Naruto, my father's name is Uchiha Madara.

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Shikamaru was not lying.

"It seems to be true." Naruto opened his eyes and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking at Naruto's series of reactions, Shikamaru said thoughtfully, "As expected... rather than saying you are the Naruto I know."

"The vigilance, suspicion, and directness you show in handling these matters are more like those of an Uchiha."

"Calm, efficient, and...undisguisedly protective of their own."

Naruto shrugged, not denying it: "Pretty much. On the way here, I've been absorbing things from what I've seen and heard, so I'm bound to learn something."

"Alright, that's enough of the setup."

Shikamaru leaned back slightly, adopting a listening posture: "Now, can you tell me your story and your purpose?"

Naruto took a deep breath and began to speak: "Just as you guessed, I am not the Naruto Uzumaki from this timeline."

“I come from a parallel world where history may be different from yours.”

"In my world, due to an accident, I activated a spacetime ninja tool called 'Li' and was thrown into a spacetime turbulence."

"After many twists and turns, I have finally arrived in your era not long ago."

"So?" Shikamaru pressed, knowing the important part was yet to come.

Naruto's eyes suddenly turned cold, and his previous laziness and casualness vanished without a trace.

Instead, there was an almost tangible anger and sense of oppression: "So? I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, that my son—Boruto Uzumaki—is being falsely accused of murdering his father in this era!"

"I lost my family, my friends, my village, and was hunted like a rat for three years! I even have those scars on my face! You ask me why?!"

His voice echoed in the closed interrogation room, carrying a chilling power: "Although I am not Boruto's father, as his counterpart, seeing my son treated like this, can't I have any objections?! Can't I do something about it?!"

Faced with this sudden outburst of anger, Shikamaru remained silent for a moment, his deep gaze unreadable.

He spoke slowly, his tone tinged with a hint of probing, or rather, a final confirmation: "Son? As far as we know, the Seventh Generation's son is Kawaki. He's doing well now."

Naruto chuckled, his smile filled with disdain and coldness: "I don't know what's going on in your world, and I don't care who that guy named Kawaki is."

"In my understanding, in the bloodline of Naruto Uzumaki, I have only one son—that is Boruto Uzumaki!"

He stared at Shikamaru and emphasized, word by word, "I only acknowledge Boruto as my son!"

A brief silence fell over the interrogation room. Shikamaru neither immediately refuted the allegations nor revealed any emotion.

He simply watched Naruto quietly, observing the genuine anger, determination, and pure fatherly love in those deep blue eyes.

After a long while, a very subtle yet relieved smile slowly appeared on Shikamaru's face.

That smile dispelled the "troublesome" cloud that had accumulated between his brows over the years, carrying a sense of understanding after seeing the truth.

He exhaled softly, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and whispered:

"It seems I was right."

This statement is quite profound.

It is not only the final confirmation of Naruto's identity, but also a kind of confirmation of the "truth" of this distorted world.

And... the beginning of a potentially brand new collaboration.

Chapter 401 Don't Underestimate the Power of Family Ties

The door to the Konoha interrogation room closed behind him, and Naruto stood in the somewhat empty corridor, his face still showing lingering confusion.

Shikamaru's final, seemingly nonsensical words and his decisive decision to release him.

It made him feel like he had punched cotton with all his might, leaving him feeling uncomfortable all over.

"What exactly does that mean?"

Naruto scratched his golden hair and muttered to himself.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Shikamaru's words, "That's what I was thinking," were just as awkward as he thought.

After being arrested, he was released without anything.

"Hmph, idiot."

In the realm of consciousness, Madara Uchiha's cold voice carried undisguised contempt: "Being led by the nose with just a few words, not even understanding the other party's true intentions..."

"Hey! Old Madman, stop talking nonsense! If you're so capable, why don't you analyze this yourself?" Nine-Tails retorted defiantly from beneath him.

"Analysis? Not necessary."

Madara scoffed: "In the face of absolute power, any scheming is futile."

Nine-Tailed Fox was speechless; trying to reason with this guy was just asking for trouble.

Just then, footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

Boruto and Hikaru walked over, "escorted" by a Konoha ninja whose face was ashen and whose eyes were practically spitting fire.

The ninja stared intently at Boruto, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Clearly extremely unwilling, yet forced to obey orders, he could only snort coldly and turn away in anger.

"Dad, are you alright?"

Boruto quickly stepped forward and carefully examined Naruto.

