Although Arima had his Observation Haki active the entire time, he hadn't sensed even the slightest sign of Isshiki's sudden attack.
He couldn't make sense of it. But since the enemy had appeared exactly as Sherry had foretold, all he could do now was face him head-on.
Isshiki had already entered his second form.
His single horn curled from left to right behind his head, forming a ring.
He still wore that white haori, but now his entire body was covered in dense, mysterious markings, far more numerous than the last time he used this form.
Arima could feel chakra gathering rapidly within him, and he recognized it instantly, the Ten-Tails' chakra he had been suppressing in that alternate-dimension space.
Isshiki flicked both hands upward, sending a downpour of black rods toward Arima.
Those tiny rods suddenly grew larger the moment they neared him, turning into countless black blades stabbing mercilessly at their target.
Arima opened a Truth-Seeking Ball barrier, blocking every single rod outside.
At that moment, a critical message appeared on his ticket: Space–time corridor extremely unstable. Intense combat may trigger a space–time storm.
But the warning seemed to have come a little too late.
Realizing he still couldn't overpower Arima, Isshiki actually released the Ten-Tails, and forced it to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb the size of a small asteroid.
Arima immediately activated his ocular jutsu but the Ten-Tails' movements didn't slow at all. Time-based jutsu seemed to have no effect whatsoever inside this bizarre realm.
This space felt like a singularity, where timelines from countless worlds wove together.
His ocular power couldn't shake the temporal forces here, let alone allow him to sense the future with Observation Haki.
That single moment of delay was enough, the Ten-Tails fired the Tailed Beast Bomb and detonated it instantly.
A terrifying space–time storm surged forth and tore the two of them apart.
Protected by his ticket, Arima was tossed around like a lone leaf in a raging ocean. The violent winds and waves of distorted time threatened to tear him apart at any moment.
He quickly covered his entire body in Haki, then wrapped himself tightly with Truth-Seeking Balls.
To be safe, he used every defensive technique he had, Five-Elements Release, barrier ninjutsu, ocular jutsu, anything that could shield him.
Magnet Release: Infinite Defense, Wood Release: Ranked Shield Technique, Barrier Technique: Six Red Yang Formation, and even Susanoo.
But the storm peeled those defenses away one by one. It was clear they wouldn't last long.
Just then, his system notified him: he could choose a nearby world to make an emergency landing.
Once the storm subsided, he could continue his journey. And the system had even selected a world especially for him, one it claimed was the "most interesting," even an "original" world.
With the system being cryptic and the storm worsening, Arima didn't bother thinking it over. He simply set his destination there.
His vision went black.
He crash-landed in that world without even knowing how.
When he finally woke again, daylight was streaming down. He found himself lying beneath a huge tree, warm sunlight spilling through the leaves onto his face.
He turned his head and spotted a girl with Byakugan sitting not far away, fully alert and watching the surroundings.
Arima felt a twinge of confusion. 'This should be the ninja world… but I don't recognize this Byakugan girl at all.
She looks around eleven or twelve… Did I really leave the shinobi world for that long?!'
Just then, two more figures emerged from the dense forest, clearly newly-graduated academy students.
One boy had fang-like markings painted on his cheeks, with a small pup following behind him.
The other boy's presence was almost nonexistent; he moved without a sound, wearing a long white coat and keeping his hands in his pockets. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses.
Seeing their Konoha forehead protectors and their clan features, Arima instantly recognized their team composition.
Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, classic Konoha tracking squad. As the former Hokage, how could he not recognize that?
While watching them discuss something, mentioning the "Chunin Exams" several times, Arima became nearly certain he was inside the Forest of Death.
He slowly stood, but the moment he moved, it felt as if his bones were about to fall apart.
His chakra pathways were blocked by some unknown things. His chakra was dormant and couldn't be gathered at all.
Without chakra, he couldn't open Kamui. That immediately made him worry about Tsunade and Mito.
Fortunately, he had used his ocular jutsu to modify Kamui before setting out. Time inside that space was nearly frozen. He didn't have to worry about them starving.
His top priority now was restoring his chakra so he could open Kamui and free them.
As he was zoning out, the girl hurried toward him and asked softly, "Um… are you feeling okay?"
Arima lifted his head to look at the timid young girl. She had short, ear-length hair and clear, gentle eyes, like melted snow flowing down a mountain stream.
Though shy, Arima knew from experience that girls like her were unshakeably stubborn once they set their mind on something, more stubborn than stubborn itself.
His younger sister, Natsuka, had been just like that.
Arima smiled calmly. "I'm fine. Thank you for helping me. Oh, my name is Senju Arima."
His composure and natural presence, combined with his sharing the same surname as the First and Second Hokage, made the three children instantly assume he was someone extraordinary.
The girl bowed, stammering through her introduction. "Um… h-hello! I'm Hinata!"
Arima chuckled. "Don't be nervous. I know you're a child of the Hyuga clan."
The boy with the puppy introduced himself. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba! And this is my teammate, Aburame Shino."
Arima nodded. "Inuzuka clan, huh? Do you know Inuzuka Tsume?"
Looking at Kiba, Arima suddenly remembered one of Kushina's childhood friends. Their personalities were similar in many ways.
Kiba's eyes widened. "Uncle, you know my mom?"
This time Arima was the one surprised. Instead of answering, he turned to the quiet boy. "Is Aburame Shibi your father?"
Shino nodded.
Arima was now thoroughly confused. By his calculations, only about three years should have passed in the shinobi world. But this situation looked more like over ten years had gone by.
To get to the bottom of it, he asked directly, "Which Hokage is currently in office?"
Kiba immediately replied, "Uncle, you're from the Senju clan, right? How do you not know? Of course it's the Third Hokage."
Arima froze. 'That's impossible. I am the Third Hokage, how could there be another?'
He forced himself to stay calm. "And who is the Third Hokage?"
Kiba whispered to Hinata, "Are you sure this guy doesn't have chakra?"
Hinata nodded. "There's no chakra flow in his body. But… his dantian is pitch-black. I can't see through it."
A cautious Shino added, "My insects also sensed no chakra inside him."
Only then did Kiba relax, assuming this strange uncle must have hit his head a little too hard.
He answered, "The Third Hokage is Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Even without chakra, Arima could still use his Observation Haki. He had noticed all of their whispered reactions and pretended not to.
But hearing that answer still startled him. Based on age, his senior brother Hiruzen should be nearly seventy by now, how was he still in office?
'Something is definitely wrong here. This clearly isn't the world I used to live in. I'll have to gather more information later. If I keep asking now, these kids will start doubting me.'
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