Year 128 of the Konoha dar, on an unnamed isnd a hundred miles from the Land of Water.

  Deep within a cave, flickering dlelight cast dim, wavering shadows.

  On a stone bed y an old man with graying white hair and a face etched with wrinkles. His life was nearing its end.

  If not for the emerald green eyes and the three whisker-like marks on his cheeks, no one would have believed that he was onaruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage!

  His life had been a journey of rising from oppression to glory, only to end iion.

  At the age of 12, he graduated from the Ninja Academy as a Genin of Konoha.

  At 16, he defeated Pain and became the hero of Konoha. That same year, he fought in the Freat Ninja War, where he and Sasuke Uchiha joined forces to seal Kaguya, bringing peace to the ninja world.

  However, the camities of the ninja world did not end with Kaguya's sealing.

  After that, Kinshiki, Momoshiki, Urashiki, Isshiki... oer ahey ignited new flicts!

  Itle against Isshiki ōtsutsuki, Naruto lost Kurama, and Sasuke lost his Rinnegan.

  With no other choice, they entrusted the future of the ninja world to the geion, led by Boruto.

  Boruto did not disappoint. Through tless trials, he grew and surpassed his father at his peak, mastering the power of the Jōgan and Momoshiki’s ōtsutsuki abilities. He resolved numerous crises and ushered in a new era of prosperity for the ninja world.

  But that prosperity was reduced to ashes with the arrival of Shinjiki ōtsutsuki.

  Shinjiki possessed overwhelming power, far surpassing even Kaguya’s!

  In the decisive battle, the entire ninja world uo resist him, but the oute was devastating.

  Friends, his wife, children, rades... all perished in battle.

  Their dying cries echoed in Naruto’s mind during tless sleepless nights, tormenting his soul.

  "Naruto, our strength... it’s useless..."

  "Naruto-kun, please live on. Five me for not being able to stay by your side..."

  "Father, I’ve... done my best!"

  "Seventh Hokage-sama, please retreat quickly! You are our st hope!!!"

  In the end, an exhausted Naruto was sent away by the Hidden Cloud using a secret teique. When he awoke, the enemy had left, leaving behind a scorched and barren nd.

  Naruto k a until his tears ran dry. He began a life of exile.

  He wao do something, but in his twilight years, he owerless.

  And so he lived on, aimlessly, until now, when his life was about to end.

  Beside the dle stood an a-looking turtle artifact. It was a time-traveling tool of the ōtsutsuki called "Rei," brought by Urashiki and ter passed into Naruto’s hands.

  But Rei was broken. It could no loraverse time or even speak.

  In his lonely old age, Rei had bee Naruto’s only fidant.

  "Hey, you know what, Turtle? My greatest mistake in life was uimating the power of that ..."

  Through his battles with the ōtsutsuki, Naruto had uncovered a harsh truth.

  Far beyond the ninja world, in the distant reaches of space, there called Takamagahara—the birthpce of the ōtsutsuki .

  On Takamagahara, beings far strohan Kaguya were as on as stars in the sky.

  "Back then, we worked together to seal Kaguya and ter defeated Momoshiki. I hought that was the extent of their power... I was so foolish to believe that unity alone could overe those extraterrestrial beings."

  "From the very beginning, we humans were at a disadvahe truth is, the Sage of Six Paths’ path was irely correct. Everything Kaguya feared has e true. In the end, we were too short-sighted... *cough* *cough* *cough*!"

  Naruto coughed heavily, his vision growing blurrier.

  The dlelight flickered, on the verge of extinguishing. Time was running out.

  At that moment, Rei, dormant for years, suddenly spoke: "If you could do it all ain, would you seek revenge against them?"

  Naruto thought it was a halluatiht on by his impendih and paid it no mind.

  His gaze was calm, his voice weary. "Revenge only breeds a of hatred. I wouldn’t walk that path. But if I could truly start over, I would do whatever it takes to gain the power to rival those beings. Only then could I truly protect the people most important to me..."

  Rei fell silent for a moment. "Whatever it takes? That doesn’t sound like something you would say."

  Naruto’s eyes slowly closed, a faint, sorrowful smile on his lips. "The naive, idealistiaruto Uzumaki died the day my home and family were destroyed..."

  Rei was quiet for a long time before saying, "Perhaps... I grant your wish."

  Naruto murmured, "You send me ba time?"

  Rei replied, "I transfer your soul, but it’s a one-way trip. You’ll never be able to return. Even so, are you willing?"

  Naruto smiled. "Why would I want to return to a world where no one is left..."

  Rei said, "Theend your hand."

  With the st of his strength, Naruto reached out with a trembling hand... *whoosh!* The final remnants of his chakra were absorbed by Rei.

  *Buzz!*

  The artifact activated!

  Naruto’s soul left his body, flowing back through the river of time.

  *Whoosh!*

  The dlelight extinguished...

  The Naruto of this timeline closed his eyes forever.

  *Crack! Crack!*

  Cracks spread across Rei’s surface, signaling its immi destru.

  "I have witnessed tless Naruto Uzumakis across time. If anyone stop the atrocities of that , it is you. Rise again, in a timeliher too early nor too te..."

  Naruto felt his sciousness sinking within a tunnel… When he opened his eyes again, he was in a gray, sealed space.

  In his hands was a book—*Tales of a Gutsy Ninja* by Jiraiya.

  In front of him, within a meical walker, sat a frail Nagato, with Konan standing by his side.

  What was going on? Was this a dream?

  Naruto pinched his leg hard. The pain jolted him awake.

  This was no dream.

  Nagato spoke in a sorrowful tone: "ge the protagonist, and it bees a different story..."

  "I am your senior, a fellow disciple of the same master. I once said we should be able to uand each other."

  "Although that was inally just a joke."

  "You truly are araordinary person."

  "You remind me of my former self…"

  "Nagato..." Konan’s tone shifted as she sensed something unusual.

  "I couldn’t trust Jiraiya."

  "No, I couldn’t even trust myself..."

  "But... I have a feeling that the paths we walk will lead to different futures."

  "I will try to believe in you, Naruto Uzumaki."

  With those words, Nagato withdrew his hands from the viscous bindings and formed a shog hand seal.

  —*Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Teique!*

  Konan gasped, "Nagato... you!"

  Nagato decred resolutely, "Konan, that’s enough. I’ve made a new choice! A choice I once abandoned!"

  Naruto suddenly snapped back to reality. "This is...!?"

  Konan, thinking Naruto was questioning the jutsu, expined, "Those who possess the Rinnegan ot only trol the Six Paths of Pain but are also said to trahe cycle of life ah. Nagato’s ocur power allows him to wield the teique of life ah—the Seventh Path of Pain."

  "I know..." Naruto ched his fists. He realized that the voice he heard before his death was not an illusion but Rei’s words.

  I’m back. I’ve truly returned. My soul has traveled back to the moment after defeating Pain, during my iation with Nagato.

  His heart raced with excitement, his trembling hands uo find a pce to rest. The cover of the book in his hands was soaked with sweat.

  The Naruto standing here was still Naruto, but his soul was the Naruto from the future.

  Konan, of course, had no way of knowing this. She watched Nagato with : using this jutsu with his current chakra would soon... no...