Minato Namikaze fell into a brief moment of stunned silence. He understood Uzumaki Kushina's emotions and the hatred burning in her heart at this very moment.
Kushina looked at Minato seriously and said,
"Minato, I won't ask you to take revenge together with me. You were born in Konoha—Konoha is your home, and you were its Fourth Hokage.
But I'm different. Just like Naruto said, I'm a survivor of the Land of Whirlpools. Back then, I had to become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki just to be allowed to stay in Konoha. So for me, I only ever liked Konoha because you liked it.
But now I don't like it anymore. I hate Konoha. They humiliated my child and turned him into what he is now. I can no longer endure it, and I can never forgive it."
Minato let out a deep sigh.
"Kushina… even now, I can't deny that I still love Konoha. But the one I love even more is Naruto. You and Naruto are my family now.
Naruto became like this because of me. I have a responsibility to guide him back onto the right path.
"But Kushina, helping Naruto take revenge on Konoha won't make him change his heart. It will only make him resist us even more. Konoha has already rotted to the core. Rather than letting it linger on, perhaps being destroyed and rebuilt is its only way forward.
Naruto has his own choice to make now. As parents, for the time being, we should quietly support and protect his decision from the shadows."
This decision was unimaginably painful for Minato. The will he had once resolved to uphold had completely collapsed, and he constantly questioned whether the Will of Fire he inherited had ever been right.
Even so, Minato still retained a trace of hope for Konoha. He hoped that someone would appear—someone who could change Naruto, just as Kushina had once changed him.
And that person destined to stand in Naruto's fate—Uchiha Sasuke—was currently in the Village Hidden in the Scorching Sun.
At this moment, Sasuke was lying on Itachi's back, shamelessly acting spoiled.
Clinging to him, Sasuke pleaded,
"Brother, can you teach me ninjutsu? I want to learn that sword technique with flames!"
Itachi asked helplessly,
"Sasuke, I only just taught you the Uchiha clan's Fire Release techniques not long ago. Have you truly mastered them?"
Sasuke puffed out his chest proudly.
"Of course I have! I'm a genius!"
To prove it, Sasuke immediately demonstrated.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A blazing fire dragon burst from his mouth and slammed into a tree trunk, instantly blowing a large hole through it as flames continued to burn.
After extinguishing the fire, Itachi shook his head.
"Sasuke, you've only learned the technique—you haven't mastered it. The power and scale of the jutsu are completely inadequate."
Sasuke pouted.
"But I really want to learn that flashy sword technique. I want to defeat that person the next time I see him."
Itachi became interested.
"Oh? And who is that?"
"He used to be in the same class as me at the Ninja Academy in Konoha. His name is Uzumaki Naruto. He's really annoying. His strength is about the same as mine, but he always pretends to be stupid, like he can't learn any jutsu. He never fights back even when people bully him.
If I hadn't happened to see him training, I really would've been fooled by him."
Itachi smiled knowingly.
"Let me guess—you fought him one-on-one, and you lost, didn't you?"
Sasuke's face turned bright red.
"That's impossible! I didn't lose! At most, it was a draw!"
Itachi corrected him sternly,
"If you lost, then you lost. There's no shame in that. You have to face reality to truly improve. Do you understand, Sasuke?"
Sasuke lowered his head dejectedly.
"…Alright. I lost that fight."
"Sasuke, have you asked Master Yōsuke about learning swordsmanship?"
Sasuke suddenly lifted his head, his eyes filled with hope.
"I did! Yosuke-sama said it's fine as long as you agree, brother!"
Itachi gently patted Sasuke's head.
"In that case… Sasuke, are you ready? The training ahead will be very tough."
Sasuke answered loudly,
"I'm ready!"
At this point, Sasuke could truly be said to be showered with love. Not only was Itachi teaching him ninjutsu, but Karin—who was close to his age—was also teaching him basic medical knowledge and the principles of fuinjutsu.
Even Deidara, who usually did whatever he pleased, would sometimes spar with Sasuke using taijutsu if he happened to be in a good mood and Sasuke asked him for guidance.
Meanwhile, Naruto was once again returned to the Root base.
Four chains bound his limbs once more. This time, however, no sealing scripts were carved onto his body. Instead, several machines were connected directly to him.
On the other end of the machines were dozens of shinobi.
Standing before Naruto, Danzō spoke coldly,
"Uzumaki Naruto, this time we will use chakra of the five basic natures to stimulate the Eight Trigrams Seal inside your body, loosening it. Then we will attack the seal with Yin Release and Yang Release chakra.
This process will be extremely painful. Are you ready?"
Naruto's eyes were icy.
"Enough talk. Do it."
At Danzō's command, the machines began operating. The shinobi on the other end started refining their respective chakra natures, which poured endlessly into Naruto's body.
As the five elemental chakras surged inside him, Naruto's face twisted in agony. The Eight Trigrams Seal on his abdomen gradually emerged.
"Now!" Danzō barked.
Root shinobi from the Nara and Akimichi clans refined their Yin and Yang Release chakra and sent it flooding into Naruto once again.
Naruto let out a tortured roar. A tailed-beast cloak enveloped his entire body, and five tails erupted from his back.
Even after reconciling with the Nine-Tails, Naruto could only borrow a limited amount of its power. The Nine-Tails' chakra was far too violent—four tails were the absolute limit his body could withstand.
Now, with five tails manifesting, Naruto had exceeded his physical threshold. His rationality was rapidly being eroded.
Danzō showed no reaction to Naruto's screams, his cold gaze fixed on the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's abdomen.
The seal was slowly breaking apart.
Inside Naruto's inner world, within the Nine-Tails' space, Kurama roared,
"Naruto! You can't let them keep destroying the seal! You can't withstand all of my power right now!"
Naruto's eyes gleamed with cruelty.
"Relax, Kurama. They won't—and don't dare—to completely break the seal. Danzō is testing the limits of my body. The moment I show signs of completely losing control, they'll stop."
As if to prove his words, when Naruto manifested a sixth tail and was on the verge of losing all reason, Danzō gave the order:
"Stop!"
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