Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

After nearly ten hours of intense training, Boruto returned home, utterly exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed. Since it was only around 3:30 in the afternoon when he woke up, Naruto wasn't sleepy yet.

While Boruto slept soundly, Naruto quietly opened Boruto's backpack and took out the Scientific Ninja Tools.

Since it's a father looks at his son's things, how can it be called stealing?

Naruto then headed to Orochimaru's temporary residence with the Scientific Ninja Tools in hand.

Knock knock knock!

After a few knocks, faint sounds came from behind the door, and then Orochimaru opened it.

Seeing it was Naruto, he stepped aside and said, "For you to come here in the middle of the night, is there some new development? Come on in."

"There is indeed new information, and it's explosive good news!" After Naruto entered the room, he took out the Scientific Ninja Tools and placed them on the table.

"What is this?" Orochimaru looked intrigued.

Naruto explained, "This is a Scientific Ninja Tool. When you insert a scroll, it can fire off a Ninjutsu."

As he said that, Naruto recounted what had just happened to Orochimaru in detail.

"This…"

After hearing the whole story, Orochimaru didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Having such a valuable item to study was certainly a boon. But the fact that someone else had invented it meant there were researchers out there even more advanced than him. Though Orochimaru had said nothing, he was secretly proud of his scientific prowess, always regarding himself as a genius in this field.

In fact, he'd long envisioned something like the Scientific Ninja Tools. He'd even equipped the Sound Trio with experimental versions, and he and Naruto had planned to develop them further. Yet someone had beaten them to it with this compact, refined design, which stung Orochimaru's pride.

"That Boruto kid is definitely no mere performer. He's likely a spy from another Shinobi Village. We need to be cautious, or better yet, let me capture him for interrogation." Orochimaru asserted confidently.

Orochimaru believed that the real purpose of the researchers behind this is to go to various Shinobi Villages to test the power of Scientific Ninja Tools under the pretext of performing.

Naruto waved his hands and said, "There's no need to capture him. He's not dangerous, and he's definitely not a spy."

"Oh? And what makes you so certain, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru was puzzled.

Naruto explained, "Because…he's my son!"

"What? Your son?" Orochimaru was shocked, "How old are you? You already have such a big son? Could it be that you're not really Naruto, but an imposter? I was wondering how a teenager could have so many research and development results."

Naruto rolled his eyes speechlessly and said, "Don't let jealousy blind you. Remember, I have the Kyubi inside me. Technically, he's my future son. He traveled back through time."

"Travel through time?" Orochimaru was so astonished that he didn't know what to say.

Naruto nodded and explained, "Apparently, someone intends to harm me, so my son came back from the future to protect me."

"He told you all this?" Orochimaru frowned.

Naruto shook his head and said, "To avoid changing the past, he hasn't told me a thing. But I took a hair sample from him and compared it to mine. They're a near-perfect match, and he looks a lot like me too. I found out everything after overhearing him and his master talking."

"He has a master?" Orochimaru murmured in mild surprise.

"Come to think of it, you know that person too." Naruto chuckled, "It's adult Sasuke. He thought he could fool me by covering his face with his hair, but I can recognize that voice easily."

"I'd love to know how they managed to come back to the past." Orochimaru mused thoughtfully.

Naruto waved his hand and said, "Don't even think about taking shortcuts. If you trigger a time paradox, we might all disappear. I guess they paid a high price to travel back in time, otherwise, they could simply reveal their identities, or they'd use their knowledge of future events to change the course of history and take control of the world."

"That's true." Orochimaru nodded, though a brief flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.

Naruto caught the fleeting expression but chose not to comment. After all, everyone carries some regrets about the past.

"Alright, start dissecting its structure quickly. I'll need to take it back soon so Boruto doesn't notice anything off." Naruto urged.

Instead of examining the Scientific Ninja Tool immediately, Orochimaru took out a pen and some paper, and said, "Naruto-kun, I'm going to trouble you again."

"Me?" Naruto was puzzled.

Orochimaru explained, "As long as it is a product of scientific research, no matter who it is, they will design a protective mechanism at the core to prevent the core technology from being stolen. So, we'll need your Byakugan for this."

"What a hassle." Naruto was speechless, but he also agreed with Orochimaru's logic.

With his Byakugan activated, Naruto examined the Scientific Ninja Tool, seeing every component inside and out in minute detail.

"It's too intricate, so I won't be able to draw it perfectly. How about I make a rough sketch and explain it to you, then you can refine it?" Naruto suggested.

Orochimaru nodded without objection.

Despite the small size of the Scientific Ninja Tool, it was filled with countless parts, so Naruto created a few shadow clones to help with the drawing. Even with extra hands, producing even a rough sketch took over three hours.

"This should cover it. Now let me walk you through the finer details."

Naruto narrated, while Orochimaru meticulously refined the sketches.

Unlike Naruto, Orochimaru was swift with technical drawings, having researched Scientific Ninja Tools before. Even Naruto's confusing explanations made sense to him, and he managed to depict the most complex mechanisms accurately.

The core seal patterns were so precise that they couldn't afford even the slightest deviation. By dawn, they finally had everything mapped out.

"The structure matches perfectly, there's no problem." Naruto confirmed, holding up the blueprints against the Scientific Ninja Tool for a final comparison.

Orochimaru looked over the stack of blueprints, clearly thrilled. While drawing, he had already noted many fascinating aspects that previously eluded him.

It wasn't that he couldn't solve it, but it would take a lot of experimental control to get the final answer. It can be said that these diagrams had essentially saved him years of trial and error.

"Thank you for your hard work, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru said excitedly. There was no fatigue in his voice, but only joy and excitement.

"Make sure you live up to my expectations and dive deep into this research. I'm leaving first." Naruto yawned and returned home with the Scientific Ninja Tools.

When he got home, Boruto was still sleeping soundly.

'It seemed he was thoroughly exhausted from yesterday's intense training.'

After putting the Scientific Ninja Tools back into Boruto's backpack, Naruto fell on the bed without even washing his face.

Though young and resilient, Naruto still felt the strain of two sleepless nights. He certainly didn't want to push his limits and accidentally trigger another cross over event from exhaustion.

Zzz, zzz~

Soon, the room was filled with the sound of two people breathing rhythmically in sleep.

However, as the father and son were sleeping soundly, that afternoon, a crack suddenly appeared in the sky and a figure walked out of it.

Rather than falling to the ground, the figure hovered mid-air.

"It's a little late, but in the end, you can't escape my grasp, Naruto… Ready to be captured?"