Chapter 374: Impure World Reincarnation Doesn't Shed Tears, but a Father Does
By now, performing Impure World Reincarnation had become second nature to Amamiya Kenichi.
He quickly prepared the Fourth Hokage's reanimated body. To avoid unnecessary trouble, however, he deliberately chose a Genin as the sacrifice.
The strength of the sacrifice affected the upper limit of power the revived dead could display. If the reanimated body was made from a Genin, then the resurrected Fourth Hokage would be unable to unleash his full strength.
That way, even if Minato Namikaze proved impossible to reason with, the scale of anything he did would remain limited. Kenichi could send him back to the Pure Land before anything spiraled out of control.
After all, aside from his terrible naming sense, Minato was exceptional in almost every respect. His Flying Thunder God Technique alone had earned him the title of the Yellow Flash.
"I wonder whether Amado will actually figure anything out," Kenichi muttered to himself as he refined the details of Minato's body.
Amado had already taken away the corpse of the sealing ninja who had released the souls from the Shinigami's stomach. He was apparently planning to conduct further research on it. Kenichi had no objection to that, though he had no idea what Amado thought he might discover.
Still, Amado always had his own strange flashes of insight when it came to research, so Kenichi was looking forward to seeing the result.
"Then, it's time."
Kenichi formed the seals and completed the final step of Impure World Reincarnation.
As the technique took effect, the Fourth Hokage's body trembled faintly. Then he slowly opened his eyes.
"I... I'm...?"
Minato looked around blankly.
He remembered being tormented within the Shinigami's stomach. Then, all at once, he had felt himself released, entering the Pure Land. He had been about to go look for Kushina, only to feel a sudden pulling force and arrive here instead.
"Big Brother Minato!"
Kenichi cheerfully took off his mask and smiled at him.
Minato still looked the same as ever. Even with the cracked, ashen texture of an Impure World Reincarnation body, it did nothing to diminish how handsome he was.
"You... you're Amamiya? Hm?" Minato recognized him immediately.
Of course he remembered Kenichi. Back then, under his encouragement, Kenichi and Kakashi had become good friends. Unfortunately...
That thought made something click in Minato's mind. Memories he had previously set aside came rushing back. He remembered that he was dead. He remembered the Nine-Tails' rampage that night.
But if he was dead, then what exactly was his current state?
Minato lowered his head and looked at his hands, a strange sense of discomfort washing over him.
"This is Impure World Reincarnation?" He recognized the technique at once.
After all, he had once been the Fourth Hokage. When the Third Hokage handed him the Scroll of Seals, he had specifically warned him about the forbidden techniques recorded inside. Of all of them, Impure World Reincarnation had left the deepest impression.
After all, a jutsu that could bring back the dead sounded overwhelmingly powerful.
"Big Brother Minato, do you remember your child?" Kenichi asked with a smile as he poured Minato a cup of tea, then sat down across from him.
He had no intention of reminiscing. He went straight to the point.
"Are you talking about Naruto?" Minato blinked.
At the mention of his son, his expression softened slightly. He was naturally curious about how Naruto was doing now.
And yet, what puzzled him was this. How did Kenichi know about Naruto at all?
Kushina's childbirth had been an absolute secret within Konoha. Even Kakashi had only known fragments, and Kakashi was not someone who would spread that information around.
"Little Amamiya, how did you find out about Naruto?" Minato asked curiously. He wondered whether the Third Hokage had revealed Naruto's identity after his death, or perhaps informed Orochimaru and the others because Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son.
"Pure coincidence, I suppose," Kenichi replied with a sigh. "The last time I returned to Konoha, I found little Naruto being ostracized by the villagers. They called him a demon fox. He often didn't even get enough to eat. I got curious, so I looked into it."
As he spoke, Minato's expression slowly went blank.
He heard the words. He understood each one. But he could not connect them to his own son no matter how hard he tried.
Who was he?
He was the Fourth Hokage, the leader of the village. He and Kushina had sacrificed everything, even their lives, to protect Konoha.
And yet Naruto could not even get enough to eat?
Minato felt completely lost. He even wondered if he had misheard.
"Wait... what did you say?" he asked blankly.
Kenichi patiently repeated everything.
As the explanation continued, Minato's face gradually darkened. Even then, he still hesitated. After all, this was only Kenichi's account. He had not seen it himself.
But confirming it would not be difficult.
He had left sealing formulae inside Naruto's body. Among them was a failsafe that would activate if the Nine-Tails' chakra ever leaked out beyond a certain point. That version of himself inside the seal should have seen Naruto's life over the years.
If he touched that seal now, he would know exactly what Naruto had experienced.
And yet Minato still found it hard to believe.
He was the Fourth Hokage. He and his wife had died for Konoha. Was their only son truly living such a life?
"Can... can I see Naruto?" Minato finally asked.
Although he did not think Kenichi would bother lying about something so easily verified, he still wanted confirmation with his own eyes. He did not even know what part of himself was still trying to deny it.
