Kakashi Masters All Elements, Rewrites the Ninja World for Rin!

"Huh?!!!"

"Dad? Dad?!"

The blond boy blinked in disbelief.

The young man standing before him looked far younger than the man in his memories—but that face was unmistakable.

Still, wasn't his dad, the Fourth Hokage, supposed to be in the Hokage's office handling important village business? Why was he here in the middle of Rōran? And why did he look like he was fresh out of the academy?

Naruto felt like someone had replaced his brain with a bag of ramen. This made no sense!

"Huh? You called me what now?"

Minato froze at the boy's words.

Kushina wasn't even pregnant yet—so how could this kid be calling him "Dad"? And looking at him more closely... he did look strangely familiar.

Wait. Dragon veins. Time travel. Oh no.

Minato's gaze sharpened as the theory formed.

"You... what's your name? Your parents' names?"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Dad, are you okay?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Your name's Namikaze Minato. Mom is Uzumaki Kushina. You have a fever or something?"

And just like that, Minato's hunch was confirmed.

Naruto... was his son. From the future.

He felt a surge of warmth and pride. So this is what our son grows up to be...

"Then it's true," Minato murmured. "Naruto, you must have traveled here through the dragon vein. You've come from the future."

Naruto scratched his head. "So... this is time travel? That explains why you look like the academy version of yourself."

"And this is Rōran from the past," he added, blinking in realization.

"Exactly," Minato nodded, pulling a medical kit from a sealing scroll. "You're injured. I'll patch you up for now—Kakashi will take a look when he returns."

"Wait—Kakashi-sensei is here too?"

Naruto's face lit up.

Minato smiled gently. "He's currently handling part of the mission. You can tell me the details of your situation while we wait."

"Right!"

Meanwhile, in a dark, maze-like underground facility...

Kakashi crouched low, sticking detonating tags to every structural point that looked even slightly load-bearing. It was delicate work.

Minato-sensei had tasked him with setting up the base for demolition.

Two days of covert ops had shown them the truth about Rōran: behind the illusion of festivals and joy was a horrifying puppet show.

Literally.

Those "residents" dancing in the streets? Puppets, all of them—powered by the dragon vein's energy.

The real people of Rōran had been dragged into the underground and shackled to machines, forced to manufacture weapons around the clock.

And the mastermind behind it all?

Anrokuzan.

Of course it's a guy with an ominous name like that, Kakashi thought. Why can't villains ever be named "Mr. Cuddlepaws" or something?

He moved to the next section, only to stop mid-step.

There—just ahead—was a body lying facedown, wearing a Konoha jōnin vest.

Kakashi squinted. Wait a second... Is that—Yamato?!

With a few swift jumps, he reached the unconscious man and dragged him to a safer corner.

Sparks of lightning flared in Kakashi's hand as he gently zapped Yamato.

Sizzle!

"Aaaagh!"

Yamato shot up like a toaster waffle, steam coming out of his mouth, his limbs flailing.

"Stay back!" he shouted, kunai at the ready. "I don't know who you are, but you're not fooling me by looking like Kakashi-senpai as a kid!"

Kakashi raised both hands and gave an exaggerated shrug. "Yeah, kid cosplay is my side gig. But also... Chidori."

Lightning burst from his palm.

Yamato's eyes widened. "Kakashi-senpai?!"

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "Certified 100% genuine—comes with a money-back guarantee."

He quickly filled Yamato in on the situation.

"And you?" Kakashi asked. "Why are you here?"

Yamato rubbed his head. "Naruto and I were tracking a rogue Sand shinobi named Baizu. He escaped into the ruins and—bam!—we both got sucked into the dragon vein."

"Got it. Oh—and I already met Naruto. That kid's more stubborn than a concrete ramen bowl."

"Huh? You already—wait, that doesn't make sense."

Yamato narrowed his eyes. "You said you're from the time before Minato-sama became Hokage. So how would you know who Naruto is?"

Kakashi casually tossed a thick stack of detonating tags into Yamato's hands.

"Since I saved your life and I'm technically your senpai—even if I look like I still have homework to finish—you get the honor of blowing up the base. Congrats!"

"Wha—!?"

"Oh, and don't get any funny ideas just because I'm shorter right now. I will remember this when we get back to the future."

Yamato froze. "Wait... what?"

"Exactly," Kakashi grinned. "Now be a good kouhai and don't screw up the mission."

Yamato sighed in defeat. So much for payback.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Kakashi created a clone and handed it over to Yamato.

"This guy's your babysitter. If something goes sideways, he'll disappear and I'll be right back."

And just like that, Kakashi vanished in a flash.

He reappeared high above, scanning the desolate city from the rooftops.

Time-traveling dragon veins, puppet armies, and apparently my future self doesn't age well. Might as well dig a little deeper while I'm here.

After all, opportunities to investigate one of the greatest chakra sources in history didn't come around every day.