request permission to use the Garganta. We should discuss this face-to-face."