Naruto walked slowly toward Minato and the other reanimated Hokage. His expression was unreadable—calm, but sharp as a kunai's edge.
As he passed Hiruzen, the old man shuddered.
Naruto didn't just walk by.
He took his other arm.
A muffled scream tore out of Hiruzen's throat—one of agony. His body trembled violently, caught in the relentless grip of tenfold pain and now utterly maimed. His mind teetered between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Naruto didn't even glance back.
Minato, watching the scene unfold, felt a knot twist deep in his chest.
'How did he become this ruthless?' he thought, eyes filled with a father's worry.
"Orochimaru, release them. Let's talk without any puppetry clouding their judgment," Naruto said coolly.
Orochimaru, with a smirk, nodded and dispelled the control over Hashirama and Tobirama.
The brothers gasped as consciousness returned. Tobirama staggered. Hashirama rubbed his head like he'd woken from a migraine.
Naruto waved a hand.
"Don't worry, I've shut Hiruzen up. Couldn't take that screeching anymore," he muttered as if annoyed by a mosquito.
Then he turned to Orochimaru again.
"You forgot two more," he said flatly.
Orochimaru grinned wider, as if he'd been waiting for this.
With a wave of his hand, two more coffins emerged from the ground and slid open with a low creak.
From one, a woman with vivid red hair tied into a regal bun.
From the other... a man in battle-worn Uchiha armor, hair as wild as the chakra storms he once commanded.
Hashirama's brows lifted. "Mito? Madara?!"
Tobirama clenched his jaw. "This is getting out of hand."
Naruto gave a casual shrug.
"I thought we needed proper representation: Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki… all the big names. Just a little family reunion."
Madara opened his eyes, scanning the strange scene with sharp awareness. He scoffed. "Well. This isn't how I imagined being brought back."
He spotted the Senju brothers. "Hashirama. Tobirama." He nodded, like greeting old rivals at a war council.
Mito blinked, adjusting to the light and the voices.
She looked around until her eyes landed on a face that stirred a deep memory. "...Minato?" she asked, stepping forward—not to Hashirama, but to the Fourth Hokage.
Minato gave a small, respectful smile. "Yes, Mito-sama."
Her tone softened. "How is Kushina? My heir, my little flame…"
Minato hesitated. His eyes flickered toward Naruto with guilt.
And that alone told her everything.
Her smile faltered.
"You're dead… then she must be…"
"Don't worry," Naruto spoke up with a gentle grin."She's more alive than ever. You'd love her. She's still got that Uzumaki fire… and maybe a bit more."
Mito's eyes snapped to him. Then, to the tiny fox perched on his shoulder.
"That chakra... that's Kurama. But how is he—so small?!"
Kurama huffed, crossing his stubby arms.
"Still with the insults, huh, little girl?"
Mito's jaw dropped. "You talk now?!"
"I always talked. No one bothered to listen," Kurama grumbled.
"Mito-san," Naruto chuckled, "I'll explain everything soon. But maybe... take a moment to reconnect with your husband?"
Mito nodded slowly, already trusting him just by the tone in his voice. She turned—
Only to find Hashirama and Madara standing side by side... laughing.
Laughing.
"Ahem!"
The cough cracked through the awkwardness like a thrown shuriken. Hashirama spun toward her, sheepish.
"Mito! You're here! I—"
She sidestepped his open arms with the poise of a kunoichi queen. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
Hashirama shrank down like a scolded academy student. "I-I'm sorry, Mito! I didn't know how to—!"
Madara, smirking beside him, whispered, "She hasn't changed a bit."
It took a few tense minutes (and probably a few death glares), but eventually, Mito sighed... and wrapped her arms around Hashirama.
"Idiot," she muttered. "But you're my idiot."
Hashirama chuckled sheepishly, nearly crying as he held her.
Naruto stepped back, watching the moment unfold with a satisfied nod. It wasn't perfect. It was a battlefield. But even in war... a little peace could bloom.
Naruto stepped forward, his tone level but commanding.
"Is the family reunion over?" he asked with a hint of teasing.
Hashirama gave a sheepish nod, Mito gently smoothed her robes, clearly curious.
Madara raised an eyebrow, arms crossed, his interest piqued.
Tobirama's eyes narrowed, his suspicion now fully ignited. Minato's face, meanwhile, held something more vulnerable—worry.
Naruto took a breath and straightened his posture, his voice taking on a formal edge.
"Then let me introduce myself properly—I am Naruto Uzumaki. Current jinchūriki of Kurama—you might know him as the Kyūbi."
He gestured toward the little fox perched on his shoulder, who offered nothing but a snort and a grumble.
Mito blinked. "Kurama…? I didn't even know he had a name…"
"Tch. Figures," Kurama huffed. "You humans seal us, steal our chakra, but don't even bother learning our names."
"Hey, you were more growls and roars back then," Mito shot back playfully, "Not much of a talker."
Kurama growled louder. "I was trying to be terrifying."
Naruto sighed, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement, before continuing:
"This is the 66th year of Konoha's founding. I'm the son of Minato Namikaze—Fourth Hokage—and Kushina Uzumaki, former jinchūriki of Kurama and princess of the Uzumaki Clan."
