The Arrival of Naruto Uzumaki

"Flying Thunder God? What a troublesome ninjutsu."

There was no sign of hand seals, nor any premonition of chakra fluctuations.

Minato Namikaze, who had been atop the tower a second ago, crossed the distance of space like a bolt of golden lightning, appearing out of thin air right in front of the falling Yue Uchiha!

The Yellow Flash of Konoha never let his prey slip from his sight.

In mid-air, there was no expression on Minato's young, handsome face, only a cold, murderous intent in his azure eyes that belied his age.

A rogue ninja of Konoha—regardless of who they were or the reason, he would subdue them first.

He caught the three-pronged kunai that had fallen with him, while in the palm of his other hand, high-density chakra spun and compressed frantically, instantly forming a high-density chakra sphere radiating a dazzling blue light!

"Rasengan!"

Too fast! From the instant teleportation to manifesting the Rasengan, it took less than half a second!

This was a speed no ordinary Jonin could react to!

This was the absolute strength that led the leaders of the Four Great Nations to issue the order: "If you encounter this person, abandon your mission and flee immediately!"

The three tomoe in Yue's pupils showed faint signs of merging, but they quickly stabilized back into three.

Wasting ocular power here wouldn't be worth it.

In mid-air, with no leverage, he forcibly twisted his spine, slammed his short blade—scabbard and all—horizontally across his chest, and simultaneously poured all his chakra into it!

"BOOM--!!"

The violent Rasengan smashed fiercely against the scabbard.

The terrifying tearing force brought by the high-density rotating chakra instantly ground the steel scabbard into powder!

The immense impact was like a meteor strike, blasting Yue Uchiha straight out of the air!

"BANG!"

Yue's body flew like a fired cannonball, snapping a thick metal exhaust pipe nearby before embedding deep into the abandoned wall.

Yue coughed softly.

"Truly impressive! Minato, but have you forgotten? Rōran isn't just the few of us anymore."

Just as Minato prepared to throw another kunai, the massive metal pipe beneath his feet suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.

"RUMBLE!"

The exhaust pipe Yue had snapped when he was blasted away was actually one of the main conduits for Rōran's underground arsenal!

High-pressure, purple Dragon Vein chakra erupted like a geyser from the rupture, instantly forming a high-energy wall of chakra dozens of meters high, impossible to cross!

Not only that, but drawn by the violent chakra leak, hundreds of spider-like sentry puppets began crawling up the surrounding walls in a dense swarm, tightly encircling the area where Minato stood.

"The direction he was blasted... was it intentional?!" Minato's pupils constricted sharply.

Through the surging purple curtain of light, Yue Uchiha's figure began to blur.

He sheathed his cracked short blade and made a gesture to Minato that only those from the Anbu would understand.

"Until we meet again."

By the time Minato used the Flying Thunder God to pierce through the chakra curtain and dispose of the few self-destructing puppets that lunged at him, the black-robed Uchiha youth had completely vanished into the dark, labyrinthine depths of Rōran, leaving not even a trace of chakra to track.

Minato looked at the wreckage of puppets littering the ground, his brow furrowed.

"I must find him as soon as possible. I have a feeling that with him around, completing this mission will be difficult," Minato muttered to himself, his figure flashing as he gave chase in the direction Yue had disappeared.

Meanwhile, amidst the intricate metal pipes above the ancient city of Rōran, the purple Dragon Vein chakra that had been flowing steadily suddenly began to riot violently.

"Hum~"

Accompanied by a piercing sound of spatial distortion, a dazzling vortex of light tore open in mid-air.

"Waaaaaah--!"

A shrill scream erupted from the vortex, followed by a boy in an orange tracksuit with spiky blond hair and azure eyes, who came tumbling out of the sky, flailing his limbs.

"THUD!"

The boy landed in an incredibly undignified heap on a wide metal street, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch... damn it, Captain Yamato? Sakura? Sai?"

Naruto Uzumaki rubbed his sore backside and climbed up from the ground, feeling dizzy.

He looked around; what should have been the ruins of Rōran buried in sand had transformed into a futuristic super-city filled with towering spires.

"Where on earth is this? Wasn't I in the middle of capturing that bastard Mukade?" Naruto was completely bewildered.

Before he could figure out the situation, a hair-raising sound of mechanical grinding suddenly echoed from the shadows on both sides of the street.

"Click-clack-clack..."

Over a dozen mechanical puppets, shaped like giant spiders and crafted entirely from metal, crawled out from the darkness.

Their single eyes, glowing with a sinister purple light, instantly locked onto the foreign intruder.

"What the hell is that?!"

Naruto Uzumaki jumped in shock, instinctively reaching for his ninja tool pouch, only to realize he hadn't fully recovered from the dizziness of space-time travel, and his chakra circulation felt sluggish.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Without a moment's hesitation, several puppets opened their mouths, and multiple high-density purple-red chakra lasers blasted toward Naruto.

"Whoa! Danger!" Naruto rolled across the ground in a panic, narrowly dodging the lasers.

The beams slammed into the ground where he had just been standing, instantly blasting out a massive crater.

"Damn it, don't underestimate me! Shadow Clone Ju—"

Just as Naruto started to weave hand signs, a massive puppet leaped silently from the pipes above his head, its sharp metal forelimbs descending like the scythe of death to slash viciously at his neck!

The speed was too great; Naruto's hand signs were cut off mid-motion, his pupils constricting sharply.

At that critical, thousand-jun moment—

"Clang!"

A black afterimage streaked past Naruto's side like a phantom.

Accompanied by a piercing sound of metal clashing against metal, the giant puppet that had lunged from the air was instantly sliced in two!

The severed edges were as smooth as a mirror, and the purple chakra circuits crackled before exploding with a roar.

Amidst the fiery glow of the explosion, a figure in a high-collared black robe stood before Naruto.

He slowly sheathed a short blade covered in tiny cracks back at his waist, his movements fluid and effortless.

"I'm saved..." Naruto sat on the ground, still shaken, looking at the back before him. "Mister, thank you!"

Hearing the word "Mister," the black-robed youth tilted his head slightly, his eye twitching as he glanced at Naruto.

"Are you from Konoha?"

Naruto looked up, catching a glimpse of the Konoha forehead protector faintly visible beneath the youth's clothes, and instantly grew excited. "So you're a Konoha ninja too! That's great, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I was tracking someone named Mukade... and somehow ended up here..."

Yue Uchiha looked at the boisterous, completely unguarded blonde blockhead before him, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, imperceptible arc.

He naturally knew who this was.

This was the absolute "Child of Prophecy" of this world, the reincarnation of Asura who would eventually overturn the chessboard—Naruto Uzumaki.

"Do you know where that damn Mukade is?"

Yue did not answer directly, merely withdrawing his gaze with indifference.

"It's dangerous here, kid. Stay close to me."

"Oh! Okay!" Seeing the other's Konoha attire and his kindness, Naruto's guard dropped to zero, and he even felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

However, just as Naruto prepared to follow in Yue's footsteps, a sharp, piercing whistle suddenly descended from above!

"Whoosh!"

A uniquely shaped three-pronged kunai struck the ground between Yue and Naruto like a bolt of lightning.