Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 358 Various Situations

When in doubt, he would use his clones to scout ahead. This was a great habit Naruto developed, and it was incredibly useful.

At this point, there's no time to worry about physical exhaustion; figuring out your current situation is the most important thing. Of course, these clones will quickly switch to disguise upon seeing the locals, except for one that won't transform, which is used to draw fire. Now that it's confirmed you've traveled through time, and the enemy's puppets have openly appeared, you must be cautious without knowing their trump cards.

As it turned out, this caution was absolutely correct. His clone had barely taken two steps outside when it bumped into the strange puppet. Why not his main body? Because his main body was heading towards the newly formed boundary of perception. This was his first traceable time-space travel, and if he missed this opportunity, he probably wouldn't find such a good one again.

"What the hell? Why are there even uglier ones?" Naruto complained sincerely. Those puppets with eyes like fish bubbles were indeed not aesthetically pleasing at all. They came out with a beam of light and were the type that would never leave a good impression.

Naruto's fighting style is generally ranged. He would only engage in close combat with these puppets if he was really desperate. In almost a single exchange, the seemingly exaggerated puppets were reduced to fragments. This time, they didn't break apart because they lost control of the puppets, but because they were sliced ​​apart by wind blades.

Perhaps the distance was close enough, or perhaps his actions attracted the attention of the people in the shadows. One of them caught a few particularly familiar chakras in the torrent and couldn't help but turn his head to look.

They didn't show themselves, but instead hid in the crisscrossing dark alleys, observing him from a distance that wasn't too close or too far. This state was a combination of vigilance and curiosity. The other party's chakra wasn't particularly well concealed; an ordinary ninja would most likely just walk past, but a sensory type could easily detect them.

He knew all three of them, but one of them made him hesitate, a rare occurrence for him.

A man as intelligent as his father would probably recognize him the moment he saw him, right? Should he pretend not to know him, or should he properly call him "Dad"?

Or maybe we should just walk by and pretend we didn't see it...

Just as he was struggling with this, several fireworks suddenly exploded in the distance. You couldn't see anything clearly when they were set off in broad daylight, but fireworks meant there were people. He urgently needed information, although it wouldn't be impossible to ask those three directly... However, a little childish thought crept up when he saw his relatives.

His life was nailed down to a difficult path by his father from birth. Was he not even allowed to be willful once? Did he have to wait for his father to come to him?

Thinking this, he decisively turned and left, not giving the three people a chance to show themselves.

"Did that ninja just spot us?" The young Akimichi Choza emerged from around a corner.

"Don't you think he looks... familiar?" Aburame Shii also peeked out from behind a section of the fence, and the two of them unconsciously focused their gazes on a captain who also had blond hair.

"Based on the intelligence we received before, it's not impossible." The blond ninja's gaze remained fixed on the direction Naruto had left. If he were to remove his mask now, his smile would be impossible to hide.

"A second person from the future? What a coincidence, Minato." Choza's tone was tinged with amusement, even a hint of envy. Although they were still relatively young, they were all married and had established careers, and there was still no news about children. Minato had only gone on a mission and already seen what his child would look like in the future, and it seemed like he would be a very powerful ninja. How could anyone not be envious?

"Alright, let's not discuss the future too much, it would be terrible if it caused any problems. Let's get to the Queen of this country as soon as possible."

The three well-trained ninjas fell silent and vanished from their spot in an instant.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, a man sitting amidst countless pipes raised his head. He had received intelligence of Naruto's appearance. It was none other than the culprit who would break the seal and cause the energy surge in the future—the rogue ninja Hyakuri of Sunagakure. However, this once skeletal figure had become considerably rounder; it was uncertain whether Naruto would even recognize him upon seeing him again.

"Is he finally here? It seems the plan needs to be moved up. I absolutely cannot let that guy get in my way."

With a slight smile on his lips, Centipede got up and left the secret room.

His gaze returned to the ground. The vibrant fireworks, the bustling streets, the dense "crowd"—everything seemed like a normal festival, without a problem. But Naruto, being a sensory-based being, could quickly discern from his vantage point several meters above that the crowd was utterly lifeless. They were all puppets controlled by strings, which originated from the city's extensive network of pipes.

Are there any living people left on this land?

Naruto couldn't help but think this, and when he looked up and saw the familiar red-haired woman walking out of the tower, he even felt a little angry.

She can't even tell if the people walking on the street are human or ghosts, so how could she have time to hide in a corner and cry?

But the anger vanished in an instant, because the platform beneath the woman's feet suddenly cracked open, and she fell straight down; if she wasn't rescued, she would surely perish.

As a flying ninja, rescuing an unlucky person falling from a great height should be a piece of cake. For some reason, even though he could have easily caught her in a princess carry, he changed his mind at the last minute. Instead, he grabbed the girl's wrist and slowly released the weight until he safely placed her on the ground. He didn't even try to support her, letting the girl, whose legs had gone limp from fright, sit down on the ground with a thud.

This seems rather impolite... but why is that?

To salvage his image, Naruto knelt down and asked, "Are you alright?"

Of course he knew whether the other person was alright; he was just asking politely to start a conversation.

Before the young queen could react, she saw a face and almost reflexively swung her hand, only to have it easily dodged.

"Hey? I saved you, why are you hitting me?"

"That's because you were so rude!" The Queen tried to salvage her image, attempting to stand and express her gratitude, but her legs wouldn't obey. "Of course, you saved me, I should thank you..."

"Thank you for saving Her Majesty the Queen."

A gentle, soothing voice rang out behind Naruto. Without turning around, Naruto knew that the three hidden seniors had appeared.