["Don't even think about it!"]
Like a spring bursting up from deep underground, orange-red chakra surged out from Naruto's skin, thick and blazing as it wrapped around most of Naruto Uzumaki's body.
That was—
A tailed beast cloak formed from the Nine-Tails' chakra.
The Heaven Cursed Seal embedded within the cloak was instantly peeled away by the Nine-Tails' overwhelming chakra. Compared to Kurama's true power, it wasn't even worth a single strand of fox fur.
"Kurama!"
Naruto was overjoyed. He hadn't expected Kurama to help him at a moment like this.
["Idiot! Who said I was helping you! This was a mission that old man gave me! That's right, a mission!"]
Already used to Kurama's stubbornness, Naruto silently thanked the Nine-Tails inside the massive cage deep within his mind.
"Thank you, Kurama."
He made a quiet promise.
"When I grow stronger, I'll definitely open this cage for you."
With that, he waved and withdrew from the depths of his consciousness.
Kurama watched Naruto's departing figure. In truth, all it would take was tearing off the sealing talisman on the cage, and he could break free on his own.
But considering that Naruto might be overwhelmed by the hatred within his power, Kurama chose not to do so. Besides, his mindset had already changed. Cage or no cage, it didn't really matter anymore.
Orochimaru hadn't expected the Nine-Tails to intervene on its own. The failure of his plan left him visibly irritated.
At the same time, Kabuto Yakushi finished dealing with Shizune and hurried back toward Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru-sama! Please allow me to treat your arm."
"No. That can wait," Orochimaru said, suddenly changing his mind.
"Dan Katō, haven't you been wondering why Tsunade, who was once so powerful, has become so helpless now?"
He looked toward Dan Katō inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, the curve of his smile dripping with malice.
Taking advantage of the moment when Kimimaro coughed up blood, Jiraiya turned and shouted toward them.
"Stop it, Orochimaru!!"
But Orochimaru ignored him.
"Your death left Tsunade with an enormous psychological scar, Dan Katō."
As he spoke, he gave Kabuto a subtle glance.
Without hesitation, Kabuto pulled out a scalpel and slashed his own palm, deliberately splashing blood toward Tsunade's face.
Even though Sakura spread her arms to shield Tsunade from some of it, a few drops still splattered onto Tsunade's forehead.
Cowering. Fear. Panic.
Tsunade, who had just begun to stabilize thanks to Sakura's treatment, suffered a full relapse of her hemophobia.
Seizing the moment while Sakura's attention was on Tsunade, Kabuto yanked Sakura aside and then delivered a vicious kick, knocking Tsunade—the legendary Sannin—flat to the ground.
"!!!"
"Big sister!"
Dan Katō slammed his fist against the Four Violet Flames Formation.
If he weren't restrained by his Edo Tensei body, and if he didn't fear that unleashing his Spirit Transformation would leave no one capable of stopping him, he would have broken out of the barrier and killed Kabuto Yakushi on the spot.
Nawaki's face twisted with fury as he pounded the barrier, shouting for Minato to let him out. He swore he would beat that bespectacled man to death.
The fight between Jiraiya and Kimimaro also lost its rhythm due to the chaos. Jiraiya had to rely on Toad Smoke Bombs just to narrowly avoid several bone attacks.
"Kimimaro, was it?" Jiraiya called out. "Why are you so determined to serve Orochimaru? You know that even if he cures you, he only plans to use you as a vessel for his Living Corpse Reincarnation!"
The only response was the boy's calm, unwavering voice.
"I… am willing."
"Tch." Jiraiya was at a loss for words.
This kid sounded almost exactly like Minato, yet how could he be this single-minded?
"Jiraiya-sama, leave this to us."
Because the plan had completely fallen apart, Adult Kakashi arrived with Obito, Young Kakashi, and Rin.
Jiraiya looked at Adult Kakashi. "Are you sure?"
"No problem!" Obito said confidently. "We've been training like crazy lately! And I've awakened the Mangekyō too!"
Young Kakashi had already prepared himself to face Kimimaro. He shot Obito a sideways glance.
"Stop trying to show off. Otherwise, you'll be the first one to embarrass yourself."
"No way!" Obito hopped in place, yelling back at him. "I'm Obito Uchiha with intangibility! There's no way I'm getting pushed around by you and that watermelon-head like before!"
"Enough, both of you. Let's move," Rin said.
She rushed ahead and didn't hold back, smashing a bone with brute force. The impact made her fist ache. The Kaguya clan's bones really were tough.
Without pausing, Rin followed up with Water Release: Water Prison Technique.
"Obito!"
Rin called out to him.
"Huh? Wh–what?" Obito answered, flustered.
