Let's turn back time slightly.
On the rooftop of a high-rise building somewhere in Konoha Village, two uninvited guests were staring in surprise at the Village's landmark—the Hokage Rock.
"What is going on... the number of faces on the Hokage Rock... where is Dad's stone face?"
Golden short hair shone under the sun, and his azure eyes were filled with confusion. Uzumaki Boruto, dressed in a black jacket and wearing a Konoha forehead protector, exclaimed as he pointed at the distant rock face.
In the familiar scenery, not only was his father Naruto's stone face missing, but even the stone faces of Tsunade and Kakashi were nowhere to be seen.
Standing beside him was a tall, imposing figure. Black hair covered one eye, yet it could not hide the handsome profile beneath. Although he possessed a stern face, he exuded a reassuringly calm and composed aura. His wide robes fluttered slightly in the wind, and one sleeve was empty.
Uchiha Sasuke, possessing the strongest ocular power in the world. Even the Ōtsutsuki who came from the stars could barely use genjutsu to confuse his eyes.
His gaze solemnly swept across the rock face—there were only four Hokage statues, and the stone face of the Fifth Hokage was just beginning construction.
The Village buildings below were both familiar and strange; the overall layout had subtle differences from the Konoha he remembered.
"I have to harvest the fox's Chakra. It is already too late; there is nothing you can do."
The perplexing words of Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, heard right before the Transmigration, now echoed in Sasuke's mind, allowing him to quickly analyze the current situation.
"Boruto..." Sasuke's low voice broke the silence. "This place... is the past Konoha."
"It's not just Dad's stone face that's missing," Boruto looked around, becoming more convinced of the assessment, "even Grandma Tsunade and Uncle Kakashi's stone faces aren't visible... and the layout of the streets is different too."
He carefully observed the street scene below, noticing that many familiar buildings had not yet been constructed, and the overall size of the Village was slightly smaller than he knew.
"Warning, warning. Time travel has significantly deviated from the target coordinates. Spacetime jump error. Please re-initiate time travel."
A voice mixing biological texture with a mechanical tone suddenly sounded, startling Boruto.
"It spoke?!"
Boruto surprisingly pulled a strangely shaped object from his jacket—this was the very item that Ōtsutsuki Urashiki had previously tried to seize when infiltrating Konoha. It resembled a turtle but emitted unusual energy fluctuations.
Sasuke immediately realized that their current predicament was likely related to this mysterious device. He knelt down, leaned closer to the semi-biological, semi-mechanical creation, and carefully listened to every piece of information it emitted.
"The time travel set by Lord Ōtsutsuki Urashiki has encountered an error due to an unknown temporal jump."
"You mentioned time travel? Is this the past Konoha?" Sasuke pressed the strange turtle-shaped device.
"Yes, and no. The temporal coordinates of this timeline are the era of Konoha Year 63."
Konoha Year 63? Yes, and no?
This ambiguous answer made Sasuke frown. If it truly was Konoha Year 63, then this should be the period right after the Chunin Exams. According to his memory, his younger self at this point in time... should have already left the Village and defected to Orochimaru.
"Yes, and no? What does that mean?" Sasuke continued to press.
"Simply put, the time travel was affected by unknown temporal control, colliding with the coordinates of another time traveler, resulting in a spacetime jump. This world is not the world originally set by Lord Urashiki, but another Parallel Universe."
"Please re-initiate time travel to return to the original world line."
"Wait a minute? Where did Urashiki go?" Sasuke asked the crucial question.
"Lord Urashiki set the time travel coordinates to Uzumaki Naruto's infancy, but due to uncontrollable factors, the arrival era is slightly later. Lord Urashiki, who separated from us, will arrive here in a few days."
"Parallel Universe? What is that?"
Boruto frowned in confusion; these unfamiliar terms were beyond his comprehension. Meanwhile, Sasuke had already quickly analyzed the situation based on the available information.
It seems Ōtsutsuki Urashiki intended to use this device to perform Transmigration, aiming to seize the Nine-Tails Chakra while Naruto was young and weak.
"Logically speaking, as humans from the future, you should adhere to the rules regarding actions in the past."
The mechanical organism continued to issue warnings, which only irritated Boruto further.
"This turtle is so annoying! And what exactly are you, Urashiki's accomplice?" Boruto complained to the constantly beeping device.
"To prevent paradoxes, people from the future are not allowed to interfere with the past. However, this world line is another timeline, so interference will not trigger a spacetime paradox. Whatever happens will not have any impact on your future, therefore the rules of conduct are nullified."
Hearing this explanation, Sasuke immediately understood their current situation. He had once read about the theory of Parallel Universes in books.
"Boruto, this is indeed Konoha, but it is Konoha on another timeline. However, what we need to do remains unchanged."
Seeing Boruto still looking confused, Sasuke sighed softly, pondering how to explain the concept in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
"It's like a video game. Although the story takes place in the same location, players make different choices, triggering different endings."
"Oh! I see, I understand now." Boruto realized suddenly. "Simply put, it's another save file!"
This analogy allowed Boruto to instantly grasp the situation. But he immediately realized that even in this parallel world, they still had an important mission to fulfill.
"But, Sasuke Sensei, even if this isn't our timeline, we must stop Urashiki. We can't let him lay a hand on this world's Dad."
"Mm." Sasuke nodded in agreement. "We must find this world's Naruto before Urashiki arrives, and then protect him."
For Sasuke, preventing Urashiki from acquiring the Tailed Beast Chakra was the primary mission. But more importantly, even if this Naruto came from another world line, there was no way he could stand by and do nothing. After everything that had happened, after seeing Naruto's heart that day, Naruto was the cherished friend he was willing to risk his life to protect, regardless of the timeline.
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