On the other side, in the shadows of a secluded alley a few blocks away, the figures of Sasuke and Boruto landed.
"Whew... Sasuke-sensei, you're too fast!" Boruto patted his chest, still shaken.
The movement just now had been so fast he could barely catch his breath.
"That black-haired kid... is off." The adult Sasuke leaned against the cold wall, breathing slightly heavily.
Using high-level Body Flicker Techniques repeatedly was a considerable burden on his body, which was now nearly depleted of Chakra. The dull pain in his left eye had also intensified again.
He needed to recover his strength as soon as possible.
"Before we figure out what's happened in this Space-Time, we can't expose our identities, especially the fact that we're 'from the future'. Boruto, remember, from now on, we're just ordinary travelers passing through the Land of Fire who came in to see Konoha because we admire it. Put away your forehead protector."
Boruto then realized he was still wearing the forehead protector symbolizing a Konoha's Ninja on his forehead. He hurriedly and fumblingly took it off and stuffed it into his ninja tool pouch along with the little turtle.
"So... what should we do next?" Boruto scratched his head, feeling things had become super troublesome.
"Urashiki is definitely somewhere in this Space-Time too, right? His target is still Dad... uh, the Nine-Tails inside this Space-Time's Dad, right? Should we protect him?"
"Of course." The adult Sasuke answered without hesitation, but his eyes were grave. "But first, we need to understand the basic situation of this Space-Time. If we don't even know where the enemy might be or what the power structure of this world is like, blind action will only backfire."
He glanced at his and Boruto's somewhat conspicuous outfits. "Let's change into something more inconspicuous first."
The two left the alley and soon found a small shop selling ordinary clothing and travel supplies on the main street.
Sasuke picked out a wider, dark gray cloak that would better conceal his figure and empty left sleeve, and a wide-brimmed traveler's hat. Pulling the brim down could hide most of his face.
Boruto changed into a set of light blue, long-sleeved clothes with a red vest over them, looking like an ordinary youth out seeing the world with an elder.
After their makeovers, the two began to wander seemingly aimlessly through the streets of Konoha like true travelers.
Sasuke's right eye observed everything without moving a muscle: the architectural styles, people's clothing and speech, the goods sold in shops, the ratio of Ninja to civilians, the overall atmosphere in the air...
Countless details converged into a stream of information, which his brain analyzed and compared with the Konoha in his memory.
Changes were everywhere.
He followed his memory and led Boruto towards the outskirts of the village, the area where the Uchiha Clan's Compound had once been.
Those familiar walls bearing the Uchiha's fan crest, the quiet and ancient streets, the training grounds… all were gone.
In their place was a re-planned, tidy but unfamiliar block.
Brand new shops stood in rows, selling a variety of goods, from ninja tools and medicinal herbs to ordinary daily necessities. People came and went, making it bustling and lively.
This area had been completely integrated into Konoha's ordinary commercial district, without a single trace of the Uchiha Clan's former existence.
Sasuke stood at the street corner, looking at the unfamiliar scene with some confusion.
Because in his experience, the Uchiha Clan's Compound had lain idle for several years after the night of the massacre. By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, this area had still been ruins.
He had brought Taka and Orochimaru to the basement below the shrine back then to perform the Edo Tensei on the four Hokage.
Reconstruction of this area hadn't begun until after the Fourth Great Ninja War ended.
Although he had a premonition that things might be different here, seeing the changes to the clan compound with his own eyes still made the adult Sasuke's heart sink with a bad feeling.
'Had the 'Sasuke' of this Space-Time already...'
"Sasuke-sensei..." Boruto felt his teacher's suddenly stiffened body and oppressive aura and called out softly with concern.
The adult Sasuke took a deep breath. This was not the time to dwell on the past. He needed to gather intelligence as quickly as possible.
He walked towards a middle-aged general store owner on the street corner who was tidying up his stall and appeared to be a local resident. Deliberately changing his voice, he asked in a slightly hoarse, travel-worn tone: "Excuse me, boss. Could you tell me... I remember this place didn't used to be like this, with all these shops?"
The boss looked up, sized up Sasuke in his traveler's clothes, then looked at Boruto, who was curiously looking around, and said with understanding, "Oh, you're travelers from out of town, are you? No wonder you don't know. This neighborhood was re-planned and built five years ago."
"I only moved to Konoha a few years ago myself. I remember before..." The boss rubbed his chin, as if recalling. "There used to be a big clan living around here, I think. But then, somehow, I heard the whole clan moved away. Anyway, by the time I moved here to open my shop, this area was already zoned for commercial use by the village. It's a good location, not too far, not too close to the central district. Business is pretty good!"
"The whole clan... moved away?" The adult Sasuke's heart leaped.
'Not massacre, but a move?'
"Excuse me, do you know which clan it was? Why did they move?"
The boss scratched his head, looking a bit troubled. "I don't really know the details. It's all ancient history from years ago. I vaguely remember it was a pretty powerful Ninja Clan. I think they were called the Uchiha or something."
