Chapter 383: Bearing All to Change History

"Naruto, did you find any clues related to that Mukade?" Obito asked.

Although he had many questions in his mind, they were not suitable to ask while together. Obito felt it would be better to ask alone.

What was known so far was that Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato knew Kakashi and Might Guy, but did not know Muyue, him, or Rin Nohara. Asuma might know them, but since there was no answer, it couldn't be confirmed.

"We searched many places and asked some people, but found nothing. Could it be that Mukade didn't travel through time? Then Sakura and Sai would be in danger." As he spoke, a look of worry flashed across Naruto's face.

Yamato's expression was also very grim. The situation was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"It's not very convenient here. Let's all go to a room to talk." Muyue suggested.

Although there weren't many people around now, one still had to pay attention where necessary.

Kakashi and Yamato both nodded, and then everyone went to Muyue's room.

"When we were investigating An Lushan today, we also kept an eye out for that Mukade. Not only did we not find anyone with a similar appearance, but it seems even the name Mukade never appeared in Loulan." Obito said as he sat cross-legged.

To make it easier to find him, Yamato had given them a portrait of Mukade, so while carrying out their mission, they were also trying to help Naruto and the others keep an eye out for Mukade.

Rin Nohara poured a cup of water for each person and then brought it in front of them.

"Same as our investigation results." Yamato took the teacup and thanked her.

"I asked many residents near where we time-traveled, and on that day, aside from Naruto, there was no one else who looked suspicious."

Yamato had used the Transformation Technique to investigate. He wasn't surprised that Naruto was deemed suspicious—given Naruto's personality, he would definitely start asking random people questions the moment he time-traveled.

But when he pretended to be offering a reward for finding relatives and asked residents while holding Mukade's portrait, he also got negative answers. Yamato felt something was wrong.

This meant that Mukade might not have traveled through time and was still in the original timeline. At the same time, it also meant that Sakura and Sai, who also didn't travel, would have to face a Mukade who had absorbed the power of the Dragon Vein, and it also meant that they might have difficulty returning.

After hearing Yamato's information, Kakashi frowned. If no suspicious person had appeared, that was not a big deal—if the enemy was a cautious ninja, they would not quickly make themselves stand out in a crowd.

But if even the portrait got all negative answers, then there were only two possibilities. One was that Mukade was lucky—no one saw him when he appeared, and then he quickly used the Transformation Technique to conceal his whereabouts.

The second possibility was terrifying: only Naruto and Yamato had time-traveled, and Mukade did not come.

"Damn it, he was the one who caused the anomaly, so how come only Captain Yamato and I time-traveled?" Thinking that his teammates might be in danger, Naruto became a bit anxious.

"Since Mukade will appear in the future, can we just wait in Loulan until the time he appears and then defeat him in one go?" Obito suddenly thought of a good idea.

Naruto stared at Obito with wide eyes, realizing that it did kind of make sense, but he didn't know how many years they would have to wait.

"That won't work. Naruto and the others came from the future, which means there is already a Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato in our world. If they keep waiting like this, wouldn't there be two of them? How would they get along?" Kakashi shook his head.

Obito's plan was too idealistic. Besides, having two people from the future stay in the present—who knows what impact it would have on history? Whether the original future could even be reached was uncertain, let alone lying in ambush for Mukade.

Obito thought it over and found Kakashi's words more reasonable. If there were two of him, wouldn't he become his own rival in love?

"We can't stay here too long. Staying long would be irresponsible to the ninja world and to history." Yamato agreed in a deep voice.

Yamato was a little surprised that Kakashi could think of that. Although he was still young, that senior Kakashi was still Kakashi—always reliable in crucial moments.

"You don't need to worry; Mukade must have traveled through time." Muyue said firmly.

Yamato looked at Muyue. Although he now knew that Muyue was not the Fourth Hokage, based on his behavior, Muyue was undoubtedly a very reliable ninja who would not make unfounded claims.

"Based on your description, Mukade devoured the Fourth's seal along with it, causing the Dragon Vein's power to run wild, and then you traveled through time. So..." Muyue began to lecture, drawing on his extremely profound knowledge of ninjutsu.

