(No matter how you look at it, Sasuke is so handsome as an adult!)
Inner Sakura felt a little thrill. Even if it was another world's grown-up Sasuke, she couldn't help but imagine how her Sasuke might look in the future.
(Ah, if we had a child… he'd be so cute, hopefully as handsome as his dad—)
Now it was Fantasy Time!
Then, someone blocked her view—a person with the same hair color, features, and outfit. Her. Or rather, "Final-Chapter Sakura" was staring her down with a less-than-friendly look. She obviously knew exactly what her younger self was thinking—especially since she was literally her at that age.
Tsk!
Younger Sakura curled her lip, shifting her gaze back to the group in the middle of their conversation. Despite daydreaming about grown-up Sasuke just now, she'd still heard every word.
Naruto becoming the Seventh Hokage… wow, who'd have thought that scatterbrain could actually make his dream come true?
She smiled, gratified, and quietly opened the Cast Net Jutsu. She flipped through the many snapshots of grown-up Sasuke she'd just taken, choosing one of adult Naruto to send to her own world's Naruto:
[The future you from another world showed up! He's the Seventh Hokage~]
They'd recently made inter-world travel public, especially for her as a newly promoted jōnin who'd been on a "Ninja Alliance" standby shift in another world.
Since Naruto was a Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, of course he'd been informed, though for safety reasons he hadn't gone there himself. He'd just barely fulfilled some vow with Link, gleaning a bit of free Nine-Tails chakra usage under Minato's guidance before the promised time.
Alas, the Kaguya crisis rendered that promise meaningless. To protect the world, the village, and everyone important to him, that guy had apparently gone to Mount Myōboku for sage training, so he wasn't even in Konoha right now.
[!!]
Naruto texted back an emoji of shock, then asked:
[Has Link returned?]
[Yes, and he brought us three from another world as reinforcements, haha?] Younger Sakura thought of their trio, brimming with excitement. An older Sasuke at her side, even if they never actually got together or married, it was fine… She fired off a string of handsome pictures of adult Sasuke.
"Sakura!" Tsunade's voice broke her happy daydream about sharing the news with Naruto. "You take them on a tour of the village."
"Ah—yes, ma'am!"
Younger Sakura blanked out momentarily, then hastened to respond.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. Under these circumstances, with so many people present—so crucial a moment—Sakura had been secretly gathering chakra and playing with the Cast Net Jutsu? Maybe some jōnin hadn't noticed, but kage-level ninja sure had. Don't think you can stand off to the side and go unseen.
Kakashi could have led them, but if a student could handle it, the teacher didn't need to.
The adult "Team 7 trio" were all mature enough to grasp that this was a signal for them to leave, letting the others speak in private. They naturally followed Sakura out.
…
Once they left, Tobirama was first to speak. "So what made you suddenly come back with people?"
"I hopped around over a dozen different points in time before finally finding them," Link said with a grin. "It's a future version of Team Seven—they once sealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"!"
Having heard from the two Madaras about how formidable Kaguya was, Tobirama looked startled, though he realized it wasn't impossible. After all, from Link's earlier intel, Naruto and Sasuke were reincarnations of Asura and Indra, like Hashirama and Madara, so their potential was huge.
Tobirama mulled it over. "Then let's bring everyone to their world in a bit."
He had to consider the possibility that the other side might refuse to help. Better to push the danger onto them, especially since they might not fully understand the Boat Passage's mechanics yet. Going there might drag them all in together.
Link was speechless. This version of Tobirama, the Hokage of his world, was just as cunning—first thought was to gain an advantage for himself at the expense of others.
Kakashi said nothing, though he seemed like he wanted to.
"That's not acceptable," Final-Chapter Hashirama cut in. "Tobirama, don't drag other people's worlds into chaos."
(But that's exactly the plan…) Tsunade thought inwardly, then voiced: "If we're sure they can handle Kaguya, why not rally our own forces and strike first?"
She was never the type to sit passively at home waiting for an attack. Even from a military standpoint, relocating the battlefield to someone else's world was better.
Tobirama glanced at his "big brother," disinclined to argue. What if they refuse to help? Then our people must risk their lives? One miscalculation could mean world destruction. He couldn't afford leniency, so he'd plan to do something in secret.
"Once they decide to come over in person, we'll gather Madara as well and go talk in the Second Parallel World," he declared.
He had to consider the possibility of butting heads with these unknown strong allies. They certainly didn't want to fight them inside their own village. In the Second World, he could fight freely if needed.
Both Madaras, newly reincarnated, were regaining their old powers remarkably fast. Thanks to the Sharingan's capacity for quick mastery, within days both their physical stats and chakra soared to borderline jōnin level. Then equipping the Rinnegan catapulted them further. According to the "first" Hashirama, "They're gradually regaining the strength of their past lives."
They were both in the Second Parallel World, scouring the globe for Black Zetsu, with little success so far.
Tsunade nodded, signaling she approved this temporary plan.
…
Third Parallel World, Under a Round Moon
As Kaguya infused Link's chakra into the Boat Passage technique, a swirling vortex flickered, then promptly shattered.
"Failure again."
Suspended in midair, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya let her arms hang. A few days ago, White Zetsu had discovered the visitor's hidden scrolls from another world. She opened one, carefully sensing the chakra sealed inside.
Absorb— fail.
Even as the Progenitor of Chakra, there existed a kind of chakra she couldn't digest. It could only remain sealed in her body, clashing with everything else.
Mimic— fail.
White Zetsu could replicate others' chakra, so theoretically, it should be child's play for her. But though the newly "forged" chakra looked identical, it couldn't cast dimension-hopping ninjutsu. It felt strangely "empty."
It lacked the vibrant "liveliness" of the original. That a chakra could be described as "vibrant" was bizarre indeed.
Then, at Black Zetsu's suggestion, Kaguya had squandered the first scroll's chakra to test the jutsu, thus gleaning the gist of how it worked.
Moments ago, she tried using the second scroll's chakra to pinpoint its rightful owner. She failed again.
Never had she felt so stymied.
"Mother, we have only one scroll left—maybe we should—" Her "strategist" Black Zetsu began, but she silenced it instantly.
(I mustn't be hasty. I'll first purge this world's hidden dangers. Once I absorb all the chakra and demolish the moon overhead, I can revisit experimenting with that jutsu.)
Kaguya reached out, taking the last scroll floating in midair, then tucked it into her sleeve.
After more than a month, she'd cooled down from the fury of her resurrection, realizing she had to be patient—especially with only one piece of mysterious chakra left. Impatience would be foolish.
~~~
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