Naruto's goodwill was something Gaara could never bring himself to refuse.
"No problem!" Minato answered at once after hearing his son's words. He owed Naruto too much already—of course he would compensate him. Whatever Naruto wanted, he would agree.
Kaede left, and Minato set out to carry out the mission he had been given. Following the location Kaede provided, Minato's speed allowed him to arrive in no time.
There, Danzō and his Root members kept constant guard. Since Konoha's fall, Danzō clung to Root, unwilling to be separated for even a moment. He was terrified that Kaede would strike him down in his sleep. He lived in constant fear, only trusting his Root agents. To men like Kakashi and Might Guy, he gave no trust at all.
Kakashi and Guy didn't bother to force the issue. Since Danzō didn't want them close, they simply minded their own business.
"Kakashi, what do you think we should do in times like this?" Guy asked, feeding more wood into the campfire before sitting beside him.
"I don't know."
Kakashi's left eye was covered with a black cloth, his Konoha forehead protector long since removed. With Obito's Sharingan gone, the strain on his chakra had lessened, but he still wasn't used to it.
"Yeah… there's no hope left for our future," Guy sighed.
The only shinobi village still standing was in the Land of Lightning. Everywhere else had either been destroyed or submitted. They, the remnants of Konoha's ninja, were nothing more than wandering shinobi now.
Danzō wasn't the man to rebuild Konoha. He lacked the strength to oppose Kaede. That man… he was everyone's nightmare.
Just hearing Kaede's name made them wake in cold sweats. He was too powerful—one man capable of standing against the entire world. And with time, his strength had only grown. No one truly knew the full extent of Kaede's power anymore—perhaps not even Kaede himself.
The fire crackled in the silent night.
"Enough. Get some rest. Tomorrow Danzō might want to move again, and we can't stay here," Kakashi finally said after a long pause.
"Yeah. Danzō…" Guy muttered.
But before they could rest, Asuma Sarutobi approached, his expression heavy.
"What is it? Danzō just called you over. Did he give you some mission? An assassination target?" Guy asked curiously.
"No… it's… forget it. You should see for yourselves."
Asuma stepped aside. Kakashi and Guy looked past him—then froze.
"Sensei!"
"Fourth Hokage!"
They could hardly believe it. Before them stood Minato Namikaze.
"Kakashi, Guy… you've grown. You've become fine shinobi," Minato said with a gentle smile.
They hadn't had the chance to speak properly in the chaos of war. Now, finally, they could.
Kakashi and Guy were well into their thirties now, seasoned veterans with the faces of middle-aged men. Yet Minato, still in his twenties at the time of his death, looked young and vibrant.
The sight was almost comical—Minato, who should have been ten years older than Kakashi, now appeared ten years younger.
It was, in truth, a cruel fate.
"Sensei… I failed to protect Naruto," Kakashi said, guilt weighing heavily on him. He could have cared for the boy, but the Third Hokage's orders had barred him from approaching. So he did nothing. That was his sin.
"No, don't say that. We all share blame. My mistake was believing Konoha would protect my child. I thought they'd treat him as a hero. Instead, they made him the vessel of their hatred—a fox they feared and despised."
Sadness clouded Minato's face. If Kushina knew what had happened, her heart would break. Their precious son, reduced to an outlet for others' spite.
"Sensei…" Kakashi lowered his head. Not protecting Naruto was his first great regret. The second was failing Rin. The third, losing Obito's eye.
"Fourth Hokage… we're all at fault," Guy said softly, bowing his head too.
"Don't call me that. Konoha is gone—swept away by the tide of time. Even when I was Hokage, I saw the village's flaws, but I couldn't escape Hiruzen's control or the elders' endless meddling. I thought I had time to fix things… but then the Nine-Tails struck."
Minato's tears flowed freely. "I rose from nothing to become Hokage. I gave my life for Konoha with no regrets. But the village had no right to treat my son that way. No right to treat Naruto like that. A village like that… doesn't deserve to exist."
Minato's voice trembled with pain, but also with conviction. He had accepted Kaede's truth.
(End of Chapter)
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