Mito's breath hitched slightly. Her eyes softened as she studied him—really looked at him now.
"Naruto, huh? That's a good name. Sounds like something Kushina would come up with."
Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "She… actually named him."
Mito smiled. "Of course she did. She always did things her way."
Naruto gave a small bow. "I carry both their legacies. Not just as a shinobi, but as someone who bears the weight of their choices—and their hopes."
Hashirama finally broke the heavy silence, his tone softer than before, yet laced with a leader's concern.
"And what of the Senju? What of the village…?"
His eyes held something more than curiosity—they held hope. Hope that his dream still stood.
Naruto turned his gaze toward him, the warmth from before now cold steel.
"The village?" He kicked something forward. Someone.Hiruzen.
The old man tumbled forward like discarded trash, groaning, maimed and silenced by the Genjutsu-induced pain Naruto had imposed earlier.
"On the surface, it looks pristine—a symbol of peace and unity. But the core? It's rotting. Because of men like him."
Hashirama's eyes widened slightly. Tobirama's brows furrowed. Mito, however, stared. Her face shifted from calm nostalgia to quiet horror.
"Saru…" she whispered.
She hadn't looked at him until now. Perhaps she didn't want to. But Naruto forced her hand.
"You know it, don't you, Mito-san? You felt it, even back then. You trusted Tobirama. You believed in the system. But somewhere deep down, you knew these men—this generation—had warped the ideals you stood for."
Tobirama turned to her sharply.
"Mito?" he asked, concern cutting through his usual ice. "Is that true?"
Mito didn't respond right away.
"I… I didn't know how far it had gone. But I always felt… something was wrong."
Naruto crossed his arms, his gaze piercing Tobirama now.
"You founded the Academy, right?"
Tobirama nodded, standing a bit straighter.
"Yes. I created it so that civilians—those born without clan names or kekkei genkai—could stand equal to their peers. So they wouldn't be crushed beneath the weight of clan superiority."
"A noble intent," Naruto replied. "But Hiruzen here—your student—twisted it."
He stepped forward, his voice sharp like a thrown kunai.
"The Academy became a breeding ground for conformity. For blind loyalty. Children weren't raised to be strong—they were conditioned to obey. To fear change. To accept loss. To sacrifice themselves for a system that never loved them back."
Tobirama's fists clenched.
"That wasn't what I—"
"No, it wasn't," Naruto interrupted. "But it's what he did. He created a generation of tools. Not soldiers. Not protectors. Tools."
He pointed at Hiruzen again, who lay there, barely conscious, his body trembling under the weight of Naruto's chakra laws.
"He called it 'the Will of Fire'. But he used it as a leash."
A stunned silence settled over the room.
Hashirama stared at Hiruzen like he was seeing a ghost he no longer recognized.
Tobirama's eyes narrowed, not with sorrow—but with something far more dangerous for a former student: disappointment.
Mito, however... said nothing. She didn't need to. The silence on her face said more than any words could.
Naruto, still standing before them all like a lone storm cloud over a dying battlefield, let the next line fall like a sword.
"Let me add one more stain to their legacy.
Sakumo Hatake.
A man so noble, so strong…
They drove him to suicide.
He didn't die because he failed a mission.Didn't die because he saved the wrong people.He died because he was too good.Too strong. Too beloved.Because he was being hailed as the next Hokage."
The silence was brutal.
"They couldn't stand it.The idea of a man with actual honor taking the hat.So what did they do?"
Naruto looked at Minato—who already knew where this was going.
"They dragged his name through the dirt.Mocked him.Whispered behind his back.Stripped away his reputation piece by piece…Until the White Fang of Konoha chose death over disgrace."
Minato's expression cracked. Pain leaked through the cool facade. He looked away.
He knew Sakumo. Admired him. Trusted him.
To know that he wasn't just lost… but destroyed by the very village he bled for?
That was too much.
Tobirama, usually unshakeable, actually stumbled back a step.
"Had I known Konoha would become this…" he whispered, "I would never have passed the title to him."
And Naruto, like a dagger pressed to the heart, struck with precision.
"Then who? Danzo?"
The name hung in the air like a curse.
Tobirama shook his head violently.
"No. Never him. He was… flawed.Too hungry for control. Too rigid."
"And yet," Naruto shot back, "you still made him."
Tobirama fell silent. He had no answer.
A soft voice broke the tension—Hashirama, ever the peacemaker.
"Don't dwell on what can't be changed, brother.Even gods make mistakes.What matters now…Is that we learn from them?That we never let history repeat itself."
Tobirama looked at his brother for a long, heavy moment.And for once… didn't argue.
In the background, Madara stood with his arms folded, unimpressed.
He wasn't surprised.
His silence wasn't from guilt—it was calculation.
He eyed Kurama, resting lazily on Naruto's shoulder, and muttered under his breath:
"So the fox is still here…Which means the Tsuki no Me hasn't come to pass.Interesting."
But for now, he listened.
Because even he knew: the past was bleeding into the present.And from that blood… something new would be born.