"As it is not my right, since I am obviously not a clan head... but, did you happen to come teleporting straight from that ruined dango shop right in front of us...?"
The heavy question hung frozen in the quiet air of the shop.
The random woman, still shaking a little, chimed in quickly to back up the ramen chef. "Teuchi-san is completely right, Hokage-sama... even from all the way over here, the air outside smells heavily of blood." She looked at him with wide, pleading eyes.
"Shouldn't you go over there and stop it...?"
The sudden weight of the entire situation crashed heavily onto Minato's shoulders. It was a massive, suffocating burden.
His heart clenched tightly—not just because Sasuke, his trusted future comrade, was one of the people directly responsible for all the chaos and destruction happening out on the streets, but because of his own deep nature.
Even though he wasn't technically the actual Hokage belonging to this specific timeline's village, his deeply rooted instincts were screaming at him. As a shinobi of the Leaf, he simply could not bear to sit back while his fellow, innocent villagers were lying dead in the snow.
Minato gently stood up from his knees, his towering figure returning to its full height.
Little Ayame flinched slightly, holding the damp towel up with a tiny, apologetic pout on her face.
"Uhh... sorry for interrupting, Hokage-sama, but there is still a lot of broth left in your—"
"Thank you, Ayame-chan," Minato interrupted softly, giving her a bright, reassuring wink. "With just this much effort from you, I am already back in shape!"
Ayame's cheeks flared a bright crimson again, and she held the wooden bowl close to her chest, nodding happily.
The warm, playful atmosphere in the shop instantly shifted into a sharp, tactical focus. Minato closed his eyes, his breathing stabilizing into a deep, rhythmic pattern.
He raised his right hand, forming a precise, single-handed gesture to trigger his long-distance Hiraishin no Jutsu. He needed to lock onto the distant formula marks he had left behind, stretching his senses all the way back to the borders.
Before his Hirashin could pull him away, he snapped his right blue eye open, looking back at the two adults with a charming, responsible smile.
"By the way, ma'am—" Minato said, nodding toward the woman. "I have kept the money for the damaged ramen bowl. Also, Teuchi-san, your shop's structural damages will be fully compensated directly by the Hokage building."
Teuchi instantly crossed his arms, shaking his head in absolute disapproval. "Hokage-sama, I absolutely do not need any compensation! You saving our lives is more than enough!"
The woman frantically added, waving her hands in total panic, "Yes! Hokage-sama, please do not embarrass me over a simple bowl of ramen! I would die of shame if the financial department found out!"
Minato just let out a warm, incredibly reliable laugh that instantly chased away all their lingering fears. He gave them a comforting look, his quiet confidence radiating through the broken room.
"I'll be right back — Minato promised softly, his eyes flashing with a sharp, protective glint. "...With more friends."
SHIING!
With a brilliant flash of yellow light, the Hokage vanished from the corner of the shop in an absolute blink of an eye.
A sudden, powerful gust of wind generated from his departure swept through the small room. Tiny Ayame's straight bangs blew wildly across her face from the sudden draft. She stood completely frozen, staring at the empty space where the legendary hero had just been kneeling.
Slowly lowering her wooden bowl, she looked up toward the ceiling with stars in her eyes, clutching the damp towel to her chest as she whispered in pure, childlike awe,
"...So cool...!"
The dust outside the ruined dango shop swirled violently as the battle between the two Uchiha raged on. Steel clashed against steel in a blinding, lethal dance, sparks flying with every single collision.
Suddenly, right in the middle of a fierce exchange, Hikaru completely froze. He stopped his blade dead in its tracks, entirely dropping his guard.
Sasuke didn't hesitate for a single fraction of a second. Seizing the opening, he lunged forward, his Kusanagi sword slicing cleanly through the air.
SLASH!
The sharp blade tore through the fabric of Hikaru's sleeve, carving a deep, bloody gash right across his upper arm. But Hikaru didn't even flinch. He didn't look at his wound. He didn't look at Sasuke.
