On the other side, Naruto Uzumaki had returned to the room from before and reunited with his two companions.
The two of them had been worried about Naruto ever since he was taken away.
Now, seeing Naruto back, their eyes lit up immediately, and they rushed over to check on him. They even gave him a once-over to ensure there were no seals or traps left on him.
However, after these actions and questions, Sakura Haruno and Sai found their concerns rising again. Naruto was acting strange.
Naruto's expression was vacant, and he occasionally let out silly laughs, as if his body had returned but not his mind.
Only after a while did Naruto finally snap out of it—and then he started energetically bragging.
After all, meeting the Fourth Hokage was like a dream come true for any Leaf shinobi of their generation who grew up hearing tales of him. It was something to boast about for a lifetime.
Even though this Minato Namikaze hadn't actually become Hokage, he was still the same person from a parallel world, which was more than enough.
To Naruto, this was something he had to share immediately with his friends!
Of course, in his excitement, his words became jumbled, leaving Sai and Sakura struggling to understand and eventually giving them headaches. In the end, it was Sakura who couldn't take it anymore and smacked Naruto on the head to snap him back to his senses.
Only then did Sakura and Sai finally learn about what Naruto had seen and heard after being taken away.
Unsurprisingly, both of them were stunned and couldn't believe it. Even someone as smart as Sakura found the idea of traveling through time and across parallel worlds too much—it completely overturned their worldview.
More importantly, although Naruto still didn't know who his parents were, his companions now realized that this loud, carefree boy had deep ties with someone like the Fourth Hokage.
As for the Uchiha that Naruto called "Uncle Kei," though they hadn't heard his name, anyone who could be that close with Minato Namikaze had to be a big deal in the Uchiha Clan.
So who were Naruto's parents really? And why was their identity being kept secret from him?
Sakura and Sai were filled with curiosity and concern.
Just then, the door opened.
A handsome blond man stepped in.
The moment they saw him, both Sai and Sakura immediately recognized him—he looked exactly like the Fourth Hokage in the pictures!
They quickly stood up, while Naruto happily waved and called out, "Uncle Minato!"
Minato Namikaze smiled gently and nodded. That warm smile radiated like sunlight, making even Sai and Sakura, who weren't directly facing him, feel comforted. Sakura even blushed, thinking he was just as handsome as her beloved "Sasuke."
Then, the two of them called out in unison, "Yondaim—sama!"
Minato's smile froze.
He turned to Naruto with a helpless look. "Naruto, didn't you explain things properly to your friends?"
Naruto scratched his head. "Uh…"
Seeing that, Minato understood. Of course, his son hadn't explained anything clearly. But he couldn't blame him. After all, this was his parallel universe son. How could he not dote on him?
So Minato explained to Sakura and Sai that he wasn't the Fourth Hokage, but rather the Hokage's assistant. He also emphasized that in this world, Lady Tsunade was the only person slated to become the Fourth Hokage—and she was about to officially take office.
Hearing that, Sai and Sakura were shocked. They never expected their Fifth Hokage to have been promoted to Fourth, while the original Fourth was "just" a Hokage assistant.
With this, the two of them finally grasped how different the parallel world truly was—two flowers that looked similar, yet were fundamentally different.
Still, their respect for Minato remained. Even if he wasn't the Fourth Hokage here, he was still the Yellow Flash of the Leaf. And being the Hokage's assistant was hardly a lowly position. Given his age, even if he never became the Fourth, he was sure to become the Fifth. He remained an exalted Hokage-sama in their eyes.
So they continued to respectfully address him as "Lord Minato."
Minato, however, found it a bit too formal. These two were his son's close friends. And judging by Naruto's attitude toward the pink-haired girl, he clearly liked her. Though she seemed to match Kei's infamous saying about "pink hair hiding dark hearts," as long as his son liked her, he had no objections.
Minato hoped the two would call him "Uncle Minato," just like Naruto did. But for shinobi who had received formal training, such a title felt far too casual. Naruto's disregard for such hierarchies was unusual.
Seeing this, Minato said nothing more and told them to call him whatever they liked, which made the two sigh in relief.
Then Minato invited the three of them to visit the Leaf Village of this world.
Naruto, of course, was thrilled—he really wanted to see what this Konoha was like.
Sakura and Sai, however, were hesitant. Though they were curious too, their journey through time had been accidental. This wasn't their world. If they could, they'd rather return to their own immediately. After all, if they stayed missing too long, it would cause chaos back home.
Hearing this, Naruto was disappointed, but didn't object—he understood they were right.
However, Minato shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you can't go back for now."
The three looked confused.
