Chapter 357: Minato Namikaze's Complete Bewilderment
The spatial distortion rippled, depositing Naruto and Gaara onto solid ground. As they stepped out of the Heavenly Domain Space, the ambient chakra settled, revealing their immediate surroundings—and the group of shinobi standing directly opposite them.
The air instantly flatlined into dead silence.
Akira's disciple, the alternate Naruto, froze mid-step. His sharp blue eyes locked onto the boy standing across from him—a loud, foolish-looking kid drowning in a garish orange tracksuit.
Across the clearing, the local Uzumaki Naruto's eyes bulged out like brass bells.
"This... this..." The local Naruto stammered, his finger trembling violently as he pointed at the newcomer. "This guy... why does he look exactly like me?!"
Save for the sharp, practical shinobi attire.
Save for the slightly more refined, disciplined cut of his blonde hair.
That face was practically carved from the exact same mold.
Even Gaara, usually an immovable glacier of calm, felt his indifferent facade crack. His teal eyes darted toward the loud, ridiculous boy in orange, a rare flash of absolute shock breaking through his stoic demeanor.
'What... what exactly is going on?' Gaara thought, his brow twitching slightly.
A few paces away, Minato Namikaze, Kakashi, Choza, and Shibi stood rooted to the earth. Their minds ground to a complete, screeching halt.
If Uchiha Akira's earlier claims about "parallel worlds" had only planted seeds of deep suspicion, the living, breathing proof now standing before them forced those seeds to violently bloom into reality.
There really were two Narutos.
Minato Namikaze narrowed his azure eyes, his gaze shifting heavily toward the alternate Naruto. As a top-tier shinobi, his honed instincts screamed a clear warning. This newly arrived blonde boy was incredibly strong. His chakra was dense, controlled, and coiled with lethal precision.
In stark contrast, the loudmouthed Naruto standing beside Minato felt like a completely unpolished stone—raw, chaotic, and entirely undisciplined.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" The tracksuit-wearing Naruto finally snapped, unable to contain his erupting confusion. He jabbed a finger through the air. "Why are you pretending to be me?!"
The alternate Naruto frowned, a subtle crease forming between his brows. He ignored the yelling boy entirely, turning his head toward the tall, imposing figure of Uchiha Akira. His eyes carried a silent question.
"Teacher, this is..."
A slow, playful smirk curved the edges of Uchiha Akira's lips. He stood with the relaxed, predatory grace of a man holding all the cards.
"This is you from a parallel world," Akira stated smoothly, his deep voice carrying across the quiet clearing. "He is this world's... Uzumaki Naruto."
The alternate Naruto blinked, momentarily stunned. He slowly turned his head back, sizing up the local Uzumaki Naruto with a deeply complicated, almost pained expression.
Taking in the boy's boisterous, unrefined demeanor and that agonizingly tasteless orange jumpsuit, the alternate Naruto couldn't stop himself. He raised a hand and dragged it down his face, covering his forehead in sheer secondhand embarrassment.
"No way..." he muttered, his voice dripping with disbelief. "The me from another world is actually an idiot?"
"Bastard! Who are you calling an idiot?!" The local Naruto instantly bristled, his face flushing red as he rolled up his sleeves, fully prepared to charge forward and throw hands.
Before he could take a single step, a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Calm down, Naruto," Minato commanded softly, his grip unyielding.
Their identities were confirmed. Both of them were Uzumaki Naruto.
The collective gazes of the Konoha shinobi grew intensely complicated.
But then, the alternate Naruto's eyes drifted past the angry boy in orange. His gaze landed squarely on the blonde man holding him back.
He scrutinized the man's spiky blonde hair, the gentle curve of his jaw, the familiar blue eyes. He stared for a long, breathless moment before his lips parted.
"Dad... Father."
Clatter.
The three-pronged kunai slipped from Minato Namikaze's grip, striking the rocky ground with a sharp metallic ring.
The gentle, confident smile that practically lived on Minato's face shattered into a million pieces. His eyes widened, swirling with an unmatched, absolute bewilderment.
"Dad... Father?" Minato repeated the words mechanically. He pointed a trembling finger at his own chest, swallowing hard against a suddenly dry throat. "Are you... calling me?"
He wasn't the only one short-circuiting.
Beside him, Kakashi's visible eye was blown wide, his usual lazy slouch entirely forgotten.
Even the aggressively shouting local Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. His jaw dropped open, his face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated shock.
