Somewhere in the Land of Fire, inside an underground base, two five- or six-year-old children sat blankly in a room.
Naruto Uzumaki scratched his head in frustration. He could not make sense of the situation. He had not been at this base for long, and his movements had not been restricted.
Someone even brought him three meals a day, but he simply could not figure out what was going on.
In truth, ever since he had been captured by Otsutsuki Kinshiki, his mind had been a complete mess. He was utterly unable to understand what any of these events meant.
Of course, there was one thing he understood: Lu Xuan-sensei had rescued him, while that formidable-looking woman called Lady Tamamo was probably Hinata's teacher.
It seemed that the two of them were probably on Lu Xuan-sensei's turf. That was the only way he could make sense of it for now.
Fortunately, Naruto was not the intellectual type of protagonist. He did think things over, but when that got him nowhere, he found it easy enough to accept reality.
There was no danger here, and there was good food and drink, so he might as well stay. Though he was somewhat worried about Konoha, this place did not restrict his freedom. Still, at his young age, there was no way he could return to Konoha by himself.
No, forget returning to Konoha—even getting out of this base was a huge problem. It was Naruto's first time seeing a building like this. Everywhere was covered in white steel plating, even the room where he stayed. Ninjas were rarely seen. Other than when someone delivered his meals, he basically never saw a single person, as though he had been completely forgotten.
Moreover, this place was enormous, with corridors everywhere like a maze. If