A brief flash of regret crossed Minato’s eyes, but he quickly cast it aside.
No matter what happened afterward, even the slightest chance of Kushina surviving was better than leaving Naruto to grow up without either of his parents.
Minato believed Konoha would never deliberately mistreat his son.
Even so, no one in the village could replace the warmth and protection of Naruto’s own mother.
Before he could accept Roy’s proposal, however, Kushina forced herself to speak through her discomfort.
“No.” Roy stared at her in disbelief.
Kushina understood exactly why Minato had chosen to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
He had only resorted to such a forbidden technique because he believed she was certain to die after the Nine-Tails had been extracted from her.
She and Minato loved one another deeply.
If Minato could not bear the thought of living without her, how could he expect her to calmly accept a life without him?
Roy was dumbfounded.
There was still a chance for one of them to survive, yet they were both acting as though dying together was the only possible choice.
Even if they had already accepted their own deaths, had neither of them considered what would happen to Naruto after they were gone?
Kushina might not have known much about the darkness hidden beneath Konoha’s surface, but Roy refused to believe that Minato, who had risen all the way to the position of Hokage, had never heard even the slightest rumour.
As someone who knew the future, Roy did not care whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly as calculating as some people had claimed in his former world.
One fact remained undeniable.
Naruto’s childhood had been miserable.
He had grown up surrounded by the villagers’ cold stares, whispered insults, and barely concealed hatred.
At the same time, the Nine-Tails’ chakra filled with rage and malice had constantly influenced him from within.
The fact that Naruto had not fallen into darkness could almost be considered a miracle.
A newborn child was like a blank sheet of paper.
The way that child developed would inevitably be shaped by the people and environment around them.
A child raised amid kindness would find it difficult to become cruel without reason.
A child surrounded by hatred, however, would find it equally difficult to grow into someone kind.
The occasional moments of concern Hiruzen offered Naruto in the original future had never been enough to erase the harm caused by the rest of the village.
“Have either of you thought about what will happen to Naruto?” Roy asked before Minato could persuade Kushina.
“He’ll be an orphan, and you’re planning to seal the Nine-Tails inside him.
Do you honestly believe ordinary villagers will still look at him as an innocent child?” Minato had been about to speak to Kushina, but Roy’s words made him turn sharply.
“That won’t happen,” he said.
“I trust the Third Hokage.
He will—” “He won’t be able to solve anything.” Roy cut him off without hesitation.
“Otherwise, why are you, the Hokage, fighting the Nine-Tails alone?
Did you see a single member of the Uchiha clan on the battlefield?” Minato’s expression changed.
Roy continued before he could respond.
“The Third Hokage hasn’t even been able to end the villagers’ hostility toward the Uchiha.
How could he possibly erase their fear and hatred of the Nine-Tails?” Minato fell silent.
The conflict between the Uchiha and the village had begun during the Second Hokage’s time, but Hiruzen had ruled Konoha for many years.
Despite that, relations between the clan and the village had not improved.
Instead, the divide between them had only continued to deepen.
Minato had intended to address that problem himself once his position as Hokage became more secure.
He had planned to work with Fugaku Uchiha and gradually repair the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the rest of Konoha.
He had simply never been given the chance.
Minato stared at Roy.
“Who exactly are you?
How do you know so much about Konoha?” “My name is Roy,” he replied.
“Who I am isn’t important right now.
You need to make a decision quickly.
You don’t have much time left.” Minato looked back at Kushina.
His expression softened.
“I’m sorry, Kushina,” he said quietly.
“I’m going to leave Naruto in your care.” “Minato, I—” Minato turned away before she could finish.
If he hesitated any longer, the chakra and life force remaining in his body would no longer be enough to complete the sealing.
He looked at Roy once more.
“Mr.
Roy, I’m trusting you.” Roy nodded.
“Seal the remaining half of the Nine-Tails back into Kushina first.
After that, I’ll help restore her vitality.” Minato did not hesitate again.
Ignoring the Nine-Tails’ furious struggling, he activated the sealing formula and began dragging the remaining half of the beast back toward Kushina.
The Nine-Tails roared as the Adamantine Sealing Chains tightened around it.
Its enormous body twisted violently, but Kushina refused to release her hold.
A moment later, the beast’s chakra was forcibly drawn into her body.
The seal closed.
As soon as the Nine-Tails returned to Kushina, Roy released his reiatsu.
He used his Spiritual Pressure to guide the spiritual energy overflowing from Minato’s fading soul and channelled it into Kushina’s damaged body.
A warm current spread through her.
The unnatural cold that had surrounded Roy’s spiritual body was gradually replaced by warmth.
Kushina’s breathing steadied, and some of the strength that had abandoned her slowly returned.
