Chapter 104:
"You mean that in the future, I gain everyone's recognition and become the Seventh Hokage?!"
Young Naruto looked slightly surprised. Although he often talked about becoming Hokage, he had never truly imagined himself achieving that dream. At most, he occasionally pictured everyday life after marrying Sakura.
"That's right, Naruto. You go on to become an incredible Hokage," adult Naruto said cheerfully—after all, it wasn't like he was praising someone else.
"So that means... you're me, and he's Sasuke..." Young Naruto looked around at the people in the Hokage's office one by one, finally turning to Sakura. "And you're Sakura."
"Mm-hmm."
Sakura smiled and nodded.
Young Naruto ran up to Sakura and looked at Sarada standing beside her. "I never thought we'd have a daughter this old already!"
It was only natural for young Naruto to assume that not only had he become Hokage, but he'd also married Sakura.
Hokage—I desire it. Sakura—I desire her too. And as for the whole "you can't have your cake and eat it too"? Screw that! I, Naruto Uzumaki, want both!
"...Idiot Naruto!" Just as the atmosphere began turning awkward again, it was Sakura who broke the silence, smacking young Naruto on the head with a fist.
"Seventh... actually, I'm Sasuke's daughter..."
Even though the young Naruto in front of her wasn't Hokage yet, Sarada still habitually addressed him as the Seventh.
"Wha...?"
Young Naruto stood frozen, struck by the thunderbolt of truth. He had never imagined that Sakura's future husband wouldn't be him—but Sasuke.
He vaguely remembered confronting Sasuke back in the day, asking how he felt about Sakura. At the time, Sasuke had sworn up and down, "Even if I die outside Konoha and Itachi kills me on the spot, I'd still never marry Sakura!"
"No way... Don't tell me that even as the Seventh Hokage, I still didn't get married?!"
For someone who had always sworn he'd only ever love Sakura, learning he didn't marry her in the future made young Naruto jump to that conclusion.
Adult Naruto leaned in beside the dejected young Naruto. "Hey, hey."
"What do you want?" young Naruto grumbled, casting a resentful glance at his older self.
"It's Hinata. We married Hinata," adult Naruto whispered into his ear.
From the moment he'd arrived, he'd felt Hinata's gaze—an unspoken warning. Her eyes made him nervous.
"Hinata?" Young Naruto furrowed his brow and followed the direction his older self was subtly indicating.
Looking at Hinata's smiling face, he gradually recalled that shy girl from the Hyuga clan.
"Hinata!" young Naruto exclaimed, as if suddenly enlightened. "I can't believe how much you've changed as an adult. I almost didn't recognize you!"
Hinata smiled and nodded, but when she looked at adult Naruto, her pale eyes held a faint chill. Peeking out from behind her, Himawari poked her head forward and asked, "Are you really my dad?"
"D-Dad...?" Young Naruto hadn't even gotten married yet, and suddenly he was someone's father. His emotions were complicated, and he was visibly flustered.
"Hmph. Well, I'm not calling him 'Dad' no matter what," Boruto said, genuinely unable to bring himself to call someone his own age 'Dad.'
"Let's save the rest of this for later. For now, we need to figure out why young Naruto appeared in this era in the first place," Shikamaru said as he thoughtfully stroked his goatee.
Adult Naruto nodded and turned to young Naruto. "Do you know how you got here?"
Young Naruto furrowed his brow, trying hard to remember. "Hmm~ I think I've got it! I just closed my eyes, and then when I opened them again—I was here."
"That just means you don't know, you idiot!" Sakura cried out in frustration. Her expectations dashed, she whacked young Naruto on the head again.
"Um, about that... I think I might have a guess." At that moment, Boruto raised his hand, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "It all started with the Holy Grail War."
...
"So that's the mark of a Master—proof of participation in the Holy Grail War. But does the Holy Grail that grants wishes really exist...?" Tsunade muttered as she examined the strange symbol on the back of Boruto's hand.
"So basically, it was my own son who brought me into this world to participate in this Holy Grail War. That about sums it up, right?"
Although he knew that young Naruto wasn't wrong, Boruto couldn't shake the feeling that he'd somehow gotten the short end of the stick. Having a dad the same age as him? Boruto still hadn't come to terms with that.
Boruto's mood was utter crap.
"It might seem unbelievable, but since the young Naruto has already appeared as a 'Servant,' we can't deny the reality of this so-called Holy Grail War started by the Jar Merchant," Shikamaru analyzed. "If someone else gets hold of the Holy Grail and makes a disastrous wish, it could spell trouble for the entire shinobi world."
Naruto fully agreed with Shikamaru. As implausible as it all sounded, they couldn't ignore it—especially with a Servant already showing up. That added weight to the Holy Grail War's credibility.
"If the information came from the Jar Merchant, that might mean the Jar Merchant—or the organization behind him—once took part in the Holy Grail War too," Sasuke speculated.
"To learn more about the Holy Grail War, we'll probably need to go straight to the source—the Jar Merchant," Naruto said with a frown. "Sasuke, have you found any leads on him recently?"
Tracking the Jar Merchant was a task Sasuke had taken on himself.
After a long pause, Sasuke shook his head. He had to admit, the Jar Merchant was extremely cautious—only ever showing up in the corners of Konoha, targeting weak, isolated individuals. And somehow, he always managed to slip away before Sasuke could catch him.
"He knows Konoha very well."
That was the conclusion Sasuke had reached after countless pursuits.
Though Sasuke had yet to complete the mission, Naruto couldn't blame him. He trusted Sasuke completely. Clearing his throat, Naruto said, "In any case, we're classifying the Holy Grail War as top-secret village intel. Do not spread this information. Also, assign every Genin in the village to search for the Jar Merchant."
Due to the string of major incidents in the village lately, all Chūnin and higher-ranking shinobi were already busy with other missions. Only the Genin had been left idle.
It was time to give them something useful to do. Besides, the Jar Merchant hadn't caused any real harm to the village so far—he was just selling questionable goods in the back alleys of Konoha. Plus, with both himself and Sasuke in the village, the Genin wouldn't be in any real danger.
"Oh right—Boruto, your team's short one person, right? Let Naruto fill in for now," adult Naruto said to Boruto.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)