"Doing something like this would damage the reputation of the Fifth. Use my name instead, Minato. Send a letter to the other Kage right away and tell them I have something important to discuss."
Sakumo had made up his mind—he would contribute to Konoha and to Takeshi.
At this moment, Takeshi was above the palace of the Land of Fields, watching Kakuzu wrap an arm around the daimyō's shoulders as they "bonded."
"After Kakuzu's friendly little lesson, I'm sure the daimyō of the Land of Fields will learn how to treat his people better, right?"
Takeshi crouched on the rooftop, chin resting on his hands, curiously asking Uchiha Hikari beside him.
"How would I know."
Uchiha Hikari's answer was straightforward.
"Boring."
Takeshi rolled his eyes. Seeing that Kakuzu had the situation completely under control, he decided to leave the Land of Fields.
After a period of training, he had mostly adapted to his current condition and could precisely manipulate the natural energy around him.
Now he was trying to merge Sage Mode and the Tailed Beast state—aiming to reach the same form Naruto had in the original.
"Where to next?"
Seeing Takeshi stand up, Uchiha Hikari asked about their next destination.
"Let's head back to the Land of Fire first. I heard things haven't been very peaceful lately."
News of war in the Land of Lightning had spread to the Land of Fields, and rumors that Amegakure had been attacked were circulating.
The series of events made Takeshi uneasy—worried that the Akatsuki Organization would stir up some huge incident while he was away.
...
Konoha.
Despite the string of recent attacks, the village's cheerful atmosphere hadn't changed.
Ninjas in the police force still smiled while patrolling and traded banter with familiar villagers.
Of course, that only applied to people from the village.
When they spotted strangers, they immediately marked them and dispatched professionals to investigate their identities.
In this atmosphere, two figures—one tall, one short—appeared on Konoha's outskirts.
"So... where even are we, Sasuke-san?"
Boruto rubbed his backside while curiously scanning the surroundings.
Sasuke had grasped the general situation thanks to Rinne's explanation.
Combined with the Hokage Rock not far away, Sasuke hesitated for a moment before telling Boruto the truth: "This should be Konoha from twenty years ago."
"Konoha from twenty years ago?"
Boruto immediately forgot about his aching butt and looked into the distance.
"One, two, three, four, five... There really are five faces on the mountain!"
"That's the Hokage Rock."
Sasuke snapped back, annoyed. Then his knees suddenly buckled, and he covered his eyes, half kneeling on the ground.
"What's wrong, Sasuke-san?!"
Boruto rushed to support him.
"It's nothing. I'm just out of chakra."
Sasuke waved him off, telling Boruto not to worry.
"Looks like Urashiki couldn't beat your idiot dad, so he decided to go after him while he's still young." Sasuke had figured out Otsutsuki Urashiki's plan.
"Oh? Then isn't Dad in danger?"
Boruto didn't sound worried at all despite learning his father might be in trouble.
"So what do we do next, Sasuke-san?"
On the contrary, he seemed excited.
"Nothing special. Let's take a look around the village first. At this point in time, Konoha should be in a rather tense period."
Sasuke shook his head, amused by Boruto's optimism. He put Rinne away and stood up.
"By the way, what if Urashiki tries to take the Nine-Tails right now?"
Seeing Sasuke's tall figure ahead, Boruto suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked.
"If he acts now? He'll have a miserable time. Don't forget—your grandma is the jinchūriki at this point."
Remembering Kushina's feats, Sasuke showed a sympathetic expression.
Kushina of this era was absurdly strong. And with so many powerhouses in the village, they absolutely wouldn't let the jinchūriki be attacked.
"Oh, then we just need to hurry and protect my idiot dad, right?" Thinking of his grandma, Boruto flashed a knowing grin.
"That's assuming we can find your idiot dad." Sasuke didn't sound as relaxed as Boruto.
He couldn't quite remember what missions he and Naruto were on during this period—or if they were even in the village.
"Let's start by checking near your house. Also, I need to know today's exact date to pinpoint where your dad should be."
Sasuke shook his head, deciding they needed to investigate inside the village first.
The two walked for a while.
With help from a kind local, Sasuke finally learned the precise date—and even received temporary identification papers.
Konoha at this time was still in a population-expansion phase. As long as one didn't approach the inner core of the village, management was relatively lax.
Boruto stared at the large chimneys puffing out smoke in fascination. In his time, these factories had long shut down and were demolished due to the expanding population.