He still wasn't used to letting Rin charge in first. When she suddenly called his name, his mind went completely blank, and he failed to coordinate with her at all. They missed a perfect opening, allowing Kimimaro to break out of the Water Prison.
Obito hurriedly apologized, feeling guilty. This time, Young Kakashi didn't scold him. To be fair, Young Kakashi himself had no idea how to coordinate with Rin either. That left Rin utterly deflated. Her temper flared, and she glared at the two of them with wide eyes.
Adult Kakashi sighed, looking worn out.
"Rin was probably trying to combine Water Release and Fire Release," he explained. "The drastic temperature difference would force his bones to undergo a structural change."
Obito finally caught on. "Oh! Oh! So that's what you meant!"
"Don't count on that idiot," Young Kakashi said flatly. "Using Lightning Release to raise the temperature works too."
"What?!" Obito shouted. "Who's stealing the spotlight now?! Put your Lightning Release away! Your chakra reserves won't even improve much as an adult. Using lightning to heat things up? Do you want me or Minato-sensei to carry you back afterward?!"
Rin: "..."
Adult Kakashi: "..."
Kimimaro: "..."
With an opening, Jiraiya moved to restrain Orochimaru, leaving him no spare focus to control Dan Katō and Nawaki.
On the other side, Kabuto was overwhelmed by the combined assault of Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura and quickly went down.
At last, Tsunade, Nawaki, and Dan Katō had a chance to speak.
Seeing the Tsunade who once slammed tables and cursed the Hokage as a stinking old man now reduced to such a sorry state at the mere sight of blood, Dan Katō asked gently,
"Hemophobia?"
He tried to keep his tone light. "The strongest medical ninja in the entire shinobi world, afraid of blood. Who would've thought?"
"..."
"I'm sorry."
Nawaki and Dan Katō spoke almost at the same time, then looked at each other.
"Tsunade."
"Big sister."
They paused, then glanced at each other again.
"I… um…"
Both tried to speak, only to interrupt each other repeatedly.
Nawaki finally snapped. "Hey, you! Who are you supposed to be?! Why are you calling my sister's name like you're so close to her?! Did you even ask me first?!"
Pfft—
Sasuke and Sakura shot Naruto a look. That Nawaki kid was basically a mix of Naruto and Obito.
Nawaki didn't know Dan Katō, but Dan Katō had heard plenty about Nawaki.
He smiled. "I probably should've asked your permission. But thanks to you, I was able to meet Tsunade."
"Thanks to me?" Nawaki blinked.
Dan Katō said softly, "Your death made Tsunade decide to become an outstanding medical ninja. I agreed with her resolve, and that's how we ended up walking this path together."
"Walking together…" Nawaki was only twelve. His face instantly turned bright red.
"Hey, hey! You wouldn't happen to be—"
Dan Katō nodded with a smile. "Mm."
"So you're my sister's subordinate, right?!!" Nawaki blurted out.
"Huh…?" Even Dan Katō was thrown by that one.
Sasuke and Sakura glanced at Naruto again, then at Obito in the distance, who was still fighting while arguing with Kakashi.
Minato Namikaze gave an awkward smile. This grandson of Hashirama-sama really did resemble Naruto and Obito a bit too much.
That brief exchange made Tsunade forget her sorrow and frustration. She felt an overwhelming urge to punch the clueless kid inside the barrier.
"What subordinate? He's my boyfriend," Tsunade said. She thought she had steadied herself, but her voice still came out choked.
"What?!!!!" Nawaki shouted dramatically. "Boyfriend?!!!"
That shout even startled Dan Katō.
Nawaki planted his hands on his hips like a little adult and nodded emphatically. "Who would've guessed? My sister's so scary, and she still has a boyfriend! I always thought only Jiraiya-brother could survive her punches. Never thought someone like you, all refined and not that muscular, could take it!"
Dan Katō was painfully embarrassed, completely at a loss for words.
Then Nawaki landed another blow. "So… are you the Hokage?"
"Not yet," Dan Katō replied honestly. "But becoming Hokage is my dream."
He thought he'd finally found common ground, but Nawaki's next words hit him square in the face.
"You're not even the Fourth Hokage yet, and you want to be my sister's boyfriend? Don't you think you're dreaming a bit big?"
"..."
At that moment, the most awkward person there wasn't Dan Katō.
And it wasn't Tsunade either.
It was the man destined to become the Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze.
"What are you talking about?!" Naruto hurriedly jumped in. "My dad and mom are super in love!"
"Even if you're my grandma's brother, keep talking like that and I'll beat you up, dattebayo!"
"Who are you?" Nawaki asked.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The future Hokage!!"
