"I'm sorry. I promised Sara I wouldn't let anyone harm the Land of Roran. That's my ninja way. If I can't keep my promises, how can I become the future Hokage?"
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a single hand sign, hundreds of Naruto's clones appeared, surrounding Minato's team and forming a protective perimeter around the Ryumyaku. It was hard to say who would win if a fight broke out.
Seeing the situation, Akimichi Choza and Aburame Shibi knew they couldn't get past him without a fight.
How can I become the future Hokage...
Faced with this boy, who might very well be a future relative, Minato Namikaze fell silent. He could be ruthless, striking down the old, the weak, and even civilians if necessary. He was a ninja of Konoha, and he fought for Konoha.
But he had never considered protecting a small nation that wasn't his own.
After the destruction of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina was the only one lucky enough to survive and find a home in Konoha. If nothing unexpected happened, this blond kid named Naruto Uzumaki was very likely Kushina's child. And if there was no "other man," and he and Kushina were to marry, then this kid would be his own son. Besides the blond hair he shared, he had the same eyes, and even the Nine-Tails' chakra—
But now, his son was standing in his way, determined to stop his mission, swearing that this was his ninja way.
"You need to think this through," Aburame Shibi said, his voice low and serious. "We are all Konoha shinobi. Are you going to fight your own comrades?"
"So what? I promised Sara I wouldn't let you touch the Ryumyaku and I wouldn't let Roran be destroyed. I have to keep that promise, even if it means going against other Konoha ninja!"
Naruto had already recognized Choza—his build was hard to miss, and he was Choji's father. Shibi was harder to identify. The Aburame clan always kept themselves completely covered, even wearing sunglasses, making it nearly impossible to tell one from another.
"Well said, Naruto. This time, I'm on your side." A light, airy voice drifted down as Uchiha Nagi landed beside Naruto, a look of pure schadenfreude on his face. "If they want to destroy the Ryumyaku, they'll have to get through me, too."
Minato shot him an exasperated look, knowing Nagi was probably aware of his connection to Naruto and was likely doing this on purpose.
Uchiha Nagi simply blinked back, his expression a defiant challenge. That's right. I am doing this on purpose. What are you going to do about it?
Akimichi Choza slowly addressed Naruto. "This is a mission from the Third Hokage. Since you are a Konoha ninja, you should follow the Hokage's orders..."
"The old Third gets things wrong sometimes—"
Minato sighed and stepped forward. "Naruto, you don't fully understand war. When it comes, either the people of the Land of Fire die, or people from other nations die. Everything the Third Hokage does is for the sake of the Land of Fire, for Konoha."
He continued, "Don't you see? As long as the Ryumyaku exists, the Land of Roran can serve as a supply depot for Sunagakure. That puts much more pressure on Konoha, making the war drag on even longer. And if that happens..."
"If you change history because of your selfishness... then even more of our comrades in Konoha will die."
Hearing this, Naruto froze. More people from Konoha would die? He just wanted to protect the Land of Roran. How could that lead to more deaths?
"Naruto..." Sara's soft voice pulled him back to reality.
"I believe that one day, everyone will be able to understand each other," Naruto said, his resolve hardening. "And through that understanding, we can end all wars. But until then, I'm going to do what I believe in. I've seen the people of Roran. If you destroy their home, what will happen to them? How is destroying the Ryumyaku any different from killing them?"
He stood firm. "If Roran is destroyed, they'll be homeless. They could wander off and starve to death. So, I won't let you destroy the Ryumyaku."
Faced with Naruto's relentless pressure, Choza and Shibi both turned to look at their team captain, Minato Namikaze.
Minato sighed again. Dealing with Naruto was one thing, but having another Uchiha who could also use the Flying Thunder God technique stirring up trouble was a real headache. The man seemed to delight in seeing Konoha ninja fight each other.
Clap, clap, clap!
Uchiha Nagi applauded slowly, then said with a grin, "Well, Minato Namikaze, it looks like your son is much better than you are. He's more suited to be Hokage."
"Nani?!"
"What?!"
"Minato's son?!"
Everyone present, except for Yamato who already knew, stared in shock, their gazes flicking between Naruto and Minato. This blond kid is Minato's son?
The more they looked, the more they saw it. Both had blue eyes, yellow hair, and their faces were eighty percent similar. This...
"Sensei's son??" A small figure leaped down from above.
White hair, a cloth covering half his face, and that classic, insufferably cool expression.
Naruto recognized the younger Kakashi instantly. "Huh?! Kakashi-sensei!"
The smug-looking Kakashi was bewildered, pointing at himself. "Me? Sensei?"
Minato glared daggers at Uchiha Nagi. You knew, but did you have to say it out loud? Now look at this mess! The awkwardness was one thing, but the immediate problem was how to handle the situation. Was he supposed to have a father-son reunion right here? He wasn't even married yet—still a virgin, for crying out loud—and he was suddenly a father? What was he supposed to do now?
