"How did you come to this era? Can you tell me?"
"There's nothing I can't say. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Boruto were chasing an Ōtsutsuki who activated a time-traveling artifact. I followed him in."
"Sasuke-kun, huh..."
Orochimaru pondered for a moment, then looked up at Shiro, "For example, you came back to this era because of Sasuke. If you were to kill Sasuke, what would happen?"
"The Sasuke of the future would die, so you couldn't fulfill the 'following Sasuke through time' cause, and thus there would be no 'killing Sasuke' effect. Since you didn't 'kill Sasuke', then the condition of 'following Sasuke through time' would be met... This creates a self-looping paradox."
Orochimaru spoke very seriously, but Shiro was covered in black lines.
The Sasuke Paradox, right?
Sure enough, a few words earlier couldn't immediately change Orochimaru's obsession with Sasuke.
"But why must we kill Sasuke? Wouldn't it be fine if we didn't kill Sasuke?"
Hanabi raised her small hand, as if speaking in class.
Teacher Orochimaru also "amiably" replied: "This is just an example. Even without killing Sasuke, making even a slight change to the past would cause drastic changes in the future."
At this point, Orochimaru looked at Shiro: "Shiro-kun, your goal is to change the future and deal with that 'Ōtsutsuki', right? Well, according to this logic, your method is inherently contradictory.
When you return to the past, the past becomes your future, and the future becomes your past."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, he waited for Shiro's answer.
Shiro didn't seem to be lying, but reason and logic forced him to be suspicious.
"Actually, the paradox you mentioned is easily resolved. I have two conclusions here that have already been proven false, which can handle the paradox."
"Oh?"
Orochimaru was a little surprised.
"The first theory is the parallel world theory. Returning to the past simply means arriving in a parallel world that is almost identical to the past of the original world.
Any actions taken in this world would not affect the original world, so naturally, no paradox would arise."
"Hiss."
After hearing this theory, Orochimaru frowned and gasped.
It seemed there was no problem with that.
"You said this theory is false, meaning..."
Orochimaru asked.
"There's a place called Rōran in the Land of Wind desert. Minato Namikaze once encountered a visitor from an anomalous spacetime there. By sealing his memories, he didn't affect the future, but it still left evidence of a time loop."
What Shiro said, whether it was the Chakra Blade from the future in "The Lost Tower," or Boruto's "Thunder Train" comment when Boruto and Sasuke went back in time, which led to Denki's father creating the Thunder Train in the future, all demonstrated time loops and no parallel worlds—at least, no parallel worlds equivalent to the main world.
For instance, in the limited Tsukuyomi, a low-level genjutsu world created artificially, if Sakura from that world were to come to the real world, she would become mentally unstable and lose her memories due to originating from a lower-level world.
"I understand. What about the second theory?"
Orochimaru nodded, acknowledging Shiro's statement.
Orochimaru didn't doubt what Shiro said about Rōran.
Such things are too easy to verify; deception would be meaningless.
In fact, with just the appearance of this theory, Orochimaru could have already overturned his previous doubts, but driven by his thirst for knowledge, Orochimaru still wanted to know the second theory.
"The second one is actually a conjecture."
"If matter and energy all have minimum units, then it means all movement and change occur in jumps, not continuously.
It's like a movie; essentially, countless pictures are played in sequence. Going back to the past is like modifying one of those pictures."
This theory could also solve the "Sasuke Paradox," but it could also be refuted by the "Rōran" example Shiro just gave.
"My head is so itchy, I feel like I'm growing a brain."
Karin clutched her head, feeling a headache coming on.
It seemed she was the only one present who hadn't understood a single word.
Karin's current reaction was like Madara calling the ninja alliance a ragtag bunch, and Naruto being confused about what "ragtag bunch" meant.
She was suffering from a lack of education.
"You've said so much, but you've only proven that Orochimaru's idea is wrong. You still haven't explained the logical problem; how exactly can you change the future?"
Tsunade spoke up.
"I don't know either, but I'm sure I can do it."
Shiro slowly stood up and patted his pants.
Shiro had never applied the "scientific theories" of his original world to this world; he only applied corresponding ways of thinking.
It's perfectly normal for each universe to have different fundamental physical laws.
One universe might only develop technology, while another might be able to cultivate immortals.
The ninja world, with its chakra, natural energy, and divine arts, was clearly different from his original world.
Applying theories directly would be like trying to find a sword by marking the boat.
And those who truly understood the essence of this world, or even just wanted to understand it, were few and far between in the entire ninja world.
That's why during the boruto era, Shiro sought out Yakushi Kabuto, and now he was seeking out Orochimaru.
"Can you help me? I'll show you."
Shiro walked up to Tsunade.
"Oh? How can I help?"
Tsunade's lips curved into a slight smile.
"Stand behind me, and at any chosen moment, attack me."
Shiro found a spot and turned his back.
"Alright, you asked for this!"
At the mention of being able to hit Shiro, Tsunade's eyes instantly lit up, and she stood up, rubbing her hands together.
"Tsunade, wait!"
Orochimaru watched Tsunade stride purposefully behind Shiro, about to strike, and quickly called out to stop her.
"Shiro-kun, please tell us the principle of your demonstration first. If you explain it afterward, we might miss many details."
Orochimaru wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He wondered if Shiro and Tsunade had some personal vendetta.
Why did Tsunade look so eager to beat up Shiro?
"Alright."
"I possess an ability called Time Deletion, which allows me to see a certain period of the future.
Under normal circumstances, after seeing the future, the only way I could change my fate would be to use Time Deletion to erase the events in the future that are unfavorable to me, thereby changing the outcome.
But in reality, it's not like that.
I can easily change facts that are already predetermined to happen; I can completely deviate from the future shown by my ability..."
"Understood."
Boom—
No sooner had Shiro finished speaking than Tsunade behind him bent at the waist, gathering strength, and unleashed a punch towards Shiro's lower back.
However... "Eh?"
Tsunade frowned as she looked at the forest shattered by the force of her punch in front of her, then turned to look at Shiro, who was perfectly unharmed behind her.
....
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