"I'll go reinforce the seal first!"
The remnant chakra within Naruto, left by Minato, immediately tried to withdraw from the deep psychological space to reinforce the Nine-Tails' seal once again!
However, perhaps due to the presence of this illusion, neither he nor the other Edo Tensei Minato, nor Edo Tensei Hashirama, Edo Tensei Tobirama, Edo Tensei Tobirama, or Young Obito could leave this place!
Naruto stood frozen, staring blankly at the Pervy Sage lying motionless on the ground.
The surroundings felt like the apocalypse, on the verge of collapsing.
Everyone else was frantic, but Naruto remained still.
At this moment, Naruto Uzumaki had likely been overwhelmed by a series of blows, his very soul retreating into a state of withdrawal, unable to respond.
In this near-catastrophic moment, Jiraiya's voice suddenly echoed in his ears.
["We must get the truth about Pain out there~."]
The voice was clear, free of the hoarseness that would normally follow severe injury.
"It's Jiraiya-sensei's true voice!" Minato Namikaze exclaimed.
Edo Tensei Tobirama noticed Jiraiya's lips still twitching slightly on the ground. "Has his throat been damaged?"
This was the first time Tobirama Senju spoke near Naruto.
Although he had previously made several jokes about Naruto's voice resembling Pain's, as the Second Hokage of Konoha, no one in their right mind would confuse him with Pain.
That is, in their right mind.
But…
The current Naruto Uzumaki certainly didn't fall into that category!
The moment Naruto heard the voice of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, his darkened form moved like lightning! In the blink of an eye, he lunged before Tobirama, ferociously clawing at the face of Edo Tensei Tobirama!!
"!!"
Unexpectedly, Naruto launched a sudden attack! True to his reputation as the fastest ninja in the world, the Second Hokage swiftly dodged the strike!!
Naruto immediately followed up with a sweeping kick!
Hashirama Senju: "Wood Release!!"
The Wood Release, infused with Senjutsu power, tightly bound the darkened Naruto! His sweeping kick came to a halt just before Tobirama Senju, leaving him immobilized.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
The young Obito Uchiha was startled, but quickly realized: "The voice! Naruto, driven mad, mistook the Second Hokage-sama for Pain because of his voice!"
Tobirama Senju grasped this too, his mind churning with internal commentary. Unable to speak aloud, he nearly choked on his own mental rant.
Recalling that Naruto Uzumaki was the reincarnation of his elder brother, the Edo Tensei Tobirama Senju concluded: these so-called Ashura and Indra lineages were undoubtedly created solely to infuriate him!
Minato apologized to the Second Hokage on his son's behalf, "Thankfully the First Hokage is here and can still use Wood Release."
At that moment, Jiraiya's inner voice resurfaced once more...
["Is my throat destroyed?"]
["My consciousness is fading too..."]
["Am I dying?"]
["Ninjas live in a world where how you survive matters less than how you fall. Looking back, my life has been filled with failure."]
"...."
Forced to hear the inner thoughts of a dying man, the present Hokage, the young Obito Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki each experienced different emotions and states of mind.
["I was constantly rejected by Tsunade, and I couldn't stop my friend from leaving Konoha."]
The words about failing to stop his friend from leaving Konoha made the dark Naruto, trapped within Wood Release, shudder slightly.
["I couldn't even protect my teacher or my student."]
Minato Namikaze lowered his head. The ninja world held too many unresolved grievances—that was why so many sought shortcuts to peace and happiness, only to stray onto the wrong path.
["Compared to the monumental achievements of past Hokage, my deeds are utterly insignificant—mere trivialities and petty matters."]
The First and Second Hokage, hearing this Konoha ninja's inner voice, felt a whirlwind of emotions.
Just moments ago, through Pain's words, they learned that the establishment of Konohagakure had merely transformed clan wars into conflicts between ninja nations.
For a moment, Hashirama Senju recalled Madara's words about his priorities being backward, and for a moment, he felt lost.
["Whether a story is truly remarkable is ultimately judged by its ending. If possible, I too wish to die like the past Hokages…"]
["Failure and regret are not without their own kind of joy."]
["I firmly believed this trial would temper my will, and I survived to this day."]
["I once dreamed of achieving a great feat that could erase all my past failures! To die heroically as a great ninja!"]
Die heroically… Like a keyword, the darkened Naruto trembled again, showing signs of change.
["But I never imagined I'd die like this—a life of mediocrity, even my death lacking the significance I'd planned."]
["How pitiful, how lamentable, how wretched! To call oneself the Sage of Mount Myōboku, yet ultimately prove no more than a frog at the bottom of a well?"]
These inner thoughts were painful to hear. Minato wanted to refute them, yet he knew these were merely Jiraiya-sensei's final convictions. No matter how he argued or denied them, the other could no longer hear.
Naruto, restrained by Wood Release, emitted gurgling sounds. Minato gazed at his son's pitiful state, his heart aching deeply.
["The Great Toad Sage prophesied I would be the guide for the change-maker. My choices determine whether the ninja world finds stability or destruction. I once believed that Child of the Prophecy was Nagato. But it seems I was wrong. And originally, I should have killed Pain, stopped Akatsuki, and saved the ninja world... yet in the end, I still couldn't escape failure. How pathetic, how laughable, how lamentable. Who would have thought the conclusion of Jiraiya the Hero's tale would amount to nothing more than this?"]
