Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Collapse
Naruto fell silent, lowering his head and thinking for a moment before looking up at Minato's expectant yet fearful gaze.
"I'm not really interested in complaining about the past. After all, what's done is done. Now, they can only seethe in silence, unable to act against me."
After hearing this, Minato's expression dimmed a little.
"However," Naruto's tone suddenly shifted, and he said, "If you really want to know, why not let you see it with your own eyes?"
Without waiting for Minato's renewed look of anticipation, Naruto turned to Kurama, who was also looking down at him, and raised his fist high.
"Kurama, if I remember correctly, this is called 'Ninshū,' right?"
Kurama's eyes widened, filled with shock and hesitation. "Brat, you didn't mention this before! And gaining my recognition isn't something that can be done so easily!"
"Hahaha, I don't need your recognition, Kurama. Human lifespans are short, and there won't be another Jinchuriki after me. In a few decades, you'll be free. Why not pass the time with me?" Naruto said with a smile.
Kurama fell silent, staring at Naruto's smiling face, 'This kind of sunny expression really didn't suit the brat. That kind of fake smile was more fitting for someone like Yondaime.'
However, Naruto was to its liking. At least this past year had been more interesting than the previous decades. After all, they were accomplices now, and the next few decades would surely bring more interesting events.
Kurama smirked and extended its massive paw, pressing it against Naruto's fist.
"Fine, let's just treat it as killing time."
Boom-
A powerful surge of Chakra erupted from Naruto, forming a massive vortex of golden Chakra. Naruto's body was enveloped in this power, his eyes turning into slitted pupils, and intricate golden patterns began to spread across his skin like living tattoos.
With half the seal already undone, Naruto could now enter this Tailed Beast Chakra Mode.
"This is..."
Minato's eyes were filled with shock, 'Even Kushina had never been able to use the Nine-Tails' Chakra to this extent. Perhaps only the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito-sama, had achieved something similar.'
On the other side of the gate, Naruto raised his fist toward Minato.
"Yondaime, if you want to see, then take a look. This is the past of Uzumaki Naruto!"
Minato looked into Kurama's mocking eyes and Naruto's emotionless slitted pupils, and the uneasiness in his heart was suddenly magnified.
He gritted his teeth and walked over, staring at Naruto with a guilty look in his eyes.
Their fists met.
In an instant, Minato froze.
As Naruto's Chakra flowed into him, Minato gained Kurama's ability to sense malice.
And the overwhelming, suffocating malice that filled Konoha made even a seasoned Ninja like him shudder.
"This, this..."
Before Minato could finish, Naruto's memories began flooding into his mind.
In that moment, he became Uzumaki Naruto, experiencing the malice firsthand.
The burning pain spread through his throat, as if molten lava was sliding down into his stomach.
He wanted to know what was happening, but when he opened his eyes, he saw a ferocious face grinning at him, pouring scalding hot water down his throat.
"Why is it that my child died, but you're still alive?"
Minato's eyes were red with anger.
But the scene suddenly shifted.
He walked alone through the streets of Konoha, surrounded by villagers who glared at him with hatred and disgust, their mouths spewing curses.
Hungry, he tried to enter a restaurant, only to be shoved out by the owner. His small body hit the ground, his hands bleeding.
He then tried to buy instant noodles at a store, but the clerk grabbed the packages from his hands and threw them in his face before kicking him out.
In the end, he could only eat expired instant noodles, tears streaming down his face.
The scenes kept changing. He saw Naruto, starving, eating poisonous mushrooms in the mountains and vomiting alone in his rented room.
He saw Naruto, just three years old, catching fish in the river to survive.
In Naruto's memories, the villagers he had once protected were like demons, his former friends as cold as strangers, and his subordinates choosing to stay out of trouble.
'Why hadn't anyone shown my child even a little kindness?'
'Even if it was just out of pity, couldn't they have spared some food so Naruto wouldn't go hungry?'
Even Hiruzen, whom he had always respected, was nothing but a hypocritical old man, preaching morality while taking the food Naruto had worked so hard to obtain.
'Konoha Village, how dare they bully my child like this!'
"How... how could this be? Why..."
The memories flashed by, and Minato's body trembled. His once-straight posture slumped, and he curled up like a shrimp, his eyes bloodshot from either grief or rage.
'Why? Why did Naruto have to bear such hatred?'
Minato couldn't believe it. The villagers who had once been so respectful and kind to him had become so ugly and cruel.
The villagers he had once considered family, the ones he had given his life to protect, had hurt his child in such a way.
He didn't understand why the Konoha's higher-ups hadn't revealed Naruto's identity as the Fourth Hokage's son after his death. Instead, they allowed the rumor of Naruto being the 'demon fox' to spread unchecked throughout the village.
'And what about the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans? Why couldn't they even spare a little help for my child? Jiraiya-sensei, where were you during all this?'
'Sandaime, how could you have become so hypocritical and incompetent?'
He had trusted the village, trusted the Third Hokage, which was why he had chosen to give his life to protect Konoha and its people, choosing to die alongside Kushina.
He knew that Jinchuriki would face discrimination, as it was the same in every village. But he was the Fourth Hokage, the one who had died for the village. Naruto, as his child, even as a Jinchuriki, should have been supported and cherished by the villagers.
Yet the Third Hokage, whom he had placed so much faith in, had allowed Naruto to become the target of the villagers' hatred, while he sat comfortably in his Hokage seat, doing nothing.
Naruto, who should have been born as the child of a hero, had instead been burdened with the hatred of the entire village from the moment of his birth.
Minato suddenly realized how foolish he had been. Not only had his wife been ostracized and despised by these people in the past, but now his child had become a pariah.
'Namikaze Minato, what have you protected?'
'Was a village like this even worth protecting?'
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I... I never thought it would be like this..."
Minato's hunched figure trembled, his face hidden beneath his hair, tears streaming down his cheeks. His lips quivered as he spoke.
"What's with that look? That expression, those tears… what are they for?"
Naruto had already withdrawn all of Nine-Tails' Chakra, returning to his normal form. He looked at Minato with a tone of disdain, "What good are your tears now?"
"Or are you hoping for my forgiveness?"
Minato's body trembled slightly. He wiped the tears from his face and looked at his son, who was both familiar and unfamiliar to him, then shook his head.
"I don't seek your forgiveness. But at least let me make up for some of my mistakes."
Minato clenched his fists, his expression sincere.
Naruto didn't waste any time.
"I need the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Four Symbols Seal."