Boruto's question had been resolved for the time being, and everyone's mood improved considerably.
Tsunade said, "I heard that time moves twenty years ahead in your world compared to this one. I wonder what I'm like over there."
"Maybe I'm already dead. Even if I'm not, I've probably turned into an old woman... In that case, I'd rather die sooner."
Adult Sasuke replied, "You're not dead."
Boruto added, "Granny Tsunade, you're alive and well. You're even younger-looking than you are now. You're the envy of all the kunoichi in the village. I often see people standing in front of the Hokage Rock, making wishes to your statue."
"Ohohoho! You little Uzumaki brat, you certainly know how to talk." Tsunade was extremely satisfied with that answer, but suddenly noticed something important. "Wait a second, brat. Why is my face on the Hokage Rock?"
Boruto: "..."
Crap. I let that slip.
He immediately shot a pleading look toward his teacher.
Adult Sasuke: "..."
As expected, the longer they stayed here, the more information would leak out.
At first, he had believed this was the past of his own world. He had stubbornly refused to reveal any information about the future, afraid that altering the timeline might cause problems for himself and Boruto.
Even after confirming that this was a different world, his thinking hadn't changed.
The reason was simply different now.
He didn't want the outcome that had already occurred in his world to influence this world's journey toward its proper future.
As for Tsunade's question, however, the impact seemed minimal, so he played dead and kept his mouth shut.
Left with no choice, Boruto answered honestly.
"My grandfather, the Fourth Hokage, died on the night of the Nine-Tails attack. Grandpa Third Hokage had to take the position again, and he remained Hokage until after my dad graduated, when he was killed during Orochimaru's 'Konoha Crush Plan.'"
"After that, Jiraiya-sensei brought you back to the village, and you became the Fifth Hokage. You stayed in the position until the Sixth Hokage took over, then retired."
Tsunade pointed at herself.
"The me from that world actually agreed to Jiraiya's request and returned to the village to become Hokage? Is she sick in the head or something?"
Boruto blinked.
"Granny Tsunade... are you insulting yourself?"
Tsunade: "..."
I've really made it in life.
I'm so ruthless I even insult myself.
"I never thought the old man's end would come at Orochimaru's hands. Your world really is a mess. Good thing none of that happened in our world, and Minato is still alive and well."
After saying that, Tsunade glanced at Makoto.
With her intelligence, she had naturally already deduced that a certain someone was the source of all these changes.
Jiraiya was certainly surprised that his best friend had ultimately killed their teacher.
But what pleased him even more was the fact that he had apparently been pretty capable himself, managing to convince Tsunade to return and become Hokage.
He knew better than anyone how tightly sealed the goddess's heart was.
Yet now it seemed that seal could actually be opened.
As a result, there was only one question he cared about.
"Uh, Boruto... tell your sensei honestly. Did I ever marry... you know... that person?"
Tsunade clenched her teeth, suppressing the urge to punch the pervert to death.
Boruto replied, "Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei. I don't know. You passed away before I was born. I only got to meet you in person after coming to this world. Before that, I could only see you in my dad's photos."
Jiraiya instantly shut down.
"Uh..."
Tsunade smirked.
"What's wrong, Jiraiya? Is hearing about your own death upsetting?"
"No. A ninja can die at any time—that's perfectly normal."
"I just feel like such a failure."
"I couldn't even marry you before I died."
Faced with the number-one simp of her life, what could Tsunade even say?
The truth was, she liked Jiraiya too.
But it was the kind of friendship where you could beat him to death without consequences and borrow money without ever paying it back.
Because of that, as an old friend who had known him for so many years, she didn't want anything to happen to the Jiraiya of this world.
"Brat, how did Jiraiya die?"
Seeing that his teacher was still pretending to be a corpse, Boruto answered directly.
"My dad said that Jiraiya-sensei died while investigating intelligence on a mysterious organization."
Tsunade frowned.
"What organization?"
Jiraiya answered before Boruto could.
"The Akatsuki, right?"
Boruto blinked in surprise.
"Huh? Jiraiya-sensei, how did you know?"
"Because I've already been investigating them for quite some time, and I've managed to uncover a few leads."
"Originally, after accompanying Tsunade back to the village and watching the first Five-Village Joint Chūnin Exams, I was planning to set out again."
