All the grievances Naruto had endured for years finally found an outlet.
They surged up all at once.
Minato rubbed his stomach where he had been punched and looked at his tearful son, guilt flooding his heart.
He did not know what had happened in the future.
He could only piece things together from what little information he had.
Until Naruto blurted it out himself, Minato had not even known that the Nine-Tails was sealed inside him.
Still, it made sense.
If one were to choose a Jinchuriki, the Uzumaki Clan was the ideal vessel.
But after the fall of Uzushiogakure, the Uzumaki Clan had nearly vanished.
In Konoha, the only one left was his girlfriend, Uzumaki Kushina.
From what Kaede and Naruto had revealed, the sealing of the Nine-Tails into Naruto must have happened very early.
Most likely at the moment of his birth.
Because right now, the Nine-Tails was still securely sealed within Kushina.
And as a Jinchuriki, Kushina herself was a Kage Level fighter.
She might not have been as overwhelmingly powerful as Uzumaki Mito, the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who had protected Konoha for years after the deaths of the First Hokage and the Second Hokage while the Third was still young.
But Kushina was no weakling.
She could not be casually overpowered.
And she was still in her twenties, in the prime of her life.
There was no reason to transfer the Nine-Tails into their son.
Unless…
Unless she had been dying.
If she were on the brink of death and the Nine-Tails would perish with her, then extracting and resealing it would be the only option.
The only time a Jinchuriki became extremely vulnerable, when the seal weakened to its lowest point, was during childbirth.
If his deductions were correct, then the Nine-Tails had been sealed into Naruto on the day he was born.
That would also explain why Naruto had never seen his parents.
Which meant the problem had originated on the day of Kushina's delivery.
But that made things even more horrifying.
Kushina, as both the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Hokage's wife, would have had her childbirth classified as top secret.
How could an enemy have pinpointed the exact time?
There could only be one answer.
A traitor.
Only that explained everything.
If that had been the situation, then he would have had no choice.
Naruto would have been the only suitable candidate left in Konoha.
And yet, Minato himself had died as well.
Leaving his son to grow up in a hostile environment.
After his death, had the Third Hokage done nothing?
No.
He must have done something.
Naruto's identity had been completely hidden.
As the son of the Fourth Hokage and as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, exposure would have attracted countless enemies.
But even so…
Could they not have let him live just a little more comfortably?
Seeing Naruto sob like this, even Minato's normally gentle expression darkened with a trace of anger.
At least Naruto had grown up well.
He had not turned bitter or twisted.
That alone was a blessing.
Minato pulled Naruto into his arms and patted his head gently before letting him go.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why the future me made that decision. But if I truly sealed the Nine-Tails into you, then it must have been the only choice.
"In the entire village, aside from your mother, your body would have been the most suitable vessel.
"Forgive me.
"But I believe that if I entrusted you with that power, it was because I believed you could master it. That you would become a Jinchuriki no less remarkable than your mother. That you would use that strength to protect Konoha and the people you care about."
Minato did not know the exact thoughts of his future self.
But sealing the Nine-Tails into his own son could not have been solely about necessity.
There had to be some selfish hope in it.
The Nine-Tails was immense power.
If Naruto mastered it, he would at minimum reach Kage Level.
As a father, that might have been the best gift he could give.
"Naruto, how old are you?" Minato asked softly.
"Fifteen," Naruto replied, wiping his tears.
"Fifteen already… You must have gone through so much. I'm sorry, my son. I have no words."
Minato had seamlessly stepped into the role of father.
Since their memories would eventually be sealed, he allowed himself to act freely.
"It's okay now. I'm doing fine. I have Iruka-sensei who acknowledged me. Kakashi-sensei. A lot of friends." Naruto took a deep breath. "And I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage. The son of a hero. I can endure it."
Choza and Shibi both turned their heads away.
The son of a hero had lived like that?
As Minato's friends, they shared responsibility.
Even Queen Sara, who had been withdrawn moments earlier, had been listening silently.
She had thought her own life was tragic.
But at least she had her mother growing up.
Naruto had never even seen his parents.
Only through this twist of fate had he finally met his father.
Seeing how mature Naruto had become, Minato felt a swell of emotion.
Despite everything, his son had grown up well.
"Dad… you said Mom was a Jinchuriki too?" Naruto suddenly asked.
"Yes. Your mother is the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha. You would be the third."
"Can I see what Mom looks like?"
"Of course."
Minato pulled out a photo he carried with him and handed it over.
"Your mother's name is Uzumaki Kushina. You're Uzumaki Naruto, right? You inherited her surname."
Minato did not mind that his son did not carry his name.
In fact, he understood.
Carrying the Namikaze name might have only brought danger.
"So this is Mom… She looks so gentle," Naruto murmured, staring at the red-haired woman in the photograph.
"Gentle…"
Minato, Choza, and Shibi all stiffened awkwardly.
They each recalled the image of Kushina smashing a desk in half with one punch.
She was beautiful.
But gentle?
Not even close.
Even Kaede nearly choked.
Uzumaki Kushina and gentle did not belong in the same sentence.
Perhaps her fierce temperament had developed as self-protection after losing her homeland and arriving alone in Konoha.
But gentle was not the word.
Minato cleared his throat and turned back to Kaede.
"Now it's your turn. Why did you claim you taught Naruto Rasengan? And how do you know so much about us, including this mission?"
"Well…" Kaede scratched his cheek. "You could say I know a lot. About this mission. About many things. Think of it as a special ability. I can see events others don't know about."
"A special ability?" Minato looked unconvinced.
It sounded vague.
And it was.
Kaede could hardly say, "I transmigrated here. You're all characters from an anime I watched."
That would be even stranger.
"As for why Naruto insists I didn't teach him Rasengan…" Kaede paused. "My guess is that we come from different timelines. In the original timeline, Rasengan wasn't taught by me."
He had been thinking about this ever since Naruto failed to recognize him.
Even if he died during this mission, Naruto should not have forgotten him completely.
Unless…
This Naruto was not the Naruto he knew.
But the Naruto from the orthodox timeline.
Which meant that because of his transmigration, the world of Naruto had already split into a separate branch timeline.
Kaede had been raised on modern science.
Parallel timelines.
Alternate realities.
The concepts sounded like science fiction, but they were not hard for him to accept.
"There's a theory," Kaede continued, "that every choice a person makes, every second, can create a different future. Those different futures evolve into separate timelines. Parallel worlds. I think that's what's happening here."