As evening came, Ruri noticed the sky gradually darkening. He looked at Momokusa Harukawa and said, "Harukawa, it's already evening. Let's stop training here for today!"
Momokusa Harukawa nodded and said, "All right, Liu Lijun. Let's go home together!"
Ruri nodded, then walked down the mountain with Momokusa Harukawa.
After coming down the mountain, Ruri and Momokusa Harukawa walked along the street toward home. Ruri gazed at the night that had fallen over the sky. At some point, the pure white moon seemed to have taken on a scarlet tint.
Looking at the scarlet-tinged moon, Ruri felt a faint unease rising in his heart for some reason.
"What's wrong, Ruri? Is something on your mind?" Momokusa Harukawa, who was beside him, noticed his unease and asked with concern.
Ruri came back to his senses, looked at Momokusa Harukawa, and shook his head. "Mm... n-no, nothing. Maybe I'm just too tired today! It's fine. Let's go!"
"Mm, that makes sense. We practiced so much today. Get some good rest when you get home!" Momokusa Harukawa smiled and followed Ruri forward.
I'm probably overthinking it... I hope nothing happens today! Ruri thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in a cave outside Konoha, a barrier lay spread across the cave floor, and a man paced anxiously inside it. That man was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Inside, his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, was giving birth. His child-Naruto Uzumaki, the future protagonist of the original story-was being born.
As Naruto Uzumaki was being born, no one knew that a swirling distortion had suddenly appeared in space above the Fourth Hokage's face on Hokage Rock at Konoha's Back Mountain. A figure then appeared atop the Fourth Hokage's face.
The person who emerged from the distorted space wore a black robe and a spiral-patterned mask. With only his