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One Piece Breaking the Gene Lock
Genshin Impact: I am King Arthur
Naruto: Reviving the Fourth Hokage from the Start
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"Byakugan, huh? It's fine. With me here, let's see what waves they think they can make. Training's over—let's head home," Minato said with a thoughtful smile.
That evening, at the Namikaze dining room.
The table was laden with dishes.
Shinju sat to Minato's right, quietly eating. He was gradually getting used to this kind of family warmth—his father's gentleness, his mother's affection, and a little brother whose eyes were always full of admiration.
It didn't feel bad at all.
"Shinju, have some more of this," Kushina said, placing a piece of tender braised beef into his bowl. "You're still growing. You've got to eat more."
"Thank you, mother," Shinju murmured, popping the beef into his mouth.
Minato's smile widened at the scene.
He knew this family was moving exactly toward the future he wanted.
The air at dinner was warm and harmonious.
Then Shinju, who'd been quietly eating, suddenly looked up. "Dad, Mom—there's a reason I said the Cloud might be interested in the Byakugan. It comes from a strange dream I had last night."
"Oh? Really?" Minato chuckled. "What did you dream, Shinju? Tell Dad."
He assumed it was just a child wanting to share a story.
Kushina also watched with interest.
Shinju put down his chopsticks and tilted his head, as if pulling the details together.
"I dreamed a group of very tall, dark-skinned people came to our village."
He used the simplest words.
Minato and Kushina exchanged a look.
Very tall, dark-skinned.
Classic traits of shinobi from the Cloud.
It seemed the Anbu report from earlier had left some impression on the boy.
Shinju went on with his "dream."
"They all said they were good people—that they were here to make friends with our village. 'Peace envoys.'"
He gave a slight weight to those last two words.
"Everyone believed them. They even invited them home as guests."
"And then?" Kushina prompted gently.
"Then," Shinju's eyes showed the confusion natural to a child his age, "I dreamed that very late at night, one bad uncle snuck into a noble family's home."
"In that house lived a cute little princess. She had very pretty white eyes. If I'm not mistaken, that's the Hyuga's Byakugan."
Kushina's chopsticks froze midair.
Minato's smile vanished.
The atmosphere in the dining room shifted in an instant.
Shinju continued, matter-of-fact: "That bad man knocked the little princess out and tried to kidnap her."
Kidnapping.
Kushina's body trembled.
She remembered being taken the same way by Cloud shinobi when she was little. They were absolutely capable of such things. If Minato hadn't arrived in time back then… she couldn't bear to imagine it.
That memory was a scar that never faded.
She'd been simmering with anger all day; the warmth of family dinner had nearly quieted it. Hearing this, a fresh surge of fury roared up from her heart.
Minato looked at his son. His voice stayed gentle, but anyone who knew him would hear the chill beneath.
"Shinju—did the bad man succeed in your dream?"
Shinju shook his head. "No. The princess's father was strong. He noticed in time and drove the bad man off."
He paused, then asked "innocently":
"Dad, if bad men really pretend to be good, come to our village, and try to kidnap someone else's big sister… would you drive them all away?"
Bad men pretending to be good—the envoy from the Cloud.
Kidnapping—their old, well-practiced trick.
A princess with white eyes—the Hyuga.
Every keyword aligned, building the outline of a plot that could spark conflict between two great villages—and worse.
Minato stared at his son's "innocent" face, a storm raging in his heart.
Was this… truly a dream?
Or was his mysterious eldest child warning him—by means Minato couldn't understand—of a threat that could prove fatal?
Thinking of his and Kushina's resurrection, Minato leaned toward the latter.
An icy killing intent seeped from him, so faint it was almost a breeze—yet the room felt a few degrees colder.
Better careful than sorry; his mind was already made up.
A dangerous pressure rolled from Kushina as well.
To try that trick under her nose—something she herself had suffered—against another innocent girl?
Did those Cloud bastards really think Uzumaki Kushina had grown too old to lift a blade?
Seeing the unmasked killing intent radiating from his parents, Shinju knew he'd achieved his aim.
He said nothing further, just lowered his head and quietly finished his rice.
Hide merit and name.
Minato drew a long breath and forced the barely contained fury back down.
He reached out and ruffled Shinju's hair.
"Thank you for the warning, Shinju."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, that won't happen in Konoha again."
He held Shinju's gaze, but his words felt like a declaration to certain people in the air.
"If anyone dares to try, they'll learn that Konoha's soil isn't a place you come and go at will…"
"…Not unless I permit it. And if I don't—do they really think they can leave?"
The meal ended with a surface warmth that barely hid the killing edge beneath.
After dinner, Minato, as usual, spent some time playing with Kushina and the kids.
Then—on the pretext of going to the Hokage Office to handle paperwork—he left home.
He didn't go to the office.
Instead, his figure appeared at a hidden, abandoned training ground in Konoha.
A few minutes later—
Five masked figures materialized without a sound.
They dropped to one knee in unison.
"Lord Fourth!"
These five were the core Anbu Minato himself had trained while in office.
They didn't belong to Root, and they didn't answer to the Third. They served one person only—
Namikaze Minato.
After Minato's "death," they'd gone to ground, waiting for the call.
"Rise," Minato said, voice clipped and cold.
"Yes, sir!"
"I have a mission for you." A shard of frost flashed in Minato's eyes.
"From this moment, maintain twenty-four-hour surveillance on every member of the Cloud envoy."
"I want their every move, every meeting, every word—reported to me at once."
"Especially…"
"When they make contact with the Hyuga."
"If you detect any suspicious action—or any attempt to target a Hyuga, particularly the Hyuga heiress, Hinata—"
"No need to request permission. No need to report. I'm granting you authority now."
"Terminate on sight."
"Yes, sir!"
The five Anbu answered as one, excitement—almost bloodthirst—threading their voices. It had been a long time since they'd had a mission this sharp, a chance at real merit. They couldn't help a touch of anticipation—hopefully the Cloud wouldn't be too well-behaved.
Five shadows melted back into the night.
Under the cover of darkness, a trap personally set by Namikaze Minato—a "catching turtles in a jar" operation aimed squarely at the Cloud—quietly began.
(End of Chapter)
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