'Even I, who should have been gradually recovering my power as the Karma thawed, am now losing my perception of time and space...'
'Brat, your previous thought was correct. Go find the Rinnegan user. Although he will still disappear if the final outcome remains unchanged, currently, he is the least affected by the timeline shifts.'
Momoshiki kept chattering incessantly in Boruto's mind.
He had practically become a chatterbox these past few days.
It was clear that the Otsutsuki weren't the fearless gods they claimed to be.
On the contrary, between creating Karma for resurrection and planting Divine Trees to refine life-extending pills, the Otsutsuki Clan was actually the most death-fearing clan in the universe.
"Sasuke-san should be following behind us."
Boruto could tell Momoshiki just wanted to prevent his own disappearance, but there was no choice—they were now grasshoppers tied to the same string.
And it wasn't just the two of them; there were also those future relatives and friends.
To save the entire future world, he had no choice but to cooperate with the Otsusuki ghost in his head.
"...But how do I explain this to Sasuke-san?" Boruto looked conflicted.
Momoshiki's was gradually developing in a direction similar to Tobirama Senju's.
One could only say that when two people share common enemies and face life-and-death situations together, this is how it goes.
If Madara and Obito hadn't tried to capture the Nine-Tails, the relationship between Kurama and Naruto wouldn't have achieved such breakthrough development either.
As for Momoshiki's proposed method, it was simple: take action again, this time voluntarily revealing himself to force Sasuke to appear before Jiraiya to protect Boruto.
So, Momoshiki took control once again.
'Momoboro' floated mid-air, looking down as if he was looking at ants.
He raised a knife—which looked suspiciously like a prop for S&M play that he had borrowed from the innkeeper's room—and stabbed it towards the sleeping Asuma.
Poof.
The sleeping "Asuma" vanished in a puff of smoke.
"What?" Momoshiki was stunned.
The Otsutsuki's natural enemy—the Shadow Clone Technique—had proven effective once again!
"HA!!!"
The real Asuma, holding a Chakra Blade infused with sharp Wind Style Chakra, attacked Momoshiki from behind with a punch.
It turned out Asuma had sensed something was wrong when Jiraiya personally came to report his father's death.
Especially since Jiraiya said the matter needed to wait until the next day to discuss, indicating the situation was complex.
Therefore, Asuma had deliberately remained cautious and vigilant.
He just never expected to actually catch the guy trying to assassinate him!
"Hmph, just another monkey."
Momoshiki disdainfully raised his hand and caught Asuma's Chakra Blade.
The wind-natured Chakra on the blade was instantly absorbed by the Rinnegan's ability, and Momoshiki returned the wind blade with doubled force.
Swoosh!
Thud.
Asuma was cut in half at the waist and collapsed to the ground.
When the others heard the commotion and rushed over, they only saw the room split in two and Asuma, severed in half and no longer breathing.
Asuma's own Chakra Blade was still embedded in his throat, while his hand had written the character "Him" (彼) on the ground in blood.
It seemed to be the last clue he left behind.
"What happened?" Konohamaru rubbed his eyes, arriving last at the scene.
"Go back to sleep. I'll tell you tomorrow."
Jiraiya immediately blocked Konohamaru's path with a serious expression, giving Naruto a meaningful look.
Naruto nodded, forced a stiff laugh, and pulled the confused Konohamaru back to his room.
Shikamaru trembled all over as he looked at the gruesome scene inside the room.
He couldn't suppress his emotions at all, wanting to scream and cry out loud.
But since Jiraiya had instructed Naruto to take Konohamaru away, Shikamaru knew he couldn't break down now.
He had to hold back, or Konohamaru would surely notice something was wrong.
"Shikamaru, calm down. Our top priority now is to find the culprit." Jiraiya patted Shikamaru's shoulder heavily.
Shikamaru slapped himself hard across the face to sober up, then took a deep breath.
"You're right, Jiraiya-sama."
After saying this, Shikamaru entered the room and began examining the scene with shaking hands.
Jiraiya stood at the doorway, gazing into the dark, deep corridor behind him without intervening.
"The fatal wound was caused by Asuma's own Wind Release... Could it be that?"
Shikamaru made his deduction after examining the body.
"What?" Jiraiya asked.
"The target of our mission—the Evil God Cult. It's said they possess a forbidden technique that can synchronize the damage they receive and reflect it back onto their enemies. Asuma was holding his Chakra Blade in his other hand, clearly having launched an attack, yet his injuries were caused by his own Wind Release reflecting back. This completely matches..."
Shikamaru clenched his fist as he analyzed, trying to find a logical enemy.
"Your analysis is good, but it doesn't hold up unless the innkeeper is a follower of the Evil God Cult."
Jiraiya calmly refuted Shikamaru's analysis.
"Why?" Shikamaru was puzzled.
"Because I set up a sensory barrier outside the inn. I would have detected if any outsider had broken in. But from evening until now, the barrier hasn't been triggered once."
Jiraiya sighed with melancholy, looking through the wall cut open by the Wind Release Chakra at the moonlight outside.
His earlier assumptions had been too hasty.
The result of this misjudgment was Asuma's death.
"Jiraiya-sama, are you saying that..."
Shikamaru stood up, trembling in shock as the implication hit him.
"There's only one truth, there was no external enemy at all."
"The killer is..... among us."
Jiraiya's gaze returned to the corridor.
With all the commotion from Asuma's room, even Konohamaru had been awakened and came running.
The innkeeper had come once too, but Jiraiya had sent him away.
Only Boruto.
Why hasn't he appeared until now?
"And that 'Him' character on the floor—I haven't introduced that person to you yet, so Asuma didn't know who it referred to and could only use this character as a placeholder for the stranger."
Jiraiya took out a sealing scroll from behind him and stepped forward to hand it to Shikamaru.
"..."
After receiving it, Shikamaru sealed Asuma's body and passed the scroll back to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya summoned a toad and had it deliver the scroll back to Konoha immediately.
Afterward, the two of them sat down weakly in the room where the murder had taken place, remaining silent throughout the night.
Gradually, Jiraiya began to understand everything.
Though he felt deeply perplexed upon realizing who the murderer likely was, no matter how unreasonable it seemed, this was the only possibility left.
At the same time, Jiraiya understood that the root of all this lay in Tsunade's failure to honor their original agreement.
In truth, when Tsunade first brought up the matter regarding the future with him and Hiruzen, Jiraiya had felt it unnecessary to keep secrets.
His understanding of Makoto mainly came from their conversation on the Four Violet Flames Formation rooftop and Naruto's enthusiastic descriptions.
In short, Jiraiya believed Makoto was trustworthy.
But Tsunade was the Hokage.
If she wanted to be cautious and think one step further, Jiraiya couldn't very well object.
Now, sitting in the bloodstained room, Jiraiya deeply regretted not advising Tsunade more strongly back then.