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he wasn't seriously injured: "What did they ask you inside? Why did Uncle Shikamaru let us out so easily?"

Naruto recounted everything from the interrogation room, especially Shikamaru's strange words and actions.

After listening, Boruto stroked his chin and pondered for a moment.

A knowing glint flashed in his deep blue eyes, which resembled his father's: "I see... No wonder you're Uncle Shikamaru."

"What did you guess?" Hikaru looked over curiously.

Boruto nodded and explained in a low voice, "'Omnipotence's' effect is continuous cognitive modification. It constantly reinforces distorted 'facts,' causing people to subconsciously ignore contradictions and doubts."

"However, Uncle Shikamaru's IQ is too high. His analytical and reasoning abilities may have formed a kind of 'thinking inertia' or 'logical firewall' to some extent."

Upon hearing this, Naruto suddenly realized: "So... he 'guessed' part of the truth on his own?"

"That's understandable."

Boruto sighed, his face showing little joy: "But this is only temporary. The power of 'Omnipotence' is always in effect, like the tide constantly washing away the marks on the beach."

"Uncle Shikamaru may have remembered some suspicious points through willpower, but as time goes by, under the continued influence of 'All-Around'..."

“These doubts are likely to be blurred or covered up again, and he may eventually be inclined to believe the modified ‘facts’—that is, I am the traitor who killed the Seventh Generation.”

His tone was calm, clearly indicating that he was already used to it and didn't have high expectations.

"Therefore, we don't need to worry about whether he can stay sober all the time."

"As long as he is willing to trust us for the time being and cooperate with us for the safety of Konoha to fight against the Divine Tree Man, that is enough."

Just then, a clear and expectant voice came from the end of the corridor:

Wearing a yellow short-sleeved shirt and brown trousers, Sunflower trotted over, a bright smile on her face, and waved vigorously at Naruto.

"You... um..."

Naruto felt a warmth in his heart when he saw his daughter. He was about to greet her when he suddenly stopped.

He suddenly realized that he didn't even know the name of his daughter in this parallel world!

This father is really derelict in his duty.

"...Sunflower. Her name is Whirlpool Sunflower."

Boruto gently reminded her, and as he looked at his sister running towards him, a complex emotion, difficult to conceal, flashed in his remaining left eye.

There is nostalgia, tenderness, and a hint of deep-seated sorrow.

Seeing that she was safe and sound in the village, one of his biggest concerns was finally relieved.

Like a happy little bird, the sunflower rushed into Naruto's arms.

She hugged his waist tightly, looked up at him with her little face, her eyes slightly red: "Daddy! I'm so glad you're okay! I heard you were taken to the interrogation room..."

Feeling the genuine dependence and worry of the little girl in his arms, Naruto's softest spot was touched.

He temporarily set aside those complex questions about time, space, and parallel worlds, squatted down, and gently wiped away the tears from the corner of the sunflower's eyes.

Then, just as Minato Namikaze had treated her in her memory, he gently stroked her soft hair and gave her a reassuring smile:

"It's alright, it's alright, Sunflower. Daddy's here, everything's fine."

The scene has a strangely comedic feel to it.

A "teenage father" who looks only sixteen or seventeen years old is comforting his ten-year-old daughter.

But the people present all felt Naruto's genuine warmth.

After hugging her father, Himawari noticed Boruto standing to the side.

Her eyes instantly became hesitant and confused, and her small hands unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes.

Naruto noticed his daughter's unusual behavior. He took Himawari's hand and asked softly, "Himawari, in... in your memory, what kind of person is Boruto to you?"

Himawari raised her head, looked at Boruto, then at Naruto, her little face full of confusion: "I...I don't know either."

"Because my memories tell me that Boruto is... is a bad person."

"but……"

She shook her head vigorously: "But I've always had a feeling that Boruto isn't as difficult to get along with as I remember him, on the contrary..."

"Brother Kawaki is the one who makes me feel a little scared and hard to get close to."

Her intuition pierced through the dust of "omnipotence" covering her cognition and touched the buried truth.

Naruto felt a pang in his heart. Looking into his daughter's clear yet confused eyes, he decided to give her another push.

He crouched down, looked directly at the sunflowers, and spoke with a serious and firm tone:

"Then, what if Dad tells you that Boruto is your real brother, the one you remember who was once sunny and cheerful and cared about you the most?"

"Do you... want to believe your father?"

Sunflower was stunned, blinking her big eyes as if trying to process this information that completely contradicted her "common sense".