As the saying goes, time flies when you're deeply focused on studying. Asuka, completely immersed in deciphering the seal, barely noticed the passage of time.
Aside from one trip to gather supplies, he had spent all his time researching the sealing jutsu left behind by Minato. Before he realized it, several days had already passed.
Thanks to his constant efforts, he had managed to decipher more than ninety percent of the technique.
Today, Asuka decided to test things out and see whether he could undo the parts he had already deciphered. After all, he couldn't die anyway—so what did he have to fear?
As Asuka continuously formed hand seals, Minato's kunai began to tremble slightly. The power of the Dragon Veins started leaking out as the seal weakened.
The final section—one Asuka wasn't completely sure about—also began to loosen. But just as he was about to complete the last step, he accidentally triggered a hidden trap left behind by Minato.
Asuka lowered his hands and sighed helplessly.
Almost as if responding to that sigh, the Dragon Veins' energy suddenly erupted, forming a massive pillar of light that engulfed him.
---
Asuka's vision blurred.
When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar environment. Looking around, he saw intact buildings everywhere. The once-prosperous ancient city of Roran stood before him.
Knowing the plot well, Asuka immediately realized what had happened.
He had likely been caught in a space-time anomaly.
But this confused him. Hadn't the events of the movie timeline already passed? How had he still ended up traveling through time?
Could it be because the Dragon Veins had gone berserk?
Just as Asuka was thinking about this, a sudden roar in the distance interrupted his thoughts.
He spread his wings and flew toward the sound.
From the air, Asuka clearly saw a ninja wearing an orange outfit, a Konoha forehead protector, and short blond hair. The ninja was leaping between tall buildings while being chased by a group of puppets that looked almost like Gundams.
"Is that Naruto?"
"What's going on? Did I arrive at the same point in time as Naruto?"
Asuka was genuinely puzzled. Even if the Dragon Veins had caused him to travel through time, how could he end up at the exact same moment Naruto arrived? Could this really be some kind of parallel timeline?
While he was thinking about this, Asuka suddenly tilted his head slightly.
A kunai flew past his temple.
He looked toward the source of the attack and saw that one of the puppets chasing Naruto had opened a mechanism on its shoulder. It fired a barrage of chakra-propelled kunai toward Naruto, and one of them had coincidentally reached Asuka's position in the sky.
Looking at the blond figure below, who was awkwardly leaping and dodging puppet attacks between buildings, it was hard to imagine that this seemingly clumsy young man would one day become the hero who saved the entire ninja world.
Naruto, still being chased by the puppets, suddenly noticed the chakra blade strapped to his waist.
Dodging an attack mid-air, he landed briefly on the wall of a building, kicked off it again, and drew the chakra blade while flipping through the air. With a clean strike, he cut the chakra strings controlling one of the puppets.
The puppet wobbled for a moment before crashing down from the sky.
Naruto repeated the move several times, cutting the chakra strings of several more puppets.
But before he could celebrate, even more puppets joined the battle.
Overwhelmed by their numbers, Naruto was caught off guard and knocked down by one of them, falling toward the ground.
The puppet raised its arm and fired another chakra cannon.
Although Naruto tried his best to dodge while lying on the ground, the attack still grazed his left leg.
But the puppets had no intention of letting him escape.
Several descended to ground level and attacked together, launching dozens of chakra-propelled kunai from every direction toward Naruto.
At that moment, a ninja with blond hair and a mask suddenly appeared beside him—and instantly disappeared along with him.
Two more ninjas appeared next to the puppets.
One of them suddenly enlarged his arm and smashed two puppets with a single blow. The other released a swarm of insects that invaded two more puppets and destroyed them from the inside.
Then the group quickly retreated with Naruto.
Floating in the air, Asuka watched everything unfold.
In truth, he had already sensed Minato's chakra before Minato appeared. Because of that, he chose to simply observe instead of interfering.
Asuka had no intention of meeting Minato and the others right now. But seeing such a familiar scene play out before him gave him a strange sense of nostalgia.
He knew that according to the original storyline, Naruto would soon help the current Queen of Roran, Sara, defeat Anrokuzan—who was actually Mukade, a rogue ninja from Sunagakure who had come from the future.
After Sara successfully shut down the Dragon Veins, Mukade would nearly cause them to go berserk again, and only with Minato's help would they finally be sealed.
However, since Asuka was here, he had no intention of following the original plot.
After all, he wasn't exactly a good person.
His plan was simple: abduct Sara directly and head straight to the Dragon Veins.
Just as he finished thinking this, loud cheers erupted from the streets near the Royal Palace of Roran in the distance.
Asuka flew to a tall building beside the palace, retracted his wings, and slowly descended onto the rooftop.
He planned to abduct Sara the moment she appeared.
Not long after, the elegantly dressed Sara stepped out onto the balcony. She walked forward with a gentle smile, raising her right hand to greet the crowd below.
The crowd, however, consisted entirely of puppets disguised as ordinary people.
Asuka had no interest in admiring this fake display of harmony.
The moment Sara stepped onto the balcony, he kicked off the rooftop and shot toward her.
With a casual wave of his hand, he knocked aside several annoying puppets. Then he grabbed the stunned Sara, knocked her unconscious, tucked her under his left arm, and leaped away from the palace.
But before he could escape far along the building wall, a familiar voice shouted from behind him.
"Hey! You up ahead! Let go of that girl!!"
Asuka glanced back.
Naruto was rapidly chasing after him with an angry expression.
Ignoring him, Asuka kicked off the wall again and accelerated.
Seeing this, Naruto quickly formed a cross with his hands.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
With a loud bang, a shadow clone appeared beside him. The clone grabbed Naruto's arm, spun him around several times, and then hurled him straight toward Asuka.
Sensing Naruto's approach, Asuka turned around and delivered a powerful high kick.
Naruto was sent flying straight into a nearby building, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Although Naruto would eventually become incredibly powerful, at this moment he was still just an impulsive kid. Asuka didn't take him seriously at all.
He was about to leave when a massive swarm of insects suddenly appeared in front of him.
The dense cloud surged toward him, forcing him to stop.
With one hand, Asuka quickly formed a seal and activated Fire Release.
Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!
Even though it was a basic fire-style technique, the enormous amount of chakra Asuka poured into it made it devastating. The blazing flames instantly engulfed the swarm.
Countless insects fell from the sky, and the air filled with the faint smell of burning.
Suddenly, a giant arm burst out from beneath Asuka's feet.
The massive hand clenched into a fist and struck toward him.
But the expected impact never happened.
Asuka remained standing calmly in place.
The enormous fist was stopped by his right hand.
The two figures—one huge and one slender—remained locked in an eerie stalemate.
Akimichi Choza, who had thrown the punch, stared in disbelief at the black-robed figure before him.
Although the person was wrapped in a black robe, Choza could tell that his opponent was not large or bulky. Yet this seemingly slender figure had blocked his attack with ease.
The reason was simple.
Asuka had activated the Black King ability.
The immense impact from Choza's punch had been completely absorbed.
With a slight movement of his right hand, Asuka grabbed the giant fist and suddenly swung Choza to the side, releasing all the stored force.
Choza felt an overwhelming power surge through his arm as his body was violently flung into a nearby building wall.
Asuka leaped upward and landed on the rooftop.
At that moment, a kunai shot toward him from the left.
He turned his head and saw two ninjas who had appeared before him at some unknown moment…
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