In order to fool everyone, he even used some knowledge about the Flying Thunder God. Everyone listened in a daze. Although they didn't fully understand, they could tell the content was very profound.

"So Mukade definitely traveled through time just like you. The reason for the current situation is probably that Mukade arrived earlier than you. Maybe a few weeks earlier, maybe a few months, or even a few years." Muyue stated his conclusion.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be even harder to find him? The ninja world is so big; who knows where he went?" Naruto scratched his head in frustration.

Muyue's explanation was long and profound, giving a sense of "I don't understand but it sounds awesome." Plus Muyue was very friendly, so Naruto directly believed his explanation.

After thinking it over, Yamato also felt that Muyue's explanation was the best and most reasonable, but his expression was still tense. As Naruto said, the ninja world was so big; finding one person was too difficult.

"I think he might not have left Loulan. Since he wants to obtain the power of Loulan's Dragon Vein, how could he let go of a Loulan without any hostile ninjas hindering him?" Muyue pushed up his glasses with his left hand.

"As for why we can't find any information, it's probably because he feared you might have also come and changed his appearance."

"Tomorrow I'll go negotiate with the Queen and see if I can get some relevant information from her."

Naruto gave Muyue a thumbs up and thanked him: "Muyue, thank you so much! You're really amazing!"

Even though everyone was completely confused, Muyue was able to extract useful information from it and finally obtain the answer they wanted.

"Of course! Don't you know who this is? Teacher Mu Yue is all-powerful!" Obito, a devout follower of the Mu Yue Immortal, immediately began to promote his faith.

Smack!

Mu Yue put his middle and index fingers together, gently tapped Obito on the head, and said with a helpless smile, "I didn't even know I was all-powerful."

Obito chuckled twice, not caring about the divine punishment. It was only reasonable for the all-powerful Mu Yue Immortal to be humble.

"I'm truly sorry to trouble you, Lord Mu Yue." Yamato bowed in thanks.

He was really very curious about Mu Yue. Why did this gentle and easygoing strongman have no reputation in later generations? Was it because he died too early in battle?

Thinking of this, Yamato felt somewhat heavy-hearted. Even if he could guess this outcome, there was no way he could help Mu Yue.

"If Kakashi-senpai were here, what would he do?" Yamato couldn't help thinking.

Although Kakashi always bullied him and often acted against the plan during missions, the results were always good, so Yamato had always trusted Kakashi.

As Yamato was thinking, he saw the young version of Kakashi sitting across from him. After Obito and the others finished discussing their mission, Mu Yue and his team began to exchange information about their own missions. Kakashi was reporting their day's gains to Mu Yue with a serious expression.

"The senpai from childhood is quite cute, with bright eyes. Why did he later become dead-eyed?" Comparing the older and younger Kakashi, and then glancing at the very warm and loving atmosphere of Mu Yue's squad, Yamato vaguely guessed something.

There were four people in total, but he only knew Kakashi.

After everything was exchanged, they began to disperse. Mu Yue was going to start studying sealing techniques, Rin Nohara was going to wash up, while Obito and Kakashi started arguing again and bickered all the way, and Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato also returned to their room.

Four hours later, the door to Obito's room was slowly opened with a very low volume. Then Obito poked his head out, looked left and right, and after confirming he hadn't been discovered, he quietly walked to the room of Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato.

Obito lightly knocked twice on the door, then tiptoed inside.

"Obito, why are you being so cautious?" Naruto Uzumaki asked in confusion.

A hesitant expression appeared on Yamato's face. He probably guessed Obito's intention. Sneaking into the room of future time-travelers at night—what else could it be but wanting to know the future?

"Ahem, nothing much, just want to ask a few questions." Obito didn't hide anything and quickly stated his purpose.

"Don't you know Teacher Mu Yue? I mean, before you time-traveled."

Obito stared intently at Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato. He had been restraining himself all day; he really wanted to know that answer.

"I don't know him. Today is the first time I've seen Brother Mu Yue." Naruto Uzumaki shook his head and replied.

