Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 192: A Bunch of Frogs in a Well

Activating Tailed Beast Transformation and Susanoo, Yakumaru and Kakashi might have the strength to withstand the impact of giant boulders falling from thousands of meters in the sky, but against a meteor pulled in from beyond the shinobi world, they could only feel powerless.

This meteor, accelerated over an immense distance, carried kinetic energy and impact far beyond what ordinary objects could produce.

Even for warriors as strong as them, facing such a celestial disaster meant little chance of escaping unscathed—let alone protecting the nearby Konoha shinobi.

Only by moving the Konoha shinobi to the edge of the meteor's impact zone could Yakumaru and Kakashi shield them.

As they guided the shinobi to safety, Yakumaru and Kakashi launched their most powerful attacks toward the meteor, trying their best to slow it down and reduce its size.

For a moment, small-scale Tailed Beast Bombs and Yasaka Magatama continuously bombarded the sky.

Some Konoha shinobi watched this scene, noting that the meteor's size hadn't significantly changed. They couldn't help but recall Naruto's earlier words, their hearts stirring.

"Is this... the power of gods?"

"D-Damn it..."

Naruto lowered his hands from the hand seals, sweat beading on his forehead as he stared at the meteor descending from the sky. He suddenly turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, go help Kakashi-sensei and the others. I'll protect this era's Kitsuchi and Yugito."

As for the future Kitsuchi and Toneri… Kitsuchi had been flung far away. They were already in the peripheral area, and with future technology, they could quickly escape the meteor's impact zone.

In a way, it was a blessing in disguise.

"...It's no use. We can't protect everyone." Sasuke's eyes locked onto the meteor's descent, his tone grim.

"It's just one meteor—"

"Idiot, it's not just one." Sasuke interrupted Naruto, saying no more. He activated Susanoo and swiftly flew toward Kakashi and the others.

If it were just one meteor, he and Naruto could handle it, leaving only some debris. But the low atmospheric pressure from the sky signaled that it wasn't just one meteor.

Rather than intercept them, prioritizing the protection of Kakashi, Yakumaru, and the others was more important. If they died here, Sasuke had no idea—nor did he want to know—what changes the future would face.

"Where is that guy?"

Naruto relaxed slightly when Sasuke left. His eyes scanned the air, searching for Hyuga Fuji's figure, before finally locking onto the meteor overhead.

"He's up there!"

With his space-time ninjutsu, an attack like this, aimed at mutual destruction, wouldn't leave a scratch on Hyuga Fuji.

In contrast, Naruto and the others had to worry about preserving the past and protecting their comrades, forcing them to take it head-on.

Thinking of this, Naruto originally intended to use his strongest burst-type ninjutsu to inflict some damage on the meteor. But as his eyes swept across the sky, he noticed other approaching light points and understood Sasuke's earlier words.

Thirteen in total... After a moment of silence, Naruto stopped thinking about destroying the meteor and turned to shield Kitsuchi and Yugito with the Great Buddha.

They absolutely could not die here.

"Ugh, we're not going to die at the hands of the enemy, only to perish in the aftermath of our comrades' ninjutsu?"

On the ground, Sakumo Hatake scratched his head.

Compared to the panicked Konoha shinobi, he appeared rather calm.

After his soul had materialized, his chakra wouldn't dissipate, meaning he couldn't truly die. Only by completely erasing his chakra or sealing him could he be utterly destroyed.

So when faced with the meteor's descent, Sakumo wasn't too worried about his safety—it was just a matter of time to recover.

As an Edo Tensei shinobi, Shikuro Aburame felt the same.

But the others weren't so lucky…

As he thought this, Sakumo glanced at Pakura beside him and noticed that she and the Sand shinobi following her had already disappeared, his expression stiffening.

Clearly, they had been transferred away in advance.

"Wait, does this mean those who are immortal take the hit, while the rest get to escape?"

Sure, resurrection was likely more troublesome than relocation, but wasn't this a bit too much?

If they'd already saved some people, couldn't they have sent him off too?

For the first time, Sakumo felt that immortality wasn't all that great.

Because of it, even the superiors saving people wouldn't spare him a glance.

"I think they just wanted to teach you a lesson."

The only one remaining on-site, Shikuro Aburame, glanced at him and said in a low voice, "After all, your attitude was a bit off earlier."

"That's no reason to crush me with a meteor. Being squashed into a pancake isn't exactly pleasant. It could scar me for life." Sakumo grumbled.

"Edo Tensei was originally meant for mutual destruction. This is just a return to its original purpose," Shikuro shrugged, nonchalant.

Hearing this, Sakumo sighed, looking at the rapidly approaching meteor, and finally stopped complaining.

In hindsight, he should never have shed his Edo Tensei body.

Even if he couldn't die as a materialized soul, the pain was still very real. The thought of being crushed by a meteor made his skin crawl—time to prepare for becoming a pancake.

The meteor's intense friction with the atmosphere emitted a dazzling light, sweeping away the surrounding darkness. The entire battlefield was bathed in an orange-red inferno.

The temperature in the air abruptly rose, making even breathing feel scorching and difficult. The meteor's descent sped up, and the gales and heat waves it created caused every rock, every inch of ground on the battlefield, to tremble.

Finally, the enormous meteor struck the ground, accompanied by thunderous explosions that roared across the plain.

…

In the crater left by the meteor's impact, Hyuga Fuji gently landed on the ground, his gaze sweeping over the battered purple Susanoo and Great Buddha. He glanced at the figure walking toward him.

"How was my little gift for our first meeting?" the approaching figure said with a grin.

"You should ask those two over there, not me, who simply took over control at the end." Hyuga Fuji replied calmly.

Indeed, the meteor wasn't summoned by Hyuga Fuji—not initially, at least. Only when it neared the battlefield did he seize control with the power of the massive Tenseigan.

Ōtsutsuki Shinichi stood about a hundred meters away, not coming closer. Hearing Hyuga Fuji's words, he chuckled. "A group of fools who don't know their place, trying to alter the future. They're already on the path to ruin and don't even realize it. Why bother?"

"So it seems your clan is aware of the Dragon Vein." Hyuga Fuji smiled faintly.

In the shinobi world, there was no such thing as parallel timelines.

If there were, the Ōtsutsuki clan could harvest far more than one or two chakra fruits from a single planet.

In this case, if a group of people truly changed the past, causing irreversible effects, what would happen to the future?

Or, to put it another way—

The people who originally traveled back in time… in a new future where they didn't do so or interact with the Dragon Vein, what would become of Naruto and the others who now stood here?

"The foolish hope to change the past blinds them to the essence of the world. Time is the most terrifying force in existence, one that even gods like the Sage of Six Paths cannot conquer. And these frogs in a well dare to think they can fool time? They'll only be the ones fooled."

Ōtsutsuki Shinichi's voice was filled with disdain. "And that includes you!"

(End of Chapter)

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