Chapter 444: Getting to the important bits... or not

Chapter 444: Getting to the important bits… or not

*Author Note*

Whoops, f*cked up the timer. Sorry.

*End of Author Note*

A few moments later, Sasuke managed to get rid of his… weird thoughts and refocused. By now, all three couches in the room were more or less filled, so he hoped that the conversation could finally start properly.

Obviously, he realized that Yuna was deliberately messing with him. Hell, Naruto even said that Yuna called him because something interesting was happening. Although Sasuke had no clue how Yuna managed to contact Naruto without him noticing, he had other problems, so he decided not to bother thinking about that right now.

“Well, can we finally start properly?”

When he saw no one inject any more nonsense into the conversation while paying attention to his words, Sasuke nodded his head and started explaining why he was here.

Basically, someone named Urashiki Otsutsuki wanted the Kyuubi’s chakra, but since the Naruto from Sasuke’s timeline was too strong and well protected for him, he stole an ancient artifact that Konoha recently unearthed and used it to travel back in time to capture a younger Naruto.

Yuna snorted in disdain when she heard about Urashiki’s goal.

“What a small fry. If he wants me to accept his existence, that mongrel should at least be after the Juubi and not Kurama.”

[Oi, what are you revealing my name for so casually?]

‘Well, everyone in the room already knows about it, so isn’t it fine?’

[Pretty sure Karin doesn’t know it.]

‘Bold of you to assume that she is listening to the conversation in the slightest.’

“Haa~ being treated as furniture is the best~ Yuna-sama’s legs are on my back, and she is completely ignoring me~ Neglect play for the win~”

Yuna enhanced her hearing with chakra, allowing Kurama to hear Karin’s murmuring, making his face deadpan.

[Fine, whatever.]

While Yuna was talking with Kurama, Sasuke looked at her in shock.

“How do you know about Kurama’s name and the existence of the Juubi?”

Yuna rolled her eyes at Sasuke’s question and answered him.

“From Kurama, and from Kurama.”

Awkward silence covered the room as Sasuke realized that that wasn’t the smartest question to ask. If Yuna knew Kurama’s name, it would have been obviously told to her by Kurama himself, which would also mean that she befriended him, allowing him to talk about the existence of the Juubi.

“*Cough* Anyway, we should focus on when Urashiki comes here.”

Yuna nodded her head in agreement, while the other people in the room had the same reaction. Yuna resumed talking, and as she did so, she pulled out a small mechanical turtle.

“Indeed, so why don’t we ask this device here when he will come?”

Sasuke and Boruto’s eyes both bulged when they saw Yuna take out the tiny turtle. After all, this was the artifact they used to get here. While Boruto started frantically inspecting his pocket, checking whether he still had the artifact with him, Sasuke’s eyes were fixed on Yuna.

‘She pickpocketed it from Boruto. I didn’t see her do that at all. Did she do it when she appeared behind Boruto and put her hand on his shoulder? But how in the world did she manage to identify the artifact immediately, and how in the world does she know what it does?’

While Sasuke was in shock again and Boruto gave up searching his pockets, accepting that Yuna somehow managed to pickpocket him, the small turtle started speaking in a mechanical voice.

“Yes, I can tell you when Urashiki-sama will arrive. Due to the complications during the travel, the temporal coordinates were scrambled, resulting in us arriving earlier than expected and even in a different timeline. Urashiki-sama will arrive here in about three days.”

Yuna pondered the turtle’s words for a short moment before nodding her head in understanding while asking another question.

“Since you made it sound like he would appear at the designated time, won’t he appear in another timeline than this one?”

The turtle paused for a moment when it heard Yuna’s question, and moments later, complex patterns appeared all around it. While everyone was looking at the patterns in bewilderment, Yuna eyed them with interest.

“Temporal scrying, huh? Good stuff. Whoever created you knew what he was doing.”

The complex patterns vanished around a minute later as the turtle’s gaze landed on Yuna.

“Yes, my creator was indeed a great man. As for Urashiki-sama, he will appear in this timeline. I was never meant to send people to different dates simultaneously, but a shift of three days is something that can still be compensated. However, aiming for a different timeline is not something that can be ignored, so he was automatically made to come here.”

Yuna heard the turtle’s words, and after pondering on them for a while, she nodded in satisfaction. However, Naruto felt that there was still something else to ask.

“Can we really trust this turtle, nee-san? After all, it calls him ‘Urashiki-sama’. If it calls him so respectfully, wouldn’t it try to trick us with false information?”

Yet again, Sasuke was surprised by Naruto’s cleverness and ability to doubt others. By now, it became rather apparent that there was no point comparing the Naruto he knew with this one. This one clearly had a totally different upbringing, turning him into some smart and cunning.

The turtle was about to answer Naruto’s inquiry, but Yuna decided to do so first.

“There is no need to worry about that, Naruto. This turtle might call him respectfully, but that is because it was programmed to do so. If you make it so someone can only speak to you respectfully, would you assume that they are loyal to you? Of course not. Additionally, let’s not forget that this turtle is still just a machine. A very advanced one, yes, but still a machine. Its creator did give it directives it should follow, so it does. That is all there is to it.”

While everyone in the room pondered Yuna’s words, the turtle nodded in acknowledgment.

“Indeed, I am just a device. I do not understand the concept of being loyal to someone. Since I’m a device, I will serve whoever wants to use me with the best of my ability.”

As soon as those words left the turtle’s mouth, there was another knock on the door, immediately causing Sasuke to become on guard.

‘Who will it be this time? What else has she prepared to attack my mind? It will be Madara, won’t it? No, maybe Itachi? Don’t tell me… the Sage of the Six Path!?’

Moments later, Yuna gave her permission to enter, resulting in a single young woman entering the room, causing Sasuke to sigh in relief.

‘*Phew* It’s just Yuna’s student, that Hyuga girl. There is no way she could utter any more mind-destroying words, right?’

When Yuna saw Hisoka, a slight smile appeared on her face, as she noticed that Hisoka knew exactly why she was called here…

“Well then, Hisoka, does the name Urashiki Otsutsuki ring any bells?”

… She was here to crush Sasuke’s mind with her knowledge from ‘canon’.

Would she do it? Without a doubt! Would she enjoy it? Probably!