Uchiha Nagi couldn't care less. Messing with history didn't concern him. If things got too weird, he could always just hop back to the world of Demon Slayer.
"Hmm? Shouldn't you be thanking me? A father and son reunited, what a touching scene. Aren't you going to thank me, Naruto?"
"Uh, he's really my father?!" A stunned Naruto was, well, stunned.
He looked at Minato, who was silent but smiling, which seemed to confirm it. However, reality was often cruel. Before Minato could respond, a white light began to emanate from Naruto's body, and from Uchiha Nagi's as well.
"It seems the power of time is rejecting us," Uchiha Nagi stated calmly. "Those who don't belong in this era are being sent back to their own worlds."
"Wait, hold on! I still have so many questions..." Naruto said, panicking.
"Hey, I'm sure we'll meet again in the future," Minato said with a smile. "It won't be too late to ask me then. But for now, to prevent history from being changed, I think it's best if we seal these memories." He pulled out a three-pronged kunai, placed it on the ground, and began weaving hand signs.
Seal my memories? Are you kidding me? Nagi thought. I finally managed to copy the Flying Thunder God, and you want to seal it away? That would make this whole trip pointless! I even copied Naruto's Rasenshuriken. I'm not sure if I can even use it, but still—
"Heh, you can forget about sealing my memories. I'm not a fan of being sealed," Uchiha Nagi said. With a swoosh, he vanished using the Flying Thunder God.
Minato was helpless against someone who also knew the technique. Chasing him now was pointless, especially since they were about to be sent back. He decided to let it go. Besides, this Uchiha Nagi wasn't from his time; he was from the future.
Minato's sealing jutsu enveloped everyone around him: Kakashi, Shibi, Choza, and himself.
Smack!
Yamato landed a solid punch on Kakashi's head, grinning mischievously. "You were always picking on me back then. It feels good to finally get you back once."
Kakashi clutched his head, his trademark dead-fish eyes staring at Yamato, determined to burn this image into his mind. He decided then and there that he would beat this guy to a pulp every time he saw him in the future.
"Wait, I still have so many things I want to ask you..." Naruto pleaded.
"Ah, don't worry," Minato said kindly. "When we meet in the future, I'll tell you everything."
With a final smile, Minato completed his hand signs. The catch-all sealing jutsu instantly erased the past few days from their memories.
As for Uchiha Nagi and his two companions, there was nothing Minato could do. The moment the sealing was complete, Naruto was transported back to his own time by the force of time. The fate of Nagi's group was left to chance.
"Huh? What happened? Sensei?" Kakashi shook his head, coming to. The feeling of having his memories sealed was unpleasant, like a piece of his life had been cut out.
"It's nothing. It was probably related to changing history, so I sealed our memories," Minato explained. "The mission should be complete. Let's pull out." He glanced at the still-unconscious Sara, then led his team away from Roran.
Before leaving, Minato looked back at the Ryumyaku, thinking to himself, I won't let you down, Naruto.
In the end, Minato Namikaze gave up on destroying the Ryumyaku. He merely sealed it for a few years to report back to the Third Hokage. He figured that after a few years, the war would hopefully be over, and the seal on the Ryumyaku would conveniently release itself.
If Uchiha Nagi had seen this, he would have roared with laughter. That guy Minato not only didn't destroy the Ryumyaku, but he didn't even seal his own memories?!
Uchiha Nagi had no idea that his random meddling had caused a small but significant twist in history: Minato Namikaze had not sealed his own memory.
Of course, even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared. The protagonists of this world were just jutsu couriers for him. Now, aside from lacking the First Hokage's massive chakra reserves and Madara's Rinnegan, he feared no one.
And if he couldn't win a fight, couldn't he just run?
With the cheap and effective Flying Thunder God technique, combined with the dynamic vision of his Mangekyo Sharingan, he could be as fast as he wanted, even rivaling Minato Namikaze to a certain degree. For now, his vision was faster than Minato's, but his body lagged slightly behind. Minato's greatest strength was that his physical body could keep up with his speed.
The human eye is like a camera, capturing about 30 frames per second, while movies are typically 24 frames per second. He hadn't tested how many frames the Sharingan could process, but it was definitely more than double that of an ordinary person. A two-tomoe Sharingan would be even more, and a three-tomoe or Mangekyo was likely on the level of a hundred-fold increase.
And Minato, a man without a Sharingan, could somehow keep up with that speed. His eyes must have evolved through his years of intense physical training. Otherwise, no matter how fast he moved, the world around him would appear stationary, because his body would be moving faster than his eyes could process.
A body could be trained and enhanced like Might Guy's, but could eyes be trained in the same way?