Mu Yue was very special. Naruto Uzumaki felt that if he had ever seen Mu Yue, he would never forget.

After Naruto Uzumaki answered, Obito fixed all his attention on Yamato. Yamato looked much older than Naruto Uzumaki and should know more than Naruto.

"I don't know Lord Mu Yue either." Yamato thought for a moment, but ultimately didn't evade and answered Obito's question directly.

He really didn't want to change history, but faced with Obito's almost begging gaze, Yamato couldn't remain silent or lie.

"But this probably won't have much impact," Yamato comforted himself. Before coming, he didn't even know a person named Hanyu Mu Yue.

"How can this be..." A bewildered expression appeared on Obito's face.

In his opinion, a ninja as excellent as Teacher Mu Yue couldn't be so unknown no matter how low-key he was.

"Then who served as the vice principal of the Ninja Academy?" Obito continued asking.

Yamato shook his head, indicating he didn't know about this.

"Vice principal? Does the Ninja Academy have a vice principal?" Naruto Uzumaki asked in confusion.

He only remembered that the old man Hokage was the principal of the Ninja Academy, and that's it.

Obito's mind was racing, thinking about what other places would definitely have traces of Mu Yue.

But he was surprised to find that he couldn't think of any. First, Mu Yue was very low-key. Even when he repelled a strong enemy like the candidate Raikage, he told them not to publicize it. Also, Obito didn't know whether Mu Yue held positions in other departments besides the Ninja Academy.

"Damn Kakashi! Teacher Mu Yue is so excellent, doesn't he tell others about his deeds?" The frustrated Obito inwardly cursed Kakashi.

Currently, the clearest information was the future Kakashi. The future Kakashi was Yamato's senior and also Naruto Uzumaki's teacher.

Obito felt that if Kakashi had at least told Naruto Uzumaki a little about Mu Yue's story, it wouldn't be like this.

"What about Rin Nohara? Don't you have any impression of her? Didn't Kakashi mention her?" Obito let out a long breath, then changed the question.

Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato shook their heads together. That was also someone they didn't know; they had never even heard of her.

Upon getting this answer, Obito clenched his fists tightly. His nails dug into his flesh from excessive force, but Obito still did not relax at all.

He simply couldn't imagine a future without Muyue or Rin Nohara. He refused to believe such a future existed, nor would he accept one.

"You should know about Minato-sensei, right?" Obito bit his tongue, forcing himself to calm down before continuing to ask.

"Mm." Yamato nodded. "Lord Minato was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. He was the greatest hero of the war."

Because of the earlier mistaken-identity incident, the fact that Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage had already leaked out, so Yamato figured it wouldn't hurt to say a bit more.

"How did Minato-sensei die? What caused it?" Obito directly inquired about Minato's cause of death.

As a Hokage, Minato Namikaze couldn't have died without a clear reason.

Yamato closed his eyes. He didn't know if he should keep talking, or what the consequences would be if he did.

"Captain Yamato, do you know? If you do, just say it. Wouldn't it be great if we could prevent the Fourth's death?" Naruto Uzumaki looked at Yamato and said.

He didn't know much about this matter. He knew very little about the Fourth Hokage—only when he was with Jiraiya would Jiraiya occasionally tell him a bit.

For instance, that the Rasengan was developed by the Fourth over three years, and that the Fourth was a true genius ninja.

"Naruto, it's not that I don’t want to tell you, but if history changes, what will the world be like when we go back? Will it be the same as before, or will it change along with the altered history?" Yamato opened his eyes and said helplessly.

"If the change is for the better—if the Fourth Hokage survives and Konoha becomes even stronger—then naturally that's good. But if our reckless actions cause an accident that destroys Konoha, we'll become sinners in history."

As for the Fourth's death, Yamato actually didn't know all that much. The detailed process of that incident was highly classified. He only knew the main reason was the Nine-Tails' rampage, and that the Fourth Hokage died sealing the Nine-Tails to protect the village.

So Yamato really didn't dare to say things carelessly. What if good intentions led to disaster, causing even greater harm to Konoha? That would be a real problem.

