In the dream, Naruto looked at the "father" in front of him, who had the same hair and eye color as himself, his face full of surprise and a strange sense of familiarity.
Eh? Who is this uncle? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before... he looks so familiar…
After all, Naruto was the bottom of the class, and he didn't read textbooks.
As for the Hokage Rock… asking him to match the face on the statue to a real person was simply too much. Normally, he only remembered classmates by giving them nicknames.
Looking at the living Minato at this moment, Naruto just felt an incredible warmth and familiarity, but didn't connect him at all with the legendary hero.
He simply stared blankly as Minato walked over, washed his hands, and then sat between him and "Mom" with a warm smile.
"All right, let's eat."
Kushina picked up her chopsticks and enthusiastically placed a large, glistening piece of braised pork into Naruto's bowl.
"Naruto, eat more. You're too thin. Today is the day you became a Genin—you have to eat well!"
Minato also smiled, placing a golden fried chicken drumstick on Naruto's plate and said gently, "Yes, being a ninja is hard work. You need to keep your nutrition up."
"Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto looked at the mountain of food piled in his bowl, then turned to his "dad" and "mom" sitting beside him, both smiling gently. It felt like he was in heaven.
He nodded vigorously, picked up his chopsticks, and began gobbling down food in big, joyful mouthfuls.
Even if this really was just a dream…
The food that Mom and Dad gave him… was delicious!
The feeling of being cared for, of being loved, of eating a warm meal together as a family—it was all so real.
Naruto savored every bite, his heart full of happiness. It felt like the most delicious meal he had ever had in his life.
Even… better than Uncle Ichiraku's ramen. A hundred times better.
From start to finish, a silly grin stretched across his face, pure joy radiating from him. He looked like he was melting from happiness.
[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Uzumaki Naruto captured! Emotional value +2000!]
[Ding! Uzumaki Naruto's deep-seated dream "Dinner with his parents" has been fully realized in the dream instance!]
[Congratulations to the host! Special reward triggered! One-time emotional value gain: +10,000 points!]
…
"What the hell!! Ten thousand points?!"
Aren, hiding in the shadows, nearly bit his tongue in excitement as he watched the number on the system panel skyrocket.
"I'm rich! I've seriously hit the jackpot this time!"
Aren trembled with excitement. "It seems... targeting the deepest emotional obsessions of each character is the most efficient way to rack up emotional value. I need to start researching each client's psychological needs more carefully from now on. All that time I spent studying psychological counseling is finally paying off!"
He glanced at his system panel. With his total emotional value now surging close to 20,000, he felt himself one big step closer to unlocking high-level bloodlines and advanced ninjutsu.
…
In the viewing room—
Kakashi stared at the heartwarming image of the small family eating together, his gaze filled with layered emotions.
If only Minato-sensei and Kushina-senpai hadn't sacrificed themselves that night twelve years ago...
This peaceful life could have been Naruto's reality.
He could've grown up just like any other ordinary child—cherished by his parents, allowed to be mischievous, complain about trivial things, and enjoy all the simple joys that should have been his by right.
A wave of sorrow and regret surged in Kakashi's chest once again, tightening around his heart.
[Ding! Emotional fluctuation from Hatake Kakashi captured! Emotional value +500!]
…
In the dream, the heartwarming dinner came to an end all too quickly.
Naruto sat on the stool, rubbing his round belly with a silly grin on his face. He felt so blissfully full, he was about to pass out from happiness.
Minato stood up and began clearing the table with practiced ease. Smiling, he turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, you can't just sit around after a meal. Come on, you're a man now. Let's wash the dishes together."
"Huh? Wash dishes?" Naruto blinked, momentarily confused.
Minato gave him a playful wink and chuckled, "Of course! We can't let Mom do everything by herself, right? We need to help her with the chores."
"Oh, okay, okay!" Naruto quickly caught on and jumped off the stool. "I'll help Mom wash the dishes!"
And so, father and son headed to the kitchen sink together.
Minato took charge of scrubbing the pots, while Naruto was in charge of washing the greasy plates and bowls.
Since Naruto had grown up mostly eating instant noodles or Ichiraku ramen, he had almost no experience cooking—let alone doing dishes. His movements were clumsy, knocking over plates and getting soap suds all over himself.
But none of that bothered him. In fact, he was enjoying himself.
Doing chores with "Dad" like this felt... wonderful.
Just as Naruto was humming a little tune and clumsily wrestling with the greasy dishes, Minato—who was scrubbing a pot beside him—suddenly spoke in a playful, mysterious tone:
"By the way, Naruto."
"Hmm? What is it, Dad?"
Minato paused, turned toward him, and smiled. "To celebrate you officially becoming a Genin today, Dad has decided… to teach you a super-powerful ninjutsu!"
"Huh? A super-powerful ninjutsu?" Naruto's eyes lit up, but a puzzled look soon followed.
"Wait, can I really learn ninjutsu in a dream?"