Instead, his spinning Mangekyo Sharingan was completely locked onto the empty space outside the ruined entrance of the shop. His face twisted into a look of genuine, sudden shock.
'Strange...' Sasuke thought, his crimson eyes narrowing as he instantly pulled his sword back, adjusting his stance. 'Why did he stop moving? What is he looking at...?'
The absolute silence stretching across the battlefield was suffocating. Hikaru was standing perfectly still, bleeding, yet radiating a cold, unpredictable pressure.
Sasuke's grip tightened on his hilt. 'Whatever it is... this is my chance...!!!'
With a fierce burst of speed, Sasuke exploded forward, aiming a lethal strike directly at Hikaru's exposed chest to end the fight once and for all.
He never got the chance.
Hikaru's gaze snapped back, his eyes flashing with utter irritation. Without even raising his sword, he casually thrust his uninjured hand straight out toward Sasuke, his palm flat and wide open.
"Let's play these games later—" Hikaru muttered annoyingly.
FUTON!
An absolute monstrosity of compressed, heavy wind chakra violently erupted right from his bare palm.
It wasn't a standard gust—it was a solid, crushing wall of invisible air, ripping up the floorboards and shattering the space between them.
The sheer, brutal power hit Sasuke square in the chest. The blast was so immense that it completely erased his balance, launching him backward through the air like a ragdoll. He flew down the narrow street, a streak of absolute speed, crashing straight toward the Ichiraku Ramen shop.
BANG!!!
The heavy wooden doors of the ramen shop shattered completely as Sasuke smashed right through them.
A split second later, a sharp, piercing scream of pure terror from the random woman inside erupted into the quiet street, her panicked voice so incredibly loud that it echoed all the way back to the ruined dango shop.
Outside the ruined dango shop, the heavy atmosphere of Konoha was thick with the suffocating scent of fresh blood.
The chaos was total. Kurenai was desperately trying to drag a wounded Asuma away from the line of fire, leaving Kakashi standing on high alert. The tension in the air was a razor's edge.
For the mastermind inside, this was the perfect moment to eliminate the biggest threat. Kakashi knew far too much about his tactics and his identity.
But because Sasuke was keeping him too busy inside the shop, a dual frequency was already at work—fighting a high-level battle in one room, while completely pulling the strings of a puppet outside.
According to his precise will, the missing piece of his board had finally arrived.
Out from the deep, swallowing darkness of the nearby trees, a tall, striking Shadow stepped forward into the dim light.
The woman moved with a strange, smooth rhythm, the bottom of her long black dress sweeping softly against the blood-stained land.
Right by her side, a tiny four-year-old blonde boy with beautiful green eyes hurried along, his messy hair catching the faint light.
Before stepping fully into the clearing, the woman stopped for a brief second. Her dark eyes shot a cold, commanding glare down at the toddler.
"Stand by right here—" she instructed him, her voice dropping into a sharp, strict whisper.
"Do not move from this spot until I tell you to."
The little boy pouted his lips slightly, but seeing how serious she looked, he nodded his head quickly and stepped back against a thick tree trunk, trying his best to stay put.
Kakashi's sharp eyes instantly caught movement near the tree line. The moment he spotted the mysterious woman walking out with a tiny, innocent child right into a literal war zone, a wave of panic shot through him.
Tightening his grip on Tenten's arm to keep her back, he forcefully shouted at both of them over the howling wind.
"Hey! You are not permitted to stay here!" Kakashi shouted, his voice filled with urgent authority as he gestured wildly toward them. "Get out of here right now! Both of you! This is a battlefield!"
Tenten was frantically pulling against Kakashi's tight grip, her boots slipping on the bloody ground as she tried to break her arm free.
"Kakashi-sensei, let me go!" Tenten panicked, her voice shaking as she stared at the creepy stranger. She had no idea who this woman was, but her gut was screaming at her that staying here and facing her was like walking straight through death's door.
