"What is it?" Kushina asked, eyeing Tobirama suspiciously.
Could the Second Hokage really be so petty as to demand copyright fees from a teenager? she wondered.
What else could he want? He is not close to Naruto.
It's not like he is going to suddenly declare my son his 'best bro' just because he is carrying Asura's chakra.
"I need to intervene and remind the boy to train diligently so he can subdue the Nine-Tails as soon as possible," Tobirama said, his crimson eyes fixed on Naruto down in the street.
"In his current pathetic state, how will he ever make progress?"
This idea had just occurred to him.
If Kushina had not dragged him here to spy on her son, he would not have even thought of it.
"Huh? Why? Would that not be forcing things?" Kushina asked, surprised by the Hokage's bluntness.
'Is he planning to force both mother and son to start wrestling giant foxes simultaneously?' she wondered.
She had been planning to tame her half of the Nine-Tails first and then share her notes with Naruto later to make it easier for him.
"Forcing things? Hmph," Tobirama scoffed. "The Shinobi World today is vastly different from the timeline Makoto showed us, and Konoha is no exception. When a person's environment completely changes, can they realistically be expected to walk their original path?"
"To illustrate: imagine if during the Warring States Period, when my elder brother was still a child skipping rocks, a god-like figure suddenly emerged, unified the five nations and brought peace to the entire world..."
"In that peaceful scenario, would Madara and my brother still have forged the same desperate goals? Would they have achieved the same legendary accomplishments and attained their god-like power?"
"No. Even if they had the potential, without the constant, grinding pressure and motivation of war, their progress would likely have been severely delayed. They would have just been normal clan heads."
"That... that actually makes perfect sense," Kushina murmured, recalling Makoto's spoilers about Naruto's original timeline.
Originally, Sasuke's defection would have spurred Naruto to train relentlessly to drag his friend back.
Jiraiya's tragic death would have further fueled his emotional growth.
Finally, Obito declaring the Fourth Shinobi World War would have forced Naruto to master the Nine-Tails' power to save the world, leading the beast to finally accept him.
Throughout that hellish journey, Naruto's unwavering goal remained: to become Hokage.
But now, as Kushina carefully compared the two timelines, she realized a horrifying truth.
'Good heavens, all his character development is gone!'
Sasuke had not defected, he had simply gone on a study abroad program with Orochimaru.
Jiraiya had not died—in fact, there was no immediate threat to his life at all.
As for the Shinobi World War and Obito? Let the adults handle it.
With the Five Kage now united under Makoto's influence, there was zero need for Naruto to step up and play the tragic protagonist.
The most crucial element—his drive to become Hokage—remained.
But such a lofty political ambition seemed too distant for a goofy child.
He lacked the immediate, life-or-death urgency needed to fuel his daily motivation.
He could easily spend the whole day goofing off, promise to work hard tomorrow, and repeat the cycle endlessly.
Moreover, as the administrative reforms Makoto recommended began to be implemented across the nations, the Hokage's actual political power grew exponentially.
The position was no longer simply attainable by just punching the hardest and shouting about bonds.
A Hokage lacking proper administrative capabilities would only bring economic ruin to the nation.
"Do you understand now? Peace is beautiful, but it actively breeds complacency," Tobirama lectured.
"According to Makoto's story about the future, the 'era of peace' forged by Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke completely crumbled in less than twenty years. And because of those two decades of soft decadence, the Shinobi World lost its military capacity to resist the Otsutsuki."
"Why do you think I established the Ninja Academy after the Warring States Period ended, even after the chaos had subsided? Precisely to remain vigilant in times of peace, to ensure the sustainable, industrialized cultivation of child soldiers."
"It is a pity. I visited the current Academy recently and found only the basic framework I originally established. Later generations never bothered to modify or expand the curriculum. In contrast, Makoto's Hidden Rain Village has established a highly advanced..."
Tobirama's words were filled with intense admiration for Makoto's administrative prowess, lamenting only that the man was not born in Konoha!
"Second Hokage, then you must go down there and tell him! We really need to get Naruto working harder!" Kushina snapped out of her reverie, urging him anxiously.
She knew all too well that in this new timeline, Naruto was no longer the sole protagonist. Even the formidable Baryon Mode was merely one tactical branch of the resistance against the Ōtsutsuki, and Naruto was only half of one of the nine sub-branches within that.
The only person in the world who would truly care about and actively watch over Naruto's personal growth now was his mother.
This was not because the others looked down on Naruto, but because the adults were all too busy preparing for an alien invasion to worry about a teenager's homework.
"Alright. Leave it to me."
Seeing Kushina's agreement, Tobirama knew he could proceed without restraint.
Just as Kushina had suspected, if Tobirama had not stumbled upon this situation, he never would have paid attention to Naruto's life trajectory.
To him, Uzumaki Naruto and the inherently malevolent Uchiha brat were merely failed saviors from an obsolete timeline.
"What about Jiraiya, the monkey's disciple? Did Orochimaru not permanently seal away his... lower body... specifically to force him to focus solely on teaching Uzumaki Naruto?" Tobirama asked.
"What?! What exactly did Jiraiya-sensei have sealed away?!" Kushina gasped, her voice trailing off as realization dawned on her face, shifting into pure, unadulterated shock.
"That Jiraiya... even physically sealed away, he has not changed his degenerate ways. It seems we will have to make him contribute to Naruto's transformation after all," Tobirama remarked in disgust.
His crimson gaze swept across the surrounding streets until it locked onto Jiraiya, who was casually strolling toward Naruto from a distance.
"Uh..." Kushina, still reeling from the horrifying revelation about Jiraiya's sealed ahem, suddenly realized the Second Hokage was just looking for a political excuse to punish the man.
Why else would he ask about Jiraiya instead of immediately dropping down to scold Naruto?
Her suspicions were instantly confirmed.
Down below in the street, Jiraiya was strolling along, grinning smugly as he watched Sakura violently punch Naruto out of a bathroom window after he had interrupted her.
A kunai suddenly hurtled toward Jiraiya's head from the rooftops.
Hearing the sharp whistling sound, Jiraiya froze for a split second before casually stepping back.
"Where did this little punk come from, trying to ambush the great Toad Sage?" Jiraiya scoffed.
A confident, arrogant smile spread across his face as the kunai whizzed harmlessly past his ear.
But his smile faltered the very next moment.
As a novelist with a flair for the dramatic, Jiraiya could not shake the eerie, terrifying feeling that this exact combat scenario felt strangely familiar.
"Damn it!" Jiraiya shouted, violently ducking his head down at the last possible microsecond.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
A flash of blinding white light streaked past.
Senju Tobirama materialized out of thin air, his blade cleanly shearing off the entire top knot of Jiraiya's spiky white hair, leaving him with a massive gleaming bald spot.
"As expected of the degenerate teacher who always brings girls along," Tobirama remarked slowly, landing gracefully and offering a grudging compliment.
"You seem to have some basic understanding of the mechanics of my Flying Thunder God, managing to evade the lethal strike. You possess far superior reflexes to that useless Uchig-Izuna."
"S-Second Hokage?! Is that really you?! Why?!" Jiraiya screamed, clutching his freshly bald head, his face etched with absolute disbelief and terror.
"Why? Are you stupid? Get out of the way! I cannot control my own body! That Orochimaru bastard is manipulating my Edo Tensei body!" Tobirama lied effortlessly, his face completely deadpan.
"?" Jiraiya stared at him, completely dumbfounded.