The Fourth Hokage was in a discussion.
More precisely, the Hokages of four different eras were in discussion together.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
And Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline. Though he had not yet officially become the Fourth Hokage, he was already very close.
Orochimaru had suffered devastating losses.
Although he himself managed to escape, the entire Sound Four were captured alive.
As for the last one, Kimimaro, his battle with the Kazekage had accelerated the deterioration of his Kekkei Genkai illness, so he never took part in the Konoha Crush plan.
The Sound ninja were nearly wiped out by Konoha. After confirming the Kazekage's death, the Sand ninja naturally turned against Orochimaru and sided with Konoha to avenge him. At the same time, they urgently contacted their village elders, hoping to resolve the incident through political means.
The Third Hokage ultimately remained in power.
The only thing that brought Orochimaru a measure of comfort was discovering Sasuke, along with another youth who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance to sink his teeth into that boy's neck and leave behind his special cursed seal as a "gift."
When Rin Nohara, young Kakashi, and Obito Uchiha saw adult Kakashi return with two Narutos, two Sasukes, and two Sakuras, they nearly couldn't tell who was who.
This world's Kakashi was standing side by side with Might Guy.
Altogether, the group had grown to well over a dozen people. Trying to chat was a mess. They could only get each other's attention by patting shoulders, since calling out names was completely useless, especially when it came to Kakashi.
Obito called out, "Kakashi," and three people answered.
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
Young Kakashi snapped at him, "Can you be more specific when you call someone?! Who exactly were you calling?!"
"Then how about I give you all nicknames?"
"You wouldn't dare?!"
"Ahem. Save yourself some dignity in front of your students, will you."
Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki were all stunned. They couldn't believe that Kakashi-sensei had been this sharp-tempered when he was young. He was nothing like the laid-back, lazy version they knew now.
Sakura and Naruto from the other world were already used to this by now. Sasuke had long since accepted it.
More importantly…
Sasuke clapped a hand on Obito Uchiha's shoulder.
"About that… have you told this world's Kakashi yet?"
"N-not yet," Obito said. "Let's wait until Minato-sensei finishes talking. We'll explain everything together."
Naruto Uzumaki was clearly running out of patience.
"That's the Fourth Hokage?! He looks way too young, dattebayo! Hey, where's my dad? I want to talk to him first. I'll go see the Fourth Hokage later and tell him that I, Naruto Uzumaki, am definitely going to surpass him and become the strongest Hokage one day!!"
"..."
The moment he finished speaking, everyone stared at him with identical expressions.
Sasuke Uchiha, who was just as unaware of the truth, felt a little dazed. Deep down, he had the unsettling feeling that he was already on the verge of figuring it out.
Naruto was honestly impressed by the version of himself from this world.
He conveniently ignored the fact that, back when he had learned the truth, he himself had been just as unable to believe it.
"What are you even talking about?" Naruto scolded his counterpart. "Why does it sound like you're treating my dad and the Fourth Hokage as two completely different people?"
"Huh?"
Naruto Uzumaki, who had just finished defeating Gaara, looked utterly confused.
Aren't they two different people? Of course they have to be two different people… right?
At that moment, Sakura Haruno voiced the conclusion they had already been circling around.
"We heard before that your father was Kakashi-sensei's teacher. And Kakashi-sensei always calls his teacher 'Minato-sensei.' That's when we started suspecting it."
"???"
Naruto Uzumaki still looked completely blank.
Shikamaru Nara let out a tired sigh.
"You seriously didn't know the Fourth Hokage's name? His name is Minato Namikaze."
"That's right!" Naruto said with a bright grin. "And by the way, our mom's name is Kushina Uzumaki!"
"!!!!"
This time, neither Naruto Uzumaki nor Sasuke Uchiha had any room left for denial.
Naruto stared blankly at the Fourth Hokage, who was currently talking with the Third Hokage. Just moments ago, he had been calling that man a "young guy," even though he looked younger than Kakashi-sensei.
Only now did Naruto realize that, hanging in the Third Hokage's office, the photo of the Fourth Hokage showed a man with the same golden hair as his own.
Minato Namikaze noticed them and raised a hand, motioning for them to come over.
Seeing the pitiful look on Naruto Uzumaki's face, even the Third Hokage couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.
"Minato, why don't you talk with Naruto for a bit? Let Kakashi handle the next part of the report."
Minato Namikaze nodded and pulled this world's Naruto aside for a private conversation.
Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha were still reeling from the truth they had just learned. They instinctively looked toward their counterparts from the other world for confirmation.
After receiving a clear nod in response, their expressions shifted in different ways.