"Uzumaki?" Nawaki's eyes lit up. "That's my grandmother's surname!"
It was rare for him to return to the human world, and after all, he was still just a kid. Instead of dwelling on the past, he was far more curious about the present.
"You want to be Hokage too?! Then we've got the same dream!"
Two twelve-year-old genin grinned at each other, baring their teeth in matching, foolish smiles.
"Big sis! How's the village now? Is the war over? Jiraiya-brother has gotten so old, and even Orochimaru-sensei doesn't look as good as he did back then. But you're still just as beautiful as ever, hehe."
Just like countless annoying little brothers, it seemed he had fully maxed out the skill tree for flattering his sister, all in the name of survival.
With Sakura's help, Tsunade had already wiped the blood from her face. Yet the tears kept falling, no matter how much she tried to wipe them away.
"The Second Shinobi World War has already ended," Tsunade said softly. "Even the Third Shinobi World War ended more than ten years ago."
Hearing that there had even been a Third Shinobi World War, Nawaki and Dan Katō both fell silent for a moment.
"I died before becoming Hokage. I'm sorry, sis."
"And I still don't understand why Orochimaru-sensei became like this, why he summoned us back from the world of the dead to attack everyone." Nawaki's voice carried a trace of loneliness. "But being able to come here this time and see you again… I'm really happy."
He looked at her seriously.
"Even if we're gone, you have to live happily, big sis! Don't let hemophobia beat you!! You're my sister, Nawaki's sister, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju! You can't let just any piece of trash push you around!!"
The "trash" he was talking about was Kabuto Yakushi, who had just humiliated Tsunade.
"Mm." Tsunade nodded firmly. Her eyes were tightly shut as tears dropped one by one onto her broad chest, where the necklace she had never dared to give away again hung quietly.
Nawaki couldn't stand seeing his sister cry. He elbowed Dan Katō lightly.
"Your turn."
Having no way to deal with this little brother-in-law, Dan Katō sighed inwardly.
"Tsunade…"
His voice was gentle.
"I'm sorry. I made such grand promises about ending the war, but I died too early."
"It even seems like my death caused your hemophobia and delayed your title as the strongest medical ninja. I'm sorry."
"Let yourself go…"
When he said that, there was a faint sigh hidden in his voice.
Tsunade, who still looked like a young woman in her early twenties, suddenly lifted her head at those words.
"Let yourself go. Our deaths weren't meaningless. At least the Second Shinobi World War ended, and people enjoyed a long period of peace. That's enough."
His gaze fell on the Hokage necklace hanging on her chest.
"That necklace… it ended up back with you after all."
Dan Katō recalled the soft sensation of that kiss on his forehead.
"Did you ever give it to anyone else after that?"
Tsunade shook her head.
Dan Katō fell silent.
Naruto raised his hand eagerly.
"Granny said that if I cure her hemophobia, this necklace will be mine! And then one day, I'll wear it when I become the Seventh Hokage!"
"Seventh Hokage?" Nawaki and Dan Katō froze at the same time.
Naruto was just about to explain.
He was about to mention a future ninja named Kawaki, who once said he would become the Seventh Hokage, and who admired Naruto so much that he claimed a world without the Seventh Hokage would be worse than death. Extremely embarrassing stuff.
But just then…
Another child's voice approached from a distance.
"I thought you looked familiar. I didn't expect it to really be you."
Everyone turned around.
The boy who spoke wore a long-sleeved top with an asymmetrical light-blue and dark-blue design, paired with dark gray pants. His light-blue hair framed a Konoha forehead protector. His skin was porcelain-white, and his golden eyes carried a sincere warmth behind his smile.
Overall, he gave off a very likable impression.
"It's an honor to meet you when you were young, Seventh Hokage-sama."
Calling Naruto Seventh Hokage-sama…
"You're from the future too?!" Sasuke said sharply.
Someone who crossed over from another timeline had to be the reward from Kabuto Yakushi's C-rank mission.
So Kabuto's mission had already been completed, and the reward had been delivered. It was just that the "reward" had been hiding this whole time.
Still, since this person had been summoned through Kabuto's mission scroll, Sasuke couldn't help but stay wary.
"Sasuke-san?" the pale-skinned boy said with a slight smile. "Even though your presence is very different, and you don't have the Rinnegan, I recognized you right away. And Sakura-san, Fifth Hokage-sama, good afternoon."
He bowed politely to each of them.
He looked like someone raised with impeccable manners.
Sakura hesitated. "Um… may I ask who you are?"
"My name is Mitsuki~"
The boy smiled brightly, his expression so clean and pure it was almost snow-white.