Rumble~
Boro slammed his hands into the rock, carving out two long, narrow trenches as he struggled to halt his momentum.
"Who are you?" he asked, his face grim as he looked at the man slowly approaching him.
"Just a passerby...Bansho Ten'in! Naruto raised his left hand, and Boro's massive form flew uncontrollably towards him.
"Bastard!!" As the foul stench from Boro's mouth washed over him, Naruto, with an air of effortless ease, extended his right hand, lightly gripping a black receiver formed from Yin-Yang Release.
Pfft!
The moment the black receiver pierced Boro's body, it abruptly erupted into countless tiny branches, bursting outwards from within his inhuman form.
"S-so strong." Sarada stared blankly at this scene. The few of them had to combine their efforts, even resorting to a strategy of trading injuries, just to destroy the enemy's core. But this man... with a mere lift of his hand, a simple extension of his arm, the enemy was lifeless. That terrifying regenerative ability hadn't even had a chance to activate.
Naruto squatted down, examining Boro's remains. The enemy's regenerative ability was something even he could only look upon with awe.
"Not ninjutsu, but a scientific creation... an artificial human?" Less than twenty years had passed since the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War... Naruto was inwardly surprised. The speed of technological development in this world, to be honest, had somewhat astonished him.
"Um..." Sarada walked over to his side, unsure how to address the man before her. "Could you... come take a look?"
"What's wrong?" Naruto stood up and looked at her.
"During the battle just now, the others accidentally inhaled some of that black mist... Their condition is very bad right now." Sarada tugged at his arm, pulling him towards where the others were. Since Boruto's Little Dad could heal Uncle Shikamaru's injuries, perhaps he could also treat her teammates' current ailments.
"...That black mist just now should be a physical substance, not a chakra product." As soon as the two approached, they heard Kawaki's deduction.
"Can you tell me your reasoning?" Naruto asked curiously.
Kawaki looked at him and instinctively swallowed. Clearly, the battle just now had frightened the boy. "W-well... Karma can absorb most chakra-based ninjutsu. But if it's something that naturally exists in the world, even something as ordinary as water, it can't absorb it. And just now, I tried to absorb that black mist, but I failed."
"I see." Naruto nodded slightly.
"It should be a virus," Mitsuki, who was carefully tending to Boruto nearby, said to him. "I also inhaled some of the black mist just now, but I'm not like Boruto and the others."
"My body has been specially modified by my parent. I can immunize myself against most toxins, including viruses."
"Your parent is?" Naruto asked, looking at Boruto, who was leaning against Mitsuki's thigh, an indescribably strange expression on his face.
"Orochimaru."
"You're Lord Orochimaru's son?!" Naruto was utterly shocked. An image involuntarily flashed through his mind: Orochimaru self-fertilizing, lying on a delivery bed, performing a C-section on himself... Although it violated all ethics, he felt that Orochimaru was definitely capable of doing such a thing.
"You've met my parent?" Mitsuki was taken aback.
"In my original world, I collaborated with him quite a bit," Naruto nodded. "Do you have a way to cure their condition?" He was skilled in treating external injuries, even internal ones, but viral infections like this... He himself was immune, but as for helping others, his Yang Release energy was more likely to aid the virus's growth.
"The enemy should have antibodies on them. I should be able to extract them." Mitsuki raised his left hand, and a white snake slithered onto it.
This familiar feeling, truly Orochimaru's descendant... Naruto sighed inwardly. He gestured with his hand, and a piece of Boro's remains was pulled towards him by Bansho Ten'in. "Will this do?"
"...It will." Watching this, even Mitsuki's expression was a bit dazed. Just what kind of ability does this person possess?
The white snake bit into the severed limb and, through some method unknown to Naruto, extracted Boro's antibodies.
Watching Boruto and Kawaki, each bitten by a white snake, their complexions improving at a visible rate, Naruto's mouth twitched slightly. What is this? The new era's syringe?
"Boruto, let's save the Seventh together!" Kawaki, having recovered, didn't waste any words and rushed towards the black sphere sealing the Seventh Hokage. The two of them activated their Karma and, working together, opened a spatial passage, bypassing the seal and rescuing the Seventh Hokage from within.
"He values Lord Seventh Hokage greatly," Naruto commented to his "daughter-in-law" beside him.
"At least more than Boruto does," Sarada said, crossing her arms with a light hmph.
Naruto was taken aback, then shook his head with a smile.
From a swirling, dark purple spatial passage, a man stumbled out. Short yellow hair, clothes of a matching color scheme. Compared to this Naruto, his face was more mature, more weathered, and his entire left arm was wrapped in white bandages. Naruto sensed another person's chakra within it, but strangely, this chakra was highly compatible with the Seventh Hokage's.
"It's just chakra exhaustion; he's only passed out." Hearing Naruto's assessment, the youngsters all breathed a sigh of relief, especially Kawaki. As if a great wish had been fulfilled, his body went limp.
You are deeply respected and loved by these children... Naruto withdrew his hand, looking at his "other self," and thought inwardly.
"Do you want to rest for a bit, or head back now?" he asked the youngsters.
"Back now! We must get the Seventh Hokage to the hospital immediately!" Kawaki said urgently.
"Such minor injuries..." Naruto was speechless. Although "the him before his eyes" hadn't mastered Yin-Yang Release, his mastery of Yang Release was undoubtedly at its peak, and he still had Kurama inside him. As long as his heart or brain wasn't destroyed, he could basically heal himself. But since all the youngsters shared the same idea, Naruto complied.
Yomotsu Hirasaka activated, and a spatial passage connecting to their original world appeared before them. "Go on in."
After all of them had stepped into the spatial passage, Naruto glanced at the purplish sky, then also returned to the main world.
"They're back!" The moment his feet touched solid ground, a cry of surprise reached his ears.
Naruto turned his head to look. The small courtyard was already densely packed with ANBU and Konoha Jonin, among whom were many familiar faces: an older version of Hatake Kakashi, Lady Tsunade who still radiated youthful vigor, adult versions of Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sakura...
When they saw the unconscious Seventh Hokage on his back, the expressions of the leading figures tensed, and the atmosphere became palpably heavy. Sakura quickly rushed forward to examine him. Naruto smoothly handed the man on his back over to them.
"Naruto-kun, thank you." Hinata walked up to him and bowed in gratitude.
"Boruto and Himawari both call me Little Dad. It was my duty," Naruto replied, shaking his head slightly.
Listening to their exchange, Tsunade and the others exchanged glances. They had already learned about this fellow's origins from Shikamaru, but seeing him in person was still somewhat astonishing. To think that the hot-blooded, reckless Naruto could also possess such an effortlessly cool and natural aura. Truly amazing...