Listening from the side, Tsunade almost couldn't help but speak up and refute this whole argument about "greater good" and "duty."
But seeing how solemn Jiraiya looked—and how Naruto, half-understanding yet listening with genuine seriousness—she ultimately swallowed her words.
This wasn't the time to debate ideologies.
What truly caught them off guard, however, was Naruto's reaction.
He didn't sink into deeper anguish.
Nor did he spiral into abstract philosophical torment.
After a brief silence, he wiped his tears hard, sniffed, and spoke in a voice thick with grievance yet strikingly straightforward:
"I don't care about responsibility or whatever…"
"All I know is that he left me alone all these years…"
"And when I finally see him… I just want to punch him!"
The words were childish. Petty.
But they carried the most honest emotions a child could have.
The grievance of being abandoned.
The anger he wanted to unleash on a "father" who hadn't been there.
Jiraiya froze for a moment—then broke into a relieved smile tinged with bitterness.
He didn't scold Naruto.
Didn't lecture him.
Instead, he nodded firmly, as if making a promise.
"Alright!"
"When you meet him someday, I'll hold him down for you—so you can punch him properly!"
This utterly unconventional response was, paradoxically, the most effective comfort Naruto could have received at that moment.
It didn't deny Minato's greatness.
And it didn't deny Naruto's pain.
Instead, it allowed Naruto to be angry—to express his resentment—through humor and acceptance.
Tsunade stared at the two of them, completely stunned. She blinked, momentarily unable to process what she'd just witnessed.
"…That's it?"
"That's… resolved?"
The meltdown she'd expected—Naruto breaking down, darkening, spiraling into long-term psychological scars—never came.
With almost brutal simplicity, this child had reduced a dilemma even she found unsolvable into a plain family grievance:
A son wants to punch his useless dad.
Just like that?
So… this was a family issue now?
This kid's mentality… was it unbelievably strong?
Or were his nerves just ridiculously thick…?
Or maybe—
maybe his heart was simply that pure and resilient to begin with.
She'd worried herself sick for nothing.
Speechless but relieved, Tsunade let out a quiet breath.
Watching Naruto's profile—still full of grievance, yet visibly livelier because of the childish thought of "punching Dad"—her heart filled with complicated emotions.
Such a good…
such a simple child…
He didn't drown in "Why me?"
He didn't curse the unfairness of the world.
His heart was as clear as pure water.
But then—
How could someone like this ever want to destroy the world?
No matter how Tsunade looked at him, she couldn't connect the Naruto before her with the cold, merciless Naruto Uzumaki from the celestial vision—the one who spoke of destroying the world and treated the Five Kage as nothing.
A profound sense of absurdity welled up inside her.
And immediately after it—
a towering rage toward the true culprits behind all of this.
In her heart, she cursed without restraint—directed squarely at her former teacher and those like him:
Old man!
And Danzō!
And all you bastards who allowed this to happen—open your eyes and look!
Look at this child! Look at his heart!
He should have grown up bathed in his parents' love, as a hero's son—bright, happy, unburdened!
He possesses the purest, most precious soul imaginable!
What kind of cruelty… what kind of year-after-year neglect, isolation, and pressure…
did you inflict—
to forcibly twist such an unpolished gem into the future "world-destroyer" you created?!
The contrast alone made Tsunade shiver.
She couldn't imagine how much despair and betrayal it would take—how much unresolved hatred—to push this child to such an extreme.
The future shown by the celestial screen wasn't a prophecy so much as it was a blood-soaked indictment of Konoha's old order.
A merciless verdict on the utter failure of these so-called "elders."
With that realization, Tsunade's gaze toward Naruto changed.
Beyond responsibility and frustration, there was now an unshakable resolve.
"I won't allow it."
"I will never allow that future to happen."
"As long as I'm Hokage—as long as I'm still breathing—I will never let this child be driven down that road again!"
"Konoha owes him more than it can ever repay."
"But at the very least—he will have a future filled with sunlight and bonds."
"Not a path leading to destruction."
"Hey, brat."
Tsunade snapped back to reality and barked sharply, cutting off Naruto and Jiraiya's increasingly absurd discussion about "how to punch Minato more satisfyingly."
Both of them turned to look at her.
She stared straight at Naruto, her tone firm and absolute.
"That business about punching your old man—"
She shot Jiraiya a sideways glance.
"Save it for when you meet him in the Pure Land. Settle it yourselves then."
Naruto and Jiraiya's expressions changed instantly.
Is she trying to get us killed?!
Meeting Naruto's gaze, Tsunade spoke clearly and powerfully:
"Naruto, listen carefully. Every injustice you suffered—every grievance you endured—was the fault of the old Konoha and its former leadership. That's a fact that cannot be ignored or erased."
Her voice carried open condemnation.
"To this day, I still can't understand what those people were thinking! They hid your identity as the Fourth Hokage's son—hid the truth that you were a hero's child—yet let the name 'demon fox' follow you your entire childhood!"
"That's not just stupidity—it's criminal!"
Then her tone shifted sharply.
Authority surged from her voice—mixed with Tsunade's own fierce, overbearing warmth.
"But things are different now!"
"I am the Hokage now!"
"So from today—no, from this very moment onward—I will restore everything that was rightfully yours!"
"I will let all of Konoha—no, the entire shinobi world—know your true identity!"
"You, Naruto Uzumaki, are the son of heroes—Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina!"
"You no longer need to live in shadows or under stigma!"
"From now on, stand tall. Live openly. Live in the sunlight!"
Those words—like a solemn vow—were like blazing sunlight, instantly dispersing all the shadows that had weighed on Naruto's heart for years.
He stared blankly at the blonde Hokage before him—at her flaring presence, at her righteous fury on his behalf, at the promise she made without hesitation.
An overwhelming warmth and happiness flooded his chest, smashing through his final defenses.
Tears poured out again—but this time, they weren't tears of sorrow.
He grinned widely, nose running, wearing the brightest, dumbest smile imaginable—while crying even harder.
He couldn't say a word.
All he could do was nod—hard, again and again.
"Mm!!"
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