Hearing the few words that slipped from Boruto's mouth, Tsunade's fist halted abruptly, stopping right in front of the tip of his nose.
The violent gust stirred up by her punch made Boruto's cheeks sting, yet he didn't dare take a full breath. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.
"Your era…?"
Tsunade narrowed her sharp eyes, studying Boruto's somewhat familiar face. Then her gaze shifted to the one-armed man lying on the ground, who still radiated an aloof, oppressive presence even in unconsciousness.
Having weathered countless storms and uncovered innumerable secrets of the ninja world, Tsunade's mind raced at lightning speed.
The terrifying explosion just now, Kakashi's abnormal reaction, and the title that had slipped from this blond boy's mouth… An extremely absurd yet disturbingly logical conclusion gradually took shape in her thoughts.
"So that's how it is…"
Tsunade withdrew her fist. The violent chakra surging through her body vanished in an instant, as though the furious Hokage from a moment ago had never existed.
She turned around, her expression turning unprecedentedly solemn as the full dignity of the Hokage radiated from her.
"ANBU, receive your orders!"
"Yes!"
The surrounding ANBU immediately dropped to one knee and replied in unison.
"First: transport Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke to Konoha Hospital at once. Open the highest-level intensive care ward and have Shizune personally lead the medical team. Without my authorization, no one is allowed to visit."
Tsunade glanced at Sakura, who was still kneeling on the ground, her gaze flickering suspiciously between the younger Sasuke and the adult Sasuke before softening slightly.
"Sakura, stop zoning out. Go to the hospital and assist with their treatment."
"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Sakura snapped back to her senses, forcibly suppressing the countless questions swirling in her mind. She wiped away her tears and helped the medical ninja lift the two onto stretchers.
"Second: everything that occurred at Training Ground Three today—including the people involved—is to be classified as a top-level S-rank secret of Konoha. Issue the strictest gag order. Anyone who leaks even a single word will be treated as a traitor to the village."
"Third: seal off Training Ground Three and the surrounding area. Aside from the cleanup team, no one is allowed to approach—not even a fly."
The orders were issued swiftly and decisively. Though the ANBU were filled with doubts, their impeccable discipline left no room for hesitation.
"Understood, Hokage-sama!"
After handling the medical arrangements and the lockdown, Tsunade's gaze returned to Boruto and the adult Sasuke.
"As for you two…"
She took a deep breath. The soft green glow of the Creation Rebirth technique once again gathered in her hands. This time, however, her tone carried less hostility and more probing complexity.
"I will personally take you to the underground medical room beneath the Hokage Building for treatment. Kid, you'd better pray you can give me a convincing explanation. Otherwise, guest or not, I'll stitch that mouth of yours shut."
Boruto swallowed hard and nodded frantically, bobbing his head like a chick pecking at grain.
Tsunade then turned to Kakashi, who had already pushed himself up from the ground.
"And you, Kakashi."
Her eyes narrowed, lingering briefly on his left eye, where faint traces of blood still remained.
"Come back to the Hokage Office with me."
Her words were deliberate and unquestionable.
"About everything that happened today—I want a full report. No omissions. Do you understand?"
Meeting Tsunade's uncompromising gaze, Kakashi let out a helpless sigh and reached up to tug his forehead protector back into place, covering the left eye that had already returned to its normal black color.
"…Alright. I understand, Hokage-sama."
Konoha Hokage Building, Underground Medical Room.
Given their extremely sensitive identities, Tsunade did not send the adult Sasuke and Boruto to the crowded Konoha Hospital. Instead, she brought them directly here.
On the spacious white hospital bed, the adult Sasuke lay with his eyes tightly shut, sunk deep in unconsciousness.
Tsunade stood beside the bed, her hands glowing with a brilliant green light as she focused on repairing the meridians inside his body—meridians riddled with damage from extreme chakra overexertion.
Like a child who had made a grave mistake, Boruto sat curled up obediently in a chair in the corner, barely daring to breathe, terrified of provoking "Granny Tsunade" again.
Nearby, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, Kakashi stood quietly.
His injuries had been roughly bandaged with white gauze, leaving him looking more battered than usual.
"…Haa."
After a long while, Tsunade finally withdrew her hands. The green glow faded as she wiped the fine sheen of sweat from her forehead and exhaled deeply.
She stared at Sasuke on the bed, her brows knitted tightly.
"His meridians are on the verge of collapse, and his chakra has been drained beyond its limits. If his constitution weren't abnormal, anyone else would've died outright from that level of consumption."
During the treatment, Tsunade had inevitably examined the left eye concealed beneath his disheveled hair.
The moment she sensed that profound, unfamiliar ocular power, even the well-informed Fifth Hokage felt her heart skip violently.
That was no ordinary Sharingan.
"…Enough."
Tsunade straightened and turned toward Kakashi, fixing him with a piercing stare.
She crossed her arms over her chest, adopting an unmistakable posture that clearly said: Explain.
"Now that there are no outsiders, Kakashi, tell me everything you know—from beginning to end."
Her voice was firm and precise.
"That includes this man's eyes, the identity of that monster, and what all of this truly means."
Under Tsunade's overwhelming pressure, Kakashi could only shrug faintly.
He knew that after events of this magnitude, there was no way to brush things aside. To steady Tsunade, he would have to offer some carefully selected truths—half real, half concealed.
"…This all started yesterday," Kakashi said, clearing his throat.
"Yesterday, while I was wandering through the village, I happened to see—"
He lifted a finger and pointed toward Boruto, who was curled up in the corner.
"Jiraiya-sama taking Naruto to the women's bathhouse to 'gather material.' After they were discovered, they ran for their lives, and at a street corner, Naruto ran straight into this kid, who had just entered the village."
At the words "Jiraiya" and "gather material," Tsunade's crossed arms tightened abruptly.
"Ji-ra-i-ya!"
She ground out the name through clenched teeth, veins throbbing on her forehead.
"That filthy old pervert! He dares drag Naruto into that kind of nonsense?! Once this is over, I'll hang them both off the Hokage Monument and beat them senseless!"
Feeling the temperature in the room plummet, Kakashi hurriedly coughed and steered the conversation back on track.
"Ahem… that's not the important part, Tsunade-sama. The key point is that when this child bumped into Naruto, he looked at him and instinctively called him 'Dad.'"
"…What?"
Tsunade's attention snapped back instantly.
"That reaction didn't seem like a joke," Kakashi continued. "It was completely natural—like a reflex. On top of that, the one-armed man beside him behaved very suspiciously, so I quietly followed them and observed for a while."
"And then?" Tsunade pressed.
"Then I noticed that they were strangely unfamiliar with the current state of Konoha, yet at the same time, they were deeply familiar with certain people and events. From bits of their conversation, I began to suspect they weren't from this era at all."
Kakashi sighed softly.
"I intended to keep investigating, but not long after, they used an extremely advanced space–time ninjutsu and vanished from the village entirely. I couldn't track them, so I had no choice but to suspend the investigation."
Tsunade tapped her fingers rhythmically against her arm, her mind working rapidly.
"And what about today?"
"Today, I was supervising combat training for Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku," Kakashi said, his expression turning grave.
"Then, without warning, a spatial rift tore open in the sky. That monster—radiating terrifying chakra—appeared. Judging by his tone, he claimed to be a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
Tsunade searched her memories but found no record of such a name.
"The moment he appeared, his attention locked directly onto Naruto. He even addressed him as the 'Nine-Tails.' And just as we were dragged into a fierce battle…"
Kakashi raised his hand and pointed toward the unconscious adult Sasuke lying on the hospital bed.