Uzumaki Kushina: "Isn't this too dangerous?"
Uzumaki Kushina: "If it fails... Naruto could very well lose his life."
Mei Terumī: "It won't. The remedy isn't hard."
Mei Terumī: "The hard part is... how the Nine-Tails inside the black frame world will choose."
Tenten: "Any reason to doubt?"
Tenten: "Even if the Great Fox has endured humiliation until now,"
Tenten: "after learning so many secrets, and given its own existence—if it messes with the seal and the Tailed Beast is extracted, the Jinchuriki will die..."
Tenten: "I don't doubt war will come soon, and no matter how strong the Great Fox is, it'll probably be captured again and used as a strategic weapon."
Minato Namikaze: "Well said."
Minato Namikaze: "But I left a contingency long ago; there's no need to worry.
That was what he said.
Yet inside the Shinigami's stomach, Minato Namikaze was a nervous wreck.
What if the Chakra body containing his will that he'd left behind dissipated?
Nothing was absolute; even Minato couldn't guarantee it.
["Last time I'll ask."]
["Inside the Sealing Space, the Great Fox's voice suddenly dropped."]
["Naruto looked up."]
["He saw the Great Fox staring at him with utter seriousness."]
["'You sure you want to undo the seal?'"]
["'Of course,' Naruto answered without hesitation."]
["'Then... don't you feel anything?'"]
["'Like?' Naruto raised an eyebrow."]
["'Don't you hate them... hate This Fox?'"]
["Naruto: '...'"]
["Seeing Naruto silent for so long, the Great Fox closed its eyes."]
["This Fox knew it... knew it would be like this..."]
["'I say,'"]
["Naruto drew the words out."]
["'I think I was just too careless before.'"]
["'You, fox, are not only tsundere but also a bit... hmm, how to put it~'"]
["The Great Fox froze, then snapped its eyes open."]
["Those huge fox eyes sparkled with delight."]
["Naruto shook his head; the fox's reaction caught him off guard."]
["Reasonable yet unexpected."]
["'Any more questions?' Naruto asked."]
["'Hmph~!' The Great Fox lifted its chin, unable to suppress its grin."]
["If This Fox has questions, it will ask; no need for you to remind me!"]
["Naruto chuckled and walked toward the seal gate."]
["'Sometimes I wonder about that too.'"]
["'But I don't have an answer.'"]
["'Will I blame or hate?'"]
["'Not really. Maybe at first, but now... why even ask me?'"]
["The Great Fox naturally ignored the remark."]
["'All right, get ready; I'm about to break the seal.'"]
["Naruto dropped the topic."]
["But to be honest,"]
["Naruto didn't feel much about so-called parents."]
["He'd never experienced it."]
["As for family, weren't the rookie 9 exactly that?"]
["Of course, digging deeper,"]
["Naruto could still glean something from what he knew of them."]
["Leaving aside the Fourth Hokage - Minato Namikaze,"]
["his poor mother—even dead, he could feel her love for him."]
["Otherwise he'd never have spoken of reviving the Uzumaki."]
["Compared with that, he had little interest in learning more about Minato."]
["Maybe because he himself didn't know it, but he was rather disappointed in this so-called Fourth Hokage."]
["'Will any trace remain?'"]
["'Maybe... if there is, it'll help a lot of future things.'"]
["He shook his head."]
["At that moment, crimson Chakra appeared beneath Naruto's feet."]
["That blood-red Chakra was naturally the Great Fox's."]
["Right now, a hand formed from Chakra lifted him high."]
["He quickly reached the center of the seal gate."]
["The exact 'gap' left by the Inner Four Symbols Seal."]
["With a key, you could simply open it."]
["But Naruto didn't have one yet."]
["There was no news of the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya either."]
["As for the Old Thing, it would be troublesome to operate, and who knew if he even had one."]
["'No matter what, the shallowest first layer of the seal can still be undone easily.'"]
["'If my guess is right... we've probably wasted a lot of time.'"]
["Naruto's hand pressed against the seal tag on the gate."]
["The Great Fox's gaze followed his hand and locked onto the tag."]
["'Then, I'll peel off this first layer.'"]
["Riiip—"]
["The moment the words fell,"]
["Naruto yanked downward without hesitation."]
["But—"]
["An accident happened."]
["The seal tag that should have come off smoothly"]
["jammed after being torn a third of the way."]
["'Naruto, you mustn't tear the seal.'"]
["A gentle voice echoed inside the Sealing Space."]
["Naruto blinked in surprise."]
["Then he relaxed."]
["At least the shadow of a father had been preserved."]
["Tap—"]
["In that brief daze,"]
["a hand landed on Naruto's shoulder."]
["In his senses, the figure behind him couldn't hide its Chakra."]
["In an instant Naruto knew it was a Chakra body, much like a Shadow Clone."]
["Yet slightly different from a Shadow Clone."]
["He didn't dwell on it immediately."]
["The Chakra felt gentle, warm like sunlight."]
["He turned his head."]
["There stood a man wearing the Hokage's ceremonial robe."]
["Blond hair, handsome face, a gentle smile bright as a little sun."]
["Very alike."]
["Meeting him in person, Naruto even froze for a moment."]
["Was he looking into a mirror?"]
["At the same time,"]
["outside, in Naruto's mind, Ashura's Chakra began to stir again."]
["'Forgive everything!'"]
["But Naruto was prepared."]
["The instant Ashura's Chakra flared,"]
["his ready Chakra pounced, tore off the agitated portion, devoured and assimilated it."]
Senju Tobirama: "So this is the contingency you spoke of, Eternal Belt Sister?"
Senju Tobirama: "Impressive. You must've spent quite some time studying Sealing Jutsu with Kushina, haven't you?"
Minato Namikaze: "You flatter me."
Minato Namikaze: "I anticipated this day might come."
He had sealed his Chakra inside before death.
Not just for Kushina's final wish.
The reasons were far too complicated.
Perhaps after being pierced by the Nine-Tails' claw, or after splitting it in two with the Reaper Death Seal,
Minato seemed to understand many things.
Did he regret it?
Maybe a little.
But as he said,
no matter what, the love was real.
["'If you have questions... we'll talk later; this isn't the place.'"]