[Mist Ninja: As expected of the Flying Thunder God—this speed is insane!]
[Stone Ninja: I never thought I'd live to see this jutsu with my own eyes.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju @ First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Big Brother! Well? That's one of the jutsu I developed!]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: As expected of my little brother. Sugoi!]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju @ Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Not bad—you use it well.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Honey, no matter how many times I see it, you're still so cool when you use the Flying Thunder God!]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Dad! I wanna learn that too!]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: I want to teach you, but for now I don't have the chance.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju @ Naruto Uzumaki: I've already acknowledged you as Konoha's hope for the future. Once I'm Edo Tensei'd or revived, I'll teach you personally.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Thank you, Lord Second! (super excited)]
The footage continued.
[One of the ninja behind the Fourth Raikage stared in shock. "That blond hair and teleportation… there's no doubt—that's the Yellow Flash of the Leaf. If that's the case, if we don't run now, when will we?"]
[The Fourth Raikage was unfazed. "So he's the one who single-handedly stopped the Nine-Tails' capture mission?"]
[Opposite him, the Fourth Hokage held a kunai and said seriously, "You're A, son of the Third Raikage of the Hidden Cloud, right? I've heard you're extremely fast."]
[Behind the Fourth Raikage to the left, Killer Bee snorted. "With me and Big Bro here, we'll definitely win! Yaa-ho! Pop the jaw, yo!"]
[Seeing this, the Fourth Hokage told the Leaf ninja behind him, "Everyone, don't move. I'll handle this alone."]
[With that, the Fourth Hokage scattered Flying Thunder God-marked kunai all around them.]
...
Some people who didn't know about this battle started discussing in the chat whether Minato could really fight one against many and win this fight.
After all…
[Mist Ninja: Can Minato win? The enemies aren't exactly pushovers.]
[Sand Ninja: Exactly. Forget the others, just those two—one is the future Fourth Raikage A, and the other is the Eight-Tails jinchūriki who practically mastered the Eight-Tails' power.]
[Stone Ninja: I doubt the Fourth Hokage can win. Still, he should be able to retreat safely. He does have the Flying Thunder God.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju: Hmph, a bunch of ignorant fools. The Fourth has already won. (completely calm)]
[Madara Uchiha: He's right. The moment Minato scattered those kunai, the battle was already over.]
[Cloud Ninja: Isn't that a bit arrogant? Are you looking down on Lord Raikage and Lord Bee?]
[Fourth Raikage A: Quiet. They're right. If Bee and I hadn't let Minato throw those kunai, we might have had a chance.]
[Killer Bee: It was so frustrating at the time! If we could redo it, Big Bro and I would definitely win! Yaa-ho! Pop the jaw, yo!]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Dad is so cool! Sasuke! Even if you stole the Seventh Hokage position, I've decided—I'll become the Eighth Hokage, just as cool as my dad! @ Sasuke Uchiha]
[Sasuke Uchiha @ Naruto Uzumaki: Naruto, I already said—since I'm going to be the Seventh Hokage, you've got no chance at Hokage anymore.]
Without noticing it himself—
Sasuke felt the confusion he'd had before beginning to clear.
He'd been struggling with a question:
If he had to defect from Konoha in order to gain the power to kill Itachi or to get stronger—
What should he choose?
But now—
He wasn't confused anymore.
In Kakashi's footage, didn't he ultimately come back and become one of the heroes who defeated the final boss, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?
Not only that—
He was the Seventh Hokage.
So—
He would change that future.
He would not defect from Konoha.
He would believe in himself. Even if he stayed in the Leaf, he would grow stronger by his own strength.
[Hinata Hyuga: Naruto-kun, you can definitely do it.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: My daughter-in-law is right. I also believe my Naruto will become Hokage—and just as handsome as your father.]
[Hinata Hyuga: Mm!]
This time—
Hinata's face was still burning red from embarrassment.
But she managed not to faint.
She'd taken a bold step. That was a huge improvement.
