Chapter 178: Boruto from the Future
The two figures collided with one another, unleashing a powerful shockwave that uprooted the surrounding trees.
Hinata Hanabi quickly leapt down from the branch she was perched on, channeling chakra into her feet to steady herself. Only by doing so was she able to barely avoid being swept away by the force.
Delta leapt into the air, her legs suddenly extending like stilts as she continuously stomped down toward her opponent.
"Rasenshuriken!"
A golden Rasenshuriken was hurled at Delta's outstretched legs, slicing through them. But even after being severed, Delta quickly regenerated a new pair of normal-looking legs.
She seemed somewhat unaccustomed to the freshly regrown limbs. As she fell from the air, she momentarily lost her footing upon landing.
Any seasoned shinobi would never let such an opening go to waste.
And neither did Delta's opponent.
In a flash, the ninja appeared before Delta.
"Destruction Ray!"
"Giant Rasengan!"
The golden Rasengan clashed with the laser beam fired from Delta's single eye.
"Trying to cancel out my beam with a jutsu..." Delta sneered as her other eye began absorbing the Giant Rasengan. "Idiot. Have you forgotten? I can absorb ninjutsu."
"Super Giant Rasengan!"
The golden chakra swelled once more.
"Hah, you think just making it bigger means I won't be able to absorb it?" Delta increased her absorption speed. "Idiot! Don't underestimate me!"
No one knew how much chakra the man was pouring into the technique. They only knew that the golden Super Giant Rasengan kept growing, seemingly without end.
"You... bastard..."
Delta's eyes crackled with electricity from overexertion.
"If you can absorb Hanabi-nee's jutsu and even reuse it, then that means the absorbed ninjutsu doesn't vanish—it must be stored somewhere inside you. If that's the case, there must be a storage limit... If it were anyone else facing you, they'd be in serious trouble. But unfortunately for you, I've got plenty of chakra to spare."
"Quit acting like you've already won! You haven't beaten me yet!"
"Is that so?"
The moment he spoke, the Super Giant Rasengan began expanding at an accelerated rate.
With a deafening explosion, the surrounding terrain was flattened.
But during the blast, no one noticed a small flying device quietly slipping away from behind Delta.
"Who are you?"
Hinata Hanabi approached the man who looked to be about her age and glanced up at his messy beard.
But the man said nothing. After a slight tremor ran through his body, he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Hanabi suddenly grabbed his hand, looking up at him. "Just now, during the fight, you called me 'Hanabi-nee'... Who are you?!"
In Hanabi's memory, there was only one person who would ever call her that.
"Uzumaki Boruto—you're Boruto, aren't you?" Hanabi exclaimed. Sometimes, a woman's intuition truly defies logic.
Seeing the complicated mix of sorrow and joy on the grown Boruto's face, Hanabi suddenly threw her arms around him.
"Hanabi-nee..."
The two embraced tightly, and the adult Boruto began sobbing like a child.
"...So, you're from the future?" Hanabi asked as they sat in a Thunder Train headed toward Konoha.
"Yeah."
Boruto nodded while munching on a fast-food hamburger from the train's meal service.
"Slow down, no one's going to take it from you," Hanabi said with a pained expression as she watched him eat.
"It's just so good, Hanabi-nee. I haven't had a hamburger in forever."
"Boruto, what exactly happened in the future?"
Boruto suddenly stopped chewing and replied with a grave expression, "It's S.H.I.E.L.D.—more specifically, Gray Wolf from S.H.I.E.L.D...."
In the future, with tensions rising between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, the Fifth Great Ninja War eventually broke out.
The Land of Water, allied with the Kara Organization, formed a coalition to fight against a ninja alliance made up of the other four villages.
The war was devastating, but the tide of battle eventually turned in favor of the four-village alliance. However, just as the war neared its end and the Land of Water was on the brink of defeat, S.H.I.E.L.D.—previously tied up fighting Hydra—unexpectedly sent Gray Wolf to aid the Land of Water and Kara.
In their final act of desperation, the Daimyō of the Land of Water, now completely unrestrained, deployed a biochemical virus provided by Gray Wolf. The result was a full-scale biohazard outbreak across the ninja world.
Boruto had lost his arm after being bitten by a zombie during a mission, forcing him to amputate it himself.
"...That cloak of yours..." Hanabi glanced at the bloodstained cloak on Boruto's back.
"This was given to me by Sarada—it's the cloak of the Eighth Hokage. And these Rinnegan eyes are the result of a fusion between Uncle Sasuke's and Sarada's Rinnegan. Inside me, I also carry two Nine-Tails—one passed on by my father..." Boruto's voice grew choked with emotion.
Outside the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Hanabi-nee, please don't tell anyone else about me," Boruto said to her. "Before I came here, the Jar Merchant warned me—if the past is altered too much, then my future may cease to exist."
"I'll stay outside the village. But for now, I need to go with you to find someone."
"Who?"
"A Hydra member—currently posing as a high-ranking official within S.H.I.E.L.D."
Konoha Village.
Ichiraku Ramen, Second Branch.
It was lunchtime, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sarada had come to Shunhi's shop for a meal.
Shikamaru didn't come along, as he had a lunchbox from Temari and took the chance to help Naruto with paperwork instead.
They came here to eat simply because Naruto insisted.
Sasuke didn't mind either way, and Sarada, who admired Naruto, naturally had no objections.
As the door to the shop opened, Boruto immediately saw Naruto, Sasuke, and Sarada sitting and eating together.
Boruto gave Hanabi a small shake of the head, silently signaling her to act as though they didn't know each other.
"Hanabi, you're back!"
Naruto waved at Hanabi.
Hanabi instinctively glanced at Boruto, who had taken a seat nearby, then smiled and walked over to Naruto's table to sit with them.
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