"Anyway, there seems to have been quite a stir at the time, but we ordinary folk couldn't possibly know the specifics. Later, the village took the land back and built these shops. If you're interested in Konoha's history, you could check at the village archives, or see if you know any veteran Ninja to ask."
Having said this, the boss lowered his head again to attend to his own business, clearly not very interested in the topic.
Sasuke thanked him and left with Boruto, full of doubts.
'Not a massacre, but a clan-wide migration?'
This was completely different from the history he knew!
'Five years ago, that night in the 58th year of Konoha, what exactly had happened?'
'Had the 'Night of the Massacre' in this Space-Time become the 'Night of Migration'?'
'Who had orchestrated it?'
'Where had the clan members gone?'
'Where was the "Uchiha Sasuke" of this Space-Time?'
'Had he left with the clan, or...'
'Could Konoha have just stood by and watched the Uchiha Clan move away?'
'Had there been fighting during that time...'
Countless questions tangled around his heart like a ball of hemp.
The adult Sasuke felt a surge of irritation and helplessness.
In this completely unfamiliar Space-Time, he had lost all his intelligence advantage, groping in the mist like a blind man.
Before they knew it, the two had been wandering for a long time, slowly walking from the remote former clan compound area to near Konoha's relatively bustling central district.
It was approaching evening, and there were more pedestrians on the streets. Ninja returning from their day's missions, children out of school, and ordinary residents filled Konoha with the atmosphere of daily life.
"Gurururu..."
A loud stomach growl broke the silence.
Boruto clutched his stomach, an embarrassed and pitiful expression on his face. "Um... Sensei, I think I'm a little... hungry. Should we go find something to eat? I wonder if this Space-Time has hamburgers..."
Mentioning food, Boruto perked up a bit and started counting on his fingers. "If there are no hamburgers, how about grilled meat? Sushi? Or... ramen? Ichiraku Ramen should be here, right?"
He thought of his father's favorite food, also a delicacy he had enjoyed since childhood.
Sasuke temporarily pulled himself away from his tangled thoughts. Hearing Boruto's words, he instinctively answered based on his memories from his own youth: "The Konoha of this Space-Time probably doesn't have hamburger shops. There are grilled meat and sushi shops, but..."
He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly halting his steps, his gaze staring somewhat blankly at the street corner ahead.
Boruto, looking down and figuring out what to eat, didn't notice Sasuke's abnormal behavior and kept muttering, "Then let's go eat Ichiraku Ramen? Dad said that shop has been around since he was a kid, the taste hasn't changed, it's definitely..."
He looked up as he spoke, and then, his voice stopped abruptly, his mouth forming an 'O' shape.
Not far ahead of them, at the street corner, a shop with a fairly modern decor, bright floor-to-ceiling windows, and a striking red signboard had a not-short line in front of it.
On the signboard, in exaggerated artistic lettering, were written the words [Burger King]!
"S-Sensei..." Boruto spun his head around, pointing at the shop, his eyes wide as saucers. "Didn't you say this Space-Time didn't have hamburgers?! Th-then what's that?!"
Sasuke didn't answer. His gaze was firmly locked on the [Burger King] signboard, his brow under his wide-brimmed hat tightly furrowed, as if trying to see right through it.
'This is impossible!'
'The Konoha in the past absolutely did not have such a shop!'
The form and style of this kind of fast-food restaurant were closer to the products of the Boruto era in his memory!
His gaze slowly shifted, looking at what was next to Burger King.
To the left was a shop with a fresh signboard, mainly blue and white tones, reading [Bansho Sweet Drinks]. The display window showed various brightly colored drinks in transparent cups, with things like pearls and coconut jelly floating in them.
To the right was a pink-toned, cute-themed dessert shop called [Chibaku Sweetheart]. The glass counter was filled with exquisitely shaped cakes and small pastries.
Looking further over, a couple of traditional shops down, there was even a steamed bun shop with a quaint signboard but a name that made Sasuke's eyelids twitch: [Shinra Steam]
A hamburger shop, a chain drink shop, a Western-style dessert house, a steamed bun shop with a strange name...
These were completely out of place with the Konoha in his memory, which, though prosperous, had a more traditional and Ninja-style atmosphere.
Especially the names [Bansho Sweet Drinks] and [Chibaku Sweetheart], and the shape of those drinks, gave him a faint, indescribable sense of familiarity, yet he couldn't remember where he had seen them.
Boruto, however, didn't think that much. Seeing a hamburger shop, his eyes instantly lit up, and he almost drooled: "Hamburgers! Real hamburgers! Sensei, let's go line up! I'm starving!"
With that, not waiting for Sasuke's agreement, he enthusiastically ran to the end of the line in front of [Burger King], standing on tiptoe to look at the menu, muttering to himself, "I wonder if they have a Big Mac meal..."
Sasuke suppressed the storm in his heart and followed, standing behind Boruto.
His gaze began to carefully observe the people in line, the passersby, and the details of the shops.
