Despite the chaos sweeping the ninja world, the mysterious sky screen remained unaffected—it continued to broadcast its scenes.
["I'll use clones to deal with you!" the blond boy shouted, forming a hand seal with both hands. In the blink of an eye, countless shadow clones appeared on the stone pathway inside the cave and charged straight at the tentacled monster radiating black chakra.]
[Unfortunately, the swarm tactics had little effect. The dark, writhing tentacles swiftly wiped out all the clones and slammed the real boy hard into the ground.]
[As smoke and dust filled the air, the boy's face showed no despair. Struggling to his feet, he grit his teeth and declared, "I… won't die!"]
Nearby, Team 7 had entered a meatball shop and were watching the sky screen from the doorway.
Sakura glanced around cautiously, then leaned in and whispered to the others, "Doesn't that guy up there look a lot like Naruto?"
Naruto stared at the sky, confused. "Hey! He kinda does! Why am I up there?!"
"Calm down, idiot!" Sasuke snapped, though he couldn't hide his own curiosity. "That guy's way older than you."
Kakashi listened quietly to the group's chatter, analyzing everything in his mind.
'Sasuke's right—the age doesn't match. But everything else… the hair, the chakra, the fighting style… It's just like Naruto!'
Back in the village, several others who knew Naruto were struck by how closely the boy in the sky resembled him. Most dismissed it because of the age difference. But villagers who harbored resentment toward Naruto chalked it up to some sinister Nine-Tails plot.
Meanwhile, in the Pure Land, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina watched with a strange sense of familiarity. Minato quickly pieced together the boy's possible identity based on his golden hair and blue eyes.
[The blond boy darted left and right in mid-air, kunai in hand, swiftly slicing through several black tentacles. But then his eyes were drawn to a strange glowing eye embedded in the magma below.]
["An eye...?"] he murmured.
[In the next instant, a horrible tearing sound echoed. The boy's expression shifted to confusion. His pupils shrank as blood splattered his face.]
[A massive black tentacle had pierced him through the back, hoisting him into the air like a trophy. His limbs soon went limp.]
[Watching from afar, a girl with long beige hair collapsed to her knees, her expression filled with grief. She screamed his name.]
["Naruto!!"]
[The scene pulled upward, revealing a monstrous silhouette atop the magma-soaked rock bridge. Its eye sockets flickered with white and purple light.]
"…Naruto?! Even the name is the same!" Sakura looked at Kakashi, then quickly turned to Naruto with visible concern.
Kakashi didn't respond immediately. His serious expression never left the sky. "Don't panic… This could be a trap set by the enemy."
"The person at the end…," Sasuke muttered, eyes narrowing. He turned to Naruto. "Is that really you?"
Naruto stood frozen, unable to process what he'd just seen. He could only stare at the screen, watching a version of himself die at the hands of an unknown beast.
Far away in the Land of Tea, Jiraiya—out collecting material for his next novel—heard the name and stiffened. "Naruto?! Could he be Minato's son?"
In the Pure Land, Kushina's pupils constricted. "That is Naruto. My Naruto!"
Minato's tentative hope gave way to dread. "So it's true… That's really our son. But what is this...?"
Elsewhere, in the Land of Demons, Shrine Maiden Shion blinked in confusion when she saw the beige-haired girl on the screen. "Who is that?"
[The scene shifted again: under a somber sky, a torii gate bearing the Konoha symbol appeared.]
[A coffin bound by sacred rope sat in a pit. A pink-haired girl stood beside it, struggling to hide her sorrow. With her were a thick-browed boy and a pale-eyed youth dressed in white. They remained silent as the coffin was lowered.]
[A gravestone came into view. The name etched into the stone: Uzumaki Naruto.]
"Uzumaki… Naruto?!" Sakura whispered, her voice trembling as she stared at the unmistakable name glowing above.
The pink-haired girl in the image looked several years older than her, and her hair was cut short—but Sakura immediately recognized her own face. The family crest, the morning reflection in the mirror… It was her.
Sasuke came to a similar realization. He swallowed hard, then turned from the sky to Kakashi. "Could this… be a vision of the future?"
"What?! Why is my name on that?!" Naruto cried, pointing at the sky in total disbelief.
Kakashi looked at Sasuke and paused before responding. "It's possible… but we can't jump to conclusions yet."
A broadcast that seemed to reveal the future—to the entire ninja world—was a concept too absurd to accept outright. Even more far-fetched than a surprise attack by an unknown enemy.
Elsewhere, the Third Team had also halted their training.
Lee saluted the screen in disbelief. "That's me and Neji up there!"
Tenten turned to Neji. "What's going on?"
Neji activated his Byakugan, but found nothing unusual. He shook his head. "Let's wait for Guy-sensei. Maybe there'll be an announcement from the village."
Meanwhile, Team 10—the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—were watching as well.
"Sakura! That's totally Sakura! Which means… that really is Naruto!" Ino said, her voice trembling.
"Tch… This looks like it's going to get real messy," Shikamaru sighed, the carefree look fading from his face.
"…," Choji said nothing, but quietly stopped chewing his snack.
Team 8 stood nearby.
Aburame Shino watched the sky in silence. Kiba scratched his head, completely baffled.
Only Hyuga Hinata seemed deeply shaken. Her expression was full of worry—she, too, had instantly recognized the figure on the screen.
"…Naruto-kun…"
Back in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage had already reached a similar conclusion—it could very well be a glimpse of the future.
Still, he didn't voice that theory publicly. It was too outrageous, too dangerous.
Regardless, he had already begun preparing a village-wide gag order. Information like this, if spread carelessly, would be far too destabilizing.