Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

Chapter 912 It's only natural for a father to boss his son around.

"Huh, him?"

Sarah looked at the blond boy, who was covered in dirt and had a bow-tied bandage around his thigh, with a look of disgust.

The story of the savior of Loulan was something An Lushan had told her before. He said that one day a savior would descend from the heavens, destroy the ancient witch, and save Loulan from its suffering.

“If I am not mistaken, he is the only savior.”

Of course, the protagonist in this story was originally tailor-made for An Lushan himself.

But this silly-looking blond kid in front of him seems more suitable to be the gunman. He just needs to hide himself and reap the benefits in the end.

"Saviors, what are you talking about?"

"What's your name?"

Despite her deep reluctance, Sarah chose to believe An Lushan's words, raised her head, and asked the bewildered blond boy,

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm a Konoha ninja, and who are you?"

Naruto's walnut-sized brain, overloaded from working beyond its limits, gave a dizzy self-introduction, his eyes filled with questions as he looked at the red-haired girl.

“I am Sara, the princess of Loulan.”

The red-haired girl crossed her arms and looked down at the rustic Naruto with an arrogant expression.

"Loulan, but the Loulan in my memory is a ruin that looks like a wasteland."

Naruto frowned, pinching his cheek hard to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Ouch! That hurts! That hurts!"

"An Lushan, can we find another savior?"

Seeing Naruto covering his face, Sara's lips twitched. Could this stupid-looking guy really defeat the old hag Bandai?

“Princess, my prophecy will not be wrong. He is the savior we have been waiting for.”

"Okay, hey!"

"I'm not called 'Hey,' I'm called Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Anyone will do. Can you defeat the old hag Bandai and rescue Mother?"

Sara waved her hand dismissively and questioned Naruto in a serious tone.

"The Eternal Old Witch?"

"That's the purple-haired woman over there. Her Majesty the Queen is being deceived by her and will soon launch a war against the neighboring countries."

Seeing that the time was ripe, An Lushan immediately stepped forward and began to smear the country.

"If we don't stop her, the entire Loulan will be reduced to ashes."

"Wait, my head is spinning right now."

A barrage of jumbled information left Naruto completely bewildered.

Seeing this, An Lushan decided not to continue his deception and turned to bow to Sara.

Although Naruto looks silly and dull, An Lushan is still worried that his disguise will be exposed.

“Princess, please speak with this savior first. This old minister shall take his leave.”

Since that's the case, why not let Sara, who has already been fooled, continue to brainwash Naruto and trick him into attracting Bandai's attention?

"There's something strange about this uncle."

Watching An Lushan's figure disappear at the end of the corridor, Naruto rubbed his aching temples, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

“You are not allowed to slander An Lushan. If it weren’t for him, the old witch Wan Dai would have already invaded Loulan and driven my mother and me out of the city.”

In Sara's eyes, it was because of the existence of An Lushan, a loyal minister, that the ambitious Bandai had something to fear.

However, her mother still hasn't realized the truth, which makes her anxious heart even heavier.

"That woman was so wicked!"

"That's right, that's right! She used to always steal my red bean pudding!"

"Wow~ that's really bad."

"Shh!"

Just as the two were exchanging words, three figures appeared out of thin air between them. Naruto, seeing the three people surrounding him, warily drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch.

"You didn't keep your promise."

The blond youth frowned. Hadn't he told the boy to leave Loulan?

"I got separated from my companions and just wanted to find a local to ask where this place is. Wait, you guys aren't some helpers summoned by the old hag Bandai, are you?"

After Sara's barrage of attacks, Naruto had come to believe that Bandai was the mastermind behind the evil scheme. At this point, any unfamiliar ninja that suddenly appeared was most likely a henchman recruited by the other side.

"His!"

As they spoke, Naruto, his blood boiling, recalled the extreme humiliation the blond youth had inflicted on him. He brandished a kunai and lunged at the youth, but the three of them nimbly dodged it.

"I hope you don't misunderstand."

The blond youth then grabbed him and put his arm around him, his tone full of helplessness.

Such a reckless personality, how come it's so much like Kushina?

"We have been entrusted to come and eliminate those who bring disaster to the country and its people."

"what?"

Naruto raised his head upon hearing this, looking blankly at the blond youth who had grabbed his hand from behind.

Glancing at the bustling crowd below, the blond youth and his two teammates exchanged a glance.

"This is not the place to talk."

