"Third Hokage…"
Naruto stood before Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking down at him. His eyes were filled with tangled emotions—complex and heavy.
Before the age of three, this old man had been the only warmth in his life.
After turning three, Naruto had obtained something strange—something that changed his fate forever. Through it, he learned the truth: the Third Hokage's kindness toward him was only on the surface. In secret, Hiruzen had been watching and monitoring him. From that moment on, Naruto's feelings toward the Third Hokage became complicated.
Admiration. Respect. Longing. Dependence.
Those once-beautiful emotions slowly faded, replaced by doubt, confusion, and hesitation.
Even now, although Naruto no longer gave his heart to the Third Hokage, there was still a trace of softness left inside him.
Then came the Hyuga incident.
In that affair, Hiruzen made Naruto feel utterly powerless.
In the name of "righteousness," he forced Hyuga Hiashi to sacrifice himself. Sarutobi Hiruzen's stance left Naruto deeply disappointed.
Then came the Shisui incident.
Then the Uchiha massacre.
With each event, Hiruzen's image in Naruto's heart continued to fall—his softness hardening, his emotions cooling, until they became like stone. By then, there was no friendship left to speak of.
Otherwise, Naruto would never have stood by and watched the Third Hokage fight Orochimaru to the death. He would have acted earlier, subdued Orochimaru, and allowed Hiruzen to live out his life peacefully.
Now, seeing the once-spirited Third Hokage reduced to a frail old man curled up in a wheelchair like a child, Naruto felt something stir inside him.
"Lord Third Hokage," Naruto said softly, his eyes flickering, "just rest well. From now on, I'll be at the helm of Konoha."
He took the Hokage hat from Asuma's hands.
Then he turned around—decisive and resolute—and walked away.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Naruto's retreating back. His eyes moved slightly. His lips trembled, trying to speak—but no sound came out.
With this understated handover, everything that had belonged to him vanished.
He had not died at Orochimaru's hands. He would never be enshrined on the Memorial Stone as a hero.
He was still alive—but stripped of the Hokage title. Tea grows cold when people leave. The villagers would slowly forget Sarutobi Hiruzen. One day, when his name was mentioned again, it might only be as a joke.
Living was worse than dying.
Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes in pain.
But no one paid attention to that pain.
Even Asuma, pushing the wheelchair, was staring ahead—his gaze fixed on Naruto's back, eyes filled with awe and reverence, as if looking at a towering mountain.
Naruto stepped to the front of the platform and looked down at the countless people below.
His eyes were steady. Silent.
Below him, the crowd was equally silent, gazing up at him, waiting for him to speak.
The air was heavy with anticipation.
"From today onward," Naruto declared loudly, "Konoha Village is under my command. I am the Fifth Hokage—Uzumaki Naruto!"
His voice was powerful and ringing, sharp like a drawn blade. It echoed across the entire village, lifting spirits wherever it reached.
"So, everyone—start cheering! From today on, Konoha enters a new era! From this moment forward, we are invincible!"
Naruto threw the Hokage hat high into the air.
It spun.
The crowd erupted.
Long-suppressed emotions burst forth in an instant. Cheers roared skyward, deafening and overwhelming.
The entire Hidden Leaf Village was swept up in a frenzy of celebration.
At that moment—
"Huh? Is this Konoha Village? Why is it so empty? Where is everyone?"
"What era did we come to? These buildings look familiar…"
On a street in Konoha, two figures appeared.
One was a young man in a black cloak.
The other was a blond boy in red-and-black clothing.
The blond boy looked around with fascination.
This Konoha was something he had never seen before—fresh and new.
The black-cloaked youth looked confused. His memories were blurred. Everything felt familiar, yet strangely wrong.
"In the direction of the Hokage Building," the black-cloaked youth said, eyes sharpening, "there are an insane number of powerful chakra signatures. What's going on?"
He could clearly sense it.
