Chapter 279: Farewell
When Urashiki arrived in the ninja world where Makoto lived, it barely caused a ripple. Like a stone thrown into a lake, it splashed up a burst of water within a limited area before the surface quickly returned to calm.
The battlefield outside the village attracted the attention of quite a few interested parties, but every trace that could have caused trouble had been completely annihilated by Makoto. Even if someone managed to sneak in and investigate, they would find nothing.
The battle had taken place outside the village and ended rather quickly.
The losses suffered by Konoha were actually lighter than those of the other four Great Shinobi Villages. In fact, because they launched investigations into the battle, several spies hidden within Konoha exposed themselves, leaving the village's internal security cleaner than before.
Very few people knew the true identities of adult Sasuke and Boruto—only those within Makoto's circle.
When villagers saw the two of them walking around, they treated them no differently from any other shinobi. No one was going to make a wild leap of imagination and guess that they came from a parallel world that shared the same origin as their own ninja world.
The people most affected were probably the Fourth Hokage's family and Clan Head Fugaku's family.
Kushina got to experience what it felt like to be a grandmother through Boruto and had already started looking forward to whether Naruto would have a grandson who looked exactly the same once he grew up and got married.
In fact, she had already made up her mind. No matter what her future grandson looked like, his name would have to be Uzumaki Boruto.
Mikoto cared little about another world's affairs. What truly concerned her was her grown-up second son, whose face seemed etched with the hardships he had endured.
Unlike Fugaku, Itachi, and Shisui, who already knew that the Uchiha Clan in that parallel world had been wiped out, making them cherish their current situation even more.
Fortunately, adult Sasuke still had a bit of conscience. He only gave a brief explanation of what had happened and conveniently left out the fact that his wonderful older brother had personally slaughtered nearly every man, woman, and child in the clan.
Otherwise, Fugaku probably wouldn't have slept quite so peacefully at night.
...
That afternoon, inside Makoto's dojo, adult Sasuke and Boruto finished their preparations.
Today, they would be returning to their own world.
The time for parting had arrived.
The Namikaze and Uchiha families had come to see them off, and besides them, quite a few others who knew the truth had gathered at the dojo as well.
On the training grounds, although Boruto felt reluctant to leave his young grandfather and grandmother behind, he knew he did not belong here. Sooner or later, he had to return.
More importantly, he couldn't stop worrying about the family waiting for him in his own world.
Boruto took out Karasuki.
The little fellow immediately sprang back to life at full energy.
Because adult Sasuke and Boruto had stayed behind for a while longer to train in the True Sage system, Makoto had borrowed Karasuki and spent considerable time researching the mechanism behind its time-travel abilities.
Karasuki had long since finished recharging. However, the little thing had been playing dead the entire time in front of Makoto.
Now that it apparently sensed it could finally escape, it instantly activated its time-travel function.
The blue-green turtle shell on its back split apart along its white markings and floated into the air. A mysterious mass of energy within burst forth with light, forming a sphere that enveloped adult Sasuke and Boruto.
Mikoto immediately spoke up.
"Sasuke, once you're back, make sure to take care of yourself. Don't shoulder everything alone. Take good care of your family."
Fugaku added, "The future of the Uchiha in your world is in your hands now, Sasuke."
Itachi and Shisui said nothing. They simply nodded.
Adult Sasuke gave his familiar family one final look.
Although his expression hardly changed, his response was different from before.
"I understand. Then this is farewell... Father, Mother, Brother, and Shisui-niisan."
Since arriving in this world, it was the first time he had addressed them that way.
It might also be the last.
On the other side, Kushina was busy giving instructions to her grandson.
"Boruto, don't forget about us after you go back, okay? And remember to show those photos to your little sister."
"Also, if Naruto is still like you said—busy with work all day and never paying attention to his family—then take a photo of your grandfather and me and give him a good scolding on our behalf."
Young Naruto silently observed a moment of mourning for his alternate-world self.
Boruto's smile was bright and carefree.
"Don't worry, I won't forget. Goodbye, Grandpa, Grandma... and young Dad."
Young Naruto: "..."
During this period, the only people with truly complicated feelings were probably him and young Sasuke.
One had gotten an early glimpse of what he would be like when he grew up.
The other didn't even have a girlfriend yet and had somehow already acquired a future son.
Unfortunately, Karasuki was in a hurry to make its escape, leaving everyone very little time to say goodbye.
After the light enveloped adult Sasuke and Boruto, a platform made entirely of light quickly formed beneath their feet.
The sphere of light then contracted and flashed.
A moment later, adult Sasuke and Boruto vanished along with it.
They had left.
They had returned to the world where they belonged.
...
Mikoto and Kushina felt a sense of loss as they left the dojo under the comfort of their respective husbands. The others gradually dispersed as well.
Tenten looked at Makoto with curiosity in her eyes.
"Sensei, do you know what I was like in that other world?"
"Of course. A famous ninja tool master in Konoha."
Tenten blinked.
"That's it? What kind of answer is 'ninja tool master'?"
Makoto smiled.
"Can't be helped. In that world, I wasn't your sensei."
"Oh. Then she must be weak."
Lee immediately raised his hand.
"Sensei! What about me? What about me?"
Makoto replied, "A famous taijutsu master in Konoha. Still Guy's disciple. But it's the same issue—there's no me in that world."
Lee clenched his fist.
"Excellent! Even compared to my alternate-world self, I am still the strongest! To celebrate this wonderful news, today's training will be doubled!"
Neji remained quiet and didn't ask anything.
He understood very well that if Makoto didn't exist in that world, everyone would simply have followed the normal path of a shinobi. Their strength wouldn't have undergone any fundamental transformation.
Makoto looked at him.
"Neji, aren't you curious about what you were like after growing up in that other world?"
"Sorry, Makoto-sensei. Not in the slightest."
"If I'm telling you to ask, then ask. Just satisfy your sensei's desire to tell the story."
"...Fine, Sensei. What was I like after growing up in that other world?"
Makoto nodded solemnly.
"Since you've asked so sincerely, then as your benevolent sensei, I shall mercifully tell you."
"Listen carefully, Neji."
"As for what you were like after growing up in that other world..."
"I don't know."
Neji: "..."
He knew it.
Tenten grabbed Makoto's arm and shook it.
"Sensei, just tell us already! I want to know too."
"Tenten, your teacher genuinely doesn't know."
"Because in that other world, Hyūga Neji gloriously died in battle when he turned eighteen."
Neji: "..."
I'd rather not have known.
Tenten and Lee silently committed the matter to memory, swearing to protect their companion and ensure he would never repeat the fate of his alternate-world counterpart.
Yūgao, who happened to be on leave that day, watched the departing pair and thought about her other-world self.
"Makoto, you said the me from that world ended up broken, right? I really want to see what happened."
"I wouldn't say broken. Just... somewhat defeated by life. The kind of despair that comes from a dead heart."
"Now I'm even more curious. Since you don't exist there, that means I must have married someone else. What, did my husband die?"
"I feel like you're cursing me. But I don't have any proof."
"If you want to go there, you'll have to find the Karasuki of this world."
Yūgao rolled her eyes.
"You don't need to tell me that. But ever since adult Sasuke gave us the location, the ANBU and the archaeology department have been investigating it, and they haven't found a single trace of the Ōtsutsuki, let alone Karasuki."
Makoto looked slightly surprised.
"Really? Now that's interesting."
If Karasuki existed somewhere else in this world, that would be one thing.
But if no such artifact existed at all...
Then Makoto suspected that Karasuki might be unique.
And if the tool itself was unique, that could only mean one thing.
The person who created it was unique as well.
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