["What a boring story I've written."]
Minato noticed that Naruto, trapped by Wood Release, had clenched his fists. He still had a shred of sanity left!
Say something! He needed to say something to calm Naruto down! Should he mention Kushina? Or speak of Jiraiya-sensei?
Minato knew Iruka Umino held extraordinary significance for Naruto. As he himself from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline had said, among Naruto's many bonds, Iruka was the man who simultaneously played the roles of both father and mother!
He stepped in like a father, caring for the academically challenged Naruto. He stepped in like a mother, scolding the mischievous Naruto!!
Though their interactions might have dwindled after graduating from the Ninja Academy, just as a wanderer has a home in their heart, Naruto always had a place to return to, no matter where he was.
Now, with no place for his heart to rest, the deaths of Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi, the Sage Fukasaku, that girl named Hinata, and so many other comrades in Konoha shattered Naruto's steadfast conviction. For a moment, Minato Namikaze, as his father, found himself at a loss for words to restore Naruto's unwavering faith.
Was the decision to refrain from intervening ultimately wrong? Had their very arrival in this world altered the predetermined course?
["That's not true! Sensei's stories are wonderful!"]
"That voice is…" the young Obito exclaimed in surprise. "Why would Minato-sensei's voice appear here?"
Minato Namikaze himself was startled. He couldn't possibly have been present at the time and place of Jiraiya's death.
"Memories!" Minato Namikaze realized. "Memories Jiraiya recalled in his final moments!"
["The stories in this book are all adapted from the human experiences Sensei encountered while traveling the ninja world—like an autobiography. The protagonist never gave up his pursuit of peace until the very end. So cool! Looking at this protagonist, it's like seeing Sensei himself."]
["Is… is that so? Hahaha."]
["Ah! Speaking of Jiraiya-sensei, I have an idea!"]
["Hmm? What kind of idea?"]
["After my child is born, I hope he can become a ninja just like the protagonist in this book. So, could I borrow the name of this novel's main character?"]
"Huh?!"
"Could this memory be...?!?"
The others turned to look at Minato Namikaze.
At that moment, Minato wore a vacant expression, lost in a fond recollection.
As if foreseeing something, the dark Naruto ceased his commotion.
Pain stared at the Chibaku Tensei. "Not moving anymore?"
The rampaging Nine-Tails had suddenly frozen in place?
"What's happening?!"
["Hey, hey! Is this really okay?!"]
In his memory, Jiraiya's voice at this moment actually carried a hint of flattery?!
["This is just a name I came up with while eating ramen!"]
["Naruto."]
"! ! ! "
That voice was.....
"It's Kushina!! It's Kushina's voice!!" The young Obito Uchiha stared wide-eyed in astonishment.
Having lived through two Nine-Tails Incidents, he knew all too well how his counterpart in the other world had committed treasonous acts.
The young Obito Uchiha actually longed to return to his own world, to see her safe and sound.
Hearing Kushina's voice now filled him with the same joy as Minato Namikaze.
…
That single utterance of Naruto's name caused the dark Naruto, trapped within Wood Release, to stiffen violently!
["Naruto... it's a very good name."]
["Kushina..."]
"Kushina..."
A muffled, beast-like murmur—it was Naruto speaking!
["But if I do this, doesn't that make me a relative who named this child?! Do I truly have that right?"]
Jiraiya still sounded slightly overwhelmed. He was an orphan of Konoha, raised alone without a wife or children.
Only Tsunade, who he had pursued only to be repeatedly rejected, and Minato—the disciples he had trained.
Naming a newborn was typically the privilege and responsibility reserved for the head of a great clan or someone of the child's grandfather's stature.
In this sense, Jiraiya had inadvertently become the grandfather of the soon-to-be-born infant.
Therefore, he couldn't help but feel Minato and Kushina's decision was perhaps too casual?
["No, precisely because you are my sensei, you have this right. You are a true ninja who has nurtured ninja talent. There is no one more suitable than you to name my son."]
"....."
These events were etched clearly in Minato Namikaze's memory.
This was the hope he, Kushina, and Jiraiya-sensei had for Naruto.
In his recollection, Jiraiya had given up, once again branding himself a 'loser'.
Yet, as this memory surfaced, a transcendent realization suddenly dawned upon him!
["Right! I once gave that child..."]
Jiraiya's memory was flooded once more by the voice of Naruto Uzumaki!!
"I will become Hokage!"
"Not just that—I will become a Hokage who surpasses the Fourth Hokage!"
"Upright and honest, never betraying my own vows! That is my ninja way!!"
"Upright and honest..."
"!!!"
It was Naruto in his darkened state! Following Kushina's name, he spoke once more!
"Never breaking my own vows!"
"Surpassing the Fourth Hokage, becoming... a greater hero than the Fourth Hokage himself..."
"Naruto!"
Minato cried out in shock, his emotions churning within him, ultimately converging into profound emotion.
Obito: "Naruto's voice sounds more human than when he just repeated Kushina's name!"
Hashirama Senju noticed even more!
"His eye! One of his eyes has returned to its original form!"