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Almost at the exact moment that pillar of light rose.
Four figures swiftly broke free from the pillar of light formation, rapidly sweeping towards the surroundings, and with extreme vigilance, they crouched in the corners, beginning to observe the situation around them.
This four-person team all wore masks, revealing only their eyes, and were fully equipped with various gear.
"Naruto, report the situation!"
"Yes!"
With just that command, the handsome young man with short golden hair at the forefront, wearing a mask, immediately formed hand seals and began searching for Chakra reactions in the surroundings using a super-large-range Perception Ninjutsu.
Following that, his expression suddenly became incredibly solemn.
"Kakashi, Kagura Mind's Eye has detected six Chakra bodies with extremely high reactions, which should be an entire team."
"The Chakra source of the rogue Ninja can be detected in the distance, but it seems to be shielded by something, the reaction is very faint, only slight traces can be detected."
"There are also large-scale puppet legions around, which should be the enemy's ambush forces."
"Within the regional environment, the Space-Time jutsu reaction is very strong, with large-scale spatial distortion signs."
At this point, the young Ninja in Konoha uniform said with a serious tone and a very solemn expression, "We should be in a space-time distorted environment."
"That bastard!"
Upon hearing this, another masked Ninja with long, dark hair growled, "He actually rushed into the restricted area..."
"It is our dereliction of duty that he was able to break in here, enduring the encirclement of an entire Special Jonin team." The masked Ninja with silver hair said with a grave tone, "No matter what, we must capture him and bring him back!"
"Yes!"
However, before that, the golden-haired masked Ninja's expression suddenly changed. Maintaining the Mind's Eye Jutsu, he looked up towards the distant direction and spoke extremely quickly: "Be careful! Those six ambushers are attacking!"
"Chakra reaction is strong!"
Almost at the moment the other party's voice fell.
"Boom—!"
A highly diffusive airwave broke through a violent vacuum path, suddenly roaring towards the direction of this high tower, directly crossing hundreds of meters, carving a straight path through this Thousand Tower area, shattering all the rubble and dust blocking its way with extreme power.
Without any command, the entire four-person team had already scattered with the fastest reaction, suddenly shooting in all directions.
The next moment, a blade light, like a streaking fire, shot straight out along the vacuum path broken by the immense force, directly towards this area.
Only a clang was heard.
A deep, charred mark was left on the huge tower wall.
Uchiha Megumi's blade light turned, about to strike down at the next person, but saw a young girl with light red hair suddenly flip her hammer upwards. Blade and hammer met, and amidst a piercing metallic clang, streaks of golden-red light splattered, and the immense forces intertwined, seemingly evenly matched for a moment.
Megumi's gaze paused, and her scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan met the eyes beneath the other party's mask.
However, the surging ocular power was repelled by a special Sealing Technique on the surface of the mask.
Uchiha Megumi couldn't help but be surprised.
Although Kiri had just told her to hold back and test the opponent's strength, she didn't expect that the opponent didn't need her to hold back and actually possessed such capability.
Not only that.
Almost at the moment of this standoff, the light-red haired girl opposite suddenly let out a low cry:
"Chakra Enhanced Strength Hammer!"
In an instant, the brick ground beneath Uchiha Megumi's feet abruptly sank by half a circle, and she was actually pushed backward by the opponent's force, drawing two straight furrows.
But at the same time, both sides also realized the problem.
'Sharingan?'
'Chakra Enhanced Strength!'
The next moment, both figures suddenly separated.
Just in that instant of their figures crossing, the violently surging Lightning Release Chakra behind them had already pierced the sky, pulling down endless brilliance from the cloud layers where dark clouds had accumulated.
Looking up, the black-haired young man standing on the high platform had already raised his arm, connecting to the lightning at the top of the sky.
It suddenly fell.
"Lightning Release: Kirin!"
Looking up, the ink-wash-like brilliance had already formed, outlining an indescribably massive beast shape.
"Wait!"
"Sasuke, stop!"
Two voices sounded simultaneously from the surroundings.
The silver-haired captain and the light-red haired girl obviously discovered something, but their speaking speed was already too late.
However, the Uchiha girl opposite remained motionless, standing quietly there, letting the lightning fall.
In an instant, lightning poured down, covering the entire land.
The violent natural Chakra, with its terrifying power, suddenly crashed down, directly falling towards the black-haired girl.
However, a sound was heard from afar.
"Technique Lapse: Blue."
With just that faint sound, a pale blue light suddenly lit up in the sky.
Thunder and brilliant light overlapped, merging into one sound in mid-air, yet with an unstoppable momentum, they suddenly converged, erupting into an extremely blazing pure white brilliance.
"Indeed..."
The moment that voice sounded, the silver-haired leader had already looked up, quietly gazing at the opposite side.
On the young man's face beneath the mask, a nostalgic expression involuntarily appeared.
"This technique, it's 'That Person'."
"Boom—!!!"
The next moment, the deafening sound, with the force to pierce clouds and shatter rocks, penetrated everyone's eardrums, shattering large sections of the glass embedded in the distant high tower.
However, after the brilliant light dissipated, both sides stopped moving.