After several twists and turns, the five arrived at a secluded spot. Naruto began to recount his miraculous encounter, from the sudden attack by the puppets to the transformation of the surrounding ruins into a metropolis of towering buildings. He talked until his mouth was almost dry.

Sara listened with great interest, her eyes filled with curiosity as she looked at Naruto.

"What exactly happened? I have absolutely no idea! If you know anything, please tell me quickly!"

Naruto, who was clutching his head, stood up from the ground and stared intently at the blond youth opposite him.

For some reason, he always felt a strange connection with this person and subconsciously wanted to trust them.

The blond youth felt extremely uncomfortable under Naruto's intense gaze, a feeling reminiscent of when he was shopping with Kushina and she pleaded with him.

"There's really no way around it, I didn't want to say it in the first place."

Left with no other choice, he raised his hand to touch the mask on his face.

"In that case, I will explain it to you to the best of my ability."

As the trio removed their masks, Naruto and Sara's pupils constricted sharply.

"So handsome!"

Sarah looked at the handsome face of the blond youth, and a shy blush of a young girl in love appeared on her face.

Naruto, his eyes wide, covered his forehead, his face scrunched up like a bun.

Why does this blond young man look so familiar?

"We received a classified mission and came from Konoha."

As the blond youth spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Naruto, who was deep in thought, a subtle complexity playing on his azure eyes.

"This is indeed not the Loulan you know. If I'm not mistaken, you must be someone who came here from the future."

"The future? You mean the future?"

Upon hearing this, Naruto's brain completely failed, and wisps of steam slowly rose from his golden head.

Curious, Sarah fanned the steam with her hand, and the scorching heat immediately dissipated. Seeing this, she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Wow, you seem to be really fired up!"

"Well, the reason I didn't want to tell you is that if people from the future were to become involved with this era, the flow of time would be drastically altered."

The blond young man patiently explained the phenomenon known as the butterfly effect to Naruto, his eyes unconsciously revealing a touch of fatherly affection.

"If I'm not mistaken, this place is about twenty years ahead of where you are now." Based on Naruto's headband and the chakra blade he was holding, the blond youth accurately analyzed the era he was in—these items were products that wouldn't have appeared until at least ten to twenty years later.

"And a few years ago, there was another ninja who had never been here before, just like you, who came suddenly."

Same as me?

Naruto's already bewildered face was filled with disbelief. He was still processing the news of his own transmigration when another fellow transmigrator suddenly appeared.

His name is Centipede.

"What?! We're hunting centipedes!"

Naruto shook his head vigorously; the name "Centipede" was the only word he could understand from the blond youth's mouth.

"No! My head's going to explode!"

"What exactly happened to you? Can you tell me? Maybe we can find some clues."

Seeing Naruto clutching his head in pain, the blond youth asked gently,

"Uh"

Frowning, Naruto recalled the entire process of his team's pursuit of the centipede, recounting it in detail. The blond youth listened attentively and quickly pieced together the gist of the story.

"So, you and Centipede both used time-space ninjutsu to travel back in time from the future to the present, right?"

"Brother, I still don't understand. Does that mean I can't go back?"

The thought of being trapped in this time made Naruto's face turn ashen.

"Not necessarily. Once we defeat the centipede, time will return to normal, and you might be able to travel back to the future."

"I see!"

Suddenly, Sarah, who had overheard the conversation, stood up, hands on her hips, with a knowing look on her face.

"That old hag must be the centipede you're talking about!"

By mixing labels like "a ninja who suddenly appeared a few years ago" and "an evil rogue ninja," isn't this just the old hag Bandai?

"We must defeat the centipede as soon as possible, otherwise the times will become even more distorted."

The blond youth glanced at the spirited Sarah and frowned slightly.

He obtained this information from the mysterious person who commissioned the mission, but the person did not tell them that Baizu was none other than Loulan Prime Minister Wandai, and everything still needs to be investigated.

"Ah! I remember now!"

At that moment, Naruto, who had been staring at the blond youth for a long time, suddenly recalled the image of himself graffitiing on the Hokage Rock when he was a child. He immediately rushed over, almost pressing his face against the other's.

The blond youth was so startled by his action that he leaned back.

"I feel like I've seen your face somewhere before, it looks exactly like the Fourth Hokage's on the Hokage Rock!"

"What you're saying is absolutely ridiculous. The current Hokage is only the Third Hokage."

Upon hearing this, the oil-loving woman Zhiwei chuckled and shook her head.

"Huh? When did this gloomy old man appear here?"

Yu Nu Zhi Wei:

"But this brat is from the future!"