Yamato didn't think he was someone capable of steering the course of history. So he chose to keep things stable and maintain the status quo—at least that way, he wouldn't go back happily only to find Konoha gone.

Naruto Uzumaki opened his mouth but couldn't think of a way to refute Yamato on the spot.

If it were only his own life, Naruto Uzumaki could stand up and say no. He dared to take the challenge—if he won, Muyue and the Fourth Hokage would live; if he lost, he'd die.

But Naruto couldn't gamble with other people's lives. He didn't have that right.

Obito also felt the weight in Yamato's words. Though there were only two of them, they were already bearing the burden of the entire future.

But Obito still didn't want to give up. Without Muyue-sensei, without Rin, without Minato-sensei—he didn't want that kind of future, didn't acknowledge it. He would create a future where everyone lived.

Knock, knock!

Just as Obito was about to say something more, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Obito glanced around, finally locked onto the wardrobe in the room, and hid inside.

During the day, Muyue had already stated her stance on the matter of the future ninjas. Obito didn't want her to worry.

Before entering, Obito specifically whispered to Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato not to mention that he had come.

"Ah, it's Little Kakashi-sensei. Why are you being so cautious?"

Hidden in the wardrobe, Obito listened to their conversation and realized the visitor was not Muyue, but Kakashi.

"That guy Kakashi—does he want to know the future too?" Obito controlled his breathing and quietly listened to their exchange.

Kakashi stared at Naruto with deadpan eyes. Though he was called "sensei," he felt not a shred of respect—who puts "little" in front of their teacher's name?

Yamato looked at the youthful version of Kakashi who had just walked in and felt a headache coming on. Kakashi-senpai wasn't going to be easy to deal with.

"There are some things I'm quite concerned about that I want to ask you." Kakashi sat down and stated his purpose.

Naruto Uzumaki felt a sense of déjà vu. He felt like he had just experienced this exact entrance and opening line.

Sure enough, Kakashi immediately began asking about Muyue, Rin Nohara, and Obito.

On these questions, Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato didn't hide anything, because they genuinely knew nothing about Muyue and the others.

However, what surprised Yamato was that Kakashi didn't next ask about Minato's matters, but instead brought up himself.

"Since one of you is my future student and the other is my future junior, then tell me: what kind of person am I in the future?" Kakashi said after thinking.

Hearing Kakashi bring this up, Naruto Uzumaki perked up.

"Kakashi-sensei, you really should watch your timing. The future you is a total latecomer—always late, never on time, and when you're late you use those lousy excuses to brush us off. Either you ran into a lost old lady or you met a black cat that made you lose your sense of direction." Naruto Uzumaki complained.

Naruto Uzumaki had been putting up with this from Kakashi for a long, long time.

Kakashi was a bit dazed. The always-punctual him would be late all the time in the future, and those excuses sounded familiar too—helping an old lady.

"Could it be that guy Obito..." Kakashi remained silent, continuing to listen to Naruto's story.

"He was always slacking off—he said he was going to teach me Wind Release chakra nature transformation, but instead he was just over there reading Make-Out Paradise the whole time. At least Yamato-taichō was diligent."

"I need to clarify this: it's not that I was diligent—Kakashi-senpai tricked me into completing all the work." Seeing that Naruto was talking about something involving him, Yamato felt he had to come forward and set the record straight.

Yamato had realized that any mission where he teamed up with Kakashi would be especially exhausting, because Kakashi always made him unconsciously do all the work.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched. What's going on? The future version of himself felt like a real scumbag.

"I knew Kakashi wasn't any good," Obito, hiding in the closet, couldn't help but mutter inwardly.

"But Kakashi-senpai isn't without his merits. No matter what the mission, under his leadership it always gets completed. Whatever the process, the result is always good." After listing a bunch of complaints, Yamato couldn't help praising Kakashi's reliability.

Kakashi's expression remained unchanged. That was a little more like him.

"So he suffered multiple blows and ended up in that pitiful state..." Based on the image of his future self, Kakashi could be pretty sure that many important people around him had died.

"In the end, he still failed to protect what he wanted to protect?" Kakashi touched the short White Fang blade at his back.