Near Hokage Rock, chakra was surging—terrifying, overwhelming. Each presence rivaled a Kage-level powerhouse.
And there weren't just a few.
There were more than twenty.
That was absurd.
In the Konoha he remembered, there were at most four or five people at that level.
This had never happened before.
"Boruto, follow me."
Future Sasuke's expression changed drastically as he rushed toward the Hokage Building.
Boruto hurried after him.
Then—
"From today onward, Konoha Village is under my command. I am the Fifth Hokage—Uzumaki Naruto!"
The voice rang out.
Both Sasuke and Boruto froze.
Boruto slammed straight into a wall, forgetting to dodge.
"F-Fifth Hokage? Dad?!"
He slid down the wall, clutching his reddened forehead, eyes wide.
Sasuke was equally stunned.
This Konoha was nothing like the one he remembered.
Everything was wrong. Completely wrong.
"So start cheering! From today on, Konoha enters a new era—we're invincible going forward!"
Naruto's voice rang out again.
Sasuke and Boruto exchanged looks.
The feeling was… strange.
This was definitely Naruto's voice.
One was his lifelong friend.
The other was his son.
There was no way they could mistake it.
"When did Naruto become this confident?" Sasuke muttered. "Fifth Hokage? This should be right after the Chunin Exams. That's impossible. Naruto was only twelve back then—there's no way it would be his turn."
Sasuke hesitated.
He wondered if this was some illusion—perhaps the work of Otsutsuki Urashiki.
"This is so weird," Boruto muttered, rubbing his head. "Dad saying stuff like that… it feels unreal."
But curiosity burned in his eyes.
This was the father he had never truly known.
The two pressed on.
Soon, they saw people.
An ocean of people.
The entire village had gathered in front of the Hokage Building, spilling into the streets in long, dense lines.
Everyone was cheering.
Joy surged like a tidal wave, roaring into the sky.
Sasuke and Boruto used transformation techniques and blended into the crowd.
Surrounded by such feverish excitement, they felt completely out of place.
"Is Dad really this loved?" Boruto whispered. "Why have I never felt this? It's… too intense."
The warmth of it all made him uneasy—like standing too close to molten lava.
"That's… Naruto?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Is this fourteen-year-old Naruto? No—Choji, Kiba, Shikamaru all look like they did during the Chūnin Exams. Only Naruto looks older."
"…Is this really an illusion?"
On the platform, Sasuke spotted Tsuchikage, Raikage, Kazekage, Mizukage, daimyo from various nations—and the Third Hokage in a wheelchair.
His scalp went numb.
"Wasn't the Kazekage killed by Orochimaru? Why is he alive?"
"That baby-faced one… that's Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage. He should be dead by now too."
"Tsuchikage Onoki. Fourth Raikage A. They're all attending Naruto's inauguration?"
"What kind of world is this?"
Sasuke secretly formed a hand seal to dispel illusions.
Nothing changed.
"This isn't all," Sasuke thought grimly. "There are seven or eight more Kage-level chakra signatures hidden inside the Hokage Building. Some of them feel… familiar. No way."
He pushed his perception to the limit.
Today's Konoha felt stronger than the Konoha of decades later.
Far stronger.
"Master Sasuke," Boruto whispered excitedly, "my dad was the Fifth Hokage? Then why did he become the Seventh in our time?"
"I don't know," Sasuke replied quietly. "None of this ever happened in my memories. This world is seriously wrong."
Then he noticed something else.
Naruto.
He couldn't sense Naruto's chakra at all.
Naruto stood there openly, plainly in sight.
Yet to Sasuke's senses, that space was empty.
If not for his eyes, Sasuke would have sworn there was no one there at all.
"What's wrong with this world?" Sasuke muttered, covering his forehead. "Why did Naruto become like this?"
Everything was completely beyond his expectations.
-------------------------
For advanced chapters, visit patreon.com/Varnok