"First and foremost," Naruto said coldly, stepping toward Minato.
Minato's heart, even in death, lifted slightly. He instinctively opened his arms—expecting a hug, perhaps even a tearful reunion.
He was wrong.
THUD!
A brutal punch landed square in his gut. The impact cracked the ground beneath them.
Minato staggered, eyes wide. The pain wasn't physical—his reanimated body couldn't feel it—but the intent behind that punch? It struck deeper than any kunai.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Oops. Forgot corpses can't feel pain. Don't worry… I'll bring you back properly. And then I'll make sure you do."
Minato's voice was soft. "...Naruto…"
"Reason?" Naruto's tone dropped into something fierce, something raw."You left me. You left Mom. Alone. That's not something you get forgiven for just by smiling and throwing a Rasengan."
A beat of silence.
Then—"BAHAHAHA! The son punched the father!" Hashirama erupted into laughter. "This reunion's more exciting than I imagined!"
Tobirama sighed. "Brother… Did you seriously not realize he was Minato's son?"
"How would I know?! The kid has red hair!"
Tobirama turned serious, eyes narrowing. "Boy. What's your intention here? If you're against Konoha—Uzumaki or not—I won't let you leave alive."
Minato winced, not from fear, but sorrow. He could feel the village slipping from its ideals… and the consequences sitting in front of him.
Naruto looked straight at them. Voice calm. Terrifyingly calm.
"I'm not attacking Konoha."He vanished in a flash.
Hiruzen screamed.
In less than a second, Naruto had severed Hiruzen's right arm, and stood behind him, his right eye spinning with a unique Mangekyō pattern.
"Shikan: Law Seal — Multiply Pain Tenfold. Prohibit Death."
Hiruzen collapsed, eyes bloodshot, veins bulging, body trembling uncontrollably under the weight of enhanced pain. His mouth opened, letting out a scream so agonizing it echoed against the flaming barrier like a dying beast.
He tried to pass out.
"Never sleep."
His eyes snapped open. Bloodshot. Quivering.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tobirama and Hashirama moved. Instantly.
Chakra surged.
Minato hesitated.
Lord Third was dying in torment—was that right? But Naruto... that was his son.
And this was their mess.
Minato stepped forward, shielding Naruto slightly. "I gave my life for this village once. I sacrificed my soul."
His voice dropped. "But I stand with my son."
Tobirama's glare was absolute. "You would betray Konoha?"
"No," Minato answered. "I already did, by leaving him alone in it."
A sharp silence fell.
Naruto sighed and raised both hands in mock surrender."Everyone, calm down. Geez. Always with the drama when I try to do a little pruning." He smirked."I said I'm not against the village. I'm just cutting out the cancer... the parts that let children suffer and call it 'for the greater good'."
His eyes narrowed—focused like razors.
"You can keep the Will of Fire. I'll burn down the roots that twisted it."
Hashirama's fists clenched. Tobirama's eyes narrowed, jaw tightening.
Their comrade—their student, Hiruzen—was writhing in agony, his face twisted by tenfold pain and bound by Naruto's eerie ocular power.
It was too much.
Tobirama's chakra surged with sharp hostility. He blurred into motion, hand forming the initial seal of Flying Thunder God.
Hashirama, mournful but resolute, raised both hands. The ground cracked beneath him, nature answering the call of the Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands—the mighty Mokuton rising.
But before they could even finish—Naruto's voice cut through like a scalpel. Calm. Cold.
"Don't bother."
They both froze mid-technique.
"Second," Naruto said, eyes locked on Tobirama. "Your Hiraishin? Already mastered and refined—by my father and by me. Your version? Old-gen."
"First," he turned his gaze to Hashirama, as bony rib-like plates erupted around him in spiraling arcs of chakra. "You must've seen this before. Madara showed it to you, didn't he?"
A shimmering skeletal armor encased Naruto—the first form of Susanoo.
The very air shivered with power.
Hashirama's eyes widened.
"Susanoo…" he whispered. He knew that form. He feared that form. It was the last thing he ever fought.
And Naruto—this boy, this red-haired anomaly—stood inside it like it was nothing more than a jacket.
Naruto wasn't finished.
"This? This is just the base form. I've got two more levels of Susanoo. Add Kurama to it—my dear tenant—and Sage Mode? Yeah. Try stopping that."
Hashirama's jaw tightened. He'd fought those powers. Separately. And they nearly killed him. Together?
This kid was a walking calamity.
