[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Uzushiogakure, Year 42.
...
...
It was already night when Minato, Mikoto, and Kushina returned to the Uzumaki clan, while Minato immediately stopped the moment they arrived at the house where they were staying within the clan.
At the same instant, Tsunade was the first to appear, opening the door to the living room where they were as soon as she sensed them.
"You finally arrived," she said, before looking at Kushina. "Did you know that your clones suddenly disappearing all around the clan scared some of the Uzumaki shinobi who were helping you? They asked if something had happened to you." She informed.
Kushina scratched her head upon hearing that. "Well... let's just say I wasn't prepared for some things...", said Kushina, remembering the sudden shock from the transformation that Kurama forced her into, which caused her to destabilize the shadow clone jutsu.
Tsunade nodded before turning to Minato. "Well, I hope you all made it back safely," she said.
Minato smiled. "You don't need to worry about that, Tsunade," he said, while she nodded.
"Anyway, the Konoha ninjas who came here today want to talk to you," she said, while Minato was already sensing their presence in the middle of the sea's surface. That was why he had stopped the moment they arrived.
"And the members of the fish clan, have they arrived?" asked Minato, changing the subject.
"Yes. They came asking about you, since they followed the horns here. The Uzumakis were a bit confused, but I told them you had gone out and they'd have better luck early tomorrow morning, not knowing how you would handle training." said Tsunade.
"I understand. I'll summon one of them," Minato replied.
At that moment, Hanabi also entered the room, curious. And Minato turned to the street door.
"You can prepare the food today. I'll take care of some things," he said, with a tone of boredom, while the girls nodded. He opened the door and disappeared the next moment.
"Did you know that Jiraiya appeared at Mount Myōboku..." Mikoto informed Hanabi, who was surprised.
"Really? How is sensei?" asked Hanabi.
"Well... he's returning to Konoha, but he's fine," said Mikoto, as they went to the kitchen to prepare tonight's dinner, even though they preferred Minato's cooking.
At the same time, Minato went to the east side of the island. Upon landing, he surprised some Uzumaki sentries who were in the area, who looked at him in shock. They were still guarding all sides of the island, but that one was particularly important due to the enormous kraken trapped there.
Minato asked them to keep the creature restrained and they managed to do so with seals. He only hoped that Mikoto would have control over the creature later with the Sharingan.
Then, he signaled for the sentries not to worry about him, while he went into the middle of the water and quickly formed a hand seal. In the next instant, a huge fish appeared, surprising him as it found itself in midair before falling back into the water.
The creature quickly stared at Minato. "It's you..." said the elder, staring at Minato.
"Hello, I just came to let you know that I'd like you to come here tomorrow morning, so we can talk as soon as the sun rises," Minato requested, while the fish nodded.
"All right, I'll do that. Anyway, I'll head back to the middle of the sea. The others will find it strange if I disappear from the school like this... Minato, tomorrow we will talk." He spoke, and Minato nodded.
Minato turned as soon as he saw the fish vanish, and his eyes went to the sky on the other side of the village. He simply shone and expanded like lightning in that direction, before the other sentries could react.
Minato was in the middle of the clouds the next instant, when the light had stopped with his body materializing in a flash, before he looked down at the Konoha group below him. Nothing more than a flash appeared once again, and he quickly advanced, glowing, before streaking like lightning toward the location.
The Konoha group had arrived at Uzushiogakure in the middle of the afternoon, since, that same morning, the entire village already knew Minato had departed.
They immediately formed a team to talk to him. When they arrived, Minato wasn't there, and they had to wait. They didn't leave, but stayed at a distance from the clan, since the Uzumakis didn't seem very receptive toward them, looking at them with disdain and not wanting them to approach. They only hoped Minato would at least come to talk.
They had been there, standing still, for about eight straight hours, when everything seemed calm, until a glow appeared in the sky coming from the Uzumaki clan so fast that all heads turned upward, looking at what seemed like a falling star.
Before they could understand what was happening, another yellow bolt struck the sea in front of them straight from the sky, exploding the water. They immediately went on alert, with the waters churning and the wave from the blast descending, while Minato appeared before them.
He was calm, staring at each one of them.
"Let me guess... the Hokage assembled your team. I see many familiar faces. This team seems to know me very well, maybe to try convincing me more easily," Minato said casually, eyeing each of the ninjas wearing cloaks and masks.
The masks didn't stop Minato from knowing who they were, since he perceived more than just their chakra as a sensor—he could even tell what their faces looked like behind the masks.
"Minato Namikaze," said Alpha, the leader of the team, while Minato nodded with a gleam of recognition.
"It's been a long time, Alpha. How have you been?" Minato asked his former Anbu captain.
"Busy... quite busy, ever since things happened in the village," he said in a more casual tone, as if he really were speaking to an acquaintance and not the target of his mission.
Minato nodded, satisfied with that, while also noticing frustrated looks from some of them. It wasn't anger toward him, at least it didn't seem so, but rather shame and frustration. The team there seemed divided.
"Well, Minato, our mission here is to ask you why," said Alpha, looking at Minato, mainly at his headband with the slash cutting through Konoha's symbol. Minato observed him, with Alpha furrowing his brow with a sad, almost disappointed expression.
To Alpha, Minato had a bright future, and until yesterday everyone thought he could even become Hokage now. How could he throw it all away?
Some wouldn't understand the reasons Minato had explained to Sakumo, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, who would certainly understand why he was doing this.
"Okay, I know many people already know my reason and the why of it, Alpha. But let me explain, I'm here because I won't let the Uzumaki clan be destroyed, and I don't care about sacrificing a future position as Hokage. I'm doing this because I believe it's the right thing. I will fight for the Uzumaki clan, which was cast aside by the Leaf Village when it turned its back on its greatest allies," Minato said firmly.
