At this moment, Naruto suddenly remembered what Seiki had said earlier. "Senior Seiki, you just said you're old friends with the Nine-Tails?"
Seiki smiled warmly. "Of course! The Nine-Tails and I have known each other for seven or eight years already."
Naruto exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Seiki, aren't you afraid of it?"
Seiki chuckled softly. "Get to know it more, and you'll find that the Nine-Tails is actually just a tsundere fox."
Gesturing wildly, Naruto said, "But that's a Bijuu! Shouldn't we be describing it as ferocious and powerful?"
Asuma couldn't help but interject, "What's so surprising about that? To Seiki, ordinary tailed beasts are probably no different from little kittens."
Naruto and Yamato twitched their lips awkwardly. Little kittens?
What kind of weird-ass description is that?
Guy said with admiration, "Exactly one year ago, Senior Seiki easily suppressed the Four-Tails' Complete Form on the battlefield!"
Kurenai followed up, "During the Chunin Exams, Seiki defeated the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails midway through Partial Transformation and then resealed its nearly uncontrollable Complete Form."
Shizune waved her hands excitedly, "And he also defeated the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki! That opponent was seriously injured and hospitalized for two whole years afterward!"
Naruto and Yamato stared blankly, their eyes slowly going wide with disbelief. Suppressing a tailed beast's Complete Form, defeating a Partially Transformed Jinchuriki as a Genin, seriously injuring Kumogakure's perfect Jinchuriki—were these really things humans could accomplish?
After all, back then even the Fourth Hokage had needed to sacrifice his life to seal away the Nine-Tails.
Though these tailed beasts definitely couldn't compare to the Nine-Tails' power level, they were still undeniably formidable.
If someone could defeat and suppress them, didn't that mean Senior Seiki's strength at least matched the Fourth's?
In fact, most members of the Akatsuki organization probably couldn't even come close to matching him.
Seeing Yamato and Naruto lost in shock, Asuma shrugged casually before smirking toward Mizuki. "Mizuki, your parallel universe self sure ended up in a sad state. Actually got thrown in jail."
However, Mizuki appeared deep in thought. "Man, my whole damn life got flipped upside down because of Seiki! If I hadn't met him, someone as mediocre as me might've really ended up like my parallel self—locked away for stealing the Scroll of Seals, or even having my life force drained until I withered away in old age."
With those thoughts, Mizuki gazed at Seiki with increasingly fervent eyes.
Seeing that Mizuki ignored him, Asuma felt disinterested and playfully slapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Hey kid, tell me how well the me from your world turned out?"
Naruto snapped out of his stupor as he looked at Asuma, lips trembling slightly. "You… you died!"
"Hear that? I'm dead in your world…" Asuma's smile immediately froze as he side-eyed Naruto.
He had a feeling this punk was picking on him, even if there was no proof.
Asuma shifted his gaze toward Yamato, who nodded sorrowfully. "Senior, you died very tragically."
A solemn silence fell over Asuma. Even though this concerned a parallel dimension, it still brought an inexplicable sense of oppression. "That universe's old man must've suffered greatly… Still, at least he had Aniki by his side in his final years."
Naruto hesitated before speaking, "They were already gone by the time you arrived."
Asuma's eyes widened in shock—could it mean their entire family had been wiped out? That version of him in that world must have suffered greatly.
At this point, an unknown fear pressed heavily on him, nearly stealing his breath.
Seiki asked curiously, "Could you tell me about what happened to me in that world?"
Naruto pondered deeply but finally shook his head, "Never heard of him."
Now everyone looked astonished.
"Impossible! Even across dimensions, someone like Seiki couldn't just disappear into obscurity!"
"There must be some mistake somewhere!"
Yamato spoke solemnly, "Actually, I've never heard of him either. Perhaps..."
Seeing Yamato hesitate, Seiki readily continued, "Maybe I died young in that world. This realm allows for any possibility."
As he finished speaking, Seiki rested a hand on each of their shoulders with a warm smile. "See? My parallel self suffered even more than you two. The future has already shifted—let go of events that will never come to pass."
Hearing Seiki say that, Asuma smiled sheepishly, "You're right. Without Seiki shaping the future, none of it really made sense anyway!"
"This Senpai Seiki maintains such a positive attitude despite hearing all that... Wait, he was actually the first person to propose the parallel world theory—he must have noticed Naruto's behavior earlier."
Yamato's expression turned to growing disbelief, "Which means… he already guessed his fate in our timeline and deliberately revealed it just to relieve Asuma-senior's and Mizuki-senior's distress! What a warm-hearted person, shining like sunlight!"
"That makes sense too—I shouldn't burden people from this world anymore." Naruto had meant to warn them all about the dangers ahead, but witnessing this moment, he chose to stay silent—he realized the future might diverge completely from what he remembered. Sharing it would only add unnecessary worries, just like with Asuma earlier.
Just then, Sāra—who had been ignored and overlooked all this time—finally exploded.
"I mean, what the hell are you weirdos doing here anyway?! Enough with your 'future' nonsense and 'parallel' junk—I've had it!"
Seeing Sāra turn to leave, Seiki reached out to stop her, "Your Majesty, please allow me one minute for an explanation."
"Not listening to your exp…" Sāra prepared to push past him but hesitated when noticing the sincere apology on Seiki's face. "Well, you don't seem like a bad person… fine, one minute."
Naruto watched in confusion while rubbing his cheek—the spot where Sāra slapped him earlier still tingled. "Do I really look like a bad guy?"
Asuma, clearly experienced in these matters, glanced sideways, "Whether you're bad or not is unclear, but take a look at Seiki—does he seem like a bad person to you?"
Gazing at Seiki's smile—radiating friendliness off the charts—Naruto muttered dazedly, "He really doesn't seem like one at all..."
While they talked, Seiki gently led Sāra out from the shadows toward nearby laughing crowds.
"Your Majesty, please take a good look around at these people."
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
Snapping out of her daze when called again, Sāra stammered nervously, "Huh? What?"
"What?"
Seeing this, both Kurenai and Shizune puffed their cheeks.
This Sāra clearly wasn't even a real queen!
Seiki pointed at the surrounding crowd. "Go check their faces."
"Check their faces?" Though puzzled, Sāra obediently walked forward.
Reading bonus! You have a chance to claim a lucky red envelope worth up to ¥888! Follow the official WeChat account Booklover Base to participate!
Then the sight ahead scared the hell out of her, and she stumbled back in shock. "What the—?! They're all puppets?!"
The street looked alive with crowds—but every single person was a puppet. The uncanny scene felt like walking through an ancient tomb—cold dread ran down her spine.
Yugito spoke solemnly, "This is the truth hidden beneath Loulan's prosperous exterior. All this splendor is merely an illusion created for your benefit by Minister Anlusan."
"The real citizens of this country either hide away or have been captured by Anlusan to serve as laborers for his puppet army."
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>