Chapter 37: Returning to the Ninja World! An Unexpected Visitor!

Chapter 37: Returning to the Ninja World! An Unexpected Visitor!

"Ah! It's Itachi, Rock Lee, and Neji! Good to see you all finally made it!

But is Uncle Minato reluctant to let me go, so he's here to see me one last time?"

Naruto greeted them with a smile.

"Ah, it's a bit hard to let you go.

But the main reason I'm here is to send you all to Loulan."

Emperor Minato smiled.

"Naruto-kun! From now on, you can call me Otter, Lee as Tang, and Neji as Niji.

These are our code names while we're in your world."

Emperor Itachi instructed.

"That's right! I'm now known as Tang Rock! Hahaha!" Emperor Lee laughed heartily.

"Just call me Niji." Emperor Neji nodded and replied.

"Alright, Otter! Tang! Niji!"

Uzumaki Naruto laughed.

The group then gathered around Emperor Minato.

In the next instant, they vanished and reappeared in a massive steel space that emanated a chilling glow.

This steel world, upon closer inspection, resembled the Dragon Vein they had traveled through two months ago, except that all the stone structures had been replaced by steel ones.

There were also guards stationed on both sides.

Naruto Uzumaki even spotted Emperor Kankuro, who nodded slightly at them.

"Now, I'm going to activate the Dragon Vein to send Itachi, Lee, Neji, and young Naruto to your world! After that, don't panic when you see anything, just stay where you are.

I will leave at that moment! Understood?"

Emperor Minato led the group to the core of the Dragon Vein and spoke with a serious expression.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Then! Let's begin!"

Emperor Minato said for the last time.

He began to perform hand seals rapidly.

The Dragon Vein's energy surged, erupting in a dazzling display of light that threatened to engulf them all.

Minato smiled and nodded at everyone before disappearing in a flash.

Naruto silently waved in the direction where Minato had vanished:

"Goodbye, Uncle Minato. But we'll see each other again soon! And by then, Konoha and the Empire will be one big family!"

The light was about to engulf them all.

But then...

The space rippled.

A figure clad in the Uchiha clan's attire, with unkempt hair and a beard, looking disheveled and dejected, suddenly appeared among them!

"Uchiha Obito!"

Seeing this figure, Emperor Neji's pupils constricted, and he exclaimed in surprise.

"You Uchiha bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing? Get the hell out of there! This isn't a place you can mess around in!"

Upon seeing the unexpected intruder, the guard, Emperor Kankuro, had a shocked and angry expression on his face as he shouted loudly.

"Sorry, everyone, but I have a reason to go to another world! Please forgive my impulsiveness."

The disheveled youth who had appeared out of thin air spoke.

Buzz...

The light from the Dragon Vein grew closer!

A hint of anxiety appeared on Emperor Itachi's face.

He recalled the words of the Emperor and Orochimaru regarding time-space travel.

To cross through time and space, one must control the amount and stability of the energy, or else unknown situations may arise, leading to a failed crossing.

A failed crossing consumes temporal particles.

There's even a risk of everyone perishing in the temporal storm!

"This damn Uchiha Obito..."

Sighing inwardly, Uchiha Itachi stomped his foot, and with a loud boom, his figure shot out like a bolt of lightning.

The energy pillar of the Dragon Vein also swallowed the Team Four of Naruto, Emperor Lee, and Neji, along with the dejected youth known as Obito.

Boom!!!

The Dragon Vein trembled, and a brilliant light burst forth.

In the midst of a desert ruin, seven figures appeared out of thin air.

"Uchiha Obito! What are you doing here? You dared to intrude on the Dragon Vein at the last moment, going against His Majesty's wishes? Do you know that your actions could endanger all of us?"

Among the group that had just appeared, Imperial Neji's face was filled with anger as he rushed to the side of the disheveled youth wearing the Uchiha clan's attire. Grabbing the youth's collar with both hands, he shouted at him.

A faint blue chakra and luminous white qi surrounded him, and the veins around his eyes bulged menacingly.

"Obito, if you wanted to join us, you could have reported to His Majesty and requested his approval. Why did you have to do something like this? This is not youthful at all!"

Imperial Lee also sighed, at a loss for words.

"Sorry... Neji, Lee... I..."

The dejected-looking Obito stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"Uchiha Obito, I know you liked Nohara Rin. Did you come to this world for Rin as well?"

Imperial Neji frowned, eyeing him suspiciously.

Obito's face turned red, and he looked embarrassed. "I... I wanted to see if Rin was happy in this world."

"How pathetic. The mighty and proud Uchiha clan actually has someone like you!

You couldn't compete with Kakashi, so now you want to compete with this world's Kakashi?

Because of something like this, you disrupt His Majesty's plans and disregard everyone's lives. You make me feel sick!

You're not worthy of being His Majesty's subject! As a citizen of the Empire, you've betrayed us all!"

Imperial Neji was furious, his grip on Obito's collar tightening as the veins on his hand popped out.

The blue chakra and qi around him surged violently.

Obito's face reddened, and he remained silent, not daring to refute.

"Obito, although I don't understand love, I've heard about it from Teacher Guy.

Love should be a mutual affection with shared interests and youthful passion. Your one-sided affection for Rin is useless.

She and Kakashi live a happy life, and it should be the same in this world... Why waste your youth and go against His Majesty's wishes?"

Imperial Lee sighed and proceeded to educate Obito using the knowledge he had gained from Imperial Guy.

"I'm sorry, Lee, Neji.

I know that what I did was wrong and that I've let you all down.

But... I just couldn't control myself... I want to see Rin, even if it costs me my life."

Obito hung his head, offering nothing but apologies.

Team Asuma, on the other hand, stared at the newly appeared man in surprise.

Obito? Uchiha Obito?

Kakashi-sensei? Competition? Rin Nohara? It felt like they had just heard some earth-shattering news!

"Hmph! Let's see if the temporal communicator His Majesty gave us is working. As for your reckless actions, you'll have to face His Majesty's judgment."

Imperial Neji said coldly, wiping his right hand over a ring on his left hand.

A cloud of smoke appeared, and a strange device materialized in his hand.

Seeing this, Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed in surprise, "Hey! Niji, how did you just pull out that weird thing? Where's your sealing scroll?"

"Sealing scroll? We don't need those anymore. They're a thing of the past from the Shinobi Village era.

The Empire now uses something called a 'Space Ring,' which has a storage space dozens of times larger than a scroll and is much more convenient to carry."

Imperial Neji forced a slight smile as he saw Uzumaki Naruto's curious expression and raised his right hand to show off the ring on his index finger.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end