Atop Rōran Tower, amid howling winds, the man wearing a Uzumaki mask—Uchiha Obito—stood firmly in place.
The kunai in Kabuto's hand still dripped with the rogue ninja's blood. He did not panic at the man's sudden appearance, merely lowering his stance slightly as a cold glint flashed across his lenses.
"Who are you?" Kabuto asked again, his voice steady beyond what one would expect from a ten-year-old.
Obito did not answer immediately.
He rapidly surveyed his surroundings, assessed his own condition, and finally fixed his gaze on the silver-haired boy before him.
This was Rōran.
The power of the Dragon Vein had only just settled.
He had come here because he sensed the signature of the chakra network.
Obito's gaze narrowed slightly.
His original plan had been to retreat from the battlefield where he had attempted to assassinate the Fourth Hokage more than a decade ago, then return directly to the future that belonged to him. But clearly, the Dragon Vein's temporal jump was not as precise as he had imagined.
This was not the future.
At the very least, it was not the future he knew.
This was a point in time long before his departure.
The surrounding buildings were decrepit, but they had not yet weathered into the ruins he had seen in the future. And this boy before him—
"Kabuto..." Obito's low voice came through the mask, carrying a complicated undertone. "Were you really this small at this time?"
Kabuto frowned. This person knew him?
"Since you know me, we can skip the introductions." Kabuto adjusted his glasses and probed cautiously, "Judging by what you're wearing, you don't look like someone who got lost here. What you just used was... a space-time ninjutsu?"
His words were careful, revealing almost nothing.
Because logically speaking, while he was considered