The smoke cleared.
Behind the girl who had suddenly appeared, several figures had materialized out of thin air, looking at the four of them with vigilance.
Simply upon seeing the appearance of this group of people and the headbands on their foreheads, this four-person team seemed to fall into a daze, stopping their movements in unison.
The entire charred top of the tower suddenly fell silent.
It wasn't until a young man stepped out from one of the groups that the quiet atmosphere was broken.
Sawara Kiri looked at their figures, a gentle smile on his face. His warm, azure eyes seemed to pierce through their masks, seeing the faces beneath, and he seemed to say with a sudden sense of relief:
"Indeed, you are Konoha Ninja from the future, aren't you?"
It wasn't just him.
Sakumo, standing behind him, scanned the faces of the few people, and as if realizing something, his gaze lingered on the tall, silver-haired figure. He couldn't help but widen his eyes, saying in astonishment:
"Could it be..."
Hearing his familiar voice, the masked silver-haired figure seemed to freeze in place.
The people beside him also looked at the silver-haired figure in unison, as if hoping he would give an explanation.
Sakumo seemed somewhat at a loss, stunned.
Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato and the others around him also looked at him in astonishment, only Orochimaru's golden snake eyes seemed to be practically bursting with light.
Only Sara, whom they had brought along, was full of urgency, yet at this moment seemed not to know what to say, staring tightly at Sawara Kiri's figure, clutching his sleeve.
"Don't worry, your mother is not dead yet."
"But if you rush over now, she might really be beyond saving. Let's change locations first."
Sawara Kiri turned his head, looking at the puppet legion flying towards them from a distance, like a swarm of bees.
At this point, minor tasks were no longer worth worrying about; no one knew how long these people could stay here, and quickly asking for information about the future was the priority.
The last sentence, Sawara Kiri addressed to the four people in front of him.
Upon hearing this, everyone realized the urgency of the matter and immediately flew down inside the high tower, hiding within the dense network of passages in the Thousand Tower.
In a flash, the puppet legion flying in the sky lost its target and kept circling in the sky, searching.
At this time, Sawara Kiri and the others had already led the future team, following the direction Sara pointed out, to a secret room hidden in the middle of a passage.
With the sky outside the window, the light inside the secret room was still sufficient.
Although they hadn't spoken yet, at this moment, both sides had clearly put down their initial guard, as if they had all breathed a sigh of relief.
Having held back until now, Sakumo finally looked up at the silver-haired leader in front of him and said:
"You are..."
Upon hearing this, the masked silver-haired young man finally took off his mask, revealing a face still covered on one side, with both eyes intact.
His voice seemed to carry a hint of nostalgic amusement:
"Father."
It wasn't just him.
After the four of them took off their masks, both sides immediately looked around at the people in the crowd.
Namikaze Minato stared intently at the golden-haired young man across from him, who seemed to be of similar age, as if he wanted to say something, but was hesitant.
The person opposite him also looked at him with red eyes.
Instead, Sawara Kiri smiled and said, "Anyway, could you please introduce yourselves?"
"It must have been many years, right?"
"Yes, Lord Fifth."
Kakashi said seriously.
Everyone was stunned again at these words, but Jiraiya and Orochimaru, among others, looked as if it was only natural.
Then, they were seen performing an unprecedented chest-pounding salute, nodding and speaking:
"Konoha Special First-Class Jonin, Kakashi."
"Konoha First-Class Jonin, Namikaze Naruto."
"Konoha First-Class Jonin, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Konoha Third-Class Jonin, Haruno Sakura."
Hearing this, the speculation in everyone's minds finally settled.
Only Jiraiya, that unreliable fellow, seemed to have just realized, pointing at the golden-haired young man opposite him, his eyes wide in astonishment:
"Wait, wait! Namikaze Naruto, this must be your son!"
"Minato?"
"Yes!"
Before the other party could speak, the capable young man across from them already said, "Although the memory is a bit blurry, the photo on Mother's bedside table is still very clear."
"Long time no see, Dad."
As he spoke, a sunny smile appeared on the young man's face.
However, coupled with his reddened eyes, it still seemed a bit heartbreaking.
"A photo…"
Namikaze Minato seemed to pause at the words, sighing helplessly.
Sure enough, he, who couldn't keep up with Kiri-kun's pace, eventually died in a battle?
Hearing this, Jiraiya's voice also stopped, and he stared blankly at his disciple, seemingly at a loss for words to comfort him.
Watching this scene, Sasuke and Sakura both shrank their heads, somewhat afraid to interject into their conversation, just continuously staring at Sawara Kiri's face, examining him.
He really looks exactly like the carving on the Hokage Rock, so young.
Perhaps noticing their gaze, or perhaps to interrupt the topic, Sawara Kiri gently clapped his hands, shifting his gaze: "Anyway, from the moment you appeared here, what happened on the previous timeline should no longer count; there's still a chance to change things."
He said, turning his gaze towards Kakashi and asking gently, "But it's truly astonishing. That little one actually grew into his current appearance so quickly."
"Kakashi, can you tell us the general direction of the future timeline?"
"How many years from now did you travel from?"
