Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, the night was as dark as ink and completely silent.
Young Boruto, dressed entirely in black, stood quietly upon a tall tree branch.
His deep gaze fixed on the familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar village not far away, a wave of indescribable confusion surging in his heart.
"How... how on earth did I end up in a place like this?"
"This place doesn't... seem like my own world."
Boruto muttered to himself, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
Swish!
At that moment, a sharp whistling sound suddenly tore through the air.
A kunai flashing with a cold glint hurtled from the darkness, aiming straight for Young Boruto's vital spots.
Yet, facing this sudden attack, Boruto's face remained utterly expressionless, as if he had anticipated it long ago.
Young Boruto tilted his head slightly, and the kunai grazed past his cheek, embedding itself deeply into the tree trunk beside him.
Immediately after, Boruto's gaze locked onto a specific direction ahead like lightning.
Young Boruto spoke in a voice calm enough to send a chill down one's spine: "Come out."
However, only dead silence answered him.
Aside from a few withered yellow leaves drifting down occasionally in the night sky, there was no other sound.
Yet Boruto remained unfazed. He stood rooted to the spot like a statue, patiently waiting for the other person to appear.
Before long, a dark figure flashed out from the veil of night with lightning speed, arriving behind Young Boruto in the blink of an eye.
Clutching a sharp kunai tightly in hand, the dark figure lunged without hesitation, aiming a vicious stab at Boruto's neck.
Almost the exact instant the dark figure appeared, Boruto's body reacted.
Putting sudden force into his right foot, he spun around like a whirlwind while lashing his right leg backward with fierce, howling wind.
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a dull thud, the dark figure flew straight backward like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily onto the ground.
The dark figure couldn't help but feel a jolt of shock, thinking to themselves: "Such incredible speed! Such immense strength!"
"This guy has at least the strength of a jonin!"
Slowly getting back to his feet, the dark figure glared fixedly at Young Boruto before him, a low voice demanding:
"Who on earth are you?" The dark figure's tone was laden with vigilance and interrogation.
"And why are you skulking around outside the Hidden Leaf Village?"
"What is your hidden agenda?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Young Boruto felt his heart skip a beat, a sudden surge of tension gripping him.
After a moment of hesitation, Young Boruto slowly turned around to face the mysterious dark figure.
When he clearly saw the person before him, he couldn't help but freeze slightly.
The other person had a full head of white hair, with a headband covering one eye.
Boruto blurted out instinctively: "Uncle Kakashi..."
The person standing before him was actually his father's teacher, the Sixth Hokage, known as the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.
Hearing Boruto's form of address, Kakashi's face showed not the slightest trace of surprise.
Kakashi reached up to adjust his headband straight, revealing his intimidating Sharingan, and stared coldly at Young Boruto, speaking in a chilly voice:
"It seems you've gathered quite thorough intelligence."
"However, if you refuse to honestly confess your intentions here, I won't mind using force to make you talk!"
With that, a powerful aura emanated from Kakashi, the surrounding air seeming to grow heavy with his anger.
Seeing this, Young Boruto hurriedly spoke up:
"Kakashi..."
"Wait a minute!"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes tightly, his gaze locked onto Young Boruto before him like two cold, piercing blades.
Kakashi's voice seemed to drift up from a freezing hell, bone-chillingly cold: "What?"
"Ready to confess your purpose now?"
Kakashi crossed his arms, looking calm and composed on the surface, but a tempest was already raging in his heart.
For even in this brief standoff with the opponent, he could clearly sense the formidable aura radiating from this mysterious youth.
So overwhelming was this pressure that even the battle-hardened Kakashi felt a faint flutter of unease.
"Hmph! You'd better come clean, otherwise, I won't let you leave easily."
Despite his tough words, Kakashi had very little confidence deep down.
After all, judging by his assessment of the opponent's strength, this person's capabilities were definitely no less than his own, and quite possibly even superior.
If the opponent was determined to leave this place, he feared his single pair of hands wouldn't be enough to stop him.
Not only that, but if this mysterious youth insisted on breaking into the Hidden Leaf Village, he would likely be powerless to stop him.
At this thought, Kakashi furrowed his brow, a fine layer of sweat gradually beading on his forehead.
In his view, perhaps only Master Jiraiya—one of the legendary Sannin with unfathomable strength—would have enough capability to handle such a formidable enemy.
What was even more shocking was that the enemy standing before him appeared very young, yet the strength and presence he displayed were already this astonishing.
Just then, Kakashi suddenly noticed Young Boruto's eyes, and a jolt of shock ran through his heart.
For some reason, those eyes involuntarily reminded him of the teacher who had once instructed him.
Especially the spirit within that gaze—it was an exact match.
Except that the eyes of the person before him seemed slightly bluer than those of Master Minato, appearing even more profound and mysterious, as if concealing endless secrets.
Clearly very young, yet he carried an air of seasoned maturity.
The strangest thing was that he actually felt a sense of familiarity toward him.
While Kakashi's mind raced with a flurry of thoughts, Boruto's voice rang out.
"I am not an enemy of the Leaf."
Boruto spoke once more: "And I am not going to do anything to the Leaf. On the contrary, I came here specifically to join the Leaf."
These words struck Kakashi's mind like a thunderbolt, instantly plunging him into a state of utter bewilderment.
For a moment, he even suspected he might have misheard.
"Y-you... what did you say?" Kakashi widened his eyes, staring at the young Boruto before him in sheer disbelief as he stammered the question.
This sudden turn of events left Kakashi completely at a loss.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that this mysteriously appearing person would claim he came here to join the Hidden Leaf Village!
Young Boruto's figure flickered, leaping gracefully before Kakashi like a phantom.
A jolt of alarm shot through Kakashi, and reflexively he leaped back several paces, raising his hands into a combat stance while keeping his eyes locked tightly on the other person, terrified of the slightest lapse in attention.
Yet, facing Kakashi's defensive posture, Young Boruto merely gave a slight smile, then spoke unhurriedly:
"No need to be so tense, I really am here to join the Leaf."
Despite Boruto's composed demeanor, Kakashi did not lower his guard.
After all, this kind of thing was simply too absurd; he had to treat it with the utmost caution.
Frowning deeply, Kakashi pinned Boruto with a sharp gaze and demanded coldly:
"How do you prove it?"