Chapter 13 — The Gate Appears Again, We're Back!
"Because we're friends!"
The boy's voice was full of warmth, and the smile on his face made Kaguya freeze for a moment, as if time itself had stopped.
Friends??
She blinked, then asked in confusion, "What... does 'friends' mean?"
Naruto Uzumaki was stunned. The question caught him completely off guard, and he found it baffling. Weren't friends just... friends?
"Friends are just friends! Anyway, we're friends, that's what matters!" Naruto said with a grin. That dazzling brightness made Kaguya's gaze shift away slightly.
She did not dare look directly into Naruto Uzumaki's eyes anymore.
Not even a little.
He was too dazzling, and compared to him, she was...
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked at once when he noticed her avoiding his gaze.
"N-nothing. Don't look at me. It's nothing," Kaguya said, shaking her head and lowering it, not daring to raise it again.
The tips of her ears turned red once more.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused. But he quickly went after Kakashi and the others, and in the end, they landed beneath a concealed giant tree.
Naruto set Kaguya down, then tightly tied his forehead protector around his head, thoroughly sealing away his looks.
"By the way, Kakashi-sensei, what are we supposed to do next?" Naruto asked.
Everyone looked at Kakashi, waiting for his answer. At this point, they could only follow their teacher's arrangements.
Kakashi pondered for a moment. To be precise, aside from arriving in that world and meeting the target of their mission, they knew almost nothing.
They did not even know what they were supposed to do. What exactly did so-called history and destiny mean?
He looked at Kaguya, leaving her thoroughly confused.
Just as Kakashi was about to do something, Naruto suddenly let out a cry, breaking the silence.
A burst of golden light suddenly surged out from Naruto's body, and then...
A gate appeared before them.
That same gate from before had appeared once again!!
"Is it here to take us home?!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.
Sakura and the others were equally excited. Only Kakashi looked grave, while Kaguya remained completely bewildered.
"Why did it appear? Was it because of that light just now? What exactly does it contain? And what does it mean to rewrite Kaguya's history?" Kakashi asked himself inwardly as he stared at the gate.
Everything had begun because of it.
And yet it was still shrouded in mystery. Why had it appeared? Why did it exist?
Whoosh!!!
As the gate opened, a white light enveloped all five of them, and in the next moment, they vanished instantly...
...
When they opened their eyes again, everything before them looked so familiar.
Wasn't this the exact place where they had first encountered the gate?
Did that mean... they were back?
"We're back?" Naruto cried out excitedly at once.
Even Sasuke and Sakura looked noticeably more animated. They had finally escaped that cursed place and returned to their own world.
Kaguya, meanwhile, looked all around with unfamiliarity written across her face. They had been wrapped in light, and then simply appeared here...
Why couldn't she sense the God Tree?
As she was wondering about that...
"Naruto, check the words in your mind. See if anything has changed," Kakashi said immediately.
Naruto quickly nodded and hurried to inspect them, but those glaring words were still there, just as before.
"They still seem to be there. Nothing's changed, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said.
Hearing that, Kakashi felt even more puzzled. Unable to make sense of it, he simply stopped thinking about it.
It would be better to hurry back to Konoha first. After all, they had likely already been delayed by several days.
"In that case, let's return to Konoha as quickly as possible and report this matter to the Hokage. He can decide what to do," Kakashi said in a deep voice.
"Yay! We can finally go home! I've been craving old man Teuchi's ramen for ages!" Naruto shouted excitedly, taking the lead.
Kaguya followed behind them, observing this unfamiliar world. It was not that she could not sense the God Tree at all... no...
It was more that the sensation was unclear, extremely faint. Was it because the distance was too great, or because she was too weak right now?
The God Tree's aura was clearly much weaker than before...
Why?
...
Konohagakure.
Hokage's Office.
Sitting in the office was an old man wearing the Hokage hat—the current Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Kakashi reported everything that had happened over the past few days to the Third Hokage, from the events in the Land of Waves, to passing through that strange gate...
Kaguya... the Ōtsutsuki Clan... the Ancestor Nation... the God Tree...
Hearing all this, Hiruzen Sarutobi was visibly surprised. Even with his vast experience, what they had gone through was something entirely new.
"This is Miss Kaguya, the one we mentioned who comes from the Ōtsutsuki Clan," Kakashi introduced.
Hiruzen looked at her carefully and was momentarily drawn in as well, though his composure was solid. So she really did possess a pair of Byakugan.
"I will notify the Hyūga Clan about this matter. When it comes to the Byakugan, only they would know more. They may have some idea," Hiruzen said.
"Yes!" Kakashi nodded.
At that moment, Naruto suddenly began shouting again.
"Third Grandpa, we beat someone super strong!" Naruto said proudly.
"Is that so? It seems little Naruto has gotten stronger again. You're one step closer to becoming Hokage. Keep it up," Hiruzen said kindly, like a warm old grandfather.
"O-of course!" Naruto replied, blushing from the praise and looking a little shy.
After giving a few instructions, the Third Hokage had Kakashi lead Team 7 and Kaguya out of the office.
The Third Hokage took a deep drag of smoke and stared at the ceiling, his face heavy.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Aliens who consumed people to gain power.
A mysterious gate.
"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya..." the Hokage muttered softly.
Then an Anbu member—one of the Hokage's subordinates—appeared before him and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Third!"
"Send someone to the Hyūga Clan and inform Hiashi of this matter," the Third Hokage said as he looked out the window.
"Yes!"
With that, the Anbu member vanished in a flash.
The Third Hokage remained where he was, watching Naruto and the others' retreating figures outside the window, especially that member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
For some reason...
His instincts told him that this person... was not simple.
Bang!!!!
Just as he was lost in thought, the office door was kicked open.
Then a certain old man strode in arrogantly, his right eye and right arm both wrapped in bandages.
"Hi— Hiruzen!"
The one who had spoken was none other than Konoha's darkness, the man behind the Hokage, the ruler of Root—
Danzō Shimura.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly turned around. He did not even need to guess who it was.
It seemed another round was about to begin.