"Seriously?"
"I still don't believe it."
Hyūga Shiori frowned suspiciously at Setsuna.
It wasn't that she wanted to doubt him—
it was just that this brat had caused far too much trouble in the past. His credibility had long since been self-destructed by his own hands.
"What do you mean you don't believe me?!"
Setsuna clutched his chest, looking deeply wounded.
"You owe an apology to my young, fragile, easily hurt heart!"
"Oh, spare me."
Nao ruffled his red hair without mercy, laughing as she scolded him.
"You're the most scheming kid I've ever seen."
Setsuna slapped her hand away, annoyed.
"Alright, serious question."
"What exactly is going on with that Hyūga Hinata?"
"How did she even end up in my house last time?"
"Oh?"
"You care about that?"
Nao asked calmly.
The truth was, Hinata's existence had already been classified as an S-rank secret by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The concept of someone from another world was already dangerous enough.
What made it worse was that her world was an almost identical future, with only a handful of crucial deviations.
That kind of information, in the wrong hands, could destabilize the entire shinobi world.
Especially when one word was involved—
Tailed Beasts.
That world had tailed beasts too.
If someone discovered that a passage existed between the two worlds, they would absolutely try to exploit it:
abduct key figures, expand the pathway, sow conflict, and even trigger a war spanning entire worlds.
The consequences were unimaginable.
Nao's pale Byakugan eyes quietly studied Setsuna.
Setsuna felt his scalp tingle under her gaze and laughed awkwardly.
"Well… it's kind of hard not to care."
"She literally called you 'Mom.'"
"…Hm?"
Nao chuckled softly, then suddenly lifted Setsuna's chin with a slender finger.
"So?"
"Does that mean you're worried about me?"
Setsuna froze.
—So this is where Hinata gets it from.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"I'm just curious!"
Nao smiled, then finally let it go. She sat down beside him, looking toward the distance where **Kushina—no, Kaoru—**was training under the trees.
"You're not exactly an outsider."
"I can tell you."
Setsuna straightened instantly.
"Of course. Everyone knows—my mouth is sealed tighter than a barrier tag."
Nao gave him a look that clearly said I don't believe that for a second, then spoke anyway.
"Hinata isn't from this world."
Setsuna put on a perfectly timed shocked expression.
"She's from another Konoha."
"Thirty-one years in the future."
"Year 65 of Konoha."
Setsuna swallowed.
"And… how did she cross over?"
Nao didn't answer immediately.
Her thoughts drifted.
In that other world, she had died at twenty-seven.
Not in battle.
Not assassinated.
Not on a mission.
She died in a hospital bed.
From childbirth.
That fate filled her with quiet, seething disgust.
She had imagined many endings for herself—but never one so powerless.
Her life shouldn't end like that.
Never.
"Hey—"
"Nao-nee?"
"Earth to Nao-nee?"
Setsuna waved a hand in front of her face.
"Chu Yuxun! Wake up!"
Nao snapped back to reality, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"…Who?"
"That's the second time you've called me that."
Setsuna coughed.
"A… very controversial historical figure. One of the Uzumaki elders told me about her back in Whirlpool Country."
"Hah. You think I'd fall for that?"
She flicked his forehead.
Setsuna grinned.
"Alright, alright—back to Hinata. How did she get here?"
Nao's expression grew serious.
"She appeared during a mission in the Land of Wind."
"In Rōran."
"There, a puppet master named Hundred-Legs seized control of the Dragon Vein."
"When he was defeated, he triggered the Dragon Vein's chakra as a last resort."
"That chakra wasn't just violent."
"It activated a sealed spacetime transmission array."
Setsuna's eyes sharpened.
"A seal… not a ninjutsu?"
"Yes."
Nao nodded slowly.
"Not Flying Thunder God. Not Summoning."
"This was something far older."
"The Dragon Vein contains a super-scale spacetime sealing formula."
"One that doesn't just transmit space—"
"But time as well."
— Second Parallel World —
An endless desert.
Three figures stood amid the ruins, cloaked in sand-colored mantles.
"So this is where Hinata disappeared?"
The man at the front sighed quietly.
"Yes," the one on his left replied, pulling back her hood to reveal long pink hair and a delicate, determined face.
"This is where we defeated Hundred-Legs."
"When he died, the Dragon Vein erupted."
"It turned into a sea of chakra and swallowed Hinata whole."
"Don't panic."
The woman on the man's right lowered her hood, revealing vivid red hair and a mature, confident face.
"I can feel it."
"This chakra signature resembles a transport seal."
The red-haired woman smiled gently at the man beside her.
"Right, Minato?"
The desert wind swept away the final hood.
Golden hair shimmered under the sun.
A pair of calm, boundless blue eyes reflected absolute confidence.
"Yes," he said evenly.
"What Kushina sensed—I sensed as well."
"This is a spacetime sealing technique."
"As long as we have a trail, we can find her."
The wind howled across the desert.
And standing there—
Was the Yellow Flash of Konoha himself.
Minato Namikaze
If you're ready, send Chapter 24 next.
I'll keep the tone, pacing, and canon consistency exactly the same.
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