Minato's pupils tightened to pinpricks.
In the heartbeat between light and thunder, he flashed—Flying Thunder God ripping space like silk—into the little waystation cabin he'd marked earlier. He slung the glowing swaddle toward the crib, rolled hard, and hugged the baby to shield him from the shockwave's tail.
A thin wooden spike jutted through his thigh—Obito's trap. Minato snapped it free with a wince, checked the wailing newborn… and finally exhaled.
"Good… Naruto's safe."
He set the infant down, eyes already narrowing.
"Dragged me away from Kushina… a classic decoy."
One ring of formula-stained sheets later, the Yellow Flash vanished again.
[Boruto]: "Grandpa's speed is nuts."
[Himawari]: "So fast! Mom's… Mom's gonna be okay, right?"
[Inojin]: "Obito's completely gone off the rails…"
[Tobirama]: "Hmph. Uchiha extremism—predictable."
[Hashirama]: "Stop that, Tobirama! There are plenty of good Uchiha. Sasuke seems fine!"
[Sasuke]: "At the very least, I don't hurt my teammates."
[Karin] (a beat too loud): "That's our Sasuke-kun!"
Back at the secret site, Kushina's seal ruptured—Kurama tore free in a roar that shook the trees. Pain like molten wire rippled through her. One night, two brushes with death… and a child born in between.
Obito's fingers twitched; Kurama's killing intent rose to crush her—
—and Minato arrived in a golden flicker, scooping Kushina into his arms and blinking them to a high branch across the ravine.
"Impressive, Yellow Flash," the masked man called up, voice cold. "But you're late."
"Minato… Naruto—he's alright?" Kushina's first breath was a mother's.
"He's safe. I promise."
"Then go. He's sending the Nine-Tails to Konoha."
Minato looked down, and the kindness left his eyes. All that remained was the stillness of a blade.
[Minato]: "Obito… did you really mean to kill Kushina just now?"
[Obito]: "..."
[Ōnoki]: "Beast. Absolute beast."
[A (Fourth Raikage)]: "Seconded."
[Rasa]: "Is killing your teacher, like… a Leaf thing?"
[Hiruzen]: "Wind Shadow, elaborate."
[Rasa]: "Heh. Guess."
Minato settled Kushina at home; she clutched the crib rail and managed a faint smile.
"Be careful…"
"I will. I have to win this one."
The white haori snapped across his shoulders. The Fourth Hokage stood.
[Boruto]: "Okay, Grandpa's kinda… insanely cool."
[Sarada]: "He's the Fourth. Of course he is."
[Shikadai]: "Man, Boruto's family tree is stacked."
Kurama hit the village like a living calamity. Streets shattered, fires bloomed; Iruka's parents were among the fallen. From atop the Hokage Rock, Minato appeared—just as a Tailed Beast Bomb swelled between the fox's fangs.
The orb howled toward the cliff—
—and froze midair, seized by jutsu, then vanished. The detonation blossomed harmlessly in distant hills, rattling the night like thunder.
Obito ghosted into Minato's blind spot, Kamui already spiraling.
His hand clamped Minato's wrist; the kunai passed through the mask like mist.
"Your opponent is me," he hissed. "And this ends now."
Space warped. Minato's outline began to twist—
—then snapped clean as the seal glyph flickered and he FTG'd out of the vortex at the last possible blink.
On the ground below, grief churned into shame. Villagers who had once scowled at a lonely orphan suddenly saw the truth.
[Shopkeeper]: "Naruto… I'm sorry. From now on your meal tabs at my stand—free."
[Leaf Civilian A]: "We believed rumors. We were wrong."
[Leaf Civilian B]: "I'm sorry, kid."
Naruto stared at the sky, stunned. Forgiveness felt heavy and strange.
[Kurama]: "So, Fourth—this is the village you died for?"
Silence answered him.
High above the rooftops, two legends squared the board:
One untouchable behind a spiraling space-time veil.
One unstoppable on a lattice of invisible marks.
Minato flipped a three-pronged kunai, eyes tracking the rhythm of Kamui's phasing. A plan clicked into place: force contact, plant a marker, and end it with a point-blank Rasengan the moment the body turns solid.
The wind stilled.
The kunai spun.
The mask tilted.
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