Unfortunately...
Regret changed nothing.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Minato spoke with a bitter smile.
"Naruto... I really am your father."
"I was Konoha’s Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
"Your mother was the previous Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki."
"On the night you were born, a mysterious man took advantage of your mother’s weakened seal during childbirth. He released the Nine-Tails and used it to attack the village."
"To keep the Nine-Tails within Konoha—to preserve the village’s greatest deterrent and maintain the balance between the hidden villages—I had no choice but to seal it inside you, even though you had only just been born."
"At the same time, I sealed a portion of my chakra inside you."
"If the Nine-Tails ever broke free, the seal would activate automatically, allowing me to appear and help you suppress it."
"But now..."
Seeing Naruto and Kurama sitting together, Minato smiled faintly.
"I’m relieved."
"When I entrusted the Nine-Tails to you... I hoped you would become Konoha’s hero."
"But somewhere along the way..."
"Something went wrong."
"Or perhaps..."
"I was simply too idealistic."
"Things didn’t turn out the way I imagined."
He looked at Naruto, his voice growing softer.
"These past few years..."
"They must have been hard."
"Naruto..."
"I’m sorry."
Listening to Minato recount the past with tears glistening in his eyes...
Hearing that heartfelt apology...
Naruto slowly let out a long breath.
He knew the truth about that night even better than Minato did.
In fact...
He had prepared himself for this reality from the very beginning.
He thought he could accept it calmly.
He had been wrong.
Reality was far crueler than the handful of scenes shown in the original story.
Could anyone imagine it?
One moment...
The villagers smiled warmly as they cared for him.
The next...
Those same hands wrapped around his tiny neck.
Could anyone truly understand what it felt like to grow up in a world filled with nothing but cold stares...
And venomous words?
The hatred in the villagers’ eyes pierced straight through his heart.
Their cruel insults echoed like the whispers of demons.
Only after living through it himself did Naruto truly understand...
He had underestimated just how unbearable it was.
Because of that...
A small seed of resentment toward Minato had quietly taken root within him.
Yet...
As Minato offered his sincere apology...
That final trace of resentment quietly disappeared.
The true fault had never belonged to Minato.
His only mistake had been placing too much faith in human nature.
The people who truly deserved Naruto’s hatred...
Were the people of Konoha.
"Naruto..."
"Can you tell me what happened over these past few years?"
"And... what year is it now?"
Minato had originally wanted to ask how old Naruto was.
But as a father...
The thought of asking his own son’s age filled him with shame.
So he changed the question instead.
Naruto shook his head.
"The past isn’t worth talking about."
"It’s the beginning of October."
"Konoha Year 51."
"I’m three years old."
"Only... three?"
Minato murmured in disbelief.
He had assumed Naruto was at least five or six.
He never imagined the boy hadn’t even reached his third birthday.
Children raised in hardship matured far faster than others.
For Naruto to possess such composure at this age...
His life must have been unimaginably difficult.
Thinking of that, Minato unconsciously clenched his fists.
His heart overflowed with guilt.
Just then, Naruto changed the subject.
"Fourth Hokage..."
"You know a lot of ninjutsu, don’t you?"
Although Naruto had already inherited all of Minato’s and Kushina’s abilities through the System...
He still needed a believable explanation for techniques like the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He didn’t care what anyone else thought.
The only person whose opinion mattered...
Was Minato.
In the future, if he inherited other people’s abilities through the System, he could always claim he had awakened a unique Bloodline Limit or some extraordinary copying ability.
But if a three-year-old suddenly used the Flying Thunder God Technique...
Without any explanation...
It would make no sense.
Minato smiled gently.
"So you want to learn ninjutsu?"
"At three years old, you can begin basic physical training."
"As for chakra extraction, it’s generally recommended to wait until you’re four or five."
"Of course, you inherited the Uzumaki Clan’s exceptional vitality."
"As long as you don’t overstrain yourself, starting a little earlier shouldn’t be a problem."
His smile gradually became apologetic.
"...Unfortunately, I can’t stay for very long."
"This body is nothing more than a consciousness formed from the chakra I left behind."
"Without a physical body to replenish it, my chakra will eventually run out."
"I’m afraid I won’t be able to teach you very much."
Naruto turned toward the giant fox.
"Kurama."
"Help me out."
"Lend him some chakra."
Naruto had already thought about this long ago.
Kurama possessed the ability to share his chakra with others.
Keeping Minato’s consciousness active was entirely possible.
Minato instinctively disliked the idea of accepting help from the Nine-Tails.
Even so...
A flicker of hope appeared in his eyes.
Kurama narrowed his own.
Help the man who split me in half and sealed me away?
Not a chance.
He had absolutely no desire to do that.
Then...
His expression subtly changed.
He sensed an enormous chakra signature rapidly approaching from outside.
Hiruzen Sarutobi...
Kurama’s eyes narrowed even further.
The ANBU monitoring Naruto every night didn’t concern him.
They had been doing that for years.
But Hiruzen...
That was an entirely different matter.
On one hand...
He concealed Naruto’s identity as the Fourth Hokage’s son while allowing the rumors of the "demon fox" to spread unchecked.
On the other...
Whenever Naruto was at his lowest, Hiruzen would appear with a warm smile and comforting words.
Always kind.
Always patient.
Always planting subtle suggestions in Naruto’s mind.
Little by little...
Trying to shape the boy into the person he wanted.
Kurama had watched every moment from inside the seal.
He knew exactly what the old Hokage was doing.
That crafty old fox...
If Naruto hadn’t inherited my incredible wisdom...
He would’ve been completely fooled by now.
That’s right.
Kurama firmly believed Naruto’s extraordinary intelligence came from him.
Otherwise...
How could a child with no one to teach him become so mature at such a young age?
After all...
People inevitably resembled those they spent the most time with.
And the one Naruto had spent the most time with...
Was Kurama.
The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became with himself.
Then suddenly...
An idea flashed through his mind.
A wonderfully malicious idea.
Why not let Minato see with his own eyes...
How the Konoha he sacrificed everything to protect has treated his son?
The more Kurama considered it...
The brighter his eyes became.
After all...
Minato was already dead.
The man standing before them was nothing more than a lingering consciousness formed from chakra.
When it eventually disappeared...
So what?
But before that...
Kurama could make Minato witness everything.
Force him to drown in guilt.
In regret.
In self-blame.
In helplessness.
In resentment.
Perhaps...
He might even come to hate Konoha himself.
Wouldn’t that...
Be far more satisfying than simply killing someone?
Kurama couldn’t help grinning.
As expected...
I’m a genius.
And wonderfully evil.
Author’s Note:
I’m a new author,
If you’re enjoying the story, I’d sincerely appreciate a, a vote, or a review. Every bit of support motivates me to keep writing.
Thank you!