All factories had been relocated to more remote, sparsely populated areas to prevent pollution from affecting residents.
After thanking the man, Sasuke brought Boruto some bad news.
"I remember now. Your idiot dad is currently on a mission near the border. He won't be back for a few days."
Back then, defeating Suiko had been one of Naruto's most notable achievements as a Genin, so Sasuke still remembered this detail.
"Then isn't that really bad?"
Hearing this, Boruto stopped paying attention to the chimneys, immediately worrying about whether his dad might actually die from this.
"Let's just find a hotel on the outskirts of the village. Urashiki fell into the temporal turbulence—he shouldn't be able to come here for a while."
Sasuke thought it over and decided to wait in the village for Naruto to return.
"Besides, your dad has Jiraiya and Kakashi watching his back. Your aunt Karin is also with them. They can handle themselves."
"Ah, that pervy old man is here too."
Hearing Jiraiya's name, Boruto immediately pictured that shameless old guy.
"If he hadn't thrown his back out, Urashiki wouldn't have found the pear so easily."Thinking of that embarrassing scene, Boruto couldn't help complaining.
Sasuke didn't respond. Instead, he turned his head toward the Hokage Rock in the distance, then quickly looked away.
If he remembered correctly, the Fifth Hokage wasn't in the village at this time.
Well… once his chakra recovered, he should be able to take care of Urashiki completely.
"By the way, what kind of person is the Fifth Hokage?"
Boruto suddenly thought of something and asked Sasuke.
He only knew stories from his history teacher. According to them, the Fifth was the strongest Hokage in history, trained by the Third Hokage, and taught the current Hokage and the Seventh Hokage—Uchiha Itachi—such outstanding figures.
He was also the peer of the Sixth Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, and the Hokage assistant, Uchiha Obito.
"What kind of person…"
Boruto's question made Sasuke pause for a moment.
"Very strong. The strongest shinobi I've ever seen. Even compared to the 'God of Shinobi,' Senju Hashirama, he's not inferior at all."
"Sasuke-san, you're talking like you've actually met Senju Hashirama."
Boruto couldn't help but complain.
Sasuke didn't explain.
He couldn't exactly tell him that Orochimaru—his grandma… or was it grandpa?—anyway, he couldn't exactly tell Boruto that Orochimaru, that shameless snake, tricked the Fourth Hokage into continuing Edo Tensei research despite the Fifth's repeated bans…
And actually used it in real battle.
Every time Sasuke remembered Orochimaru's nonsense, he felt the urge to incinerate him with Amaterasu.
"Between him and Urashiki, who's stronger?"
Boruto was genuinely curious.
But to Sasuke, the question sounded like a joke.
"Obviously him. Urashiki? At best he could stomp Toneri. Even Mitsuki could beat him senseless."
...
Two days passed quickly.
During these two days, Boruto saw his mother.
Of course, he didn't approach them—just watched from a distance as they chatted with their teammates.
"Oh, so that's Sarutobi Asuma."
At dawn, Boruto shot up from his bed, rushed to the hotel rooftop, and scanned the surroundings.
He saw Asuma leading Shikamaru and the others out of the village, and also saw Konohamaru wandering through the village with Moegi and Udon.
Unbelievable—serious, strict Konohamaru had actually been such a little troublemaker as a kid.
And what the heck was "Sexy Technique"? Where did he even learn something like that?
Boruto covered his nose, trying to stop the nosebleed threatening to escape.
"Hey, kid. Where did you come from?"
Just as Boruto turned away, planning to look for any other relatives he might spot, a cold voice suddenly called out. His hair stood on end.
He jerked around and saw a pale-skinned boy staring at him warily. Beside him stood another face he found somewhat familiar.
"Sorry, this child and I are master and student. We're from the Land of Rice Fields. Because of the war, we came to Konoha."
Just when Boruto didn't know how to explain himself, Sasuke appeared and covered for him.
Since Konoha had recently taken in refugees from the Land of Rice Fields, Sasuke's explanation was reasonable enough.
"Really?"
The boy clearly didn't fully trust Sasuke and continued staring at him without looking away.
"All right, Sai, we'll look into this. And you two—things aren't peaceful lately. Don't climb up to high places without permission. We might consider you spies."
Yamato, standing behind Sai, also glanced at Sasuke. He sensed a familiar aura from him.
So he chose not to pursue the matter further. After giving the two a warning, he left the rooftop with Sai.