“This one is on behalf of Naruko.”
Looking at the pitifully aggrieved blonde guy in front of him, Yasuka felt absolutely no sympathy.
Back in Konoha, he had already sought out several individuals who personally lived through the Nine-Tails Rebellion to gather information, and combined with his understanding of Minato, Yasuka could practically deduce that this kid hadn’t died in battle at all—he had intentionally committed double suicide to join his lover!
“Naruko…
But Lord Third promised me he would take good care of her!”
Minato assumed Yasuka was referring to how he had abandoned Naruko all by herself after dying for love, and tried to explain that he had trusted the Third Hokage to look after her.
“Stop.
Nine-Tails, can you show this blonde guy everything Naruko went through all these years?”
Yasuka cut Minato off and looked toward the Nine-Tails, who was casually enjoying the drama nearby.
“Hmph!
Don’t misunderstand, I only want to see his agonizing expression, I’m not helping you.”
Although the Nine-Tails wasn’t human, it thoroughly understood human love, hatred, and deep-seated grudges.
It was highly anticipating what kind of expression the Fourth Hokage would make when he saw the experiences his daughter endured in Konoha.
As the Nine-Tails displayed everything to Minato—the abuse, the physical harm, and the endless vitriol Naruko suffered from infancy—Minato, who originally placed absolute trust in the Third Hokage, gradually collapsed.
The village he sacrificed his life to protect ended up treating his child like *this*?
The Third Hokage explicitly promised him that he would take excellent care of Naruko, yet he left her to live alone in an apartment, eat instant ramen, and endure the malicious intent of the villagers, being branded a demon fox and pelted with rocks…
Even for Minato, who was universally celebrated as a “Little Sunshine,” there was no way to suppress his intense hatred for those villagers and the Third Hokage at this moment.
He knew a Jinchuriki would face animosity, but where was the Third Hokage?
What on earth were you doing?
*CRACK!!!*
Right when Minato was venting his helpless fury, Yasuka slapped him yet again to snap him back to reality.
“What are you acting for?!
Hurry up and drop some loot—hand over the Flying Raijin and Rasengan to Naruko!”
Yasuka looked at Minato with profound irritation.
He knew Minato’s original intentions were good, but the Third Hokage’s execution had completely ruined it.
However, Minato absolutely had to take responsibility for Naruko’s miserable childhood.
“Naruko…
Can you come over here for a moment?”
Only now did Minato realize that ever since he appeared, Naruko had consistently hidden behind Yasuka.
The gaze she directed at him carried no sense of familial closeness whatsoever; there was only curiosity, confusion, and…
estrangement.
To Naruko, parents were complete strangers.
From the moment she became aware of her surroundings, she had never laid eyes on them.
She had endured the malicious intent of the entire village alone, as if plunging into an endless, dark abyss.
And Yasuka was the light that shattered that darkness and illuminated her heart.
Compared to parents she had never met, Naruko trusted and relied on Yasuka infinitely more.
“…”
Minato smiled bitterly.
He had protected Konoha, protected the villagers, and protected the Will of Fire, but at the very end…
he failed to protect his most precious treasure.
“Naruko, I…
am deeply sorry.
But these are the absolute culmination of everything I learned in my lifetime.
In the future, you must…”
Just like the moment he died, Minato passed along Kushina’s final wishes alongside his own.
Only at this point did Naruko finally appear somewhat moved, yet she still tightly clung to Yasuka.
“Yasuka…
take good care of Naruko for me.”
Minato no longer dared to beg for his daughter’s acceptance.
He looked toward Yasuka with eyes filled with profound gratitude; he shuddered to think how much longer Naruko would have had to endure such excruciating suffering if Yasuka hadn’t been there.
Yasuka expressionlessly raised his left hand.
Minato didn’t try to dodge, quietly waiting for Yasuka to strike him.
“Goodbye.
No—farewell, old friend.”
However, no stinging pain landed on his face.
