"Keep going," young Naruto said quietly. "I want to hear everything."
The Seventh Hokage nodded, his swollen face making the gesture awkward. He continued his story, and young Naruto listened with growing attention as the tale unfolded—a tale of the same life, but lived so differently.
The first C-rank mission to Wave Country. The Demon Brothers' ambush. Zabuza Momochi and his partner Haku.
"They died," the Seventh Hokage said softly. "Both of them. Zabuza went down protecting Haku, and Haku died protecting Zabuza. They... they seemed at peace at the end."
Young Naruto thought of his own Zabuza and Haku, currently working on his farm. Zabuza still refused to become his friend, but Haku had gone through the process and was now officially part of the circle. They were alive. Safe. Growing stronger.
The Seventh Hokage's story continued. The Chunin Exams. Orochimaru's invasion. The death of Hiruzen Sarutobi at the Sannin's hands. Sasuke's curse mark. The growing darkness.
Jiraiya's mentorship. The retrieval missions. Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru, becoming a rogue ninja. Years of searching, chasing, trying to bring back someone who didn't want to be brought back. The battle at the Valley of the End, where best friends tried to kill each other.
"That's what friendship meant for you and Sasuke?" Young Naruto couldn't keep the disbelief from his voice. "He ran away, you chased him, you fought, he left again?"
The Seventh Hokage's expression tightened. "We were both trying to get stronger. We just... took different paths."
Young Naruto thought of his own Sasuke. Living in his house. Training together. Challenging him every three days to friendly beatings. Going through the process of friendship like everyone else, then becoming his closest companion. No defection. No betrayal. No years of painful separation.
"Your Sasuke sounds exhausting," young Naruto said bluntly.
The Seventh Hokage managed a weak laugh. "He was. But we worked it out eventually."
The story progressed. The search for Tsunade. The battle of the Sannin. Naruto's growth under Jiraiya's guidance. The Akatsuki's movements. The war with Pain. The confrontation with Nagato. The Fourth Shinobi War.
And then came the deaths.
"Jiraiya died fighting Pain," the Seventh Hokage said, his voice hollow. "Sent back intelligence before he went. Died alone in the rain."
Young Naruto's hands clenched into fists. Jiraiya. His father's teacher. A man his mother had always complained about—too perverted, too irresponsible, too everything—but still family. Still someone Minato had respected deeply.
Dead in this world.
"Neji died during the war," the Seventh Hokage continued. "Took the attack meant for me and Hinata. His last words were about fate and freedom."
Neji. The cousin who'd gone through the process and officially become his friend. Who'd sworn to protect his little sister Hiyori from Naruto's friendship methods. Who was alive and well back home.
Dead here.
Young Naruto's jaw tightened. His ki and blood began to circulate faster, responding to his rising emotions.
"The masked man," the Seventh Hokage said. "The one who released the Nine-Tails and killed our parents—his name was Obito Uchiha. He was our father's student."
"And?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "What did you do to him?"
The Seventh Hokage hesitated. "We... talked. He explained his reasons. The loss of Rin, the despair, the manipulation by Madara—"
"What. Did. You. Do. To. Him?"
"We fought alongside each other in the war. He helped save the world. He died a hero's death, protecting—"
Young Naruto stood up so fast the movement created a shockwave. Rocks cracked beneath his feet. The air around him shimmered with barely controlled energy.
"You're telling me," he said, each word sharp as a blade, "that the man who murdered your parents, who destroyed your childhood, who caused everything you suffered, who unleashed the Nine-Tails on Konoha and killed hundreds of people... you let him become a hero?"
The Seventh Hokage flinched at the rage in his younger self's voice. "It wasn't that simple. He was manipulated, he was a victim too in a way—"
"I don't care!" The shout echoed across the mountain. "He made a choice! Every step of the way, he chose! Chose to blame the world for his pain! Chose to murder innocents! Chose to ruin lives!"