For the sake of protecting those he cared about, Kakashi would rather die fighting. But the future seemed to be the complete opposite—only he had survived from the entire Muzuki Squad.

"If you think of me as your Kakashi-sensei or Kakashi-senpai, then tell me everything about the future that I care about." Kakashi spoke with an extremely serious expression.

He wasn't someone who liked to exploit feelings, and he liked even less to exploit the feelings that future ninjas had for his future self. But there was something Kakashi hated even more: watching the people he cared about die right before his eyes.

Time travel was an extremely bizarre event. Now two ninjas from the future were right in front of him, and he had learned that his comrades would die. Kakashi had to consider whether this might be his one and only chance to save them.

He didn't want to regret one day that he hadn't done everything he could to change the fate of his comrades' deaths. So he chose the despicable path of exploiting their feelings.

"If I can't succeed in protecting my comrades, then living on alone has no meaning. If Muzuki-sensei and the others are going to die, no matter who the enemy is or how strong they are, I would rather die at their hands than escape alone." Kakashi said seriously.

He was showing his determination, but also making a hostage of himself. His meaning was clear: if Muzuki and the others were fated to die, then he wouldn't go on living either.

"Little Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto looked at Kakashi in distress. If only he knew more, he would have blurted everything out already.

Yamato beside him also fell into deep self-blame and confusion.

He didn't know how to choose. Revealing future events might change history and lead to unknown accidents. But if he didn't speak, when they went back they might not see Kakashi again—the lazy, unserious but extremely reliable senior in his memory would die forever.

"Kakashi..."

Obito, hidden inside the wardrobe, was moved by Kakashi's words. The image of Kakashi in his mind suddenly seemed not so detestable.

"Tell me everything. Trust me—trust that we can make both Konoha and the shinobi world a better place." Kakashi took the short White Fang blade from his back and spoke earnestly.

He knew that changing the future came with great risk and was very unethical toward the people of the future. So Kakashi chose to bear it all alone—in the end, only he would be wrong.

Bang!

Yamato suddenly raised his arm and smacked Kakashi hard on the head.

Kakashi looked at Yamato in confusion; he could sense that Yamato had no intention to attack or any killing intent.

"Damn Kakashi-senpai, you're always bullying me. I've wanted to hit you for a long time." Recalling the feel of the hit, Yamato felt a surge of relief, his mind instantly clear. He thought it felt better than soaking in a hot spring.

Kakashi: ...

So he's taking it out on me for the future Kakashi, huh.

Yamato's hit made Naruto feel a little tempted. This was a chance to hit Kakashi-sensei—specifically little Kakashi-sensei. If he missed it, it would probably never come again.

"Really, no matter how old Kakashi-senpai gets, he's always so troublesome." Yamato sighed, preparing to tell everything he knew.

In the end, he chose to trust Kakashi—to trust the Kakashi-senpai he had always relied on.

Even if he didn't speak, there was no other way. Yamato could feel that history was already changing because of their arrival.

If he didn't answer Kakashi's questions, then Kakashi might really die. That would mean history changed, and the chain reaction would bring unknown consequences to Konoha.

Since the future was going to change anyway, Yamato chose to trust Kakashi.

"The Fourth Hokage died very early. He was the shortest-reigning Hokage, because..." Just as Yamato was about to tell Kakashi the cause of the Fourth's death, the door was knocked on again.

"Don't tell anyone that I was here. Let me bear this alone." Kakashi whispered rapidly, then walked quickly to the only hiding place in the room—the wardrobe.

Since he was the only survivor in the future, he would bear this heaviness alone.

"Little Kaka..." Naruto started to say that someone was already in there, but Kakashi was too fast. Before Naruto could finish, Kakashi had already opened the closet door.

Silence—

Kakashi and Obito stared at each other, the entire room becoming extremely quiet, with only the faint sound of a knock.

"Kakashi, hehe, what a coincidence." Obito chuckled sheepishly.

Kakashi's expression could barely hold. He had just made such a huge mental preparation, only to find out in the blink of an eye that someone else also knew.