Today alone, Naruto Uzumaki had already dealt Sasuke a massive shock. And now, another bombshell had dropped right on top of it.
Sasuke spoke to the version of himself from this world.
"Didn't see that coming, huh? We were just as shocked when we first found out."
Shikamaru Nara frowned slightly.
"From what you're saying, it sounds like Minato-sama wasn't originally part of your world?"
Sakura nodded and briefly explained what had happened in their world.
"That's why I said Gaara and I basically have the same background, dattebayo," Naruto said, glancing toward the Suna siblings, clearly unsure whether they should be hearing this.
Gaara nodded quietly.
"I never imagined your father was the Hokage."
"That's right," Naruto replied. "Your dad sealed the One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku, inside you, and you suffered because of it. Same here, dattebayo. Kurama has been living inside me since the day I was born."
"Kurama?"
Naruto let out a dry laugh.
"Because of that guy, everyone in the village avoided me too. After all… my dad sacrificed himself just to seal him away."
"Sacrificed himself… to seal him away?"
This world's Sakura Haruno repeated the words mechanically.
They had grown up hearing stories about the great hero, the Fourth Hokage. Everyone knew the tale of how the Fourth Hokage gave his life to protect the village by sealing the Nine-Tails.
"You're saying Kurama is the Nine-Tails?!" Sasuke Uchiha suddenly remembered Naruto's final battle with Gaara, when he had transformed into a massive fox with nine tails. "That Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?!"
["Hmph! Speaking of that, I still haven't settled the score with that brat. Turning me into something that ugly!"]
Sasuke and Sakura noticed that Naruto had suddenly gone quiet.
Rin Nohara explained, "He's probably talking to Kurama inside his body."
Nearby, the First and Second Hokage, along with the Third who was accompanying them, had come over to take a look at Konoha's new generation and overheard the conversation.
Hashirama Senju recalled his battle against Madara and the Nine-Tails. That beast had never been something you could casually communicate with.
"To think the Nine-Tails even has a name."
Rin forced a small, awkward smile.
"Not just the Nine-Tails. All the tailed beasts have names."
Tobirama Senju noticed something off in her expression.
"What's wrong, young lady? You can speak freely."
Rin hesitated for a moment, then spoke honestly.
"The Three-Tails, Isobu, is sealed inside me. He…"
Hashirama thought for a second.
"Oh! That huge gray fellow! His Water Release was even stronger than Tobirama's. I remember him."
Rin tried to phrase it gently.
"He… well… because Hashirama-sama captured all of them back then…"
"Oh! Oh! They still remember me? I'm honored!"
"..."
Rin fell silent. Was he genuinely not getting it, or was his natural obliviousness just on another level?
Tobirama rubbed his forehead.
"Brother, are you an idiot? Can't you tell she's probably being attacked nonstop by Isobu because of what you did?"
"Huh?" Hashirama finally reacted. "Is that so?"
The others had similar expressions. None of them had known about this.
Rin continued, "Isobu seems really upset that he was living just fine back then, only to be captured by Hashirama-sama and evenly distributed to the other villages."
"Ahahaha," Hashirama laughed, scratching his head. "After all these years, they still remember that."
Kakashi: "..."
Tobirama Senju: "..."
The genin: "..."
Rin, looking a little conflicted, relayed Isobu's complaints at his strong insistence.
"He seems extremely upset about the whole 'tailed beasts being given away for free' thing…"
Given away for free?
Tobirama recalled that incident and immediately felt even less inclined to look kindly on his older brother.
Hashirama sensed the oppressive mood coming from his younger brother and immediately wilted, completely losing all sense of dignity.
["That's right!!! That bastard Hashirama Senju!! I'll never be at peace with him! If tailed beasts weren't immortal, I'd storm the Pure Land myself and make sure he knows just how terrifying I am!!"]
Shukaku's shrill voice made Gaara's head ache.
"What's wrong, Gaara?!"
Temari asked anxiously, worried about her younger brother.
"Shukaku…" Gaara pressed a hand to his head. "He's yelling too loudly."
"......"
Everyone else looked toward the legendary God of Shinobi and collectively fell silent.
They genuinely didn't know what to say.
He was being completely suppressed by his own younger brother.
Naruto said, "Kurama's the same. Every time he sees Uncle Hashirama, he keeps asking to switch control with me, saying he wants to bite him to death."
Apparently, something like a head pat had really struck a nerve with Kurama.
"Tell them there's no such thing as tailed beasts being given away for free," Tobirama Senju said smugly. "I negotiated extremely high prices for all of them, so they can rest easy."
What he didn't realize was that the tailed beasts were cursing even louder now.