Young Naruto's transformation began involuntarily, his body expanding to twenty meters as his fury overwhelmed his control. The Seventh Hokage scrambled backward, genuinely alarmed.
"The same thing happened with others, didn't it?" Young Naruto demanded, his voice booming. "How many of your enemies did you talk to death instead of actually killing them?"
The Seventh Hokage opened his mouth, then closed it. The answer was written on his face.
"I knew it." Young Naruto forced himself to shrink back down, though his aura still crackled with barely suppressed violence. "The system warned me about this. Asura's chakra. It infected you, made you weak."
"It's not weakness to show mercy—"
"Mercy?!" Naruto laughed, harsh and bitter. "You call it mercy when your teacher dies because you let his former students live? When Neji dies because you wouldn't end threats when you had the chance? How many people died in that war, Naruto? How many could have been saved if you'd just killed the right people at the right time?"
The Seventh Hokage's face paled. His mouth worked, but no words came out.
"In my world," young Naruto said coldly, "I killed Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Third Hokage. The man everyone called a hero."
The Seventh Hokage's eyes went wide. "You—but the Will of Fire—"
"The Will of Fire?" Naruto's laugh was sharp enough to cut. "You want to talk to me about the Will of Fire? Fine. Let's talk about it."
He began pacing, his every step deliberate and heavy.
"Our father had the Will of Fire. He sacrificed himself to save the village, to give us a chance at life. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had the Will of Fire. He built this village to protect everyone, even former enemies."
The Seventh Hokage nodded slowly, uncertain where this was going.
"But the Second Hokage?" Naruto's voice turned caustic. "Tobirama Senju hated the Uchiha because of his personal grudges. His prejudice, his policies, they planted the seeds that eventually destroyed the entire Uchiha clan. Was that the Will of Fire?"
"The circumstances were complicated—"
"And the Third Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi. The man who promised our parents he'd take care of us." Naruto's eyes bored into his older self. "He let Danzo leak your identity as the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. Let the entire village hate you. Let you starve and suffer and grow up alone. Was that the Will of Fire?"
The Seventh Hokage's fists clenched. "He did his best in a difficult situation—"
"He did nothing!" Naruto's shout made the older man flinch. "He watched us suffer and did the bare minimum to keep us alive! And you know what I did to him? I killed him. Publicly. In front of the entire village. Destroyed his summon. Broke his technique. Let the Shinigami eat his soul."
The color drained from the Seventh Hokage's face.
"And Danzo?" Naruto smiled, but there was nothing kind in it. "I obliterated him. Didn't even leave a body. Just blood mist and screaming Root ninjas."
"That's—you can't just—"
"I can. I did. And you know what?" Naruto leaned in close. "It felt good. It felt right. Because they deserved it. Because justice isn't always about mercy and second chances. Sometimes justice is about making sure the people who hurt you can never hurt anyone ever again."
The Seventh Hokage looked at his younger self as if seeing a stranger.
"You're influenced by Asura's chakra," young Naruto continued, his voice quieter but no less intense. "The system told me about it. It carries personality imprints from previous incarnations. Makes you excessively forgiving. Breeds indecisiveness. Makes you accept cycles of hatred instead of breaking them."
"The cycles of hatred can only be broken by forgiveness—"
"They can be broken by killing the people perpetuating them!" Naruto snapped. "You think Obito deserved redemption? Fine. That's your choice. But in my world? When I find him? I'm going to dig him out of whatever hole he's hiding in and beat him to death. No talk. No redemption arc. No heroic sacrifice. Just death."
The Seventh Hokage stared at him, horrified and fascinated in equal measure.
"The Akatsuki organization? I'll disband it. Kill the leaders if necessary. Nagato thinks he's bringing peace through pain? I'll show him real pain, then kill him too if he doesn't stop. I don't care if he's Jiraiya's student. In your world, Jiraiya died because you wouldn't make the hard choices. In mine, he'll live because I will."