Although he was speechless inside, Kakashi still hid in the closet with Obito, quietly listening to the sounds outside.

"Rin, it's you. Is there something?" Naruto Uzumaki greeted casually.

"Sorry to intrude, I just wanted to ask about something." Rin Nohara said with a soft smile.

Kakashi and Obito in the closet exchanged speechless glances—so all three of them had the same idea.

Yamato helplessly pressed his forehead with his right hand. What a mess; the three of them might as well have come together to ask, saving some trouble.

The questions Rin Nohara asked were more or less the same as Kakashi and the others. Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato answered Rin Nohara's questions very fluently.

Because it was too smooth, as if they hadn't thought much, it made Rin Nohara look at Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato with suspicion. Rin Nohara felt that Naruto and the others were fooling her.

Yamato was very speechless—they had said it several times now, how could it not be smooth?

Rin Nohara hadn't asked many questions when suddenly another knock sounded at the door, but this time it wasn't as faint as before.

"Yamato, Naruto, are you asleep? It's Mu Yue." Mu Yue outside the door said.

Upon hearing Mu Yue's voice, Rin Nohara quickly looked around and then rushed straight to the closet.

Yamato, Naruto Uzumaki: ...

What was this, the bond of a squad?

Yamato really wanted to use Wood Release right there to make a new closet for Rin Nohara to hide in—three people in one closet was a bit cramped and awkward.

When the closet opened, Rin Nohara was dumbfounded. On one side was Obito with an embarrassed smile, and on the other was Kakashi whose expression could barely hold.

Although she didn't know what was going on, Mu Yue outside was about to come in, so Rin Nohara had to enter and close the door.

"Big Brother Mu Yue, did you come to ask about the future?" Naruto Uzumaki asked directly.

Since the entire Mu Yue squad wanted to know about the future, and Yamato was willing to talk, Naruto Uzumaki felt they didn't need to make it so troublesome, chatting as if on a spy mission.

"No." Mu Yue smiled and shook his head in reply.

Since he remembered the original story clearly, Naruto Uzumaki of this period knew less than he did, so naturally he didn't need to ask Naruto Uzumaki.

"Although what happened during the day was a misunderstanding, my disciples and I still owe you an apology. So if you have any requests, you can bring them to me. Whether it's learning a ninjutsu or wanting to meet someone from this era, I'll do my best to help." Mu Yue said.

"Big Brother Mu Yue, you're really great, but my ninjutsu..." Naruto Uzumaki, who had been smiling, suddenly froze as he thought of something.

He thought of someone—a person he very much missed, a person he wanted to see but could no longer see.

"Big Brother Mu Yue, do you know the Pervy Sage? His name is Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin." Naruto Uzumaki asked with a burning gaze at Mu Yue.

Naruto Uzumaki realized this was the past. The current Jiraiya was still alive and well, he just didn't know what differences there were between this Jiraiya and the one he knew.

"Lord Jiraiya is a world-famous Sannin of Konoha, naturally I know him." Mu Yue nodded under Naruto's excited expression.

"Naruto..." Yamato intended to remind Naruto not to affect history too much.

But then he thought it was already like this; meeting Jiraiya probably wouldn't have much impact, certainly less than what Kakashi and the others had done.

"Big Brother Mu Yue, please, I want to meet him once." Naruto Uzumaki said seriously, as he had very important words to say to Jiraiya.

"I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee one hundred percent that you'll meet." Mu Yue reminded.

Jiraiya was currently commanding a ninja unit in the war with Iwa; it would be hard for him to find time to meet a stranger, even if that stranger would later become very close to him.

As for Naruto Uzumaki and the others, they had traveled through time due to the Dragon Vein of Rōran. Mu Yue felt it was better for them not to leave Rōran for now.

Let me briefly explain the matter of Obito not awakening the Mangekyō. First, he only heard that someone died, not seeing it himself—the impact is less. Otherwise, spreading rumors to make Uchiha awaken their eyes would be too easy. Second, Obito's age: he's less than ten years old, lacking that strength. Sasuke had great talent, but even he only awakened a single tomoe after his entire clan was wiped out.