The current moment.
A rift in time and space opened in mid-air.
Two figures fell out from within it.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
Before hitting the ground, the adult Sasuke's remaining right arm extended slightly backward to maintain balance, and he landed smoothly on one foot first.
His empty left sleeve fluttered slightly in the air current from the landing before hanging down by his side.
His right hand smoothly reached for his waist, sheathing the Kusanagi Sword with a crisp "clink," the movement clean and efficient.
On the other side, Uzumaki Boruto was not nearly as composed.
He performed a direct "fallen angel" landing, face-first.
He then stood up wobbling and scratched his head.
"That hurts!"
After getting up, Boruto began to look around and found that they had landed inside a forest.
Sasuke suddenly crouched down; his Chakra consumption was too high, and a piercing pain radiated from his left Rinnegan.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye also reverted to a normal eye.
"Mr. Sasuke, are you okay?"
Seeing Sasuke half-kneeling on the ground, Boruto immediately rushed to his side, his voice full of worry.
Sasuke didn't answer immediately; his lips were tightly pressed together, and his breathing was slightly heavier than usual.
Not only was his Chakra nearly depleted, but more troublesome was the waves of stinging, burning pain from his left Rinnegan, making his vision blurry.
His ocular power consumption was also immense.
To reduce consumption, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye reverted to its ordinary black pupil state.
"I'm fine."
After a moment, Sasuke spoke in a low voice.
"It's just that the Chakra consumption was too high."
He closed his eyes, trying to regulate the chaotic breath within his body and doing his best to suppress the discomfort of the Rinnegan.
After a brief moment of meditation, Sasuke relied on his powerful willpower to push off the ground with his right hand and slowly stand up.
Though his face was still somewhat pale and his posture lacked some of its usual sharpness, the steady aura belonging to a top-tier Ninja remained.
Seeing that Sasuke seemed to have temporarily stabilized his condition, Boruto's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and he let out a long breath. But—
In the next second, he re-entered a state of high alert, his deep blue eyes sharply scanning every shadowed corner of the forest.
"Nearby... there doesn't seem to be any sign of Momoshiki."
Boruto sensed carefully for a while and spoke with a frown. The aura of that persistent Ōtsutsuki had completely vanished here.
"By the way, where exactly is this?"
Sasuke shook his head; he couldn't provide an immediate answer either.
His sensory abilities had also failed to capture Momoshiki, nor did he find any obvious human settlements or familiar Chakra signatures.
"Let's investigate first."
He spoke succinctly; the priority was to understand their surroundings.
Boruto nodded, remembering the object in his hand that had sent them to that strange space.
He held up the turtle-shell-shaped Karasuki and gave it a hard shake.
However, the "Karasuki" gave no response; its shell was dull and lusterless, and the strange energy fluctuations from before had vanished without a trace, as if it really were just a dead little turtle.
"Damn it, no reaction at all."
Boruto muttered with some annoyance, "Throwing us into a place like this and then playing dead... was it really this guy's doing?"
He looked suspiciously at the little turtle in his hand, wondering if they had the wrong culprit.
"I'm afraid so," Sasuke said heavily, his exposed right eye looking sharply at the "Karasuki" in Boruto's hand.
Though it was silent now, its function was beyond doubt.
"Our arrival here, as well as the strange space we were trapped in before, should be the result of the combined actions of Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki and this 'Karasuki.'"
"Let's go look for a human settlement first and see what we can find."
With that, Sasuke led Boruto forward.
Light broke through from the edge of the woods, and the two stepped out warily.
"It's a small town!"
Boruto's eyes lit up, his spirits lifting.
Human presence meant there might be information, supplies, and even clues to figure out where they were.
The two exchanged a look, and Sasuke gave a slight nod.
They suppressed their swift Ninja movements and Chakra signatures, walking out from the forest edge like two ordinary travelers and stepping onto the dirt road leading to the town.
"What? So this is Konoha, but the current Konoha seems... why does it feel like all the buildings are made of wood? Does Konoha have a district like this?"
Hearing this, Sasuke suddenly looked up, but just as he was about to say something, he froze.
Because he saw that there were only four faces on the Hokage Rock.
Boruto noticed his strange behavior and followed his gaze.
In the distance, on that massive rock wall carrying the glory of past Hokage, the carved heads... were only four.
First Hokage Senju Hashirama, Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.
And then... nothing.
There was no Fifth Generation Tsunade, no Sixth Generation Kakashi, and certainly not his father, the Seventh Hokage Uzumaki Naruto.
"Eh? Where's Dad's face on the rock?"
"Could it be..."
Sasuke leaped up, with Boruto following closely behind.
Within two breaths, the two landed as light as feathers on a nearby high rooftop, where the view was broader, allowing them to see the entire Hokage Rock without obstruction.
On the rough rock wall, there were indeed only four face carvings.
The carvings ended abruptly below the statue of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, with uncarved raw rock below it.
Indeed, there were only four.
Had they returned to the Konoha of the past?
"As I suspected."
Sasuke had this premonition the moment they entered this Konoha Village.
"Warning, warning, serious error occurred."
The Karasuki in Boruto's hand suddenly issued a warning.
"It's talking?"
Boruto held the Karasuki up, and Sasuke leaned in closer.
"There is a significant deviation from the time set by Lord Momoshiki."
"You say time deviation... is this the Konoha of the past?"
Boruto was shocked: "The Konoha of the past?"
"Yes, this is the period where the Fifth Hokage Tsunade resides... Error! Error!"
Sasuke and Boruto looked at each other.
"Then where is Momoshiki?"
"Lord Momoshiki, who separated from us, will arrive here in a few days."
Afterward, the Karasuki explained the precautions for time travel to the two.
The two could not reveal their identities to people of this era, especially those close to them, or it would severely affect the future.
After a moment of contemplation, Sasuke took out a small stack of money from his pocket.
Fortunately, the currency of the Ninja World had not been changed.
His money should be usable in this world.
Soon, Sasuke took Boruto to change into a new set of clothes.
Just as the two walked out of the clothing store, they saw three people walking past them together.
Sasuke stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned.
Boruto looked over curiously; it was three people who looked like a family of three.
All three had black hair. The middle-aged man had a stern face, the woman wore casual home clothes, and the two held the hands of a blind young boy whose eyes were wrapped in bandages.
At this moment, the gentle woman was heard saying softly to the bandaged boy: "Sasuke, be good. What you need most right now is rest. When your eyes are better, Mommy and Daddy will accompany you in training, okay?"
"Naruto is too strong. I don't want to be left too far behind him, Mommy."