Chapter 33: Ambushed
Franklin stepped through the light gate. As a flash of white light passed by and his vision cleared again, he found himself inside a pitch-black small room.
[World Entry Successful. Mission Activated.]
[Main Mission: Disrupt and alter the Naruto World's timeline. Assist the Dimensional Heavenly Tome in extracting the world's origin.]
[Mission Duration: 72 hours]
[Reward: 1–Supreme Spirit Stone]
[The Naruto World is a high-level world. Talent Awakeners should proceed with caution.]
Peering out the window, Franklin saw that nighttime Konoha was silent, almost eerily so, with hardly a sound breaking the stillness.
In the next instant, he released his divine sense. Centered on his physical body, everything within a 500-meter radius condensed into a three-dimensional holographic projection in his consciousness.
After a thorough scan, Franklin discovered that his current location was an abandoned, uninhabited building in the eastern part of Konoha. Most of the surrounding structures were ordinary villagers' homes.
There were quite a few genin and chunin around, but despite Franklin's open probing, none of them sensed a thing.
After pondering for a while, Franklin controlled his phantom to leave his body and scout the current timeline of the Naruto world.
Under Franklin's control, the phantom quickly darted through Konoha's darkened streets.
From afar, he spotted the four Hokage Rock faces. That alone confirmed that this was still the early period of the Naruto timeline.
The difference in power between the early and later stages of the series was like night and day. Confirming that it was still early allowed Franklin to breathe a sigh of relief.
Phantom Franklin continued toward the village center. Determining Naruto's age and current circumstances was crucial — it would dictate Franklin's next moves.
It was late now, and Naruto was probably at home. But where was his home? Franklin had no memory of it. He quickly considered who might know.
After going through the possibilities, he was certain the Third Hokage would know. The Hokage's office was located just beneath the Hokage Rock. Judging purely from the anime's depiction of his strength, Franklin felt confident enough to have a run-in with the Third Hokage if needed.
"Should I go and ask him?" — the thought crossed his mind but was quickly dismissed. Now was clearly not the time.
After a moment's hesitation, Franklin relaxed. He was here to experience what it meant to meddle with a world line. Acting after careful thought wouldn't slow him down.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, a rushing sound of wind suddenly erupted around where his physical body was located.
His divine sense instantly expanded — dozens of explosive tags were being thrown toward him simultaneously. Franklin knew now wasn't the time to fight head-on. Besides, he was in the wrong for trespassing into Konoha in the first place.
That went against his personal principles.
Flames from the explosions surged toward the room where he was hiding. Wood fragments, engulfed in fire, hurtled straight for his face. But Franklin didn't panic — his reaction was lightning-fast.
In the blink of an eye, he swapped places with his phantom. Franklin appeared on the street while the phantom appeared in the explosion site. A moment later, the explosion's chakra-infused shockwave passed right through the phantom's body.
Franklin's real body, now on the street, let out a cry of agony and collapsed to the ground. Though his physical body was unharmed, an intense wave of pain — as if his body had been pierced — suddenly hit him.
The searing pain left Franklin weak and trembling, causing him to collapse and groan on the ground as waves of agony washed over him. A thunderous explosion followed, and lights in nearby houses flicked on one after another.
Barely conscious, Franklin forced himself to crawl toward a nearby wall. Earth-element spiritual energy surged out and wrapped around him, sinking his entire body slowly into the ground.
Meanwhile, the phantom was engulfed in flames within the room, the chakra-infused fire burning all around it.
The unbearable heat and constant burning pain fed directly back into Franklin's real body. His clothes were soaked in cold sweat, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Shouts and chaotic noise filled Konoha's night. Before long, several figures leapt across rooftops, and calming voices followed.
"Everyone, return to your homes. Stay inside and wait for further instructions. If there's any danger, we will organize an evacuation. The explosion just now was an accident — there's no need to panic."
As the figures passed, the noise gradually subsided, though confusion still lingered. During this time, Franklin controlled his phantom to hide within the soil beneath the burning house.
Finally able to catch his breath, Franklin realized something — much about the phantom's function had been hidden. The description in the Dimensional Heavenly Tome had been extremely incomplete.
Now he finally understood what "sharing a single consciousness" truly meant — it was like having a clone with no damage resistance, with every sensation fed directly back to the original.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The burning pain still raged, and the top priority was getting away from the danger zone.
Franklin quickly directed the phantom to move away from the flames, burrowing through the soil and slowly heading out of the burning house.
Just as he was about to leave, several shadows appeared outside. Upon closer inspection, they were a few of Konoha's well-known jōnin.
"It was caused by explosive tags — dozens of them detonating at once."
As the words fell, more figures arrived.
"All unrelated personnel, clear the area immediately."
Seeing the newcomers' masks, the jōnin exchanged knowing looks. "The Anbu! This is a direct emergency mission from the Hokage. Let's go."
Once the jōnin left, only a few masked Anbu remained.
"The life signal we detected earlier vanished without a trace."
"There's no sign of chakra anywhere."
"Search again. Don't overlook a single clue."
After the apparent leader spoke, he vanished, leaving the rest to continue investigating. As the flames gradually died down and darkness returned, the leader reappeared.
"Nothing. For now, let's withdraw. As long as we can confirm the Hokage's sensing wasn't mistaken, that's enough. Even he is wary of this power. All we need to do now is report."
The figures disappeared, and silence returned once again.
After confirming that the surrounding ninja had truly dispersed, phantom Franklin slithered along the ground, heading slowly toward the residential district.
But as he moved stealthily through the darkness, he suddenly felt a dragging resistance.
"Found it."
In an instant, a mysterious force yanked the phantom violently from the ground. Countless shuriken and kunai rained down on him, followed by a barrage of jutsu.
The piercing agony of being impaled tore straight into Franklin's real body. Fighting through the pain, phantom Franklin didn't hesitate — he darted through the encirclement and slipped into the shadows of nearby buildings, vanishing from sight.
The jōnin who had left earlier and the Anbu operatives reappeared, all eyes turning toward Nara Shikaku.
"You all saw it — that thing was a black shadow with no physical form. I couldn't control it with Shadow Possession. The most I could do was slow it down."
Silence fell over the group. The Anbu gave a slight nod before quickly departing, leaving behind a single leader-like figure.
"Everyone, proceed with caution. That unidentified shadow has already infiltrated Konoha. It'll be difficult to track it down.
Keep an eye out in your daily patrols. I'll report everything directly to the Hokage, including Lord Nara's assistance."
In an instant, they all vanished into the darkness.
Phantom Franklin, now darting swiftly between shadows, had already thought of a place where he would absolutely not be found — the Uchiha clan's hidden stone tablet chamber.
Very few outside the Uchiha even knew of its existence, making it the perfect temporary hiding place.
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