Chapter 87 — The Stranger with Familiar Eyes
Sasuke Uchiha slowly opened his eye, a gasp of pain escaping his lips. His body ached, his mind spinning from the catastrophic temporal distortion. The energy drain was profound, leaving him feeling heavier and slower than he had in years.
The ground beneath him was rough stone, ancient and brittle—and the air dry, hot, and thin. The towering, sand-scarred walls around him told the story of a once-great city swallowed by the desert and silence.
He pushed himself up, scanning his surroundings with practiced efficiency, the Rinnegan activating to sweep the area for chakra signatures.
"Naruto…"
No answer—just the soft echo of wind through the skeletal ruins.
Remembering the last moment before the blinding light—the Dragon Vein's core, Mitsutsuki's ritual—Sasuke pieced together the impossible truth.
"So I've been dragged into different time line but which one," he muttered, the realization settling like ice in his chest.
And then—two distinct chakra signatures, moving with practiced shinobi stealth. One of them struck him like a powerful, incomplete memory: Hatake Kakashi. But the chakra was younger, sharper—before the scars, before the weight of war.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"So this is… the Third Great Ninja War era."
He moved swiftly across the rooftops, silent as a shadow, until he found them.
Two figures stood on the edge of a high, crumbling tower—one was indeed a young Kakashi, no older than ten , wearing the Konoha ANBU vest and a Dog mask.
The other…
A boy, calm and composed, with long dark hair fluttering lightly in the desert wind. His eyes—golden, glowing faintly with celestial, primordial light.
The instant Sasuke saw the golden hue, his defensive instincts screamed danger. That color, that distinct light, was unequivocally a mark of the Ōtsutsuki royal bloodline.
In a blur of speed that defied the weakened state of his chakra, Sasuke appeared before them, his sword drawn and gripping the hilt tightly.
"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice low and laced with controlled menace, his eye locking onto Akira's Dōjutsu.
Kakashi froze, startled by the sudden, aggressive appearance of this strange, powerful man. But Akira didn't flinch. He simply turned toward Sasuke, his expression calm, thoughtful.
Inside, Akira's mind raced with the confirmation. So it's true. This Sasuke… he's the wandering shadow of the future. He's from a different timeline entirely. That means my existence—my family—doesn't appear in his world's history.
He gave a small, profound, knowing smile.
"I am Akira Uchiha."
Sasuke didn't lower his sword, his gaze sharpening as he scrutinized those golden eyes—Byakugan, but not ordinary. They pulsed with an energy that spoke of celestial origins.
"Those eyes…" Sasuke's tone darkened, the memory of Mitsutsuki's arrogance still fresh. "You carry the blood of those who dragged us here."
Akira, realizing the primal, hostile trigger, sighed softly and let the golden light fade, suppressing the Byakugan's immense drain. His eyes shifted—glowing now with a tranquil blue hue, the familiar three tomoe of the Sharingan spinning slowly.
"Better?" Akira asked quietly, the question laced with a strange mixture of Uchiha camaraderie and timeline knowledge.
Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He activated his Rinnegan, analyzing every subtle flicker of chakra around Akira. What he sensed made him pause, forcing him to recalculate the threat assessment.
The chakra was not immense—old, deep, and perfectly controlled—but it was gentle more like Uchiha with chakra level like uzumaki. It didn't carry the same cold, conquering divinity as the true Ōtsutsuki.
He's not the one who came with us. Sasuke thought silently, But he has a pure connection to the clan's origin
He slowly released the tension in his shoulders, sheathing his sword with a sharp click that signaled a truce, not trust.
"You're not my enemy. Not yet."
Akira smiled faintly, accepting the dangerous non-commitment.
"Good. so how are you and what brings you hear and we are in the middle of the mission."
Kakashi looked between the two, utterly lost and bewildered by the exchange of impossible names and threats and he remembers one time Akira means his father was a Otsustuki is he one of them. He finally pulled down his mask enough to speak.
"so is he one of the people you said back then Akira.?!"
Akira's gaze drifted toward the central square, where faint chakra ripples pulsed outward from the Dragon Vein's unstable point.
"No . He is not bet by his reaction the one will come later " Akira explained simply, knowing Kakashi would understand.
For a long moment, Sasuke watched Akira in silence, his single eye assessing the weight of the impossible truth the other Uchiha carried. He didn't trust him—not fully—but something in Akira's calm certainty told him this man knew the threat. And for now, that was enough to form a dangerous, temporary alliance.