Chapter 259: The Suddenly Disappearing Hanabi
Konoha Village.
At Root Headquarters—
"What! The Hyūga Clan made contact with the Jinchūriki?"
Danzō stared at the kneeling Root ninja before him.
"Yes, Lord Danzō. The one who made contact was Hyūga Hanabi of the Hyūga Clan."
"Hyūga Hanabi..." Danzō tapped his cane lightly against the floor. "If I remember correctly, she's Hyūga Hiashi's daughter. And because she's shown some promise recently, the Hyūga Clan has been grooming her with great care... Send a few Root operatives to test the waters. Be cautious—do not expose yourselves."
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
...
Hyūga Compound.
"Why did you seek out Naruto?"
Hyūga Hiashi sat upright on his knees, a stern expression on his face as he looked at Hanabi, who sat in front of him with no regard for posture.
"Because that guy annoys me."
"What kind of excuse is that..." Hiashi sighed. "In any case, from now on, you're forbidden from having any further contact with Naruto."
"Yes, sir."
In any case, once she had obtained enough chakra, the future Boruto had no desire to keep interacting with Naruto. The more she did, the greater the risk of affecting the future—and perhaps even erasing her own existence altogether.
Hokage Tower.
The doors to the Hokage's office were flung open with a bang. An old man stormed in, leaning on a cane, one eye wrapped in a white cloth.
"Sarutobi!"
"Danzō? What brings you here?"
Temporarily setting aside his work, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at his old comrade.
"I heard the Hyūga Clan made contact with the Jinchūriki!"
"Yes. However, there's been no incident with the Nine-Tails inside Naruto."
Sarutobi took a drag from his smoking pipe as he spoke.
"There's been no incident yet. That doesn't mean there won't be one in the future! Sarutobi, hand Naruto over to me—I'll personally ensure his safety!"
"..."
The room instantly turned cold. Neither Sarutobi nor Shimura Danzō said another word—only the sound of Sarutobi's pipe echoed softly through the silence.
"Danzō, that's out of the question..."
"Sarutobi! The Hyūga Clan contacting the Jinchūriki out of nowhere clearly means they have an ulterior motive! Do you really want to relive what happened that night?!"
Danzō slammed his hand on the desk and shouted.
He was referring to the night the Nine-Tails went on a rampage through the village under the control of the Sharingan, an event that ultimately led to the death of the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"The Byakugan has no ability to control the Nine-Tails."
"Who knows! If the Sharingan can evolve, then it's entirely possible the Byakugan—its equal in name—can evolve too! Either way, Sarutobi, this is something we must be vigilant about!"
Sarutobi took two heavy drags on his pipe, troubled.
"Then what do you want to do, Danzō?"
"I want to probe the Hyūga girl who made contact with the Jinchūriki today."
"...Danzō, she's the daughter Hiashi is personally training with great care. Don't go overboard!"
"Relax, Sarutobi. I know where to draw the line."
Danzō let out a cold snort and turned to leave the Hokage's office.
—
The next morning.
Hanabi opened her eyes and looked up at a familiar ceiling.
"This is... my room... I'm back!"
She sat up in bed, looked around, and picked up the calendar on the nightstand, murmuring to herself.
"The date's changed... So it wasn't a dream after all..."
Hanabi's feelings were complicated.
In the future, the young Hanabi had seen many people and learned many things—including Neji Hyūga's death, and her father's guilt.
—
Konoha Village, in the Boruto era.
"I'm back!"
Boruto looked at his adult body. Though he didn't know why he had returned, it was good enough that he had.
Disdainfully pushing aside the tent flap, he stepped out.
Konoha Village was still the same Konoha Village.
A field of ruins, waiting to be rebuilt.
"I heard about it, you know—when you were training with Himawari yesterday, you actually showed your real strength. Seriously now, that girl's supposed to be our little sister, remember?"
The modern Boruto happened to walk by and spoke to the future Boruto.
"Yesterday? Training? With Himawari?"
Although confused for a moment, future Boruto quickly caught on and muttered to himself:
"I see... it's a spiritual exchange between minds..."
"Apologize."
"Huh?"
"You're not supposed to be apologizing to me. And apologizing to yourself? That's way too sneaky..."
Modern Boruto crossed his arms and looked at his future self.
"The one you really owe an apology to is Himawari."
"Yeah."
Future Boruto nodded.
...
Inside the tent where Hinata and Himawari lived.
"Mom. Himawari."
"Boruto? What brings you here?"
Seeing the fully grown Boruto before her, Hinata felt a warm wave of maternal pride.
"I'm here to apologize to Himawari. For what happened yesterday..."
"Oh, that? Actually, Himawari wasn't bothered by it at all."
Hinata replied, glancing at her daughter beside her.
"Mm, big brother."
Himawari quickly nodded beside Hinata, showing no sign of anger over how her older brother had acted yesterday.
"By the way, Mom—could you tell me about when you were a kid?"
"Eh? When I was a kid? Well..."
Hinata looked a bit embarrassed. "My childhood was pretty boring, honestly. I spent most days just practicing Gentle Fist..."
It was odd. Even though Hinata's stories about her childhood were charming, and Himawari was laughing brightly like a silver bell, something still felt... off to future Boruto.
"Boruto? Boruto!"
"Ah! Sorry, Mom. I zoned out."
Hinata's gentle call snapped future Boruto out of his thoughts.
"Are you bored, Boruto? No game consoles, no burgers—just days filled with ninjutsu training and Gentle Fist practice..."
"No, Mom..."
Future Boruto shook his head.
"By the way, Mom, why haven't you mentioned anything about Hanabi?"
"Hanabi?"
Hinata looked puzzled. She exchanged a confused glance with Himawari before turning to Boruto.
"Who's Hanabi?"
"Huh? Hanabi—she's your sister, Mom!"
"You're such a strange child. I don't have a sister. And even if I did, wouldn't that make her your aunt?"
Hinata chuckled.
"What! Then... who's the next head of the Hyūga Clan?!"
"It's Himawari, of course. That was decided a long time ago."
Hinata spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
No! Something's definitely wrong!
Future Boruto burst out of Hinata's tent.
"Shikadai!"
"Boruto?"
"Shikadai—do you remember Hyūga Hanabi?!"
"Hyūga... Hanabi?"
Shikadai furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"Can't say I do. But if she's from the Hyūga Clan, you'd be better off asking your grandpa."
"That's impossible..."
Boruto's expression was one of utter bewilderment.
"What in the world happened...?"