Minato didn't hide the reason and explained it clearly.
It was all due to the stability of the Dragon Vein.
In the original timeline, Naruto and the others had been sent back through the Dragon Vein because the rogue ninja Mukade was using its energy purely as a power source, keeping the Dragon Vein stable and pure.
But in this world, Sasori and Orochimaru had modified the area extensively for better research. Even the way its energy was output had been changed.
This caused instability in the Dragon Vein due to the staggered time travel of Mukade and Naruto's group. Though no major accidents had occurred, restoring it would take time—its energy was now turbulent.
While it could still be activated, there was no telling where Naruto's group might end up.
So, in order to properly recalibrate the Dragon Vein's function—and because Orochimaru and Sasori wanted to study its time-traveling properties further—Naruto and his friends had to stay in the main world for a while.
Minato didn't understand the technical details, but he trusted the professionals. If Orochimaru and Sasori said so, he accepted it and passed the explanation on to the trio.
When he saw their worried faces, he smiled and reassured them: "Don't worry. According to Lord Orochimaru and Sasori-kun, since time travel creates paradoxes by nature, if they can fully understand the mechanism, they can send you back to the exact second before you left."
"In other words, there's no need to worry that staying here too long will worry your people back home."
Though Naruto and the others didn't quite grasp terms like "time paradox," they understood the gist: they could return to the moment they left.
That put their minds at ease, and they no longer objected to visiting Konoha.
Though Sakura and Sai still wondered why Konoha personnel were in Rōran and studying the Dragon Vein—and why Orochimaru and Sasori were working together—they knew it was better not to speak out of turn about matters they didn't fully understand. Better to avoid committing a grave shinobi mistake.
Originally, the three thought they'd have to walk there. But Minato, using his perfected Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), showed them what a real "Flying Thunder God Express" looked like.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Minato's secure house in Konoha.
The three were stunned by the display. They were completely in awe of the legendary "Yondaime."
Minato found it hard to keep a straight face. Being called "Yondaime" so many times was awkward—if outsiders heard, they'd think he was a power-hungry man already trying to seize the Hokage seat.
Thankfully, Sakura, being Tsunade's disciple in her world, had some political awareness. She immediately realized that calling Minato "Yondaime" in this Konoha was a major political misstep. She quickly warned Naruto and Sai never to bring it up again.
The two understood. Even Naruto finally got it.
From then on, they were careful never to mention the Fourth Hokage or connect that title to Minato Namikaze.
Minato then used the Transformation Jutsu to change his appearance and took the three out of the safe house.
To their surprise, they weren't in the Konoha they knew.
His safe house was located in the New District. Kei Uchiha had built many such secure locations for his close allies. It was easy for him to set these things up.
So, what Naruto, Sakura, and Sai saw was a completely new Konoha undergoing rapid development.
The entire New District was bustling with construction. Even during the day, the streets were full of people—far more than they remembered from their own world's Konoha. It looked like the population seen only during festivals.
Keep in mind, Minato's safe house was in a residential area. The commercial and industrial zones would be even more crowded.
In the distance, they could still see the old Konoha. The tall walls that once enclosed it had been largely torn down to integrate it with the new city, enabling better governance and trade.
Sakura muttered, "This… is Konoha?"
Naruto exclaimed, "Amazing! So many people! This Konoha is amazing!"
Sai said nothing. Instead, he instinctively took out his drawing pad and began sketching the scene before him.
Seeing their reactions, Minato understood. Even the Konoha twenty years into the future in their world couldn't match the prosperity of this one—not even close. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so shocked.
Pride welled up in Minato's heart. After all, he too had contributed to this flourishing, beautiful new Konoha.
He smiled and began explaining the history and development of the New Konoha to the trio.
At the end, he said, "All these changes came from your godfather, Uchiha Kei. If he hadn't pushed so many new ideas forward, our Konoha would never have developed like this. Maybe back then, it would've looked more familiar to you."
Hearing that, the three became even more curious. Naruto immediately asked, "Uncle Minato, can you tell us what Uncle Kei actually did? What exactly did he do to change Konoha like this?"
Minato gave a mysterious smile. "That… you'll understand once you explore Konoha for yourselves. For now, let me keep showing you around!"
Though they remained curious, since Minato said so, they didn't press the matter. They followed the disguised Minato as he showed them around the New Konoha.
The endless exclamations and questions that followed need not be repeated.
Eventually, they reached the game hall in the New District—and all three were captivated by the Genjutsu-based entertainment.
So Minato simply took them inside to let them experience this world's unique form of fun.
That day, the Shinobi World gained three more gaming addicts.
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