Unlike the original characters, or Namikaze Minato in the movie, Sawara Kiri had no concept of respecting the timeline.
After all, the timelines in the unburnable materials were almost shattered by various Ōtsutsuki, and no significant situation had appeared in this world. It would be better for them to extract more useful content now to solve the problem.
"Yes, Fifth Generation… Sawara-sama!"
Kakashi nodded and said, "We are from Konoha Year 63. These children are members of my special squad."
"Wait a moment!"
Jiraiya raised his hand first to ask, "I've been wanting to ask since just now, when did Jonin get so many ranks?"
It wasn't just him; several people around him also wanted to ask about this—the Jonin reform was a major event concerning the entire Village, and they held the right to propose Hokage elections for the entire Village.
Kakashi smiled and said gently, "This is a classification that arose from the Ninja Act reform initiated by Sawara-sama around Konoha Year 50."
"In the next few years, the educational systems of the Ninja Elementary School and Ninja High School will gradually mature, and Konoha will be able to graduate hundreds of Ninja from Ninja High School each year."
"Moreover, because of the educational foundation laid by Sawara-sama, students who graduate from Ninja High School will at least have skills at the Chunin level or above—that is, mastering three or more B-rank Ninjutsu, completing preliminary Chakra nature transformation training, and relevant specialized coursework."
"In fact, Ninja who graduated from High School at that time, even if placed in other Villages, would be more than enough to serve as Jonin, thus significantly impacting the Village's mission assignment and execution system."
"Based on this reality, the Jonin system reform began, subdividing into Special First-Class, First-Class, Second-Class, and Third-Class sub-levels according to various skill ratings, and abolishing the Tokubetsu Jonin classification—the strongest above this system is the current Kage."
"If classified according to the past, Special would roughly correspond to the Ninja bearing the name of Kage in this era, while Third-Class would be equivalent to the basic Jonin level."
At this point, Sakura, standing nearby, awkwardly scratched her cheek.
Uchiha Megumi, however, looked at them with some surprise.
Just based on taijutsu, that woman would be more than sufficient for Jonin level, yet in the future, it's only the basic Jonin requirement?
Hearing this, not only the people around him, but even Sawara Kiri himself was somewhat astonished.
He had thought about expanding the Ninja grassroots and allocating various Ninjutsu to raise the upper limit, but who would have thought this move would be so effective?
Orochimaru's gaze fell on Haruno Sakura, and he suddenly asked, "Is this child a taijutsu type? She must have learned Tsunade's techniques, right?"
"No, Sakura is a medical type, and also a highly-rated medical Jonin in the Village."
Kakashi pointed to himself and the others around him and said, "I am a taijutsu type, Sasuke-kun is a Ninjutsu type, and Naruto is a perception type—besides the most basic combat types, there are also different branches such as scientific research, education, intelligence, energy, production, management, meteorology, geology, astronomy, etc., specifically cultivating various types of high-level Ninja through a scientific education model."
"All of this is thanks to the various measures taken by Sawara-sama and Orochimaru-sama. These reforms caused considerable upheaval in the Ninja World at the time, almost taking over all the powers of the feudal lords and noble groups of various countries in the name of Ninja."
"If not for Lord Fifth's overwhelming power, renowned throughout the Ninja World, countless wars would probably have broken out."
Jiraiya was a straightforward person. Upon hearing that Ninja in the future could achieve such things, he happily put his arm around Sawara Kiri's shoulder, praising him without reservation:
"You've done very well, Kiri!"
However, upon hearing this, Sawara Kiri instead frowned, somewhat puzzled:
"So, feudal lords and nobles still exist in your era?"
This shouldn't be.
In his plan, after solving the productivity needs of the Ninja World, the second step should have been to eradicate the existing upper-class system. How could it still exist in that era?
"Do you still have a lot of trouble in your era?"
"Yes."
Hearing this, Kakashi also lowered his head, sighing as if with regret: "Since the Moon Organization rose and began to spread Yachihoko seals in squad mode, creating conflicts with various countries, and the Kara recruited Renegade Ninja from various countries to establish scientific Ninja troops and the Renegade Union, the Ninja World has been in turmoil, causing our developed production needs and economic system to constantly suffer setbacks from various sides, preventing peaceful development."
"Therefore, we reconciled with the feudal nobles, who had almost been eliminated, to focus on dealing with international issues."
Only then did Sakumo, who had not recovered from the shock until now, suddenly react, asking in confusion, "Moon Organization and Kara?"
"Even with Kiri-kun, they can't be dealt with?"
Finally, the topic they had been waiting for arrived, but the members of the future squad all lowered their heads, sighing as if they found it difficult to face.
Finally, Kakashi spoke:
"Since that battle in Konoha Year 51, Lord Fifth, as well as Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Megumi-sama, and others, all perished together with the enemies from outside."
"It was also after that period that Konoha's comprehensive long-term reforms, which had been steadily advancing, fell into stagnation and even regression due to the counterattacks of various forces."
These two sentences alone instantly shook everyone present, and they all looked at Sawara Kiri, whose eyes were also wide with shock.
Sawara Kiri, died?
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