The footage continued.
[The Fourth Raikage didn't waste words. Lightning flickered over his body as he shot forward like a bolt, his speed shocking everyone. In a blink, he was in front of the Fourth Hokage—his fist only four fingers away from Minato's face.]
[But no matter how fast he was, he couldn't surpass space–time ninjutsu. Minato casually flicked his Flying Thunder God kunai into the air and warped to a nearby tree.]
[Seeing this, the Fourth Raikage was stunned. "He dodged my top-speed attack…?"]
[Even as he thought that, the kunai Minato had thrown appeared right behind him. Minato teleported there in an instant, driving the kunai straight toward his back.]
[At the last second, Killer Bee extended a tentacle of the Eight-Tails and shoved A away, taking the stab himself.]
[Taking the chance, the Fourth Raikage flashed to Bee's side, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Sorry, Bee. You okay?"]
[The watching Leaf ninja, who had been ready to jump in, were all shocked. "Don't tell me… that guy… is really the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki?"]
...
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju @ All Konoha Shinobi: All you Leaf shinobi in that footage, step forward and take your punishment! You embarrassed Konoha!]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju: My brother's right. The battle was already won—why were you panicking? Too embarrassing.]
[Killer Bee: Hahaha! That's just my overwhelming presence, yo! Yaa-ho! Pop the jaw, yo!]
[Leaf Ninja 1: First Hokage-sama, Second Hokage-sama, we're sorry. We were too weak.]
[Leaf Ninja 2: Sorry! We shamed the Leaf.]
[Leaf Ninja 3: Thinking back to that fight is humiliating. We not only embarrassed Konoha, we were completely useless.]
[...]
All the Leaf ninja who'd been there stepped out in the chat to self-reflect.
The footage continued.
[After their shock, the Leaf ninja urgently yelled to Minato, "Retreat, Watergate! Let's just pull back for now!"]
[Minato turned around and began walking away—at a calm, steady pace.]
[Seeing this, Killer Bee couldn't help introducing himself: "The Eight-Tails is none other than Lord Killer Bee!"]
[Minato turned back and said, "Your bravery is admirable. You're not just an Eight-Tails jinchūriki—you see yourself as a fellow shinobi. That means you possess something truly remarkable."]
[The Fourth Raikage snorted in pride and pointed at Bee. "In terms of ability, he's stronger than I am."]
[Minato: "No, that's not what I meant. He has something even more precious. A… you have a rare partner. So do I. In any case, I expect that next time we meet, it'll be as Kage, facing each other in battle. If you don't realize what matters most to your little brother, he may stop being a jinchūriki—and stop being human."]
[Fourth Raikage A: "Hmph! Trying to talk your way out of this? It won't work."]
...
In the group chat—
A lot of people were confused.
They began a heated argument about whether Minato had been "just spouting nonsense" or not.
Two camps formed: one supporting Minato, one siding with the Fourth Raikage's skepticism.
Inside the Reaper Death Seal, in the Shinigami's stomach.
Kushina: "Honey, I know you weren't just talking nonsense back then, but I didn't understand it from the footage. What exactly did you want the Fourth Raikage to realize?"
Minato thought back for a moment, then smiled. "It wasn't anything big, really."
Kushina's face immediately darkened. "Spit it out. Now."
Minato: "It was about comrades. Back then, A still hadn't realized that Bee saw him as his most important comrade."
Kushina thought for a bit as well, then nodded in sudden understanding.
"I get it now. You meant that if A didn't realize that, and did things that hurt Bee's feelings, then Bee might…"
Minato nodded. "Exactly. Judging from the fact Bee is still fine in the footage, it seems A listened to me in the end."
Kushina: "So not only should A thank you—the entire Hidden Cloud should be grateful to you."
Minato just smiled and said nothing.
[Sakura Haruno @ Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Lord Fourth, you definitely weren't just making things up back then, right?]
Clearly, Sakura was firmly on Minato's side in that debate.
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