After speaking, Namikaze Minato did not hesitate.
Aside from the one time he had been forced to choose between his wife and his son during the Nine-Tails incident, he had never wavered in his life.
He began sealing everyone's memories one by one.
In the end, he sealed his own as well.
The light around Kaede Kitahara, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamato grew brighter and brighter. Then everything went black.
Kaede collapsed.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back inside the same palace where he had been fighting Kakuzu.
"My memories are intact."
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Even if he had lost them, he could probably have pieced things together based on his knowledge of the plot. He had also made a habit of jotting things down in his personal notebook beforehand. With enough deduction, he could have reconstructed most of it.
Still, having the memories was far better.
He immediately scanned his surroundings.
According to The Lost Tower's original storyline, they should have returned to the exact moment they left.
But something was wrong.
Kakuzu was gone.
And the seal that Namikaze Minato had previously set up, which had been destroyed during the fight, was somehow restored.
Kaede closed his eyes and extended his perception.
No sign of Kakuzu within range.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
The reason he had taken his time in the past was because he had been certain he would return to the exact moment he left.
This… was completely different.
Nothing like the movie at all.
"Damn it. I shouldn't rely on the plot so blindly," he muttered.
Time travel was already a rare anomaly. There was never any guarantee that Uzumaki Naruto returning to the exact departure moment was a universal rule. It might have been a special case.
Kaede immediately tried applying the Flying Thunder God Second Stage method Minato had just taught him.
He began leaving Flying Thunder God formulas in subtle corners around the palace. Multiple marks, just in case.
Only after ensuring he could teleport back here at any time did he check the position of his Flying Thunder God mark elsewhere.
As for the Dragon Vein's chakra here, he would have to return another time, once he figured out how to break Minato's barrier.
Earlier, when he told Hyuga Keiko and Amakusa Ryuji to retreat, he had given them a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Now he sensed it.
"There."
In the next instant, he activated Flying Thunder God.
He reappeared in a forest.
Under a large tree, Hyuga Keiko and Amakusa Ryuji were resting. Keiko had her Byakugan activated, scanning a two-kilometer radius to ensure Kakuzu had not followed.
Suddenly, a figure materialized in front of them.
Both of them nearly attacked on instinct.
"It's me! It's me!" Kaede hurriedly called out.
They recognized him and finally relaxed.
"You scared the hell out of us. How did you appear like that? Body Flicker Technique?" Amakusa Ryuji complained, though relief shone in his eyes.
They both knew how terrifying Kakuzu was. Leaving Kaede behind alone had worried them deeply.
Seeing him return unharmed, they finally felt at ease.
"Not Body Flicker Technique," Keiko said immediately, shaking her head. "I didn't see him within two kilometers. No Body Flicker Technique covers that distance."
"It's Flying Thunder God," Kaede admitted.
He decided to reveal it.
He and Keiko and Ryuji had fought and survived together. After taking down Root ninja together, they were already bound to the same fate.
Besides, letting them know some of his trump cards would prevent unnecessary panic in the future.
What Kaede did not realize was how much his mindset had shifted after battling Kakuzu.
If Keiko were to describe it, she would say he had become more confident.
When you hold a blade, the intent to use it grows naturally.
Fighting Kakuzu had proven something crucial.
He was no longer just someone whose chakra reserves barely matched Kage Level fighters.
His actual combat strength could stand toe to toe with them.
That realization changed everything.
A few months ago, he never would have exposed a card like this.
Even after two intense battles in a single day, his spirit felt sharper than ever.
"Flying Thunder God? The Fourth Hokage's technique?" Keiko stared at him in shock.
"Wait, what Flying Thunder God? What Fourth Hokage technique?" Ryuji blinked, confused.
The gap between them was not just raw strength.
It was knowledge.
Ryuji, a civilian-born ninja, likely only knew the Fourth Hokage as the Yellow Flash of Konoha from textbooks. He probably did not even know why he was called that.
Keiko, raised within the Hyuga Clan, recognized the name instantly.
"That's right. That Flying Thunder God," Kaede confirmed.
He turned to Ryuji.
"It's a space-time ninjutsu. I can teleport instantly from far away. That's how I appeared in front of you. That's why I told you to retreat earlier. With Flying Thunder God, no matter how strong Kakuzu is, he can't catch me."
"Ohhh. I see. That makes sense. Hahaha."
Ryuji scratched the back of his head. Whether he truly understood was questionable.
He could hardly admit he did not.
"So it's super convenient for traveling, huh?" Ryuji added quickly.
"In a way. But it requires a medium," Kaede said, pointing at the kunai he had given them.
"This is a specialized Flying Thunder God kunai. Keep it with you. If you encounter an enemy you can't handle, channel chakra into it. I'll sense it and come to you instantly. No matter how far."
"So that's how it works. This must be insanely expensive."
Ryuji stared at the heavier-than-normal kunai in awe.
"Idiot. It's not about money," Keiko sighed.
She crossed her arms and looked at Kaede with shining eyes.
"Flying Thunder God was invented by the Second Hokage and perfected by the Fourth Hokage. I've heard elders in my clan talk about it. They said the Fourth Hokage once instantly wiped out fifty Jonin from Iwagakure in a single battle. That's how he earned the title Yellow Flash.
"They say that in every village, if a mission team encounters the Fourth Hokage, they're allowed to abandon the mission without penalty. Only the absolute top-tier powerhouses get that kind of treatment."
Her voice was full of admiration.
"A single instant… fifty Jonin?"
Ryuji's mouth hung open.
That sounded impossible.
They could barely handle a Tokubetsu Jonin instructor together.
And someone could erase fifty Jonin in a blink?
On top of that, enemies had rules allowing them to retreat without punishment if they ran into him.
That was practically legend.
After all, Namikaze Minato belonged to the previous generation. Though he would only be middle-aged now if alive, he had died twelve years ago. A whole generation had grown up since then.
Many knew his name.
Few knew the extent of his feats.
"Yes. The Fourth Hokage truly achieved things like that," Kaede said sincerely.
As someone who also used Flying Thunder God, he understood how absurd it was.
In one-on-one combat, his killing efficiency might not lag behind Minato.
But one against dozens?
That required monstrous reflexes and processing speed.
As for the fifty Jonin story, he did not know how much was legend. Even if true, wartime Jonin standards were different from peacetime ones.
During war, children were sent to the battlefield before even graduating. Chunin exams were simplified. Jonin promotions were loosened to compensate for casualties.
Even so, the gap between Jonin could be as vast as heaven and earth.
"Unbelievable. No wonder he was Hokage," Ryuji muttered, fully convinced.
"It's been a long day," Kaede said as he climbed up into the branches above. "I'll take watch. You two get some rest."
With Kaede back, their tension melted away. Soon, both were asleep by the campfire.
Under the moonlight, Kaede took out the notebook Minato had given him.
Using a small flashlight, he began reading carefully.
Meanwhile…
Seventeen years in the past.
Inside a room in the ancient city of Roran.
Namikaze Minato stared at the diary that had just fallen into his hands from thin air.
His eyes sharpened.
He remembered.
Everything.