CHAPTER 672: SENIOR AND JUNIOR

"Enough, stop licking it."

"Hehe, Lord, do you have more? I want another bowl!" Naruto wiped his tears, asking with lingering desire. Clearly, he still wanted to savor his mother’s cooking.

"Later, unless you want to eat your father’s portion too."

"Huh? This was really taken from Kaa-san and Tou-san living in the past?"

"Of course."

"So something like this can actually be done. Can Great-Grandfather Hagoromo time-travel too?"

"He can’t. He’s still far from it."

"Then, can I meet my parents? I..." Naruto looked at Lux, his eyes full of hope.

Meeting living relatives naturally felt different from meeting Edo Tensei ninjas. Naruto himself disliked Edo Tensei; otherwise, he would’ve asked Orochimaru or Kabuto to revive his parents long ago.

But now, after eating his mother’s ramen and being trapped alone in the dark sealing jar, he couldn’t help but long for his parents’ love. Despite being as powerful as he was, Naruto was still human, with even richer emotions.

"Not this time, but you’ll have a chance to meet them again later."

Lux wasn’t yet tied to any power in Parallel World 7, so he couldn’t take Naruto Number 7 to wander other Parallel Worlds. After all, Parallel World 7 was a bit complicated, and Lux hadn’t decided which power to support.

"Oh, I see. I was being presumptuous." Naruto nodded apologetically.

Now over 30 and having been Hokage for years, he was no longer the reckless youth of the past. Back then, he had no limits and loved causing trouble, which made him a bit annoying.

But now, he understood moderation and wouldn’t rudely offend others. Especially since this was Tenshou Sennin, who had come to meet him, removed the black rods, unlocked his sealed memories, and even let him eat his fill. That was already a great blessing, and Naruto wouldn’t push further.

"Alright, casual talk is over. Let’s get serious."

"Serious?" Naruto was curious. Wasn’t their earlier conversation serious?

Then why had Tenshou Sennin come to find him? Wasn’t it to save him?

"Before that, there’s someone you need to meet first."

"Who?"

"An old acquaintance of yours, also your senior..."

"My senpai? I don’t have a senpai. Does Kakashi-sensei have another student? Could it be..."

Naruto grew more confused, completely unaware of who Lux meant. After all, he didn’t have any living senpai. If he had to count, Sasuke might qualify, since he was born two months earlier and both were Kakashi-sensei’s students...

But his intuition told him Tenshou Sennin wasn’t referring to Sasuke. Soon, Lux gave Naruto the answer.

World Teleportation activated, and a figure from Parallel World 5 was instantly transported here.

Six Paths Nagato appeared!

"Lord?"

"Where is this?"

Six Paths Nagato was slightly confused, but seeing Tenshou Sennin there, he wasn’t too panicked, just curious about the place. Lux pointed at Naruto across from him without answering.

Nagato looked at Naruto, the grown-up Seventh Hokage, his pupils narrowing slightly as he understood.

"You’re Naruto from the future? Oh, so this is the future world I visited before?"

Though Naruto had changed a lot since his teenage years, that familiar chakra and gaze made Nagato recognize him instantly.

At the same time, Naruto was shocked, staring intently at the suddenly appearing Six Paths Nagato.

The other gave him a very familiar feeling, but Naruto didn’t dare jump to conclusions. Nagato, now the Juubi’s Jinchuriki, looked vastly different from his original appearance and had grafted a golden Rinnegan. If not for Nagato recognizing him first, Naruto might’ve thought this was a new Otsutsuki enemy!

"Y-you are?!!!"

"Naruto, how many years have passed? You don’t recognize me anymore? My dear junior..."

"You’re Nagato! Nagato-senpai!" Naruto exclaimed, unable to believe it, wondering if he was caught in some genjutsu.

"How are you here? No, how are you still alive? And why do you look like this? Kurama, am I under a genjutsu?"

At the same time, Kurama inside Naruto was equally shocked. But he was certain neither he nor Naruto was under any genjutsu; even Madara back then couldn’t instantly control their minds...

So the Nagato before him was undeniably real.

"It’s a long story."

"Then tell it!"

"I’m not the Nagato from this world, but from another world, a Nagato from the past."

"Huh? Senpai, you’re really from the past? What, were you brought here by this Tenshou Sennin?"

"Yes."

