As Kurama waited more and more anxiously, the terrifying pressure emanating from Naruto intensified.
'Not good.'
'This is really not good.'
Even though he was a creature made of Chakra, even though his death would most likely kill the Jinchuriki as well, Kurama couldn't help but feel a sense of impending crisis.
Just as Naruto stood expressionless, gathering his strength, an unexpected figure appeared before him… a blond man wearing the Fourth Hokage's robe.
He looked at Naruto and said with a smile.
"Naruto, I..."
Boom!!!!
Without the slightest hesitation, without even a moment's delay-
Naruto threw a punch!
Kurama watched as the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who had appeared for less than a second, was sent flying by Naruto's sudden punch, crashing into the bars behind him with a thunderous impact.
At this moment, Kurama had only one thought: 'If you hit him, you can't hit me anymore.'
Minato, who had manifested as a fragment of memory and Chakra, never expected his first meeting with his son to be so… explosive.
He had thought Naruto might at threw a random punch at him once to vent his anger.
But he actually threw a full-powered punch.
Thankfully, he was already dead a long time ago.
Like Kurama, Minato's memory fragment had also been 'imprisoned' when Naruto was first stranded in the One Piece World.
He was originally able to observe the outside world at will, but was locked in a small dark room for more than 20 years.
By the time he could see his son's surroundings again, it was already the day Naruto returned to Konoha.
He had never expected Naruto, who might be in his thirties or forties and entering middle age, to be restored to his teenage appearance, which made him feel puzzled and confused.
Later, when Kurama forcibly pulled Naruto into this space, Minato had intended to reveal himself. But who knew that fox would be so unreliable? Before he could even say a few words, Naruto was sent away again.
From then on, Minato witnessed everything that happened to Naruto… including his second return to the One Piece World.
This time, there was no mysterious force blocking his view.
He had also witnessed the vast ocean, so different from the Ninja World.
"Naruto-"
Minato slid down the bars and had only managed to utter that word when a massive fist stopped right in front of his face.
The sheer force of the punch turned the still-handsome middle-aged man into a disheveled mess, his hair blown back like a punk rocker's.
Fortunately, being an adult, Naruto had only lost control of his emotions for a brief moment upon seeing Minato.
His mood had already been volatile due to Danzo and Kurama, and now, the Fourth Hokage had walked right into the line of fire.
But Minato had no other choice.
He couldn't just let Naruto break the seal now.
Not to mention whether Kurama would go berserk, even if Naruto really killed Kurama, Naruto himself, as his Jinchuriki, whose Chakra had long been integrated with the Tailed Beast, would also die.
"Uh… Naruto, can we sit down and talk properly first?"
Minato spoke weakly, but Naruto just stared at him silently.
After a long pause, he finally retracted his fist.
"Looks like you're not some illusion conjured up by this fox."
In the feedback from the Observation Haki, Minato's emotions were completely unmasked, laid bare before Naruto's eyes with utter clarity.
It's far more complex than that fox next door, whose emotions were a mix of suspicion, hatred, and even a trace of fear.
'Ah, so he thought I was a Genjutsu creation. That's why he attacked.'
At that realization, Minato's heart felt slightly better.
But the next second, Naruto's fist, which is another 'fatherly love and filial piety punch', landed squarely on Minato's face, sending him spinning like a Beyblade for a full ten rotations before crashing into the bars.
Even Kurama, who had been watching the whole scene, couldn't help but fall silent.
The current Naruto seemed even more unhinged than he was. If the seal were to break now, who would end up influencing whom was anyone's guess.
The first punch had been out of caution, but this one is a pure, unfiltered venting.
Fortunately, after this farce, Naruto finally chose to sit back down and have a proper face-to-face talk with his so-called father.
…
"...So, you've been watching everything that's happened to me?"
Naruto listened to Minato's explanation without much change in his expression.
"Actually… it doesn't include the twenty years you spent in that world before that."
"I see..."
Naruto nodded, signaling his understanding, then immediately asked, "Then how do I get out of here? There are people waiting for me outside."
"Huh? Naruto, since you came in here voluntarily, you should be able to leave just by thinking about it-"
At first, Minato was a little puzzled like Kurama, but then he thought of something and immediately grabbed Naruto, who was about to try to leave without hesitation.
"…Wait, wait, wait! Naruto, don't rush off just yet!"
Seeing how Naruto seemed very unwilling to spend even a second longer with him, Minato felt both defeated and deeply ashamed.
After all, everything Naruto had suffered could ultimately be traced back to him and Kushina.
Naruto, whose sleeve was pulled by his father, simply turned back to look at Minato without a word.
However, the other party's inner anguish transmitted clearly into Naruto's heart.
This also dissipated some of the coldness on Naruto's face.
Truth be told, the suffering of the past was something Naruto had endured decades ago.
Objectively speaking, he'd experienced far more heartbreaking things during his time at sea.
But because this particular pain was tied to his origins and his parents, he'd momentarily lost his composure.
Now that the moment had passed, his emotions weren't as volatile.
…That said, he still had no intention of giving Minato a friendly look.
Some things were just non-negotiable.
"Time flows much slower in the mental world, so don't worry, nothing urgent is happening outside."
Minato even projected the events outside like a hologram for Naruto to see.
Just as he said, Danzo was still being pummeled by Naruto's fists, his body dissipating and reforming at an agonizingly slow pace.
It seemed that despite how long Naruto had been here, less than a single punch's worth of time had passed outside.
"Now, can you sit down and hear me out properly?"
"..."
"You tell me...Yondaime."
Hearing Naruto's address to him, Minato's expression dimmed, but he quickly steeled himself and continued.
"In fact, the truth about that night isn't what Danzo and the Third Hokage told you."
"That night, when Kushina was giving birth, the Nine-Tails attacked the village because someone was pulling the strings from the shadows."
"He's a dangerous enemy, and since you're a Jinchuriki, he might come after you. You have to be careful."
"He?"
After hearing what Minato said about there being another mastermind behind the scenes, Naruto's eyelids lifted slightly, his blue eyes darkening like the depths of the ocean.
"Yes. A man in a black cloak and mask. He also had the Sharingan."
"He was the one who caused the Nine-Tails Rampage that night."
After hearing this, Naruto didn't react with the explosive rage Minato and Kurama had expected.
"I see. Got it."
The killing intent spread out from his body is like a sticky liquid. Unlike the overwhelming aura from before, this was far more subdued… but also far more pure.
"I'll find him."
"And then I'll kill him."