In another space-time, a man with his upper body bare was standing on a formation.
Both of his hands were gripping a sealing kunai embedded in the Dragon Vein seal, pulling it outward with all his strength.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his teeth clenched tight. It was obvious he was using every ounce of strength he had.
"Stop!"
Naruto shouted in sheer terror, throwing everything aside as he sprinted madly toward the man.
However, at that very moment, the ground that had been calm just seconds ago suddenly began to shake violently.
Immediately after, the Dragon Vein, released from its seal, seemed to erupt in rage, bursting forth in an instant and transforming into a massive purple-white pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.
The bridge beneath Naruto's feet began to emit terrifying cracking sounds, every inch of it rapidly collapsing.
Amid cries of panic, Naruto was caught off guard and sucked upward by the immense power of the Dragon Vein.
Nearby, seeing that things were going badly, Yamato immediately formed seals at lightning speed with both hands and shouted, "Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
In an instant, countless thick wooden roots burst forth from his right hand, surging toward Naruto like a swarm of agile giant pythons.
Just as those wooden roots were about to successfully grab hold of Naruto, the energy contained within the Dragon Vein was far too violent. In a single moment, it dragged Yamato in along with him.
Seeing this scene, Sakura was frantic with worry. She kept leaping desperately across the teetering broken bridge, trying to get closer and rescue the two of them.
But helplessly, the power within the Dragon Vein was simply too great. In the blink of an eye, Naruto and Yamato vanished into the surging torrent of energy, disappearing without a trace.
No one knew how much time passed before Naruto, lying on the ground, gradually regained consciousness.
His head felt unbearably heavy, and faintly, a clear and melodious song drifted into his ears, "Rising sun gate, rising sunlight."
"Fervent longing should guard the Dragon Vein."
Naruto groggily opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.
He shook his still-dizzy head and slowly swept his gaze around.
When his line of sight finally settled on a spot not far behind him, it stopped.
On top of a large stone sat a young girl, sitting upright and softly singing that beautiful song.
Sunlight spilled over her body, and a tranquil, comforting feeling echoed through the small space.
"Shoot forth white blades, gaze up into the sky."
"Gravel in total frenzy, oh glorious blooming sun, scattering like flowers."
"Along the spiral…"
The girl seemed to exist in a world belonging only to herself, completely immersed in that plaintive, sorrowful singing.
So much so that she did not notice Naruto's presence at all.
From the slight trembling of her voice and the tears constantly sliding down her cheeks, it was clear that something extremely sad must be weighing heavily on her heart at that moment.
Naruto could not hold back the curiosity and confusion in his heart any longer and called out, "Hey, where exactly is this place?"
This sudden voice instantly shattered the atmosphere the girl had created.
When she finally noticed Naruto, an indescribable look of terror appeared on her face.
Without even having time to react, she turned and ran straight into the narrow, dark alley opposite them, like a startled deer, without looking back.
"Wait for me…"
Naruto was completely thrown into confusion by this series of inexplicable events, totally unable to make sense of what was happening.
He had no idea where he was, and he was also deeply puzzled as to why the girl had panicked so badly.
However, his strong curiosity drove him to chase after her without hesitation.
After running only a few steps, Naruto reached the entrance of the alley. But just as he was about to lift his foot and step inside, two black shadows suddenly flashed in front of him like ghosts.
Looking more closely, he saw that they were two ferocious-looking puppets wielding sharp blades, blocking his path.
Before Naruto could even react, the two puppets launched a ruthless attack on him.
Four coldly gleaming shuriken shot toward Naruto at lightning speed.
But what was astonishing was that the moment these shuriken passed through the doorway, they seemed to lose all their power.
They instantly turned into useless chunks of scrap metal, clattering to the ground with metallic sounds.
Although Naruto was utterly baffled by this bizarre scene before his eyes, years of ingrained battle instinct made him swiftly draw a sharp kunai from his waist, gripping it tightly as he took a guarded stance.
At that moment, the two puppets that had been so menacing pounced forward once again.
However, something unexpected happened yet again.
When they tried to force their way through the seemingly ordinary doorway and enter the building, their bodies were suddenly struck by some powerful, invisible force, and in an instant, they shattered into pieces.
Parts scattered across the ground, producing crisp clashing sounds.
Clink! Clank!
Naruto widened his eyes, staring suspiciously at the mess of scattered parts all over the ground.
His mind was in complete chaos, utterly unable to understand why such a strange and bizarre situation had occurred.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Before Naruto had time to think it through, the heavy stone door ahead of him suddenly began to close without any warning.
"Ah… wait for me…"
Naruto cried out as he desperately rushed toward the stone door, but in the end, he was still a step too late.
With a loud "bang," the stone door shut completely, cutting Naruto off from the outside world.
Naruto stared wide-eyed at the tightly closed stone door, his face full of frustration as he silently lamented his bad luck.
However, at that moment, a powerful sense of danger suddenly surged up from within him.
He sharply turned his head, only to see that at some point unknown, a vast and overwhelming mass of energy had risen behind him.
Naruto instantly went on full alert, every muscle in his body tensed, staring dead at the source of that energy as if facing a great enemy.
Immediately after, an enormous vortex appeared out of thin air in midair.
The vortex was like the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, spinning wildly as if it were about to devour everything around it.
In the blink of an eye, a figure came spinning down from within the vortex.
With a "thump," it slammed heavily onto the ground, landing perfectly, without deviation, right where Naruto had been lying when he first woke up.
Naruto was stunned speechless by this sudden turn of events, standing frozen in place, completely at a loss.
But the other person soon woke up.
Naruto looked at the clothes the other person was wearing with some surprise. These clothes looked very similar to what Sasuke wore.
He recalled how Sasuke dressed back when they were at the Ninja Academy, and there was also a very noticeable Uchiha clan crest on the clothing.
'Could this be someone from the Uchiha clan? Aren't there only Sasuke and his brother Itachi left of the Uchiha clan?'
Because of the other person's attire, Naruto's curiosity about him was piqued.
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