[Tsunade: Victor, do you know Uzumaki Boruto?]
Just as Victor was about to close the chat group interface and return to his training, Tsunade's message caught his attention.
[Victor: Uzumaki Boruto? Yeah, I know who that is, Naruto's son. Where'd you hear that name?]
[Tsunade: A space vortex just opened up in the sky above Konoha, and this kid fell right out of it.]
[Tsunade: I detained him for questioning in case he was hostile. Turns out he claims to be the son of the Seventh Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, and that he came here from the future. At first, I thought he was messing with me, but now that you've confirmed it, maybe he's telling the truth after all.]
Uzumaki Boruto traveled to the past?
No, more accurately, to a parallel universe.
The fact that Boruto identified himself as the son of the Seventh Hokage was proof enough that the future he came from differed drastically from Tsunade's world. After all, in Tsunade's timeline, the Five Great Nations were being unified under her rule. She was preparing to establish a ninja empire and crown herself Empress. The title of Hokage would become nothing more than a relic of the past.
[Victor: That's fascinating. I never expected someone in the ninja world would develop the ability to travel between parallel timelines, or even backwards through time itself. That's an incredible power.]
[Tsunade: He mentioned something else. Apparently, an enemy from the Otsutsuki clan named Otsutsuki Urashiki traveled through time as well and seems to be targeting Naruto during this period. Do you know anything about this?]
[Victor: Afraid not.]
[Tsunade: Why not? Don't you know the plot?]
[Victor: Because I never watched Boruto. How could I know the plot if I haven't seen it?]
[Kiana: Wait, what? Brother, I thought you said you loved watching Naruto. How have you not seen Boruto?]
[Tsunade: Yeah, that doesn't add up.]
[Victor: Haha, you guys don't get it. For us old-school fans, Naruto is Naruto, and Boruto is Boruto, they're two completely different anime.]
[Victor: Besides, when Boruto first came out, a ton of people online called it "unburnable garbage," so I had zero interest in watching it. Even after it supposedly got better later on, that initial bad impression stuck with me, and I just never bothered.]
[Tsunade: Tsk. I was counting on your foresight to give me some intel, but I guess I'm on my own here.]
[Victor: Just to be safe, I'll come over and stay for a while.]
Although Victor had never watched Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, he'd read plenty of Naruto fanfictions that incorporated elements from Boruto's setting. From those stories, he'd picked up bits and pieces about the Otsutsuki clan, enough to know they were genuinely formidable opponents.
In particular, there was the Otsutsuki God, whose strength might rival someone at the Golden Core realm.
Of course, this was purely speculation on Victor's part.
Even setting aside the Otsutsuki God, the simple fact that Urashiki and his kind could freely traverse the universe, crossing hundreds or even thousands of light-years to reach the ninja world, was something Tsunade, despite being at the Foundation Establishment stage, couldn't replicate.
For Tsunade's safety, Victor needed to go.
Besides, he had another reason: he was incredibly interested in the ability to travel freely between different world lines. If he got the chance, he'd love to capture it and study it.
[Tsunade: Alright, come on over.]
The moment she finished typing, a dimensional gate materialized in front of her.
When Victor stepped through, the first person he saw was naturally Tsunade herself.
"You're getting more beautiful every time I see you."
Victor hadn't paid much attention to Tsunade when they'd been in the world of No Game No Life, but now, looking at her closely, he realized she'd undergone a dramatic transformation.
She'd always been attractive, but now her beauty had reached a completely different level. Her entire temperament had changed too.
If the old Tsunade could've been called a beauty within the ninja world, the current Tsunade would rank among the most stunning individuals across any world.
To put it simply, her art style had leveled up, going from the original comic aesthetic to something straight out of a high-definition AI render.
"You're as shameless as ever."
Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.
She wasn't some naive young girl who'd blush at a compliment. A little flattery like that wouldn't faze her.
Victor's gaze shifted to the side, where he noticed Shizune standing nearby, along with a kid with spiky blonde hair and striking blue eyes.
The boy also had two whisker-like marks on each cheek, a dead giveaway of his identity.
"Uzumaki Boruto, right? Tell me about this Otsutsuki Urashiki character."
Victor pulled out a chair and sat down across from them as naturally as if he owned the place.
"Who are you?"
Boruto eyed Victor warily.
The way this guy had appeared out of thin air was bizarre enough to put anyone on edge.
"My name's Victor Stone. I'm an ally of both Konoha and Tsunade."
Hearing that, Boruto glanced at Tsunade for confirmation.
When she gave him a slight nod, Boruto finally relaxed and began sharing what he knew.
"Otsutsuki Urashiki is extremely powerful. He has two Rinnegan, one gold, one blue, and his abilities are ridiculously dangerous."
"He can freeze time and space, and he's even able to rewind his own position a few seconds into the past!"
"On top of that, he has all kinds of devastating attacks..."
Over the next few minutes, Boruto spilled everything he knew about Otsutsuki Urashiki like beans pouring from a jar.
As Victor listened, his interest in this Urashiki character only grew.
"So he can even freeze time and space? Interesting."
Victor's Kekekedi could stop time as well, but only for targets hit by its Seven Bullets. It couldn't freeze an entire area at once.
"So you traveled through time alongside this guy?"
Boruto nodded. "That's right."
"And you weren't alone. Who else came with you?"
"My master, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
Tsunade blinked in surprise when she heard the name.
So Sasuke would become Naruto's son's teacher in the future?
Weren't those two supposed to be rivals who couldn't stand each other?
"Where is he now?"
Honestly, Tsunade was eager to see just how powerful Sasuke, one of the protagonists, would become in the future.
"I don't know." Boruto shook his head, his voice tinged with worry. "After we passed through the space vortex, I was the only one who fell out here. Both my master and Otsutsuki Urashiki vanished. I have no idea where they ended up."
By the time he finished speaking, his anxiety was obvious.
If he couldn't find his master and defeat Otsutsuki Urashiki, he might never make it back to his own time.
And he didn't want to be stuck here forever.
After all, his family was waiting for him back home.