Chapter 103: Slacking Off Once in a While Feels Great
Konoha Village. Hokage's Office.
Kurama, who had been lazily lounging inside Naruto's body and freeloading as usual, suddenly lifted his head, catching Naruto's attention.
"What is it, Kurama?"
"Naruto, my chakra just appeared somewhere in the village."
"Are you seriously saying that?" Naruto looked skeptical. "Since you're inside me and I'm in the village, of course your chakra's here." He began to wonder if Kurama had gone senile from being a shut-in for so many years.
"Idiot! I mean another Nine Tails chakra has shown up in Konoha!"
"Another Nine Tails chakra? Don't tell me… Kurama, do you have siblings or something?"
Though joking on the surface, Naruto immediately entered Sage Mode and began to carefully sense the village's surroundings.
He knew Kurama would never lie to him when it came to something that could threaten Konoha's safety. With his eyes shut tight in concentration, Naruto suddenly opened them wide, shock written all over his face.
"There really is another Nine Tails chakra in the village!"
While sensing, Naruto clearly detected a vast and malevolent fox-like chakra in the commercial district of the village.
And he wasn't the only one who noticed—Sasuke, who was intimately familiar with Naruto's chakra, also sensed something off right away.
"There are two Naruto chakras in the village?!"
Naruto immediately set aside his Hokage duties. Sasuke, too, stopped his ongoing investigation into the mysterious Jar Merchant. The two vanished in an instant, using the Body Flicker Technique to rush toward the location of the unfamiliar Nine Tails chakra.
Konoha Village, Commercial District.
"This is so weird. What is this place?"
Young Naruto looked around, baffled. The place looked like Konoha, but also somehow didn't.
"You okay, Boruto?" Sarada, walking just behind Sakura, looked at him with concern. Ever since the two families had met up, Boruto's expression had been dark and miserable.
"I'm fine, Sarada."
Boruto's voice was strained. He looked anything but fine.
Not only had he been scammed out of 100,000 ryō by that damn Jar Merchant, he'd also stood there like an idiot all night. There was no way he was okay. But of course, he couldn't say any of that—he still had his pride, and he did live in Konoha.
Up ahead, Hinata and Sakura chatted cheerfully, exchanging lighthearted stories and parenting tips.
"Speaking of which…" Sakura was just about to say something when she noticed Hinata had stopped dead in her tracks.
"What's wrong, Hinata?"
Himawari, who had been walking right beside her mother, tugged at her sleeve. "What's the matter, Mommy?"
"I'm fine." Hinata smiled reassuringly at her daughter, then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, look over there. Doesn't that kid look just like Naruto when he was little?"
"What? Let me see—'that idiot dad from back then'?" Boruto followed Hinata's pointing finger.
"Whoa, he really does look like Naruto when he was younger," Sakura said, her voice trailing off.
The resemblance was uncanny. The boy didn't just look like Naruto—he was even dressed the same.
Sigh, Naruto's cheating on me! For some reason, Sakura's mind jumped to the wildest conclusion. The first suspect? Her own husband, Sasuke. But she quickly shook the ridiculous idea away.
Sure, Naruto and Sasuke were close—very close—but as Tsunade's student, Sakura knew perfectly well that two men couldn't have a child together.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"
Just then, young Naruto walked up to Hinata and Sakura, likely drawn to them because they were the only people in this strange place who felt vaguely familiar to him.
From them, he instinctively sensed the presence of Hinata and Sakura he knew.
"This is Konoha Village, of course. And who are you?" Boruto asked, staring at the boy who definitely had some of his father's features.
"Konoha Village?" The young Naruto scratched his spiky blonde hair with a confused look. "I just went out for training with Pervy Sage for a while, and the whole village changed this much? I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
The moment those words left young Naruto's mouth, adult Naruto and Sasuke arrived on the scene.
"Naruto…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared at the younger version of his old friend.
"Huh? Who's calling me?" Young Naruto turned around and stared at the two newcomers. "Hey, you look like Sasuke… and you—why do you look just like me?! And you're even wearing a Hokage cloak!"
"Let's talk somewhere more private. We'll go to the Hokage Building," adult Naruto said, glancing around at the gathering crowd.
"Who the heck are you people?! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm not stupid—Lady Tsunade is the Hokage right now!"
"Enough talk." In a flash, Sasuke appeared beside the younger Naruto and grabbed him with one hand.
"Let me go, you bastard!" young Naruto yelled, struggling in his grasp.
...
Back in the Hokage's Office, not only were the key witnesses Hinata and Sakura present, but Boruto and Sarada were there too. Even Shikamaru and Tsunade had been called in.
After all, this time it was serious—young Naruto had somehow appeared in the future.
"Granny Tsunade!" The moment he saw a familiar face, young Naruto rushed to her side. Being near someone he knew gave him a sense of security.
"You're Naruto?" Tsunade asked, eyes filled with confusion as she studied the boy in front of her.
"What's wrong, Granny Tsunade?" young Naruto asked, puzzled. "And who are all these people? And him—wasn't I told the Sixth Hokage would be greeting me? What's with this guy?!"
"Um, well… I'm not the Sixth. I'm the Seventh Hokage." Adult Naruto gave an awkward chuckle.
"...WHAT?! Does that mean I can only be the Eighth Hokage now?!"
Looking at his future self standing before him in his prime, young Naruto suddenly remembered the Third Hokage… and got the sinking feeling that if things didn't go his way, he might never get the job himself. Maybe his kid could fulfill that dream instead.
Speaking of kids, young Naruto's thoughts suddenly turned to Sakura.
"Oh right—Granny Tsunade, where's Sakura?" The moment the words left his mouth, everyone's eyes shifted toward the now-married Sakura standing in the office.
Even someone as dense as young Naruto could tell something was off about the mood in the room.
"Huh? What's going on, guys?"
"Naruto," Tsunade knelt down to meet his eyes, speaking gently. "This is Konoha, but it's Konoha in the future."
"This is... the future Konoha?" Young Naruto echoed, his mind struggling to make sense of what he'd just heard.
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