Chapter 105 — The Echo of the Moon
Naruto stared at the fading light where the mysterious man had disappeared, the wind still humming faintly from the energy left behind. His eyes widened as he tried to make sense of what he had just seen.
"What was that?" he said, his voice trembling between awe and disbelief. "Was that… Akira's father?"
Sasuke's Rinnegan slowly dimmed as he looked at the empty sky. His expression, usually calm and composed, was shadowed with unease.
"Yes… I think so," he replied quietly. "And judging by that chakra, he wasn't an ordinary Otsutsuki. He was one of the old ones—the first generation. But I didn't expect an Otsutsuki that powerful. That man erased Mitsutsuki without even lifting a finger."
The battlefield was silent. The energy that had once roared through Roran now felt distant, like a dream that had ended too soon.
Akira stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the place where the portal had disappeared. Slowly, he lowered his eyes—and then noticed something new.
In his small hand, two earrings rested on his palm. Each was delicate, hanging from a fine silver chain—one shaped like a blue moon, the other like a golden moon. Both glowed faintly, the light warm and steady, radiating a sense of silent protection.
Akira's breath caught. He didn't remember having them before.
He clenched his fist lightly around the earrings, feeling their faint pulse of chakra, then looked toward Naruto and Sasuke.
"Are you both alright?" he asked softly.
Naruto blinked, still dazed. "Aaaah… yeah, I think so. But what just happened? That guy—he just came out of nowhere and—"
Akira interrupted gently. "That was my father," he said. "But… I think he's gone again. Like back then."
Sasuke turned his gaze from the horizon to Akira. "Back then?"
Akira didn't answer directly. His eyes drifted again toward the spot of the vanished portal—silent, thoughtful. Then, after a moment, he said, "Sasuke… can you do me a favor? Erase everyone's memories. All of them—except Kakashi's and mine."
Sasuke frowned. "Erase their memories? What do you want them to remember?"
"Make it seem like we came here, fought Mukade, and stopped him from using the Dragon Vein," Akira said, his tone quiet but firm. "Let them remember that Sara broke the connection, and in the end, the battle destroyed the city. Nothing else."
Sasuke studied him carefully. "Alright, if that's what you want. But I don't understand—why leave Kakashi's memory intact? Wouldn't it be safer if everyone forgot?"
Akira hesitated. "I… don't know," he admitted. "Something tells me Kakashi shouldn't forget. I can't explain it—it's just a feeling."
Sasuke's eyes softened for a moment. "You're strange sometimes," he said, activating his Rinnegan. "But I'll trust your instinct."
Before Sasuke began, Akira remembered something. He reached into his pouch and pulled out two small glass bottles filled with glowing blue liquid—each pulsing faintly with life force. He handed them to Naruto and Sasuke.
"Take these," Akira said. "They'll help you recover faster." Then he took out a small scroll and two miniature fairies appeared, fluttering softly before returning into his dimension with a glimmer of light.
Naruto blinked as Akira reached back into his pouch and pulled out another item—a small sealed box that smelled faintly… delicious.
"This," Akira said with a faint smile, "is ramen from Ichiraku. The shop just opened recently. These are two of the first ten bowls ever made."
Naruto's face lit up instantly, stars in his eyes. "Wait—Ichiraku? You brought ramen from that Ichiraku?!"
Sasuke glanced at the box, amused. "You're unbelievable," he muttered. Then, curiously, he asked, "Did you know we were coming here?"
Akira tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "You could say… something like that. Not exactly you, but I was expecting someone."
He looked at Naruto and Sasuke—older, wiser versions of the legends he'd heard about—and smiled faintly.
Technically, he thought to himself, I wasn't wrong. I was waiting for Naruto at sixteen… not thirty-four.
As the wind swept through the ruins of Roran, carrying dust and memory alike, the three of them stood in the fading light. The moon above glowed faintly — blue and gold — as if echoing the earrings that shimmered in Akira's palm.
And far away, beyond sight and time, a man with gentle eyes watched from the stars, whispering softly to the moonlight that followed his son.
End of Chapter 105.