Choza Akimichi, however, had a remarkably clear mind, and a strange light flickered in his narrowed eyes.

"Uncle, are you related to Choji?"

Naruto looked at the other person's familiar face and asked curiously,

"Choji, that's a nice name."

After giving Naruto, whose face was full of doubt, a deep look, Choji Akimichi, who knew exactly what was going on, smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's stop talking about the future. Knowing too much will change history."

The blond youth interrupted their pleasantries; their cross-generational exchange was, in itself, triggering a butterfly effect.

"The power of the dragon vein lies dormant in Loulan, and the Centipede is using this power to develop puppet weapons."

"Now that you mention it, Centipede did indeed say something like that, that he wanted to use this power to dominate the five great nations, and even the whole world."

After carefully recalling the harsh words Naruto had uttered before the Centipede Unsealed the Dragon Vein, Naruto nodded with a serious expression.

"See? I wasn't wrong. The old hag Bandai is indeed a centipede, and her specialty is puppetry!"

Because the Knight System and Magnet Release were both banned, Chiyo, who had transmigrated, had no choice but to return to her old ways and use her long-forgotten puppetry to deal with the traitors. This led Sara to misunderstand her power system.

Is it really?

Minato looked at Sara, who seemed completely certain, and didn't readily agree with her.

"We will investigate this matter thoroughly. Until then, please refrain from wandering around and take good care of the princess."

In the mysterious man's commission, in addition to asking them to get rid of the centipede that was causing trouble in Loulan, there was also a side mission to protect Princess Sara. After much consideration, Minato gave this not-so-difficult task to the boy from the future in front of him.

"Hehe, I won't allow him to protect me. An Lushan is enough!"

Sarah made a face at the group, then ran outside without looking back.

“Protect her, fine, but I still need to catch Centipede. Things have become so complicated because we let that guy escape.”

Naruto nodded in agreement without even considering the blond youth's command, but he also didn't want to let go of the matter of the centipede.

"We are very familiar with this place, so it will be much easier for us to find Centipede. You just need to protect the princess."

As he spoke, the blond youth took out a three-pronged kunai and handed it to Naruto.

"This kunai was specially made by me. As long as you have it, no matter where you are, I can get to your side immediately."

Seeing the familiar kunai, Naruto suddenly raised his head and stared intently at the blond youth in front of him.

This person really is the legendary Fourth Hokage!

"Big brother, you're mine."

"Alright, time is of the essence, you should go quickly."

Just as Naruto was about to express his admiration to his idol, Minato raised his hand and urged him to hurry up and chase after Sara at the end of the corridor.

"Alright!"

"Minato, isn't it against discipline to let this irrelevant brat join the mission halfway through?"

After Naruto left, Shinobu Aburame frowned slightly and asked,

"I think he's quite similar to Minato."

Ding, who saw through it but didn't say anything, smiled and shook his head.

"He's different."

Minato put on the mask, and a strange smile appeared on his handsome face hidden beneath it.

It is only natural for a father to order his son around!

Outside Loulan,

"Ugh! How boring!"

A short figure crouching in the corner of the Loulan gate yawned widely, its small mouth, hidden under a mask, slightly pursed.

That Minato-sensei is really something. If he had known it would be a gatekeeper mission like this, he should have finished his ramen before setting off.

The thought of queuing for so long with Kai and the others only to not get to eat at the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen made Kakashi feel like his whole body was itching.

"I really want to eat ramen..."

"Dangdang!"

Just as he was counting the grains of sand on the ground, a figure appeared out of thin air not far away, swayed a few times, and then crashed heavily in front of him, sending golden sand flying everywhere.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kakashi cautiously approached and poked the unconscious brown-haired man. He crouched down, his scrutinizing gaze shifting from the Konoha symbol on the man's mask to the man's large, square face with his mouth open and eyes closed.

There aren't many ninjas who seem even dumber than Guy and Obito.

"The villagers are really not picky about food these days; they'll even take in such a stupid guy."

In his eyes, only people like his father and teacher were qualified to become ninjas.

"roar~"

Just as he was delivering his sharp and sarcastic critique of Yamato, a gigantic, roaring black shadow burst through the void.

The figure leaped down and landed precisely opposite Kakashi, a stick-like object of unknown function dangling from its mouth. It shook its head in disapproval, its fluffy curly hair gleaming in the sunlight.

"Tsk tsk tsk, maybe you'll meet even sillier people in the future?" (End of Chapter)