But the tragedy wasn't Naruto's strength.
It was that this titan stood against them.
"Your current body can't absorb natural energy," Naruto added. "So forget about using Sage Mode. And without that, you'll never touch this." He tapped on the Susanoo's ribs. "I'm untouchable."
The structure shimmered, then dissolved. Naruto released the Susanoo casually, like it was a jacket he'd grown bored of.
"Relax, Second," Naruto said, glancing at Tobirama. "He's just reaping what he sowed. Let him taste the consequences of a broken legacy."
Tobirama's eyes twitched. Fury warred with logic. But Minato spoke up, breaking the tension.
"Naruto," his voice was quiet, hopeful. "Just… explain. Please. What is all this? What happened to you?"
Naruto's face softened—just slightly.
"I'll explain everything. You deserve that. You all do."
He turned away from the past and toward the present—toward Rasa, the Kazekage.
"But first, I have something personal to discuss… with him."
Rasa flinched as Naruto pointed straight at him.
Behind him, Hashirama and Tobirama's chakra surged again—but Naruto raised a hand without even turning.
"Orochimaru. Control them. I don't trust the Second to sit still."
Orochimaru's serpentine smile widened.
"Gladly."
He spread his arms, fingers flicking with subtle mudras.
The reanimated First and Second resisted at first—Hashirama's face twisted with effort, and Tobirama growled low—but Orochimaru's chakra snaked around their souls like a vice.
Their resistance fell.
Their eyes dimmed.
Puppets.
Rasa felt sweat on his brow. Naruto walked toward him, the same calm gait he'd had while approaching a battlefield of corpses.
"Don't worry, Kazekage. I'm not going to eat you." Naruto smirked. "We're past that stage."
Rasa swallowed.
"I just want to talk.
Something personal."
Rasa inhaled slowly, then let the breath out with the weight of a man bracing for something heavy.
"What is it, Naruto?"
Naruto stepped forward, his eyes not hostile—but heavy with purpose.
"It's about your children."
His voice was gentle. Not accusing. Not hostile. Just... real.
"I know it's not my place to interfere in another man's family.
Especially not a Kage's. But before I say anything else..."
He paused, just long enough for the tension to set in.
"I know your plan to attack Konoha with Orochimaru."
Rasa's jaw tightened—but Naruto raised a hand.
"You don't need to respond. Just know this: Orochimaru planned to kill you before the assault even began. You weren't his ally. You were a stepping stone."
His eyes narrowed just slightly.
"That's all I'll say about that."
A beat passed. Naruto's voice softened again.
"A child is a parent's softest part. Their heart is outside their body. I believe that applies to you, too—even if you buried it under duty or guilt."
Rasa lowered his gaze, his stoic mask cracking slightly.
"For whatever reason, you left your children out in the cold."
Naruto stepped closer, placing a firm but kind hand on Rasa's shoulder.
"Don't make that mistake again. At least from now on... be there for them."
His voice carried not judgment, but pain.
"The worst thing that can happen to a child isn't war, or loss. It's being alone."
Rasa felt the words hit harder than any jutsu ever could. It was like Naruto had reached into his soul and pulled forward every ounce of regret he'd buried beneath his Kazekage pride.
"Please... take care of them."
Naruto bowed his head slightly.
"It's not a command. Just a request—from one shinobi to another. From a son who grew up without a father... to a father who still has a chance to change."
Silence stretched like dawn.
Rasa's breath shook. Anger curled inside him—not at Naruto, but at himself.
This boy—this young man—had touched the deepest fracture in his soul with nothing more than truth.
And in that moment... something cracked.
And something healed.
Rasa reached forward and caught Naruto's shoulder, gently, as one would steady a falling child.
"You're a good child," he said, voice trembling with a strange, quiet awe.
"No... a good man. I'm the one who should apologize—to the children I neglected, to the village I misled."
His hand clenched lightly.
"Thank you for saving me from myself... and giving me the chance to be a father again."
Naruto gave him a quiet smile—calm, almost wistful.
"Then I have something else to take care of."
He turned.
Off to the side, unnoticed, Minato had been listening. He hadn't meant to. He'd tried to give his son privacy. But the words... they pulled at him like a current.
The Yellow Flash of Konoha felt tears sting his eyes.
"He's grown up into a man far better than I deserved," Minato thought, pride and guilt mixing painfully in his chest.
"Kushina... you really did a good job."
And somewhere, deep in the memory of a red-haired whirlwind woman... a laugh echoed.