"LET GO OF ME, WE NEED TO RUN!!!"
The woman didn't care about their panic. She just stood there, tilting her head slightly as a sharp, nasty smile pulled at the corner of her lips.
When she spoke, her voice carried a terrifying, hollow echo. Inside the shop, Hikaru's lips moved in perfect silence, while outside, the woman's mouth opened to let the exact same cheeky, arrogant words flow out in a smooth, mocking purr.
"Oh? A battlefield?" she teased, her dark eyes sparkling with cruel amusement.
"How adorable that you think you actually have a say in who stands where. You should be much more worried about your own breathing, Copy-Ninja... while you still have the luxury."
The pure disrespect of her words hit Kakashi like a physical blow. Seeing this stranger casually mocking them while a literal toddler was standing right there completely shattered his usual calculative mood. An absolute fury took over him, his eye widening in sheer shock and anger.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Kakashi screamed, his voice cracking with rare, raw rage. "ANSWER ME!"
He never got his answer.
With a sudden, explosive burst of speed, the dark woman lunged forward, cutting through the air like a black streak.
Kakashi barely had time to react, raising his kunai to block as she unleashed a fierce, blinding flurry of strikes.
Kakashi desperately tried to stay on his feet, still holding onto Tenten to shield her behind his back. But the woman's movements were too fast, too heavy, and completely overwhelming.
In the middle of the rapid clash, the woman spun around and swung her leg in a brutal, powerful kick. A sharp wave of pure force blasted outward from her strike.
Kakashi tried to twist his body to take the full hit, but the attack broke right through his guard.
CRACK!
The heavy force hit Kakashi, but the main power of the kick slammed violently right into Tenten's side.
"AHG!" Tenten let out a sharp, choked gasp as the breath was completely knocked out of her lungs.
The sheer power of the blow ripped her straight out of Kakashi's grip. She went flying backward through the air, crashing heavily onto the hard, frozen ground. She lay there perfectly still in the snow, clutching her side in agonizing pain as the world spun around her.
With Tenten completely down and crashing into the snow, Kakashi had no time to even process the shock. Before he could take a single breath to rush to her side, the dark woman was already right in front of him.
Her hand shot forward with blinding speed, holding Kakashi's collar with iron like strength. With terrifying, effortless power, she hoisted his entire body high up into the air, cutting off his breath completely.
Kakashi choked, his fingers clawing desperately at her wrist, his boots dangling helplessly above the red-stained ground.
From the edge of the trees, the tiny blonde boy couldn't handle the scary sight anymore.
Seeing the violent crash, the girl lying motionless on the ground, and the woman holding a gasping ninja up by his neck completely shattered his innocent composure.
The exciting idea of a 'game' completely vanished from his mind.
"W-Wahhh...!"
Big, heavy tears spilled over his green eyes, rolling down his flushed, chubby cheeks as he began to cry. He gripped his reddish t-shirt tight with both of his small hands, his tiny frame shaking violently against the giant oak tree.
"Stop it! Stop it!" the little boy sobbed loudly, his cracking voice full of pure terror and heartbreak. "Let's go home! I don't want to play this game anymore! I want Kaa-san! Wahhh...!"
His desperate, innocent cries echoed painfully through the silent, ruined street, a heartbreaking contrast to the dark horror unfolding right in front of him.
Inside the dango shop, Hikaru clicked his tongue in pure annoyance. The little boy's loud sobbing was completely ruining his grand entrance, and he needed the child to stay quiet so he could focus on the prizes in front of him.
Using the woman once again, Hikaru forced the woman's head to turn slowly toward the crying toddler. The terrifying, choking grip she had on Kakashi's collar didn't loosen even a fraction of an inch, but her face instantly twisted back into that completely fake, comforting mask.
Since the excuse of a 'game' wasn't working anymore to stop his tears, she had to pull out a different lie to calm him down.
