Tōma found himself back inside that strange, colorless space once again.
This ti, he didn’t dare experint.
He’d already gambled once. If he pushed his luck and failed to return, that would be a disaster. So instead of acting, he focused on observation, carefully morizing the sensation of ti and space folding around him.
At one point, he faintly sensed a Flying Thunder God mark.
He imdiately let it go.
Not now. No more recklessness.
The spatial turbulence finally cald. Light returned, and Tōma found himself standing amid ruins.
Loulan.
But sothing felt... off.
The spatial disturbance hadn’t fully dispersed, as if not everyone had been sent back yet.
Kakashi’s group, most likely.
That concern was quickly eclipsed by sothing far more troubling.
Tōma frowned.
He couldn’t sense his spiritual clone.
Not the chakra link. Not the secondary soul. Nothing.
That shouldn’t have been possible.
Even if his main body had died, the spiritual clone should have persisted. At worst, the secondary soul would beco dominant and seek a new vessel.
So where was it?
Did the separation between worlds sever the connection entirely?
Or worse...
This still wasn’t his world.
Tōma slowly exhaled and looked up just as four figures crashed onto the sand nearby, unconscious.
Kakashi.
Naruto.
Sasuke.
And—
"...Namikaze nma."
That settled it.
He was still in the other world. The one where history had already diverged.
And judging by the lineup, nma had succeeded where Tōma never had in his own tiline.
Joining Team Seven.
It made sense. With Minato alive and paying special attention to him, there was no chance nma would be placed in an ordinary squad.
The four stirred.
Naruto sat up first, rubbing his head. "Ugh... I feel like I had a really weird dream. Can’t rember any of it."
He glanced at Tōma. "nma, why’re you standing over there?"
nma blinked. "What are you talking about? I’m right next to you."
Naruto froze.
Slowly, he turned his head. Then back to Tōma.
"...Huh?"
"nma," Naruto said carefully, "since when did you have a twin? Is that a Shadow Clone?"
"Idiot," nma snapped. "In this condition, how would I—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because he finally looked properly.
The man standing nearby had his face.
Exactly his face.
"Yo," Tōma said cheerfully. "Long ti no see."
nma’s pupils shrank.
Kakashi and Sasuke had noticed by now as well.
Kakashi’s eye curved thoughtfully.
So it wasn’t one secret love child... but two?
Sasuke, on the other hand, just stared with naked curiosity. There was none of the heaviness Tōma rembered from his own Sasuke. No massacre. No abyss.
That alone said everything.
"We’ve t before," Tōma said.
mory slamd into nma.
The orphanage.
The night of the Nine-Tails.
That man.
So it hadn’t been him changing the past.
It had been this guy.
nma ground his teeth, then sighed.
Well. If anyone was going to ss up the plot, at least it was... him.
"Can we talk alone?" Tōma asked.
nma nodded. "Yeah."
He told the others he’d catch up and followed Tōma into the desert.
Once they were alone, nma crossed his arms. "Alright. Who are you?"
"Take a guess."
"Not worth the effort."
Tōma chuckled, then calmly spoke a na.
nma’s forr na.
The one that existed only in his previous life.
nma stiffened.
"...You’re not from this world."
"Bingo," Tōma said. "Sharp as ever."
nma let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. "You scared the hell out of . So... how’d you get here?"
Tōma explained it simply. The Dragon Vein. Ti displacent. Sensing nma’s presence. Flying Thunder God.
nma finally understood everything.
Including why Minato had taken such an interest in that orphanage.
"...So that’s why," he muttered.
Then a thought hit him. "Wait. Can you even go back?"
Tōma didn’t answer.
nma’s eyes widened. "You’re serious?"
"I’m not sure," Tōma admitted. "But I can still faintly sense a Flying Thunder God mark. I’ll try."
nma considered it, then nodded. "Fair."
"So," Tōma continued, "I wanted to see how strong you turned out."
nma answered instantly. "Nope."
"...Why?"
"You slamd the Nine-Tails with one hand. I’m not suicidal."
Tōma studied him for a mont, then laughed. "Fair enough."
They talked instead.
About paths taken. About compromises. About power gained at a cost.
nma’s body was a ss of grafts and stolen potential. Hashirama cells. Uchiha blood. Mangekyō Sharingan. Shikotsumyaku. Even plans involving a miniature Ten-Tails soday.
Tōma listened in silence.
This was the path of soone without a safety net.
In the end, nma offered, "If you can’t get back, you can co to Konoha with ."
"I’ll manage," Tōma said. "But... good luck."
They exchanged Flying Thunder God kunai.
Then nma vanished.
Tōma remained alone in the desert, staring at the sky.
Different worlds. Different versions. Different outcos.
After a mont, he turned toward the Dragon Vein’s location.
No one else would be using it.
Might as well not let it go to waste.
At the sealed site, he dismantled Minato’s work carefully, opening only a narrow channel.
Then he sat down.
And began to draw in the Dragon Vein’s endless power.
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