The line moved slowly forward. In front of Boruto were two men who looked like merchants from out of town, each holding a drink bought from the nearby [Bansho Sweet Drinks] shop, chatting as they queued.
The shorter, stouter merchant took a sip of his colorful drink and sighed contentedly, "Eh, I didn't expect Konoha to have Bansho Sweet Drinks too. I thought they only had branches in the Land of Stars. Having one of these after a tiring journey is really comfortable."
The taller, thinner companion beside him nodded and also took a sip of his milky-white drink. "After all, this is Konoha Village, the most prosperous Ninja Village in the Land of Fire. It would be strange if it didn't even have a decent drink shop. But…" He swirled his cup, "The selection here seems a bit different from the Land of Stars'. I still prefer the [Bo Ya's Broken String] at the flagship store in the Land of Stars' capital. The tea and milk flavors blend just right… that's truly exceptional."
"Shh!" The shorter merchant quickly made a silencing gesture, looked around, and lowered his voice. "Keep it down! This is Konoha! We're here to do business. Don't mention the Land of Stars so much, or we'll attract trouble."
"Oh, oh, right, right, look at me, I almost forgot about that." The taller merchant realized his mistake, immediately shut up, and focused on queuing.
Although their conversation was quiet, every word fell into the ears of Sasuke, whose hearing far exceeded ordinary people.
'The Land of Stars?'
'Branch store? Flagship store?'
The cloud of doubt in Sasuke's heart grew heavier.
'In the Ninja World, was there a country called the [Land of Stars]?'
From the tone of these two merchants, it seemed to be a considerable country, and its commercial influence appeared to have penetrated into Konoha.
In his memory, he had been to most of the dozens of countries in the Ninja World, but there was definitely no country called the 'Land of Stars'!
Moreover, the styles of these shops were completely different from those of the traditional Land of Fire, or even the other four great nations.
'Could this be a newly emerged country in this 'anomalous Space-Time'?'
'But why could it have such an obvious influence on Konoha?'
'Were these shops... really just commercial activities?'
Just as Sasuke was deep in thought, Boruto had already reached the counter and enthusiastically ordered a super-sized meal, even running to the nearby Bansho Sweet Drinks to buy two cups of their signature milk tea.
Holding a large bag of food and two drinks with thick straws, he happily ran to Sasuke, who was waiting outside the shop.
"Sensei! Here!" Boruto shoved one cup of milk tea into Sasuke's hand, while he himself couldn't wait to insert his straw and take a big gulp.
The cold, sweet, rich milky and tea-flavored liquid, with its chewy tapioca pearls, slid down his throat, making him squint his eyes in satisfaction. "Mmm! So good! This taste... it's a bit different from the milk tea back in our place, but it's still good! Sensei, you try it!"
The adult Sasuke somewhat stiffly took the cold drink. The plastic cup wall felt cool in his hand.
He looked down at the dark brown liquid inside and the black 'pearls' settled at the bottom. This kind of drink... he truly had never seen in the Konoha of the past.
The adult Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then still took a shallow sip through the straw.
An unfamiliar sweetness and texture melted on his tongue. For an Uchiha, who liked sweet things, it was very good.
"Eh! It's that duo of strangers from earlier!"
Just then, an energetic, slightly casual, familiar voice sounded beside them.
Sasuke and Boruto's bodies simultaneously stiffened. They slowly turned their heads.
There, at the other end of the street, the four members of Team 7, who had just completed their D-rank mission, Find the Cat, were walking towards them.
Kakashi, still looking lazy, was walking behind the three, holding that copy of Icha Icha Paradise, but his gaze was already locked onto Sasuke and Boruto.
Naruto was pointing at them with one finger, his face showing an excited expression at finding something interesting.
Beside Naruto, the unfamiliar black-haired youth who had bothered Sasuke so much was also looking at them now.
Menma had his hands casually in his coat pockets, his handsome face still wearing that calm, gentle smile.
His gaze met Sasuke's from under his hat again. He slightly tilted his head and said softly to Naruto, who was pointing at Sasuke and Boruto and making a fuss:
"Naruto, don't be so surprised. Judging by their clothes, they're probably just travelers passing through the village."
The adult Sasuke's hand, holding the milk tea cup, tightened slightly.
And what nearly made Boruto drop his milk tea on the ground was Hinata suddenly hooking her arm around Menma's neck.
Boruto's eyes widened as he carefully examined the Hinata before him.
This was too different from the gentle 'mother' figure in his memory.
At this moment, Hinata's long black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, the ends swaying gently with her movements.
On her lower body, she wore denim shorts, revealing a pair of long, slender, straight legs.
The zipper of her sports coat on top was wide open, revealing a black fishnet inner shirt underneath, wrapping her proud chest, her flat abdomen completely exposed.
Her stance was casual yet full of confidence and pride. One arm was hooked around Menma's neck, as intimate as a young couple. A slightly roguish smile played on her lips, and she was examining Sasuke and Boruto with keen interest.
This was not the gentle 'mother' Boruto knew at all!
She is practically a delinquent girl!