Young Naruto began counting on his fingers. "Orochimaru? Working on my farm now. Won't get the chance to start any wars. The masked man? Dead soon. Nagato? Either changes or dies. Black Zetsu..."
He paused, considering. "Actually, I feel a bit bad for Black Zetsu. Trying to save his mother. I understand that. I'm trying to resurrect my parents too. But if he gets in my way, if he tries to hurt my friends, he dies. Simple as that."
The Seventh Hokage found his voice finally. "You can't just kill everyone who opposes you. That's not how you build a peaceful world—"
"I'm not killing everyone who opposes me," Naruto corrected. "I'm killing everyone who deserves it. There's a difference. And in my world, I firmly believe that with my strength, no one can make trouble in the ninja world. I'll create peace through power, not through endless forgiveness of unforgivable crimes."
He sat back down, his anger cooling into something harder and colder.
"Let me tell you about my world," he said. "I killed Hiruzen Sarutobi. Took his Hokage position from his corpse."
The Seventh Hokage's face shifted, conflict warring across his features. The Will of Fire, the version he'd inherited and internalized, screamed at him that killing the Hokage was wrong.
"Don't give me that look," young Naruto said sharply. "I know what you're thinking. The Will of Fire, right? The version you believe in?"
He leaned forward, intensity radiating from him. "It's undeniable that you have a version of the Will of Fire. Father had it too. The First Hokage definitely had it. That ideal of sacrifice for the village, of protecting everyone, of building a better world—that's real and worthy."
The Seventh Hokage nodded slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
"But the Second Hokage?" Young Naruto's voice turned harsh again. "Did he have the Will of Fire when he persecuted the Uchiha because of personal grudges? When his policies created the division that eventually led to their massacre? The Third Hokage—did he have the Will of Fire when he promised your parents he'd care for you, then let you starve in an apartment while his own son lived in luxury?"
"It wasn't—the situation was complex—"
"It was simple," Naruto interrupted. "He was a hypocrite. He talked about the Will of Fire while doing nothing to embody it. Danzo leaked your Jinchūriki status. Hiruzen knew. Did nothing. Let you suffer. Let you be hated and feared. Is that the Will of Fire?"
The Seventh Hokage's hands trembled. Somewhere deep inside, beneath the layers of ideology and inherited philosophy, doubt whispered.
"So yes," young Naruto said quietly. "I killed him. And I killed Danzo too. Didn't even leave pieces big enough to bury. One punch. He bloomed like fireworks."
He stood again, brushing dirt from his Hokage robes.
"You've been influenced by Asura's will. It's made you hypocritical in your own way. You automatically ignore inconvenient truths. Ignore justified hatred. Forgive people who destroyed lives because some philosophy tells you that's the 'right' thing to do."
The Seventh Hokage was silent, his battered face unreadable.
"I'm different from you," young Naruto said. "I took another path. I'm not saying you're completely wrong. You're not me. You're just me from a parallel world. And even though I'm angry—furious—at what you did, at the choices you made..."
He paused, a dangerous smile crossing his face. "Being angry is being angry. At worst, I'll just beat you up again."
The Seventh Hokage's eyes widened in alarm.
"But that can wait," young Naruto said, waving a hand dismissively. "I came here to learn things. Understanding your world helps me improve mine. And more importantly..."
His expression shifted, becoming genuinely curious rather than aggressive.
"Why don't you go home? Hinata is waiting for you. Your son and daughter need you. So why are you always buried in Hokage work instead of spending time with your family?"
The Seventh Hokage blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic. "I... it's just that there's so much work. Being Hokage means—"
"Means what?" Young Naruto interrupted. "That you abandon the people you claim to love? That you're too busy to see your own children?"
The older man's face flushed with shame. "It's not that I don't want to—"
"Then why don't you?" The question was simple, direct, cutting through all excuses.
The Seventh Hokage opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Finally, in a small voice, he said: "Isn't it just... because there's too much work?"