Upon hearing this, Young Boruto locked his gaze intently on Kakashi, as if trying to pierce through his expressionless face to uncover the secrets hidden deep within his heart.
However, after merely a brief exchange of glances, Boruto seemingly guessed something and chose to remain silent, the surrounding air seeming to freeze over.
Not long after, Kakashi broke the silence first.
Kakashi raised his head, shifted his gaze toward Young Boruto, and said softly:
"Alright, let's go."
Young Boruto asked with a blank expression: "Go? Where to?"
With his hands casually clasped behind his head and his body leaning slightly backward into a lazy posture, Kakashi replied nonchalantly:
"To my place."
With that, Kakashi began walking on his own toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
Young Boruto hesitated for a moment before following him.
"Oh, by the way."
Kakashi glanced sideways at Young Boruto and said:
"I don't know your name yet."
Hearing this, Young Boruto fell silent for a moment, then replied:
"Just call me Boruto."
Kakashi muttered: "Boruto..."
"What a silly name."
Young Boruto: "..."
Young Boruto retorted: "Better than Scarecrow."
"Halt!" A voice suddenly rang out, sounding exceptionally abrupt and loud in the quiet night.
Their footsteps came to an abrupt stop. As they reached the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, two figures materialized like ghosts before them in the blink of an eye.
One of them stared sharply ahead, while the other's eyes scanned back and forth between Kakashi and the youth behind him.
Izumo Kamizuki first let his gaze fall upon the rather youthful face behind Kakashi, then looked at Kakashi with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, and said softly:
"So it's you, Kakashi. What were you doing out so late?"
Kakashi remained calm and composed, replying unhurriedly:
"Nothing much, just went out to pick someone up."
Izumo Kamizuki nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this, showing understanding.
He then cast a curious look at the boy behind Kakashi, as if trying to glean some clues from him, but ultimately decided not to ask further, simply saying:
"I see."
"Thanks for your hard work," Kakashi said calmly, and then led Boruto into the Hidden Leaf Village.
Young Boruto kept his eyes fixed firmly on the Kakashi before him, a hint of curiosity and confusion in his gaze, and asked:
"Tell me, why did you run out in the middle of the night anyway?"
"Running into me must have been an accident, right?"
Kakashi smiled slightly, shook his head gently, and replied at a leisurely pace:
"I just couldn't sleep, so I wanted to stroll around and take in the quiet village at night."
"I didn't expect such an unexpected harvest."
However, Boruto was clearly unsatisfied with this answer. He furrowed his brow, stared suspiciously at Kakashi, and said:
"Tch! I don't believe that for a second."
"Well, if you don't want to say, fine. It's not like I desperately need to know anyway."
With that, Boruto intentionally turned his head away, putting on an indifferent act.
Kakashi shook his head at this and said nothing.
After walking for quite a while, Boruto asked suspiciously:
"Weren't you taking me to your house?"
"Why are we heading toward the Hokage's Office?"
As he spoke, Boruto looked at the Kakashi beside him with a puzzled expression.
Kakashi turned his head slightly to look at Boruto, then replied coolly and unhurriedly:
"It seems you're quite familiar with our Hidden Leaf Village."
Hearing this, Young Boruto felt a sudden thump in his chest and a pang of guilt, but he forced himself to stay calm as he replied:
"Uh... It's alright..."
He certainly couldn't admit that he came from the future.
If he actually said that, there was no telling what kind of uproar and trouble it would cause.
So no matter what, this secret had to be guarded tightly at the bottom of his heart.
Besides, he still had to figure out a way back.
At that moment, Kakashi spoke up: "The village has experienced some issues recently."
"I need to report your situation to the Hokage."
Upon hearing this, Young Boruto nodded and immediately asked:
"Am I going too?"
Kakashi replied: "Of course. Until your identity can be fully verified, I can't let you out of my sight."
Young Boruto nodded and said:
"Understood."
"Oh, right." Young Boruto suddenly thought of something important and quickly asked:
"Which Hokage are we going to pay our respects to?"
Young Boruto stared expectantly at Kakashi ahead of him.
As soon as those words fell, Kakashi, who had been walking forward, abruptly halted his steps, freezing in place as if hit by a binding jutsu.
For a moment, the surrounding atmosphere grew unusually heavy, as though even the air had frozen.
Seeing Kakashi's sudden reaction, a trace of confusion welled up in Young Boruto's heart. He hurried to Kakashi's side and asked perplexedly:
"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop talking?"
However, Kakashi simply gazed silently into the distance without uttering a word, seeming to sink into deep contemplation.
Then Kakashi turned his head and stared fixedly at Young Boruto.
Growing even more confused, Boruto pressed on: "What is it?"
Looking at the bewildered Young Boruto with a complex gaze, Kakashi said softly: "Do you really not know?"
Young Boruto shook his head with an innocent expression and replied: "Know what?"
Seeing that Boruto genuinely seemed to clueless, Kakashi took a deep breath, looked into Boruto's eyes, and explained earnestly:
"Just recently, Orochimaru led his subordinates in a surprise attack on our Hidden Leaf Village."
"That battle was extremely fierce, and the Third Hokage unfortunately lost his life..."
At this point, Kakashi's voice trembled slightly, and a flash of sorrow crossed his eyes.
"The one we are going to see now is the newly appointed Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade."
Hearing this, it was as if a lamp had suddenly been lit in Boruto's mind. The fragments of his memories quickly pieced themselves together, and with a sudden realization, he slapped his forehead and muttered to himself:
"Ah, right, it seems it really is this time period."
Young Boruto subconsciously rubbed his chin, furrowed his brows slightly, and gazed off into the distance, as if his thoughts had drifted far away into the past, completely lost in deep thought.
Newly appointed, huh...
Boruto thought to himself, if that's the case, then Uncle Sasuke shouldn't have left the Hidden Leaf Village yet.
At this thought, Boruto's eyes lit up instantly, and a look of excitement spontaneously bloomed on his face.
"Doesn't that mean I have a chance to meet the young Uncle Sasuke?"
The thought flashed across Boruto's mind like lightning, making him so excited he almost shouted out loud.
However, right as his emotions were surging, he failed to notice that he had unconsciously blurted out three words:
"Awesome!"