A gleam of recognition appeared in many of them; some already suspected this, but hearing such a declaration from Minato's own mouth was striking.
"Still, Minato, you ran away with the Kyuubi's Jinchūriki, a military weapon of Konoha," someone retorted. "I honestly don't see you as an enemy, I don't believe you want to harm the Village, but surely you know what's at stake when you flee with the jinchūriki."
After those words from that ninja—whose intentions Minato could even understand for the sake of the Village—he couldn't help but grow angry. An explosion erupted from his body the next instant, making everyone recoil in shock; yellow lightning began to surge all around the area as Minato glared in fury.
"Kushina is not a tool of the Village," he roared. "As much as I understand why you're here to retrieve her or to find out if she'll return to the Village, that does not mean I'll allow you to treat her like a weapon of war. When she was locked in a cage by the leaders of the Village—and I was incompetent enough to let her be kidnapped—that was just fine for them. Now that Kushina has power over herself, you're all cautious, but let me tell you something: the bijuu should not be weapons of war chained by the will of a Village. That is wrong, and I will never allow Kushina to be a tool of the Village."
The Conqueror's Haki continued radiating powerfully in every direction. Minato was improving at the skill; at least he could now summon it by his own will. Even though he could only bring down a couple dozen ninjas, he was satisfied—after fighting Danzō, he had learned it could be invoked whenever he wanted, and he still intended to train it until it became even more powerful.
The Haki continued, and the group was certainly frightened, raising their hands in front of their faces. Minato could feel the fear in all of them. They were as terrified as the Village itself had been when it witnessed the power of his companions.
But they couldn't forget one thing—something even more dangerous.
Even among Minato's brides, with some of them being a perfect jinchūriki and an Uchiha with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he was still the central figure of the group, the true leader. He didn't rule only because all those girls were in love with him, but because his strength surpassed that of everyone else, and no one in the Village could contest that fact—especially his team, who knew very well what Minato was capable of. They also knew he still had many cards up his sleeve, the same ones that allowed him to defeat a Kage and fight Orochimaru and thousands of Sand ninjas in the middle of the desert at the same time.
They even said that Orochimaru himself had left shaken after his battle against Minato.
Minato began to calm down, the lightning fading, and the team's cloaks rustled with the wind created solely by the aura of his Haki, which also slowly dissipated. The ninjas looked at him, confused and cautious. They felt no chakra coming from him, which was terrifying.
The sensors, in particular, were in shock—they should be able to sense chakra in everything, even in an explosion of aura. But this was different from anything they had ever witnessed.
"My answer is that we won't return to the Village while the Uzumakis are in danger. If Konoha didn't want to fight, then we'll do it on our own. In the Village, tell your superiors what you heard here. After all, we don't want to be disturbed when we're about to face an entire war," Minato said firmly.
Alpha merely nodded. There was nothing more to say. Everything that needed to be spoken had already been said. Minato had made his decision, and they would have to inform Konoha. They couldn't do anything against him.
"Wait!" Minato was about to turn when someone called out to him. He stopped, turning his gaze back.
"Minato... this isn't right," murmured a feminine voice.
He gave a faint smile. It was Mirage, daughter of the patriarch of the Kurama clan—the very one who, in the end, had been the only one to betray Minato among the leaders he had gathered to try to stand against Konoha.
Minato had summoned her father precisely because of her. It was no wonder that Mirage looked more ashamed and frustrated than anyone else there. She felt guilty, for in the end, her father had turned against Minato and revealed his plans to the Village leadership, who then tried to ambush him.
"If you think I'm angry with you because of your father's decisions, you're mistaken. I don't hate him. If you want to talk about it..." Minato smiled for a moment.
He didn't feel hatred or anger—disappointed, yes, but not to the point of holding resentment toward her father and much less toward her. He knew very well that some leaders might report him; even so, he had acted because he had enough strength to take the risk.
"That's not what I mean. I'm sorry for what my father did. I'm ashamed of it," she said, lowering her head before returning to her companions. "But I want to stay too, Minato is right and I want to help him!"
"She's right," another commented.
Minato could already see what was forming there: Alpha seemed cautious and divided, but the atmosphere was becoming a sort of emotional rally. Minato then raised his voice, firmly.
"Listen everyone: if you believe you want to stay here to fight and abandon the Village, I must disappoint you—you don't need to. You would be unnecessary," he said, in a harsh tone. He didn't want to involve more people in this; as much as they were old friends, he didn't want to put them in a worse situation than the one he had already subjected his companions to.
"Before you can argue: you don't need to come. We have enough strength to fight. I don't want you to get harmed. And, if you do come, I will teleport you back to the Village of Konoha—you know I'm capable of that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest. Tomorrow I must prepare: the war approaches every day." With that, Minato simply disappeared the next moment, leaving everyone standing there.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
I hope each chapter has provided incredible moments. If you like my work and would like to support the continuation of this fanfic, consider becoming a patron with plans starting at $2!. As a token of gratitude, I offer access to more than 210 extra chapters with 7 active fanfics at the same time, along with other exclusive benefits on my profile, such as images and significant decisions for the stories.
Even if you are not a patron, I am making chapters available a few hours earlier here, so become a free member on the platform!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters!
Except for One Piece with daily chapters and DragonBorn once a week, all fanfics are updated 3 times a week, there's just a pause in updating in the week, only to create drafts for the week's chapters.
In addition to the extra chapters, daily chapters are posted and 25 chapters per week!
Your support is very important and makes all the difference in keeping these stories alive.
Thank you very much for being part of this journey! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that it brings even more joy to your life!
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