"Simply put..." The Nine-Tails raised a front paw and extended three claws.
"You can imagine this claw as representing the past, this one the present, and this one the future."
Seeing that Naruto wanted to ask something, the Nine-Tails interrupted his explanation. "You only need to remember that concept."
Naruto said, "Oh."
"Let's call where we are now the 'present.' But for some unknown reason, the timelines of the 'present,' 'past,' and 'future' have become mixed together." As it spoke, the Nine-Tails brought its three claws together.
"One thing is certain: no matter how the surroundings change, we'll eventually return to the stairwell where we are now. Using this place as an anchor, whenever we return here, we are in the 'present.'"
As the Nine-Tails spoke, its tails swayed unconsciously behind it. "And the environmental changes we occasionally trigger while moving upward most likely happen because we're at some point in the past or future. That period is very brief, as though something forcibly ends it and pulls us back."
"Something...?"
Naruto muttered to himself. Then, as if recalling something, his eyes lit up.
"Right, that eye."
"An eye?"
"It was the eye that person gave me when Sasuke and I were in the library."
In the outside world, Naruto looked at the bottle in his hand and said,
"I can come back, but Sasuke hasn't returned even once. Maybe it's because of this."
The Nine-Tails nodded slightly. "Do you remember when I said some questions couldn't be explained?"
"If all my previous guesses are correct, then this involves something truly terrifying—everyone's memories have been tampered with. History was altered by someone!"
Naruto said, "?!"
Just then, Naruto missed a step as he went upstairs, and the path ahead turned into relatively smooth wooden flooring.
"Who's there?!"
The next instant,