"Namikaze Minato, you truly live up to your reputation as a genius. Just from being inspired by the Tailed Beast Ball, you were able to develop a technique like the Rasengan. And thanks to the ninjutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals, I was able to learn the Rasengan myself. That's the only reason I can use a Tailed Beast Ball even though the seal on my body hasn't been completely released yet.
"To be honest, in order to learn the techniques recorded in the Scroll of Seals, I pretended to be an idiot for a very long time just to gain the trust of that old bastard, Hiruzen Sarutobi. That old man doesn't even know that I figured out your identity a long time ago. Right in front of me, he kept praising you nonstop, telling me that I should learn from you in the future. It was hilarious."
Naruto chuckled darkly.
"If that old man Hiruzen knew you were still alive—and that you abandoned Konoha—I really wonder what he'd think."
As if imagining the look of shock on Hiruzen's face upon learning that Minato and Kushina were still alive, Naruto burst into laughter.
Minato's body trembled, his voice choking as he asked,
"Naruto… why have you become like this…?"
"Isn't this all thanks to you?" Naruto snarled. "Fourth Hokage—Namikaze Minato! Why didn't you take me with you when you left Konoha? Why?!"
Minato explained urgently,
"Naruto, you don't understand what the situation was back then. We were forced to make a choice."
Naruto shouted back,
"So you chose to make me the sacrifice?!"
"No," Minato said quickly. "That was never my intention. I only hoped you would inherit my will and one day become someone strong enough to protect everything."
"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you," Naruto said coldly. "Because all I want now… is to destroy everything!"
A fourth tail emerged beneath Naruto's Tailed Beast chakra cloak.
Naruto was about to launch another attack at Minato and Kushina when he suddenly stopped.
"It seems Danzō has already realized I'm no longer at the Root base. He's coming. This fight can't continue."
Naruto looked at Minato.
"Namikaze Minato—how about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" Minato asked, his brows tightly knit.
"Don't interfere with me. In return, once I finish what I want to do in Konoha, I'll personally come find you and settle the hatred between us. I don't think you want anyone to know you're still alive either."
Minato said sorrowfully,
"There is no hatred between us, Naruto."
"As long as Uzumaki Kushina still carries half of Kurama inside her, there will be an irreconcilable hatred between us," Naruto replied coldly. "If you choose to fight here, then so be it—we'll fight until one side dies."
Minato looked at Kushina beside him, who was so grief-stricken she could barely stand. He knew that Naruto could no longer hear any of their explanations.
After a long silence, Minato nodded painfully.
"Fine. I won't interfere with what you plan to do. I only hope that when all of this is over, we can sit down and talk peacefully."
Supporting Kushina, Minato left the area.
Not long after, Danzō arrived together with Hiruzen Sarutobi, finding Naruto.
Hiruzen asked urgently,
"Naruto, who was it that abducted you just now?!"
Naruto replied calmly, without changing expression,
"Several unidentified ninja kidnapped me from the Root base. I fought them here. They probably sensed your arrival and retreated."
Danzō looked at the devastated ground and the ominous Nine-Tails chakra lingering in the air.
"Uzumaki Naruto—have you already begun to control the Nine-Tails' power?"
Naruto shook his head.
"No. I only leaked some Nine-Tails chakra while enraged. I can control the chakra that escapes, but if I want to truly control the Nine-Tails' power, the seal on my body must be further released."
"No," Hiruzen said decisively. "The seal cannot be fully released."
"Hiruzen," Danzō countered, "haven't you seen the results already? This level of destructive power is something even jōnin might not achieve. Under my guidance, Uzumaki Naruto hasn't lost his consciousness to the Nine-Tails. I'm confident I can make him control it."
Hiruzen looked at Naruto's calm expression and said no more. Konoha truly needed the Nine-Tails' power now.
Danzō and the Root shinobi took Naruto and left.
Just as Hiruzen was about to depart, he froze, staring in shock at something amid the wreckage.
Embedded in the ground was a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Hiruzen walked over, pulled it out, and fell into deep thought.
That specific kunai design was used by only one person in the entire shinobi world—Namikaze Minato.
This made Hiruzen recall the possibility that Minato and Kushina were still alive.
But he quickly rejected the idea—because if Minato were alive, he would never stand by and watch Konoha fall into ruin.
At the same time, Hiruzen feared the possibility of Minato being alive—because he had failed to uphold his promise to care for Naruto, and had even handed him over to Danzō.
Holding the Flying Thunder God kunai, Hiruzen murmured to himself in denial,
"Perhaps… Naruto learned who his parents were, and made this himself…"
Meanwhile, Minato and Kushina stopped to rest in a forest within the Land of Fire. Kushina's condition was extremely unstable.
Suffering a devastating mental shock, Kushina's inner Nine-Tails seized the opportunity and attempted to break through the seal.
Like Naruto earlier, Kushina became shrouded in a Nine-Tails chakra cloak, with three tails emerging.
To prevent the Nine-Tails from further eroding her, Minato immediately used the Four Symbols Seal to reinforce Kushina's seal.
The chakra cloak gradually faded, and Kushina regained consciousness.
Sobbing, she blamed Minato in anguish,
"Minato… I just wanted to stay by Naruto's side. How did things end up like this? Why?!"
She kept pounding Minato's chest, while Minato silently endured it, his face filled with guilt.
After venting, Kushina slowly calmed down.
"Minato… what should we do? What can we do to make Naruto change his heart… and come back to us?"
Minato said in confusion and pain,
"I don't know, Kushina. Right now, Naruto's heart is filled only with hatred—not just toward Konoha, but toward us as well."
Wiping the tears from her face, Kushina said with hatred,
"Minato, I want revenge on those people in Konoha who bullied Naruto! We left Naruto behind for the sake of Konoha—and yet they betrayed us. They don't deserve forgiveness."
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