"But your arrival disrupted those plans."
Tsunade said, "Then there's no need for you to go. From now on, just stay in Konoha."
"Oh my, Tsunade. Are you worried about me?"
"No, you're overthinking it. I just don't want to see an old friend die a miserable death. There aren't many familiar faces left among the ninja from our generation."
Jiraiya let out a disappointed sigh.
"Ah, what a letdown."
Then he added, "But don't worry. I don't need to gather intelligence anymore. That guy Orochimaru is already inside the Akatsuki."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"He actually agreed to be your informant?"
Makoto answered, "No. He's my informant. So Konoha has long known the Akatsuki's membership and ultimate objective."
Jiraiya laughed.
"Ahahaha, that's right. So, Tsunade, from now on I'll stay in Konoha with you and won't go anywhere. You don't have to worry about someone killing me someday."
Tsunade couldn't be bothered dealing with Jiraiya anymore and turned directly to Adult Sasuke.
"Hey, Uchiha. Since your world is twenty years ahead of ours, why not tell us everything that's happened over those years? It might help us avoid some trouble."
Adult Sasuke replied, "There's no longer any need for me to tell you."
"Compared to the other Ōtsutsuki, Urashiki was somewhat more cautious. After arriving in my world, he spent some time hiding and gathering intelligence."
"Now he's died here, and someone even managed to obtain information from his soul. I believe everything that should be known is already known."
Makoto responded with a smile.
That was indeed true.
Though it had little to do with Urashiki.
Minato said, "Tsunade-sama, Makoto and I have been following our plan all along. There's nothing you need to worry about. Just stay in the village and train peacefully with Jiraiya-sensei."
"Hmph. Understood."
Tsunade asked no further questions.
As a ninja, she understood that the fewer people who knew about certain matters, the better.
Adult Sasuke knew very well that, because of Makoto and Minato, this world had already embarked on a completely different path.
The gap between it and his own world would only continue to grow.
He couldn't help wondering whether this world might actually accomplish the grand, arrogant dream he had once pursued.
...
From that point onward, Adult Sasuke put his concerns aside and focused on learning the new Senjutsu system in Konoha.
Boruto studied under Makoto and spent his days hanging around with Konoha's young generation. Before long, he had become good friends with them and had even started calling Naruto and the others his brothers.
Things had become a bit upside down.
Hopefully, after returning home, he wouldn't start calling the real Seventh Hokage "bro" every other sentence.
If he did, the outcome would probably be quite tragic.
Boruto, however, wasn't worried about that at all.
While wholeheartedly training with the dojo's natural energy, he was also enjoying the love of his young grandparents and making up for the regrets of his childhood.
Taking advantage of the special affection grandparents had for grandchildren, he shamelessly reported all of his father's misdeeds to them and carefully memorized every criticism they directed at his dad.
Once he returned home, he could use those words to lecture a certain Seventh Hokage who spent all day neglecting his family.
For the sake of ensuring that his counterpart in this world would be born successfully, however, Boruto stubbornly refused to reveal his mother's identity.
As a result, all of Kushina's efforts were completely wasted.
After a brief period of training with Makoto, Adult Sasuke began spending most of his time with Itachi and Shisui.
Occasionally, he would also visit his family in this world and enjoy the feeling of a complete family reunion separated only by an entire world.
In a way, it fulfilled a long-held wish.
Everyone got what they wanted.
Only Little Sasuke ended up suffering.
He had assumed that once Urashiki was dealt with, the version of himself from another world would leave.
Who could have guessed that the guy would simply stay and refuse to go?
Was he trying to steal his place?
As a result, without needing to sacrifice his entire clan, Little Sasuke temporarily acquired the same cold, dead-mother expression.
Fortunately, his worries were unnecessary.
Adult Sasuke and Boruto didn't belong to this world. Their temporary stay was merely to solve their own problems.
Once they gained a basic grasp of natural energy training, they would leave.
As for what would happen afterward, Makoto felt the solution was simple.
It was time for the Human Senjutsu Training Dojo of the ninja world to start recruiting franchisees from parallel worlds.
In Makoto's opinion, Adult Sasuke and Boruto were excellent candidates.
For the sake of their own bodies, they would definitely continue training diligently after returning home.
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