Even Minato, who had once served as the Fourth Hokage, absolutely did not wish Kushina to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki again.
He understood all too well the cruel life she would have to endure as a Jinchuriki.
Minato had witnessed every hardship she endured. Finally, after obtaining happiness, their child was about to be born when that fateful night arrived—the Masked Man's sudden appearance shattered everything.
There was only one outcome for a Jinchuriki who lost her Tailed Beast… death.
This time around, he wouldn't let her carry such heavy burdens again.
Just as Minato had said before—nobody would ever dare to bully her again!
No one could take Kushina away from him ever again.
Moving at his incredible speed, Minato soon approached Mito's residence.
Its location remained unchanged from his memory.
When he saw what lay before him, he halted his steps.
A large crowd gathered near Mito's dwelling. Seeing the changed decorations on the house, Minato immediately understood.
She was already gone…
In the end, he had still arrived too late.
He clenched his fists. He'd lived through moments like this before—far too many times.
Obito, Rin… during that war in a future life, even with space-time Ninjutsu, he had been unable to protect his student Rin, and if only he had acted a moment earlier back then, perhaps the Nine-Tails wouldn't have been taken from Kushina.
Ultimately, it was because he wasn't strong enough—his pride and joy, his speed, hadn't been fast enough.
Previously, he had been powerless to reverse such situations, but now, everything was different.
He had returned, armed with memories of the future, which meant he could prepare in advance.
Moreover, he would surpass the "Yellow Flash" of the future in the shortest time possible.
This time, he would no longer dishonor the title of the Flash.
Minato observed the scene from afar for a while before turning and leaving.
With the mind of a past Hokage, he easily understood why the Third had taken such measures.
Right after sealing a Tailed Beast, the Jinchuriki must never come into contact with outsiders.
However, Minato felt no concern, since Kushina's Uzumaki constitution could easily suppress the Nine-Tails.
From his memories, the Nine-Tails within Kushina had always remained extremely obedient.
Later, Minato returned to his home.
...
Sitting in the room—so familiar, yet so foreign—he fought to steady his thoughts.
In this lifetime, he had lived here for nine years. But in his future memories, he had rarely returned to this room.
Right now, no one even realized how fragile their peace really was—and how soon it would shatter.
An immense war, nearly affecting the entire Ninja World, was about to erupt—known as the Second Great Ninja War.
Speaking of the Second War, inevitably brought up three legendary Leaf shinobi.
They were the three ninja who later gained fame across the entire Ninja World—the Sannin.
"Jiraiya should be within the Land of Rain right now..."
Minato muttered under his breath. As one of Jiraiya's disciples and the Fourth Hokage, he naturally understood the Second Great Ninja War in great detail.
No war breaks out overnight—it needs time to brew.
At its core lies the eternal issue of conflicting interests, something that can never be perfectly balanced.
Counting down the time, it had only been slightly over half a year before the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War.
Minato clearly remembered how this war had forced him to graduate from the Ninja Academy and step onto the battlefield.
That horrifying scene back then was deeply rooted in his youthful heart.
It was exactly this experience that made him swear he'd never let his homeland or loved ones suffer such destruction again.
If possible, Minato wanted to prevent the outbreak of war at its source.
But...with just himself alone, such a feat was utterly impossible.
Even the subsequent Third Great Ninja War was essentially an extension of the Second War—the spark that ignited it was the disappearance of the Third Kazekage from the Land of Wind.
Yet all these were nothing more than excuses used by aggressors to launch wars.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha not only avoided losses but instead gained tremendous benefits.
Most notably, the emergence of the Sannin—when one strong individual appears, it already represents tremendous significance for a ninja village; let alone three individuals together.
Not only that, Sakumo Hatake also killed two of the strongest puppet masters from the Land of Wind on their own battlefield.
From then on, the legend of Konoha's White Fang spread throughout the Ninja World.
After the Second War, Konoha entered an unprecedentedly powerful era, causing all major ninja nations to feel threatened.
That's exactly why Konoha could successfully resist invasions from four great nations during the following Third War.
Thinking about Sakumo, Minato couldn't help but feel regret—he was truly a hero, yet ultimately led to his death due to rumors.
He had always deeply admired this hero, even though they'd barely interacted at the time.
But now, ever since Kushina entered the Academy, everything had changed.
Because subconsciously he loved her so deeply, he could no longer stand anyone speaking ill of her or picking on her.
When Minato injured Yu Akasaka, this caught the attention of Yan Uchiha, who ranked first among their peers. The two engaged in a duel where Minato displayed capabilities far beyond that of an average Ninja Academy student.
This event consequently drew the attention of the Third Hokage, eventually leading to Jiraiya becoming his mentor later on.
From this point onward, history had already begun changing.
Previously, Jiraiya became their instructor after Minato graduated from the Ninja Academy, together with two other teammates.
As for the Third Hokage taking special notice of him, that started much later—only after Minato rescued Kushina from Cloud Ninja captors.
These events happened much earlier than they originally did, though that wasn't the biggest concern.
Originally, he hadn't interacted much with Yan Uchiha. This young genius from the Uchiha clan also participated in the Second Great Ninja War, handling logistical duties similar to Minato's.
However, during one mission transporting supplies, Yan Uchiha's squad was ambushed by enemy ninja and completely wiped out.
Sarutobi Ao had also perished during the Second Great Ninja World War.
But now, Sarutobi Ao's right leg was rendered useless, stripping him of his status as a ninja, and thus, he would never set foot on the battlefield again.
His fate had already changed. Although he had lost a leg, he wouldn't lose his life on the battlefield.
All of this happened gradually after his return—an imperceptible shift in history.
Perhaps even Minato himself wasn't sure whether the world he'd stepped into was really the one he originally belonged to.
After all, time crossing simply sounded too incredible.
But regardless, this rebirth was Minato's opportunity.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time—he had to act now.
So right now, there were certain things he needed to verify urgently.
Immediately, Minato pulled out a kunai. Drawing from memory, he gathered chakra in his palm and pressed it onto the kunai.
...
... (to be continued.)
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