"Oh, hush now, little one, don't cry..." the woman said smoothly. Her voice turned incredibly warm, soft, and gentle, completely contrasting the brutal way she was dangling a Konoha Anbu in the air.
"We aren't playing a scary game anymore. Look closely, this nice silver-haired boy was just feeling very dizzy and tired from his trip. I am only holding him up so he doesn't fall down and hurt himself, see? We are helping him rest."
She let out a soft, sweet cooing sound, her red three-tomoe Sharingan flashing in the shadows as she stared at the sobbing toddler.
"Just close your eyes tightly and count to ten for me..." she whispered lovingly, her tone dripping with fake comfort.
"By the time you finish counting, the nice boy will be fast asleep, and we can go look for Kaa-san together. So be a good boy and stay right by the tree, okay?"
The lie was completely absurd, but delivered in such a sweet, motherly tone, it was designed to completely trick the poor child's confused, innocent mind.
With the toddler temporarily handled, the heavy, suffocating silence fell over the ground once more.
Inside the ruined shop, Hikaru finally lowered his extended palm from his earlier blast against Sasuke.
But out in the dry, dusty air, the girl refused to stay down. Clutching her bruised side, her breath ragged and painful, Tenten forced her trembling fingers into the dirt.
Every muscle in her body screamed in protest, but her stubborn ninja will pushed through the agony.
Slowly, agonizingly, she dragged herself up, forcing her shaky legs to lock into place until she was standing upright on her own two feet once more beneath the heavy midday sun.
The woman, still effortlessly hanging Kakashi in the air, caught a sudden glance of her out of the corner of her eye.
The woman's spinning three-tomoed Sharingan narrowed. In that exact fraction of a second, the heavy, suffocating silence of the battlefield was broken by two distinct voices echoing at the exact same time.
"You..."
"You..."
The chilling, overlapping words hung in the hot air like a curse. One voice cut through the summer wind from the lips of the dark woman holding Kakashi.
The other, an identical, perfectly synchronized whisper, drifted from the deep shadows of the building.
Slowly, a tall silhouette stepped out from the ruined dango shop, moving past the shattered wood and dry dust woodinto the open light.
"Where..."
"Where..."
The two voices spoke in a perfect, terrifying harmony, their tone dripping with an identical, cold irritation.
"Where have I seen you...?"
"Where have I seen you...?"
The figure fully emerged into the bright sunshine.
It was Hikaru.
The visual contrast between the two was absolute spine-chilling perfection. Both the mastermind standing in the open and the woman holding his prisoners possessed the exact same smooth, pitch-black hair.
Both of them stared down at Tenten with the exact same glowing, blood-red eyes, their red eyes swirling with the unmistakable, lethal pattern of the legendary Uchiha dojutsu.
They were, without a single shadow of a doubt, none other than two individuals who belonged to the elite, blood-stained lineage of the Uchiha clan.
Hikaru's gaze locked onto the standing girl, a massive, frustrating blank space tearing through his memories.
'I know this face... I've crossed paths with her back in my timeline, back in my own time... but where?!'
He stood there, completely blind to the reality of the timeline trap, while the overlapping gaze of the twin Sharingan stared down a heavily bleeding Tenten.
He just couldn't place it. To him, she had just been an insignificant face in the crowd back in his time, and because he had absolutely no idea that the younger versions of the future heroes had been thrown into his timeline, he was completely missing the real truth.
---
⚡NEXT CHAPTER⚡
The shadows lurking behind Konoha finally begin to move.
As an entire district falls into chaos, the Hokage's office is shaken by horrifying news, forcing Konoha's strongest shinobi to mobilize.
But on the bloodstained streets...
A mysterious enemy corners a young girl with a single terrifying question...
As hope begins to fade and every second brings them closer to disaster...
...an unfinished memory awakens.
Chapter 43: An Unfinished Memory
"The past never truly disappears... sometimes, it waits for someone to remember."
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
"Then why are the reinforcements still not sent?!"
"Do you know who I am?"
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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