"Big... Big Brother is this kid's dad?!" The local Naruto yelled, his voice cracking. "Then am I not?!"
The local Naruto felt his brain physically overheating. Every ounce of shock he was capable of processing in a single lifetime had been entirely depleted today.
Under the stunned stares of the entire clearing, the alternate Naruto paid zero attention to the chaotic reactions around him. His gaze remained locked onto Minato Namikaze.
That was his father. Alive. Breathing.
A flesh-and-blood father, standing right in front of him, looking so incredibly young.
In the next fraction of a second, the alternate Naruto's figure vanished from his spot. The Body Flicker Technique was executed with flawless, blinding speed.
Thud.
A solid, desperate impact.
The alternate Naruto crashed into Minato's chest, his arms wrapping fiercely around the older blonde's torso, burying his face into his shoulder.
Minato Namikaze went completely rigid. He stood there like a petrified log, his arms hovering awkwardly in mid-air, entirely unsure of where to put his hands.
"Um... did I get something wrong?" Minato stammered, his eyes darting wildly around the clearing for any lifeline. He finally locked his desperate gaze onto the unbothered, highly amused Uchiha Akira.
"Uchiha-dono, I'm not even married yet..." Minato paused, a sudden flash of fiery red hair and a terrifying temper crossing his mind. He gulped. "Anyway, I definitely don't have any children yet!"
Akira casually crossed his arms over his chest. He watched the dramatic, emotional reunion unfold with a dark, amused glint in his eyes.
"At this specific point in time, you indeed do not have children yet," Akira's voice rang out, clear and commanding. "But as I told you, he comes from the future of another parallel timeline."
Akira let the silence stretch for a half-second before dropping the final hammer. "In that world, you became the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, a hero renowned across the nations as the 'Yellow Flash'."
He paused, his smirk deepening. "And you did, in fact, marry Uzumaki Kushina."
At the sound of the name "Kushina," Minato's entire body jerked. The awkward, resistant stiffness in his muscles melted away instantly, replaced by a soft, helpless warmth.
On the sidelines, the local Uzumaki Naruto—who had been standing frozen in a state of utter bewilderment—finally felt the gears in his head grind back to life.
His blue eyes widened to their absolute limits.
He looked at the tear-streaked alternate Naruto clinging to the man, and then at the gently helpless, softening expression on Minato Namikaze's face.
'Big... Big Brother is... the Fourth Hokage!''And this guy who looks exactly like me is Big Brother's son?''Which means...'
The local Naruto pointed a trembling finger at his own chest, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"Then I..." he gasped out. "I'm also Big Brother's son!"
The logic wasn't overly complicated. Even the notoriously thick-headed local Naruto could piece it together. Although no one in this world had ever told him the truth about his parentage, nothing could suppress the wild, beast-like intuition exploding within his chest right now.
A sudden, vicious sense of crisis flared in his heart.
That guy opposite him—that polished, arrogant version of himself from another world—was actually monopolizing his dad!
"Hey! You jerk!"
The local Naruto instantly blew a fuse. He let out a feral yell and charged forward, grabbing Minato Namikaze's left arm and desperately yanking the man toward his own chest.
"This is my dad! Let go!"
The alternate Naruto, who had been deeply immersed in the heavy, emotional atmosphere of finally holding his father, had his tears violently choked back by the sudden, aggressive tug.
He snapped his head up, glaring at the boisterous, unrefined version of himself. One blonde eyebrow twitched upward in pure irritation.
"Who are you calling a jerk?" the alternate Naruto snapped back, his voice dropping into a dangerous, competitive octave. "Are you an idiot? He's my dad! What's wrong with me hugging him?!"
Refusing to be outdone, the alternate Naruto tightened his grip, directly wrapping his arms around Minato Namikaze's waist and thigh.
"I'm hugging him! I won't let go!"
"Ahhh! You're making me so mad!" The local Naruto shrieked. He had never suffered such a massive indignity in his entire life. It was one thing when the villagers ignored him and treated him like a plague. But now that he finally, finally had a dad, the man was actually being snatched away by some imposter from another dimension!
"I want to hug him too!"
With a desperate leap, the local Uzumaki Naruto simply launched himself through the air, wrapping his arms and legs securely around Minato Namikaze's neck.
Two Narutos. One clinging to his leg and waist like a vice, the other choking him out from around his neck.
Like two oversized koalas violently vying for affection, they hung off the completely paralyzed, bewildered Minato Namikaze.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]