"Of course. When I saw how hard Naruto's life was, I brought him out of Konoha," Kenichi said as he took another sip of tea.
That was the entire reason he had gone to the trouble of bringing Minato back in the first place.
He was curious too.
In the original story, Minato's expression had remained grim after learning about Naruto's life. What had he been thinking then? And what would he think now?
Minato stood up at once, then looked at Kenichi eagerly.
He was fast, absurdly fast. But right now, he did not know where his son was.
Kenichi glanced outside. It was already late. Naruto was most likely asleep by now.
Only then did he lead Minato to the sleeping child.
The instant Minato saw Naruto, he recognized him.
That blond hair, so much like his own.
It was his son.
"Naru..."
Minato's hand trembled as he reached forward.
He looked at Naruto sleeping soundly. He saw how even in sleep the boy's brows were faintly furrowed. In that instant, emotion surged violently inside him.
He remembered holding Naruto as a newborn. So tiny. So small that his entire body had fit within Minato's forearm.
And now, he had grown this much.
Time really was a wondrous thing.
Then guilt came crashing down.
He was Konoha's fastest shinobi, the Yellow Flash. Yet he had missed every single one of his son's birthdays.
Outside the room, Kenichi leaned against the wall and looked up at the moon.
The Land of Snow had no clouds tonight. Combined with the geography, it gave him a clear view of a brilliant, sprawling night sky.
"Brother Amamiya, that's..." Uchiha Hikari hopped over.
She had sensed someone approach earlier, but after noticing it was Kenichi who brought him here, she had quietly deactivated her Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Naruto's father," Kenichi replied.
He dug around in his pocket, pulled out two lollipops he had made himself, handed one to Hikari, then unwrapped the other and placed it in his mouth.
It tasted sweet, though there was a faint bitterness underneath.
Probably the preserved plum.
"Naruto's dad?" Hikari blinked.
She remembered Naruto saying his parents were dead. So could Brother Amamiya...
For a moment, her thoughts ran wild.
Inside the room, Minato took a deep breath.
He desperately wanted to cry.
But he couldn't.
For some reason, no tears would come.
Slowly, Minato extended his hand and reached toward the seal on Naruto's stomach.
He wanted to know. He had to know what kind of life Naruto had lived.
The moment his hand touched the seal, he sent chakra into it, connecting with the contingency he had left behind.
Then he saw everything.
He saw the ostracism.
He saw the endless coldness.
He saw the villagers looking at Naruto with disgust, saw them ignoring him, saw the few who drew close only to leave him again.
He saw Naruto's loneliness.
He saw expired instant noodles.
He saw spoiled milk.
He saw the life Naruto had lived in Konoha.
He saw far too much.
Outside, Kenichi quietly ground the lollipop between his teeth.
The room behind him was utterly silent.
He had no idea how much Minato had seen, nor what choice the man would make after this, but he was curious.
During the battle with Obito, Naruto's memories had been projected into everyone's minds through ninjutsu. Back then, Minato had remained very quiet. Kenichi had even thought that if Minato had turned around in the next moment and stood beside Obito, it would not have felt strange at all.
If Naruto had not grown up into the kind of person he became, if he had not already chosen the path of becoming Hokage, then perhaps things would not have unfolded the way they had.
A long while later, Hikari had already started nodding off when Minato finally stepped out.
The first thing Minato saw was Hikari leaning sleepily against Kenichi's shoulder, her head drooping.
"Big Brother Minato," Kenichi greeted him with a smile.
Minato looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
He had seen enough to understand the relationship between Kenichi and Naruto. Kenichi had become Naruto's teacher.
He had no objection to that.
Given how Naruto had been living in Konoha, it was already more than enough that there was a shinobi willing to become the boy's teacher. He could also tell that the Third Hokage had never truly intended to interfere much in Naruto's growth.
It felt almost like neglect disguised as freedom.
Though Minato understood the Third Hokage's reasoning. Hiding Naruto's identity as the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki was, in a way, a form of protection.
But that did not make him feel any better.
And more than that...
That night, he had seen Naruto wake in his sleep. He had seen him curl up alone in bed after everyone else left.
And from that day onward, Naruto never called the Third Hokage "Grandpa" again.
"...You brought Naruto to the Land of Snow. What exactly do you intend to do?" Minato asked.
His expression was complicated enough that Kenichi could not read it clearly.
"Big Brother Minato, I want to create a world without war. A world where every child can grow up happy and carefree, without having to fear being killed by enemies," Kenichi said with a smile, while also weaving a bit of chakra into a protective shell around Hikari so she could sleep more comfortably.
Minato said nothing at first.
He simply looked at Kenichi, and Kenichi calmly met his gaze.
"...You know I was the Fourth Hokage, don't you?" Minato finally said with a deep sigh.
Kenichi nodded. He had even attended Minato's inauguration ceremony.
"What do you want to do?" Minato asked after another pause.
He could not stop worrying about Naruto, and he also understood that Kenichi had not gone to all this trouble just to let him see his son.
Kenichi had revived him for a reason.
.....
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