Chapter 1: Back to the Past
Konoha Year 97 (Boruto Era)
Konoha Village, Archaeological Research Institute.
Two figures rushed into the building.
The guards at the entrance had already been killed.
Inside the institute, a pale figure stood in front of an artifact, his palm glowing with a green light.
The artifact had transformed into a tortoise-like shape.
This was the Otsutsuki clan's treasure, the Karasuki.
Otsutsuki Urashiki was preparing to travel back in time to capture the still-developing Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.
The two figures who had arrived were Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Boruto.
Upon seeing the glowing Karasuki, they rushed in without speaking.
However, they did not notice that someone else had followed them inside.
---
Thump.
Shiromo, carrying a large satchel, landed on the ground.
A raindrop fell onto his head.
"Back? No... right," he muttered.
He looked around, confirming he had not returned to 'Amegakure' in the present day, but rather to 'the Amegakure of the past.'
Shiromo was a transmigrator, he had traveled to Amegakure during the Boruto era.
At that time, the entire Land of Rain was in ruins, filled with garbage and poisonous gas, a wasteland, a dumping ground for the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
This ruined Amegakure stood in stark contrast to the prosperous Konoha.
The villagers of Amegakure had no idea that the current Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, had once promised the leader of their village that he would guide Amegakure to prosperity.
Nagato, the leader of Amegakure at the time, believed in Naruto's promise, and sacrificed his life to revive the people of Konoha. This act ended the cycles of hatred and entrusted Amegakure's future to him.
And this was the outcome.
Because of his unique circumstances and because he had told the villagers about Naruto's promise, Shiromo became a symbol of hope for the refugees of Amegakure.
The refugees gave him all the village's remaining supplies, raising enough money for him to travel to the Land of Fire.
After arriving in Konoha, Shiromo kept a low profile until one day, when he met a blond-haired boy who asked him if he knew where to buy 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Shiromo knew then that the time-travel plot was about to unfold.
This led to the scene he had just witnessed.
Having made the necessary preparations, Shiromo had now returned to the past ninja world.
When he stepped into the Karasuki, a unique power inside him was triggered by the Otsutsuki clan's space-time ninjutsu.
In that moment, time itself was erased.
In this world where time had been wiped away, even Uchiha Sasuke couldn't sense that someone else had followed him into the time tunnel.
Additionally, due to the Time Erasure, the landing point of the time tunnel was slightly off.
But none of that mattered anymore.
After defeating Otsutsuki Urashiki, Sasuke and Boruto would use genjutsu to erase the memories of everyone involved. They would believe they hadn't altered the past, and they would return to the future, unaware of Shiromo's presence.
"Don't misunderstand," Shiromo suddenly spoke. "I'm not a spy."
At the same time, a strong hand reached out from behind him.
Upon hearing Shiromo's words, the hand stopped.
"Then who are you?"
A cold, questioning voice came from behind him.
Shiromo knew that upon his arrival in Amegakure, he would inevitably be detected by Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Therefore, he activated his ability, awakened from his contact with the Karasuki Time-Space Ninjutsu. This ability, known as 'Time Erasure', was a form of erasure tied to the concept of time. Because of its strong sense of déjà vu, Shiromo had named this ability 'King Crimson'.
Using a derivative of 'Time Erasure', Shiromo saw the events of the next few dozen seconds unfold before him.
He foresaw the 'Preta Path' appearing behind him.
"I am the future leader of Amegakure," Shiromo said, "and I request to see the current leader, 'Pain', or rather, Nagato."
Shiromo spoke bluntly, standing tall and looking up at the tallest building in Amegakure. That was where Nagato's original body resided.
Upon hearing Shiromo's words, Nagato, seated in a wheelchair on the top floor of the command tower, opened his eyes.
"Is the infiltrator troublesome?" Konan, standing beside Nagato, asked calmly.
Shiromo's sudden appearance inside Amegakure had been sensed. For Nagato, who relied on the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, it was as if Jiraiya had infiltrated using a frog in the original story.
Knowing the other party was a "master," Nagato dispatched the Six Paths of Pain to investigate and capture him.
"He said he's the future leader of Amegakure, and wants to see me… He even called me by name."
Nagato's expression turned serious.
"Could it be another 'Madara'-like person? I'll go test him."
Konan, cautious, stepped out of the room. She reached the edge of the tower and sprouted a pair of white paper wings, flying downwards.
When Konan saw Shiromo's figure below, she found him strangely calm, his right hand raised, seemingly doing nothing.
The Preta Path was elsewhere. This meant Shiromo had somehow changed his position.
Why?
Filled with doubt, Konan descended.
When she reached a certain height, her face suddenly darkened. She stopped mid-air, then gracefully shifted a few feet to the right before landing in front of Shiromo.
That's right, after descending, Konan realized that, at her current angle, she would have landed directly on Shiromo's hand.
Outrageous.
The opponent was definitely a master, able to predict her actions to such an extent.
However, he also clearly had some mental issues.
Konan silently made this judgment.
After leading Shiromo to an open area on the lower level of the command tower, Konan was about to speak when Shiromo pulled out a sealed storage scroll from his waist and began pulling out items.
Most of them were photographs, along with some tattered pieces of paper covered in writing.
"These are photographs of the future Amegakure, and what its future villagers want to say to you," Shiromo explained.
He had planned ahead when deciding to travel to Konoha. Naturally, he had prepared proof in advance.
Konan knelt down and began looking through the photographs. The images shocked her, making her pupils contract in surprise.
The buildings in the photographs were exactly like those in the current, ruined Amegakure, dilapidated, damaged, and abandoned.
Familiar streets, familiar pipes, familiar buildings...
After looking at the photos, Konan remained skeptical. She wondered if Shiromo had fabricated this to deceive them and thwart their plans.
But when she picked up the tattered letters and began reading them, she quickly discarded that idea.
"Where did these letters come from?" Konan asked, putting them down and looking up at Shiromo.
"My return from the future was planned," Shiromo replied calmly. "So naturally, I made some preparations to prove myself. I explained to the villagers of Amegakure that if they wanted to communicate with the dead, they could simply burn their written letters. They wrote down their true feelings for you, and gave them to me to burn during the ritual."
Konan was silent for a moment, then had Shiromo pack up his things and led him to the top floor.
Nagato was surprised to see Konan bring the intruder before him, but he assumed she must have had her reasons.
Konan stepped forward and handed Nagato a letter.
Nagato's pupils contracted as he began to read.
(End of this chapter)