Her body was recovering.
Yet she could not feel the slightest trace of happiness.
Behind Minato, the Shinigami removed the ritual blade from its mouth.
It had fulfilled the caster’s request.
Now it intended to claim the promised price—Minato’s soul.
The Shinigami seemed to sense that something else was drawing away the spiritual energy that belonged to its offering.
If it waited any longer, there might be nothing left for it to collect.
It raised the blade.
At that moment, Roy suddenly remembered something from the Fourth Shinobi World War.
After Naruto had been left on the verge of death, Minato had attempted to transfer the half of the Nine-Tails sealed within him into his son.
Black Zetsu had intercepted the transfer, but the event proved that Minato was capable of removing the Nine-Tails from himself and sealing it into another person.
Rather than allowing half of the Nine-Tails to be devoured along with Minato’s soul, they could transfer that half into Naruto.
That would create two Nine-Tails jinchūriki—Kushina and Naruto.
It would also make the Uzumaki family far more valuable to Konoha.
While Roy recovered from his injuries, even the most ruthless people in the village would have to think twice before moving against him if he remained close to them.
“Minato!” Roy called out.
“Transfer your half of the Nine-Tails into Naruto before the Shinigami takes you!” Minato immediately understood.
He did not waste a moment questioning the proposal.
“All right.” He began drawing upon the Nine-Tails’ chakra sealed within him.
As the beast’s power surged through his body, Minato’s fading vitality briefly recovered.
The Shinigami’s blade stopped in midair.
Its spectral face remained emotionless, but its grip tightened around the weapon.
Kushina had recovered enough strength to move.
Even though she wanted nothing more than to stop Minato, she understood there was no longer any way to save him from the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
If she refused to help now, his sacrifice would accomplish nothing.
Furthermore, despite Roy’s shameless arrival and the humiliating position he had forced her into earlier, his suggestions had genuinely been made for the sake of her family.
Kushina wiped the tears from her eyes and moved beside Minato.
Together, they began the transfer.
Minato had already succeeded in sealing half of the Nine-Tails by himself.
Now that Kushina, an expert in fūinjutsu was assisting him, sealing the other half into Naruto was even easier.
A complex sealing formula spread across the newborn’s stomach.
The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was completed, just as it had been in the future Roy remembered.
Minato deliberately left a small opening within the seal, allowing the Nine-Tails’ chakra to gradually mix with Naruto’s own.
One day, that opening would make it possible for Naruto to draw upon the beast’s power.
This time, however, the key to the seal would not be entrusted to a messenger toad.
It was placed in the hands of Naruto’s mother.
Kushina would guard it herself.
The moment the transfer was completed, the Nine-Tails’ chakra disappeared from Minato’s body.
The temporary vitality it had given him vanished as well.
The Shinigami’s raised blade descended.
Minato looked at Kushina one final time.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
Then he turned toward Roy.
“Mr.
Roy,” he said solemnly, “I’m leaving Kushina and Naruto in your care.” Roy met his gaze.
“Especially Kushina,” Minato continued.
“There are many things inside this village that aren’t as simple as they appear.
I’m worried that she—” The Shinigami’s blade slashed through him before he could finish.
Minato’s soul was torn from his body.
The Shinigami seized it in one enormous hand and swallowed it whole.
Minato’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground.
“Minato!” Kushina’s anguished cry echoed across the ruined clearing.
Still weak and unsteady, she stumbled toward him and threw herself over his body.
Roy remained where he was.
He glanced down at the stain on his torn trousers, then looked toward Minato’s body.
“Rest assured,” he murmured.
“Until the day I leave this world, I’ll take good care of them.” After a moment, he added quietly, as though correcting Minato’s overly formal manner even now.
“And just Roy is fine.” Kushina clutched Minato’s body against her chest.
Her tears fell without pause.
“Minato…” As though sensing that he had lost his father on the very night of his birth, Naruto woke on the ritual altar and began crying loudly.
Roy stepped forward.
“Kushina,” he said gently, placing one hand on her shoulder, “I know nothing I say can ease this pain.
But Naruto still needs you.” The barrier Minato had erected around the battlefield began to disappear.
Its walls dissolved into the night air.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been waiting outside with the other shinobi, immediately rushed into the clearing.
Roy instinctively moved closer to Kushina.
However, as Hiruzen and the others approached, none of them so much as glanced in his direction.
They could not see him.
Roy was still in the form of a soul.
Hiruzen stopped when he saw Kushina kneeling over Minato’s body.
His eyes widened.
Although the scene before him made the truth obvious, a part of him still refused to accept it.
“Kushina…” Hiruzen’s voice trembled.
“Minato… he…”