When Carl saw Tsunade's request in the chat group, he accepted the mission without hesitation.
He nodded slightly. "Initiate teleportation."
A mysterious force wrapped around his body. The world before his eyes rippled like an ink painting soaked in rainwater.
Then came the [System Notification].
And in the next moment, Carl found himself inside a traditional wooden house.
The structure's design was distinctly Japanese, tatami mats, sliding shoji doors, and cedar beams revealed its cultural roots at a glance.
Not far away stood a woman with a stunning figure, slim waist, full curves, sharp features, and golden-blonde hair tied into a high ponytail.
This was Tsunade, the Princess of the Senju Clan.
Naturally, she noticed the sudden appearance of the dark-haired stranger. He was tall, strikingly handsome, and radiated an otherworldly aura.
But Tsunade was a seasoned shinobi. She immediately assumed a guarded stance.
"Who are you?" she asked warily.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya, also in the room, instinctively tensed up. For someone to appear so close without triggering their senses, it was unthinkable for elite ninja like them.
If this man had been an enemy, they'd already be dead.
The two of them wordlessly shifted into battle-ready stances.
Carl glanced at them with disinterest, then turned to Tsunade.
"From the chat group. Codename: God Among Mortals."
Tsunade's expression softened. "So it's you."
Everything clicked into place.
This casually dressed, mysterious stranger, the one who had offered to help in the chat group, was real. He'd come here from another world.
Her heart surged with a complex mixture of hope and awe. Still… could he really bring Nawaki back?
Suppressing her doubts, she bowed slightly. "I'm Tsunade. Thank you for coming."
Carl nodded. "No need to thank me. I'm Carl."
A sharp voice cut in.
"You bastard! Who the hell are you?! Why are you in our village?!"
It was Jiraiya. He stood glaring at Carl, fists clenched.
His feelings for Tsunade were no secret. And now, a mysterious man had suddenly appeared beside her?
Of course, Jiraiya didn't take it well.
And more than that, this man had entered Konoha's borders without triggering a single alarm.
Before Tsunade could speak, Jiraiya lunged forward,
Only to be sent flying in the very next instant, crashing through the wall behind him.
Orochimaru dashed over, only to see that Jiraiya had been launched far into the distance, crashing through several buildings in a row.
His expression froze. His body trembled.
Jiraiya had been one-shotted.
Such speed. Such power.
If this man wanted to kill them… Orochimaru knew he wouldn't stand a chance.
"Relax. He won't die. I held back," Carl said casually.
Then he turned back to Tsunade.
"Your mission is to resurrect your brother, right?"
Tsunade hesitated for a second, still worried for Jiraiya, but eventually nodded. "Yes."
This was the only hope she had left. She chose to believe in Carl.
"Do you need anything prepared? Offerings? Talismans? I can get them for you."
"Talismans? Offerings?"
Carl raised an eyebrow. Did she think this was some spiritual ritual?
"I don't need any of that. Just give me a minute."
He clenched his fists, and took off into the sky.
With a deafening sonic boom, Carl broke the sound barrier. Fortunately, his bio-field protected his clothes from shredding mid-flight, or else he would've had to fly in the nude.
After all, this was the power of Silver Superman.
Carl's flight speed could easily exceed the speed of light.
He could travel through time, reverse causality, and bend the timeline to his will.
That was why he dared take on a mission .
The world around him blurred as he accelerated beyond imagination.
Soon, the sun reversed course, sinking into the east.
Carl knew then, he had successfully pierced the boundaries of time.
He didn't know the exact moment Nawaki had died, so as he flew over the skies of the past, his super sight and super hearing scoured the Earth.
Finally, he spotted a young boy with short, light-brown hair.
Orochimaru stood nearby, watching the boy run ahead with pride.
But Carl's enhanced vision caught something else, a trap. Explosive tags were hidden in the forest floor ahead of Nawaki.
Without hesitation, Carl dived down and intercepted Nawaki mid-run, scooping him up into the air.
Startled, Nawaki instinctively drew a kunai and slashed at him.
Carl merely flicked his wrist, and Nawaki was sent flying, gently, straight into Orochimaru's arms.
Orochimaru caught Nawaki and stared at the floating figure in the sky.
He hadn't seen the man move at all. That speed, was terrifying.
Was he from Amegakure? Or a foreign assassin?
If so, they were all doomed.
Gritting his teeth, Orochimaru shoved Nawaki behind him and charged forward.
At the very least, he had to ensure the boy survived.
Carl watched in mild amusement.
This Orochimaru… was different from the one he remembered. More human. Less sinister.
But it didn't matter. If someone attacked him, he wasn't going to stand still.
He sidestepped Orochimaru's strike and landed a gentle, but powerful, kick to the chest.
With a dull boom, Orochimaru was launched into the ground like a meteor, smashing a crater into the earth.
Carl hovered calmly above him.
"Relax. I'm not your enemy. Tsunade asked me to save her brother."
"There was a trap ahead."
He vanished the next second, without waiting for a response.
He wasn't here to make friends. He came to finish a mission.
Using his super vision, Carl quickly found the Tsunade of this time period.
She was tending to a wounded shinobi in the field.
Carl hovered nearby and looked down.
"I've saved your brother. My task is done."
Of course, this younger Tsunade had no idea who he was, or what the chat group was.
It was like that director's cut of Justice League, when the Flash broke through time and changed Earth's apocalyptic future.
But once the timeline shifted, no one remembered it happened. The most update n0vels are published on NoveI[F]ire.net
No one knew Flash had saved the world, except Flash himself.
And now, Carl stood in that same silence.