Zander
patreon
Chapter 105 – Shadows Beneath the Sun
🕑 Added 2025-07-10 23:18:48 +0000 UTCChapter 105 – Shadows Beneath the Sun
The first voice to cut through the haze of tension was Naruto’s.
“Told you I knew you'd come.”
He grinned wide, relief plain on his face as he looked up at the massive figure standing over the scattered remains of the puppet soldiers. Clad in towering, silver-gray armor engraved with wings and skulls, his tribute to the Grey Knights of ancient memory, Hajime stood like a sentinel of another world, his height towering at 2.65 meters in full armor, the golden halo of the Iron Halo shining softly behind his head.
The air still crackled faintly from the energy used in his chainsaw’s last sweep, but Hajime remained perfectly still, his armored frame outlined against the burning light of Rōran’s sun.
Before more could be said, a new voice broke in, sharp and composed.
“Not here,” said Minato Namikaze, stepping forward, calm but alert. “We’re surrounded.”
More puppet soldiers were approaching from the eastern streets, metal bodies moving with eerie synchronicity, eyes glowing with unnatural chakra. Hajime’s senses extended outward. He could feel them all. He could destroy them if he wished. But...
He had no map of this timeline.
No certainty about what it could affect.
He gave a short nod. “Understood. Lead the way.”
Minato didn’t hesitate. “Team, fall back. Rooftops. Formation three.”
Shibi Aburame, Chōza Akimichi, and Kōshi Sarutobi responded instantly, vanishing into movement. Naruto dashed after them, but what stunned all of them wasn’t the enemies behind or the retreat itself.
It was Hajime.
Despite his enormous frame, armored from neck to toe in ceramite and adamantine, he moved with terrifying grace. Each step was ghost-quiet, each leap perfectly balanced. He crossed rooftops with the ease of a panther, not a titan.
Chōza whispered mid-leap, “How does something that big move like that?”
Minato, who had kept pace with many prodigies in his life, said nothing. But even he was impressed.
Minutes later, they arrived on a secure rooftop, high above the city streets. Protective seals already lined its corners, a makeshift safe zone.
Naruto panted slightly, then turned to Hajime with open excitement. “That armor is so cool! How’d you even find me here?”
Hajime stepped forward, his halberd secured to his back, and responded in his even voice. “I tracked your psychic imprint.”
Naruto blinked. “My… what?”
He rubbed his head awkwardly, confused. “Eh. Guess I wasn’t that sneaky.”
Hajime said nothing, but a flicker of humor passed through his eyes beneath the helm.
Minato, standing across the rooftop with his arms crossed, studied Hajime closely. He’d watched this stranger join their team in formation without hesitation. Not just strong, but trained. Experienced. Dangerous.
His eyes shifted to Naruto again. They moved in sync, he noted.
Naruto looked over at Hajime, blinking once, then grinned. “Heh… figures it’d be you.”
Hajime tilted his head slightly. “Didn’t think I’d find you here either.”
“You never make a normal entrance,” Naruto said, laughing. “But hey, glad you came.”
Hajime gave a small smile. “Would’ve come sooner if I knew you were about to get lost in time.”
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah… that part wasn’t exactly the plan.”
They both chuckled, the tension between them easing into something familiar and warm.
Naruto laughed, then plopped down onto a nearby crate.
As the others took a moment to breathe, Hajime stepped to the edge of the rooftop. The entire city stretched out before him, living, vibrant. But below the life, he could feel it. The Dragon Vein. A monstrous, unnatural chakra current twisting beneath the city like a buried serpent.
“This place…” Hajime finally said, scanning the streets. “It isn’t just displaced in time. It’s something else.”
Minato turned his head. “What do you mean?”
Hajime paused for a moment, choosing his words. “It’s not just time travel. This… this is another version of the world.”
The others stared at him blankly. No one had any concept of parallel dimensions or split timelines.
He adjusted, more simply, “Another place. Not ours.”
That, they could understand, barely.
Naruto tilted his head. “Wait… so I didn’t just get flung into the past?”
“You did,” Hajime replied, “But not exactly our past. Something diverged. The energy here doesn’t match our world.”
Minato absorbed that quietly. His gaze moved to Naruto.
He had known from the start that something was off about the boy. The Rasengan. The mannerisms. The uncanny resemblance. He had his suspicions. He always did.
But for the sake of balance… for the integrity of whatever fragile thread kept time from unraveling… he said nothing.
Instead, Minato stepped forward and simply said, “He’s with us now. And if he’s here for Mukade… then we work together.”
Hajime nodded once.
Chōza grinned. “If we’re all together, then let’s crack those puppet freaks.”
Naruto pumped a fist. “Yeah! Let’s show ‘em!”
But Hajime remained quiet, arms folded, gazing out over the sun-baked city.
He could feel it now, where Mukade was.
He could feel the Dragon Vein's warped path stretching downward into the city’s core, where energy hummed and pulsed with unnatural intent.
And he could feel the presence that had dragged Naruto here.
More than a seal. More than a temporal distortion.
It was a construct. A bridge of chakra woven by forgotten technology and will.
He’ll try to rewrite something, Hajime thought. But he doesn’t know what he's tampering with.
Hajime’s hands flexed briefly, the armor’s servos hissing faintly.
Soon, he would face this Mukade.
And when he did, he would ensure that history, whatever version it was, would not be broken by the ambitions of one fool with power he did not understand.
