On the other side, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina—having used a Transformation Technique—disguised themselves as ordinary civilians and quietly entered Konoha.
Seeing the once prosperous and flourishing village now reduced to such desolation, both Minato and Kushina felt a storm of emotions well up in their hearts.
Unable to bear it, Kushina said softly to Minato,
"Minato, if possible, let's help Konoha. No matter what, this is still your hometown—and you were once the Fourth Hokage."
Minato replied heavily,
"I know, Kushina. After we check on Naruto and make sure he's safe, we'll go to the front lines and help ease Konoha's burden."
Thinking of Naruto, a smile appeared on Kushina's face.
"I wonder what Naruto is doing now. At his age, he should already be a genin. Maybe he's doing wartime logistics work inside the village."
Minato smiled faintly as well.
"Why don't we go see for ourselves? Naruto has my Flying Thunder God mark on him. But while we're in the village, we shouldn't use Flying Thunder God—if we're recognized, it could cause trouble."
Minato sensed the Flying Thunder God mark and headed toward Naruto's location.
However, when they arrived, Minato's expression darkened, and Kushina's face filled with worry.
Because they had arrived at the entrance of Root's base.
The feedback from the Flying Thunder God mark clearly indicated that Naruto was inside the Root headquarters at that very moment.
Kushina's heart tightened with panic.
"Minato… Naruto, he—"
Minato forced a strained smile and comforted her,
"Maybe it's for some mission that Naruto was temporarily assigned to Root…"
Although he said this aloud, Minato's heart had already sunk to the depths.
Naruto—the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails—being inside the infamous Root… no matter how one thought about it, it couldn't possibly mean anything good.
Minato and Kushina infiltrated the Root base and made their way to Naruto's location.
The instant they saw Naruto, overwhelming fury erupted within them both.
Naruto was imprisoned in a torture chamber. His limbs were bound by chains, and his body was covered in sealing formulae.
The torture chamber, as the name implied, was a room specifically used to interrogate severe criminals.
Kushina's extreme rage caused the Nine-Tails' chakra within her to leak out, and hurried footsteps echoed nearby.
"Kushina, calm down!"
Minato pulled Kushina into a dark corner to hide.
Under Minato's reassurance, Kushina managed to suppress the overflowing Nine-Tails chakra.
The people who arrived at the torture chamber were Root researchers. They opened the cell door and began inspecting Naruto.
"The jinchūriki's vital signs are stable. The seal shows no signs of loosening."
"Then what was that Nine-Tails chakra we detected just now? Was it leakage?"
"The cause is unclear. Experiments show that when a jinchūriki experiences extreme anger, the seal may loosen slightly and allow some chakra to leak. But right now, the jinchūriki's emotions are stable, and the seal hasn't loosened. There's no explanation for why the instruments detected Nine-Tails chakra."
"The jinchūriki is a matter of great importance. Let's report this to Danzō-sama first."
The researchers left once more.
Kushina had dug her fingernails deeply into her own skin, struggling desperately to restrain her emotions.
Minato's tightly clenched fists showed that he was far from calm as well.
"Let's take Naruto and leave," Minato said.
Kushina didn't respond, silently following behind him.
Minato took out a Flying Thunder God kunai, severed the chains binding Naruto, removed the sealing formulae from his body, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave the Root base with Kushina and Naruto.
Looking at the unconscious Naruto, Kushina finally lost control of her emotions. She tightly embraced him and broke down into sobs.
Seeing the weeping Kushina and the unconscious Naruto, even Minato—who had never harbored resentment toward Konoha despite being betrayed after the Nine-Tails incident—began to feel hatred toward the village.
Naruto slowly woke up.
Seeing the unfamiliar Minato and Kushina, he immediately struggled out of Kushina's arms and stared at them warily.
"Who are you?!"
Kushina said sorrowfully,
"Naruto, I am your—"
"Kushina!"
Minato stopped her from revealing the truth.
Although Minato was utterly disappointed in Konoha, the Sage of Six Paths' instructions—for the sake of the entire shinobi world—meant they could not reveal their identities to Naruto.
However, Naruto asked in shock,
"Could it be… you're my parents?"
Minato's pupils shrank violently as he exclaimed,
"How do you know?!"
Naruto, tears filling his eyes, replied chokingly,
"Because of the feeling. From you, I feel an overwhelming sense of closeness. And the Nine-Tails inside me resonated as well."
Naruto suddenly threw himself into Kushina's arms.
Kushina dispelled her Transformation Technique and embraced Naruto once more.
Mother and son burst into loud, heart-wrenching sobs.
Minato hadn't expected Naruto to be so perceptive—to have guessed their identities on his own.
Minato also dispelled his Transformation Technique, and together, he, Kushina, and Naruto embraced.
The three of them shared a rare moment of warmth.
Minato apologized to Naruto with deep guilt.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. We made you suffer."
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I suffered a lot, you know… my dad… my mom…"
Sensing something wrong in Naruto's tone, Minato instantly used the Flying Thunder God Technique, pulling Kushina away from Naruto.
Minato looked closely.
Two kunai had appeared in Naruto's hands.
If they had been even one second slower, Minato would have been stabbed.
A strange smile spread across Naruto's face.
"My dear father and mother… why are you leaving? Don't you want to hold me a little longer? We haven't seen each other for so many years, after all."
Kushina stared at Naruto in disbelief, unable to understand why her son had attacked them.
Minato asked gravely,
"Why, Naruto?"
Facing Minato's question, Naruto burst into laughter—laughing until tears streamed down his face.
"Hahaha! Why? The great Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato… you're actually asking me why?"
In the next instant, the smile vanished from Naruto's face. He stared coldly at Minato and Kushina.
"The reason is simple."
"I will have my revenge on all of you."
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