It was a beautiful, sunny day. The Land of Light, founded by the Uchiha, was in a period of rapid development two years later, and the localized war with the Senju had not yet begun.
Uchiha Tenma and Uchiha Yukimichi had not yet arrived at the front lines; they were still working domestically.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the capital, the once peaceful sky suddenly distorted, and the surrounding space cracked open like a mirror, then shattered, a fissure appearing out of thin air from the empty space.
Four figures suddenly emerged from the gap, one large and three small.
The large figure reacted swiftly in mid-air, landing on the ground by deflecting the force forward and rolling to avoid significant damage.
The three little ones weren't so lucky. Groaning, they fell to the ground one after another like winter melons falling from mid-air, thumping repeatedly.
One of the smaller figures even landed flat on its back, completely dazed and confused.
The large figure slowly stood up, dusted himself off, and then casually pulled a book from his pocket and began to read.
" Kakashi-sensei, could you please stop reading your 'Icha Icha Paradise ' manga?" the boy dressed in Uchiha attire said speechlessly.
That's right, this combination of one big guy and three small guys is none other than Kakashi, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno's Team Little Team 7.
The black-haired man with frizzy hair wearing Uchiha attire is Sasuke Uchiha.
With white hair and one eye covered, he looks like a repressed, brooding type – that's Kakashi Hatake.
The girl with pink hair and Forehead Protector tied on her head is Sakura Haruno.
The blond-haired guy who was lying on the ground, completely dazed and confused, was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.
Kakashi completely ignored Sasuke Uchiha's words and chose to continue admiring the work as if no one else was around, "I'm looking at it with a critical eye. I'm appreciating Lord Jiraiya's work, understand?"
Sasuke Uchiha chuckled irritably, "What appreciation? What criticism? You're just making excuses for wanting to see this. Where are we right now? What exactly did we just pass through?"
Kakashi Hatake then put the Icha Icha Paradise back into his pocket and observed his surroundings. "Judging from the spacetime rift we just passed through, we must have traveled through it again."
Naruto Uzumaki finally recovered. He stood up groggily, looked around, and then asked in a silly tone, "Where am I?"
Kakashi remained silent, while Sasuke Uchiha answered his question, "I don't know. Anyway, it seems we haven't returned to Konoha. We don't know exactly where we are right now."
Naruto Uzumaki gasped, "Huh? What do we do now? Where are we? It's completely deserted, we can't see a soul in sight!"
At this moment, Kakashi Hatake suddenly spoke up, "Regardless of where we are, our most urgent task is to find a village to stay in. We're running low on rations and won't last much longer. We need to find a place to resupply."
However, Naruto Uzumaki slumped down on a rock in frustration. "We don't even know the exact direction now. Which way do we go to find the village?"
Ignoring the dejected Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha leaped several times onto a tree branch, standing high to observe the distance.
Kakashi Hatake, with one hand in his pocket and the other pointing in a direction, said, "We just need to go in one direction, and we'll eventually find the village."
Even if we can't find a village, we should be able to find a road. As long as we can find a road, we can follow it and eventually find a place with people.
Upon hearing Kakashi's words, Naruto Uzumaki immediately stood up, his previous dejection vanishing instantly, replaced by excitement. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
With that, Naruto Uzumaki led the way and ran ahead, Sasuke Uchiha just shook his head helplessly. "He really is an idiot." Kakashi Hatake Sakura Haruno shrugged and followed behind.
... The four of them walked for an unknown amount of time, but Naruto Uzumaki was definitely tired.
He was panting heavily, his back hunched, his arms hanging limply, looking like someone on the verge of death. His steps were unsteady, and he seemed about to collapse at any moment.
"How long have we been walking? It feels like we've been walking all day!"
Sasuke Uchiha looked up at the sky and said, "When we set off, the sun was over there, but now it's already gone to the other side. It's almost evening; we've definitely been traveling all day."
Kakashi Hatake casually said, " Sakura, take out the rations from your backpack. We probably won't find a village or any inhabited place before tonight."
Upon hearing this, Sakura Haruno nodded, took out the dry rations she had prepared beforehand from her backpack, and tossed a portion to each of them.
Naruto Uzumaki Sakura Haruno and said, "Hehe, thanks, Sakura..."
Sakura Haruno glanced at Naruto Uzumaki and said in a low voice, "Hurry up and eat yours, we still have a long way to go."
But before Sakura Haruno could finish speaking, Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake stood up at the same time.
" Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, what have you two discovered?" Naruto Uzumaki was now on high alert, constantly scanning his surroundings as if danger might suddenly appear at any moment.
Kakashi Hatake looked at Sasuke Uchiha: " Sasuke, did you hear that too? It's the sound of a carriage!"
Sasuke Uchiha nodded. "Yes, it's obvious. That's the sound of carriages on the road, and there are quite a few of them. It should be a caravan."
Upon hearing this, Naruto Uzumaki's previously wary expression immediately relaxed. He laughed and scratched the back of his head, saying, "You should have said it was a caravan! I thought there was some danger. You scared me half to death..."
However, before Naruto Uzumaki could finish speaking, Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake had already run off in one direction, with Sakura Haruno following behind.
"Hey, wait for me! Wait for me!" Naruto Uzumaki, forgetting all about the dry rations in his hand, took off running after him.
Kakashi Hatake had only run a few steps when he collided head-on with a caravan traveling on the road. The sudden appearance of the man startled the driver, nearly causing the carriage to overturn.
"Damn it, are you out of your mind? Suddenly appearing here and jaywalking! Don't you know this is illegal? What if this sudden stop damages my goods?" The merchants of the caravan were very dissatisfied with the group that had suddenly appeared and immediately started cursing.