"So this kind of thing is real! Then your current appearance—it’s like when Obito became the Juubi’s Jinchuriki. What, you became the Juubi’s Jinchuriki too?"

"Correct, I’ve become the Juubi’s Jinchuriki..."

"What?!!!"

Naruto was floored by this series of bombshell revelations, feeling like his CPU was about to burn out.

Nagato from the past was still alive and had even become the Juubi’s Jinchuriki! Why didn’t he remember such an event? Had part of his memory been sealed too? What about Obito? Six Paths Madara? How did the Juubi end up in Nagato’s body?

What was really going on?!

Naruto felt he could barely distinguish reality from illusion!

"Naruto, this Nagato is the senpai you know, but not entirely the one in your memories."

"He’s from another world, one where the past and future have been altered."

"Simply put, all early experiences there are the same as here; but after Nagato died, I revived him. Thus, the entire future changed..." Lux gave a brief explanation, a special courtesy for Naruto.

"..."

Naruto scratched his head, still a bit confused. If it were Orochimaru or Katasuke, they’d grasp it easily, but getting Naruto to fully understand parallel space-time concepts was still a bit tough.

"Like a new Tsukuyomi genjutsu world? But the future and some people’s experiences differ from my world?"

"You could understand it that way, and it’s not wrong. But everything in that world is real too—they’re indeed the past of this world. Like the ramen you just ate, it was also made by Kushina from the past in another world."

"Oh, I get it!"

Naruto finally understood. He wasn’t dumb; though he couldn’t fully grasp it, he got the gist.

"So, senpai, you died and came back? And became the Juubi’s Jinchuriki? Then you... then me... then the village..." Now understanding, Naruto asked Six Paths Nagato again.

No longer the fiery youth of the past, he naturally thought of many issues... If Nagato was revived and became the Juubi’s Jinchuriki, the entire future might have changed completely. Naruto instinctively worried about his village and all his comrades...

"The Konoha in my world has been destroyed... by my own hands!"

Six Paths Nagato didn’t hide it, honestly telling Naruto this.

"What?!!!"

Naruto was shocked, his expression changing drastically:

"How could that be? Senpai, you clearly gave up on destroying Konoha, why...?"

Nagato frowned and sighed, not expecting things to reach this point. He looked at Naruto and began confronting him.

"I didn’t want to face you like this. But since you asked, let’s talk."

"Naruto, do you still remember the promise you made to me back then?"

"How is Amegakure now? Do you know?"

At those words, Naruto froze, like a machine suddenly unplugged, standing helplessly, unable to argue.

"I... know..."

Back then, busy with village governance, Naruto hadn’t had much time to focus on Amegakure. But the last time Sasuke and Sai went to Amegakure to investigate Kara, they’d sent back information about its current state. So Naruto now naturally knew Amegakure’s tragic condition.

Though some of Amegakure’s original residents had been forcibly relocated by major nations working together, the once-prosperous Rain Country city was abandoned. What was called Amegakure had essentially vanished, even becoming a secret base for Kara’s human experiments...

"I... I only recently found out and started looking for ways to help Amegakure’s remaining people. I’ll protect them..."

Naruto tried hard to explain; it wasn’t intentional. His energy was limited, and he couldn’t manage countries beyond Konoha. Only after becoming Hokage did he realize how heavy that responsibility was.

Most of his ambitions were hindered for various reasons. But facts were facts—Nagato didn’t care about Naruto’s difficulties and cut him off:

"Naruto! Is this the result of the promise you made to me back then?!!!"

No matter how tough things were for Konoha, could it be tougher than when Nagato took over Amegakure? What he accomplished back then, couldn’t Naruto do now?

He was nearly invincible in the world! Even occasionally appearing in Amegakure, striking any nation or force daring to target it—with Naruto’s authority and power, he could deter most forces preying on Amegakure. At the very least, Kara wouldn’t dare set up a human experiment base in a place Naruto frequented.

In the end, it was just a lack of full commitment.

"..."

Naruto choked again, increasingly speechless. He could explain many things: he didn’t know, he was busy with governance, there were checks from other nations, and so on...

But those reasons, when he faced Nagato and entrusted him with fate; when he promised Nagato he’d change the world and achieve peace; when Nagato chose to believe him, decisively sacrificing himself with the Samsara of Heavenly Life to revive Konoha’s ninjas—

Compared to all that, every excuse now sounded like just that—an excuse, or even a deception. Naruto couldn’t bring himself to say them!