Minato's smile deepened, full of mystery. "You'll see. Finish washing the dishes first, then we'll go to the backyard."
He added proudly, "This technique took me three whole years to create. It's incredibly strong—and it has a really cool name, too."
Naruto's curiosity only grew, though he still felt something was a bit off.
"Learning a super move created by my dad... in a dream?" he muttered to himself. "Why does it sound a little too good to be true?"
…
Meanwhile, in the audience.
"Self-created ninjutsu?" Sakura perked up with interest. "Did the Fourth Hokage really invent any powerful techniques?"
She turned to look at Sasuke and Kakashi, curiosity brimming in her eyes.
Sasuke shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.
In the Ninja Academy textbooks, the records about the Fourth Hokage mainly emphasized his "Yellow Flash" speed and his heroic sacrifice sealing the Nine-Tails. There was barely any mention of the specific jutsu he was proficient in—let alone any that he had created himself.
Sakura pouted and muttered skeptically, "It's probably just part of Naruto's imagination, right? How could he possibly be the son of the Fourth Hokage? If he really was, why would he have lived such a miserable life growing up? The Fourth Hokage was a hero who gave his life for the village. Naruto... must just be dreaming about being the son of a hero."
Kakashi listened to her seemingly reasonable deduction and sighed once again, a sigh full of helplessness.
The truth about Naruto's parentage—and the Third Hokage's arrangements for him—was far too complicated, filled with layers of secrecy and helpless decisions.
Even Kakashi himself didn't fully understand all the reasons.
But right now, he couldn't help but feel that what they were watching... was more than just Naruto's imagination.
"Minato-sensei… creating a jutsu of his own... a very powerful one…"
Kakashi's heart suddenly tightened.
As Minato's most trusted and proud disciple, how could he not know exactly which technique his teacher had created?
Not only did he know it—he could use it himself! Even though his version wasn't as polished.
He had even developed a variation of it to suit his own style.
Could it be...?
Was Naruto really about to learn that technique?
Kakashi's brow furrowed deeper.
His gaze locked onto the screen.
…
On the screen.
The dream scene had shifted to the backyard of that warm, cozy home.
Could it really be possible to learn ninjutsu in a dream?
However, since he was with "Dad," he felt like he could do anything.
Naruto looked at the smiling man in front of him—their shared blonde hair and gentle expression filling him with trust—and made up his mind to cooperate enthusiastically.
Minato raised his right hand slowly, a playful gleam in his eyes, palm facing up.
And in the next moment—
Buzz.
Without any warning.
A brilliant, spiraling sphere of chakra suddenly formed in his palm!
The glowing blue orb spun fiercely, emitting a soft but distinct humming sound. The surrounding air visibly warped under the intense chakra pressure, as if being drawn toward the sphere.
…
In the audience.
The very instant that blue orb appeared—
Kakashi froze completely, as if locked in place by a powerful Genjutsu. His pupils contracted sharply, his entire body stunned as realization dawned.
"As I thought…!"
He could no longer maintain his calm. With a loud scrape of his chair, he jumped to his feet, staring at the screen in disbelief.
"Rasengan!"
[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Hatake Kakashi! Emotion value +1000!]
That's right—it was the Rasengan.
The very technique created by his teacher, Minato Namikaze, who spent three years developing it after carefully studying the mechanics of the Tailed Beast Bomb.
It was a pinnacle of chakra control—an A-rank jutsu that required no hand seals and combined the highest level of shape transformation with dense chakra compression.
A technique so refined, so powerful, it had no equal in its class.
This... this absolutely couldn't be coincidence.
What made Kakashi's scalp tingle even more was—
The way Minato showed off the Rasengan, the way he concentrated his chakra, and even the gentle smile on his face as if he were ready to teach his disciple a secret technique...
It was exactly the same as back then.
He vividly remembered it—shortly after his promotion to jonin, Minato-sensei had called him to the training ground one quiet evening and demonstrated the Rasengan to him for the very first time.
Exactly the same!
This wasn't something that could be conjured by a random dream or ordinary illusion.
Rasengan was Minato-sensei's unique self-created ninjutsu. Its principles were intricate, the chakra control requirements extremely high. Minato had died young, and this technique had never been widely taught.
In the entire shinobi world, aside from Minato himself, only Jiraiya and Kakashi had truly mastered it.
And now—Naruto was seeing such an accurate, detailed demonstration of Rasengan within a dream?
Impossible!
This wasn't just some fabricated dream.
Whoever was controlling this from the shadows...
Who were they?
Kakashi felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He had originally planned to observe a little longer, to gather more information before reporting the situation to the Third Hokage.
But now—
No!
He couldn't wait any longer!
This had clearly surpassed anything he could understand or handle.
He had to act—immediately—and report everything to Lord Third in full detail!
Maybe...
Only the Third Hokage, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," who had mastered nearly all the techniques in Konoha, could uncover the truth behind this phenomenon.
Kakashi took a deep breath, suppressing the storm in his heart. His eyes sharpened—he had made up his mind.