Instead, Yasuka gave Minato a firm embrace, serving as a farewell between friends.
“Yeah…
farewell.”
Minato believed in Yasuka.
Yasuka was someone who deeply valued emotional bonds, and he would definitely take flawless care of Naruko.
As for himself…
it was time to fulfill some responsibilities as a father.
While his chakra remained, Minato didn’t spend his limited time conversing further with Naruko.
He was an irresponsible father, and no matter what words he spoke now, it would never alter that undeniable fact.
Compared to that, he had a far more vital matter to execute.
Jiraiya stared at the clinic, feeling quite emotional.
The little toddler who used to follow closely behind Tsunade’s heels had now become a world-renowned divine physician across the Shinobi world.
With him looking after Naruko, he could comfortably depart from Konoha without any lingering worries and continue his travels to search for the Child of Prophecy…
Right as Jiraiya was indulging in his nostalgia, a familiar silhouette walked out of the clinic, causing his entire body to freeze instantly.
“Mi…
Mi…
Minato?!”
Jiraiya rubbed his eyes furiously, then tried to release himself from a hypothetical genjutsu, but no matter how he looked at it, the signature chakra signature standing directly before him belonged to Minato.
“Master Jiraiya…”
Compared to his feelings toward the Third Hokage, Minato harbored no resentment toward Jiraiya.
He was well aware that Jiraiya spent his life traveling across the land to find the Child of Prophecy.
It was just that seeing his master completely turn a blind eye to Naruko’s plight made his heart inevitably ache a little…
“Minato, how are you still alive?
No, you’re not Minato, you are Minato’s…”
Faced with Jiraiya’s absolute shock, Minato offered no explanations.
He merely stated that he was headed to find the Third Hokage; he had a specific debt that he absolutely must settle with him face-to-face.
“…”
Jiraiya fell silent for a brief moment.
He had never seen Minato display such terrifying, concentrated fury.
He silently fell into step beside him, clearly signaling his stance.
Today, he stood by his student.
On this day, a rumor stating that the Fourth Hokage had risen from the grave began to spread like wildfire across Konoha.
Countless people witnessed him with their own eyes as he walked directly toward the Hokage Building.
Standing before the Hokage Building, Minato looked at the familiar faces gathered around, yet he didn’t display the warm, sunny smile they all remembered so well.
Instead, he utilized a tone that thoroughly shocked everyone present, roaring directly toward the building:
“Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Get your ass out here!!!”
Even Jiraiya was rendered completely speechless by the sheer transformation in Minato’s demeanor.
But to the current Minato, he wasn’t some grand Fourth Hokage—right now, he was merely a father.
Today, no matter what it took, he was going to demand absolute justice for his daughter.
“Minato…”
Following Shisui’s rebellion, the Third Hokage had been swamped with an endless mountain of work, to the point where he had to split every single second just to take his medicine.
There was no way he could realistically execute Danzo; at most, he could strip him of his position as Hokage Assistant and place him in cold storage, serving as an official statement to appease the Uchiha.
But he had never in his wildest dreams anticipated that a long-dead Minato would suddenly manifest.
This was undeniably adding frost to snow.
“Is this exactly how you promised to take care of my daughter?!”
Minato didn’t care in the slightest about the Third Hokage’s current wretched state.
If it were Kushina standing here, her methods would have been infinitely more radical than his.
“I…
this was all for the sake of the village!”
The Third Hokage was left completely entirely without an argument.
He could only utilize the village as a convenient shield, desperately attempting to persuade Minato to calm down.
But to the current Minato Namikaze, the village couldn’t even begin to compare to his daughter.
“The village?
For the sake of the village, you forced my daughter to endure the concentrated malice of every single inhabitant?!
She is only five years old!”
“Minato…
listen to my explanation…”
“Minato is already dead!
You picked this path yourself.
Today, if you don’t give me a satisfactory resolution, not even the Sage of Six Paths can hold me back—I said it!”