Boruto wandered around Konoha Village as if he were sightseeing.
Normally, his temperament was fairly restrained—especially when young Sasuke was with him. But today, Sasuke was gone, and Boruto felt completely free.
Everything in this version of Konoha felt new to him.
He kept spotting familiar faces—only much younger—and couldn't stop marveling.
"Wow… that's Uncle Chōji? He was actually pretty cute as a kid. Totally doesn't look like the greasy, worn-out middle-aged man from later."
"That's Uncle Kiba—and Akamaru! He's so tiny. How did he grow that big?"
"And that's Aunt Ino? No way… she was already this pretty as a kid?"
Boruto looked left and right, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Hey! Where are you from? Why are you wearing a Konoha headband?"
Bang!
Boruto accidentally ran into someone at a street corner.
The girl had pink hair, wore red, and gave off a strong, confident aura.
It was Haruno Sakura.
She was a bit embarrassed at first, but when she noticed the headband on Boruto's forehead, her expression instantly hardened.
Boruto looked eleven or twelve at most.
Anyone wearing a Konoha headband was a genin—which meant they had graduated from this year's or last year's Ninja Academy.
But Sakura was sure of one thing: no one like Boruto existed in either class.
That blond hair was far too noticeable.
…A spy?
Sakura's eyes lit up immediately.
"Little Aunt Sakura was this scary as a kid?" Boruto thought in panic.
He backed away instinctively. Being stared at so intensely made his skin crawl.
"Hey—what are you doing?! Don't come any closer!"
"Go on, cry," Sakura sneered as she advanced.
"Even if you scream, no one's coming to save you."
She was holding in a lot of frustration. Everyone else had been promoted to chunin, while she was still a genin. Now that she'd found a suspicious character, her imagination ran wild.
If she solved a spy case, maybe she'd get promoted too.
Sasuke was already a jonin. Staying behind as a genin felt unbearable.
"Talk. Why are you wearing a Konoha headband? You're not from this village. I've never seen you at the academy."
Boruto retreated until his back hit the wall, trembling like a scared animal.
"I—I mean… there's a reason…"
He wanted to explain—but couldn't.
He couldn't exactly say he was from the future.
"Making excuses already? That's a terrible performance," Sakura snorted.
Boruto's face flushed. Even he felt his explanation was awful.
"Sakura, what are you doing? Who's this boy?"
A gentle voice interrupted.
Boruto turned and saw a girl with pale eyes walking over—quiet, graceful, yet unexpectedly strong.
Hinata Hyuga.
Boruto's eyes widened in shock.
"Mom?! This is my mom when she was young?! No way… she's totally different.
Wait—no… she does feel kind of familiar…"
Hinata looked at Boruto's blond hair and face. For some reason, he reminded her of Naruto.
She felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.
"Sakura, calm down," Hinata said softly. "You're scaring him."
"This kid's suspicious. He's definitely a spy," Sakura insisted.
At that moment, a familiar figure appeared out of nowhere.
"Enough. He's not a spy."
Naruto stood there, smiling.
He looked Boruto up and down, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
"Naruto-kun…"
"Lord Hokage!"
Hinata immediately walked over and naturally took Naruto's hand.
Sakura straightened at once. The pressure was obvious.
Naruto wasn't her classmate anymore.
He was the Fifth Hokage.
Boruto stared at Naruto in stunned curiosity.
"Sakura, this kid is from Konoha. Don't overthink it. Treat him like one of us."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"Hinata, take Sakura and go shopping," Naruto said. "I need to talk to this kid."
"Okay, Naruto-kun."
Hinata gave Boruto one last curious glance. When she compared him to Naruto, the resemblance was uncanny—seven or eight parts alike.
She hid her doubts and left with Sakura.
Once they were gone, Naruto turned to Boruto.
"Kid. What's your name?"
Boruto swallowed.
He wanted to talk to Naruto the way he always had—but the pressure was overwhelming. An invisible presence pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe.
"Boruto… Uzumaki Boruto."
"Uzumaki Boruto?" Naruto burst out laughing.
"From the future? An Uzumaki? My son?"
Boruto froze.
He hadn't expected Naruto to see through him instantly.
"Was Dad always this sharp?"
"Come with me," Naruto said, grabbing Boruto's shoulder.
"I need to ask you a few things about the future."
In the blink of an eye, they vanished.
When they reappeared, they were standing atop Hokage Rock.
Boruto's face went pale. The moment Naruto let go, he ran to the side and threw up.
Naruto was just too fast.
"Why is your body this weak at your age?" Naruto frowned.
"Slacking off on training? Your body is the foundation of your strength. Without it, even the best ninjutsu is useless."
"Who trained you? Your fundamentals are a mess."
Boruto tried to answer, but another wave of nausea hit him.
"His teacher is me."
Sasuke appeared behind them, staring at Naruto irritably.
Naruto glanced at him calmly.
"Parallel-world Sasuke?"
"Why not future Sasuke?" Sasuke asked.
"Your chakra is huge," Naruto said evenly.
"Aside from me, you're probably the strongest in today's Konoha. But your foundation is unstable. You rely too much on chakra and your eyes."
"You're strong compared to average ninja—but against true equals, you'd struggle."
"In two or three years, this world's Sasuke will catch up to you. In five years, he'll surpass you."
Naruto said it casually, with complete certainty.
"That's nonsense!" Boruto protested.
"Master Sasuke is one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha!"
"Kid," Naruto said flatly, "you don't know what real strength is."
He turned back to Sasuke.
"You focus too much on the Sharingan. Train your body more. If your physical foundation stays weak, the stronger your enemies get, the harder it'll be for you."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"You know about our world?"
"Easy guess," Naruto replied.
"You can travel through time and space. That means you ran into something you couldn't handle."
"The ninja world is huge. Who knows what monsters are hiding out there?"
Naruto's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Even someone like Sasuke couldn't handle that enemy.
That was interesting.
This ninja world had been boring for Naruto.
The Kage, the great villages—none of them were worth his full attention.
Hidden monsters stronger than the Kage?
Now that got his blood pumping.
"So," Sasuke said slowly, "you're saying you're stronger than me."
Naruto smiled brightly.
"Yeah. Definitely."
The confidence in his eyes stunned Boruto.
This Naruto felt completely different from the one he knew.
As if… this man truly stood above the world.
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