Minato nodded earnestly, facing the crowd. "Just as Menma said. He is indeed my descendant."
He continued, his voice thick with self-loathing. "And I am an incompetent father. A failure who forced responsibility onto an orphan with no parents. A fool who couldn't see past humanity's true nature..." He turned his gaze back to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Because someone always taught me that as a ninja, as the Kage of a village, everything must be for balance. For the Nation. For the village..."
"So for these 'greater' causes, I sacrificed my life, my family, even my own children! But in the end, what did I get? Others enjoyed my sacrifices, seized my wealth, and gave my already pitiful descendant an even more miserable life!" Minato's voice rose, sharp and cutting. "It even caused him to suffer mental problems, splitting into two different personalities!"
The surrounding ninjas erupted into whispers.
Minato's four bodyguards—Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, Aoba Yamashiro, and Hayate Gekko—stood frozen, faces pale with shock and shame.
"The jinchuriki is the Fourth Hokage's child?"
"But why has the son of a hero fallen to such a state?"
"Didn't the Third Hokage say the Fourth Hokage's entire family perished?"
"What was the Third Hokage thinking?"
Although these four special guards were Minato's personal protectors, Hiruzen Sarutobi had completely sidelined them. Their status had been gradually marginalized, making it impossible for them to know the truth. Even if they had suspected something because of the golden hair and the Uzumaki surname, they had no way to get close to Naruto to confirm.
Besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi had always explained that Naruto inherited the previous jinchuriki's surname because the Nine-Tails was sealed within him.
Inside his mindscape, Naruto was completely dazed. He gazed at Minato's face—both strange and familiar—as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"I'm actually the Fourth Hokage's child..."
"That's my father..."
"So Menma always knew... I'm the son of a hero..."
At this moment, Naruto's deepest-seated inferiority and insecurity began to dissipate. I'm not a jinx! I'm not the Nine-Tailed Fox who destroyed the village! I'm the son of a hero who shoulders a mission! He wanted to shout it out to the sky.
Seeing Naruto's tearful state, Kurama scoffed disdainfully. "Oh right, right, right. You're still the son of a scapegoat. The son of an idiot. The son of a burden. The son who gets sold out and still helps the seller count the money."
Hearing Kurama say this, the tears welling in Naruto's eyes instantly stopped. Rage flushed his face. Clenching his fists, he charged forward, baring his teeth and claws. "I'll still kill Kurama!"
Kurama yawned, unimpressed. "Getting insulted and still happy. What a jerk." He extended a single fingernail and pressed it against Naruto's head. Unleashing his flurry of "kill the master" punches, Naruto flailed wildly in place.
Outside, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood frozen. He had never seen Minato so submissive, speaking like this. But he quickly recovered, pulling out the explanation he had prepared beforehand. "Minato, I did it to protect Naruto! He's a jinchuriki, and the son of the deceased Fourth Hokage. Don't you understand the dangers of this dual identity? Only by doing this could I protect him to the greatest extent possible, keeping his life from being threatened!"
"Besides," he added, "these identities are burdens. They could easily lead a child astray. But hardship accelerates growth, enabling him to confront that mysterious masked man! Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"
"Shut up!" Minato's calm expression finally cracked, his anger boiling over. "So your 'concealment' was simply hiding his identity as the Fourth Hokage's son, while letting his jinchuriki status become widely known? Then why doesn't the Sand Village—weaker than Konoha—hide the identity of their Fourth Kazekage's son and his jinchuriki status?"
Sand concealed the Fourth Kazekage's son's identity, offering various explanations to cover it up perfectly. But they made the jinchuriki's identity public knowledge.
This was the core of Minato's anger.
"That's naturally because your Konoha's Fourth Kazekage is dead, and you want to control his descendants," Minato continued coldly. "But our Fourth Kazekage is still alive. We don't need to do that."
From afar, Maki—hiding in the treetops with his men—shouted out, not wanting to miss the chaos. Of course, after shouting, he immediately turned and ran with his men. In this situation, no one intended to give chase. They all looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
They had a premonition that a major upheaval was about to occur within Konoha's leadership that day.
"It was indeed my fault," Hiruzen admitted, quickly pivoting. "I failed to stop Danzo Shimura from spreading the rumors, which led to this. However, I've taken remedial measures. No one is allowed to discuss this matter anymore, and I've punished Danzo Shimura by removing him from his position as Hokage's assistant!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had, of course, already patched up this loophole and chosen a scapegoat. Seeing the topic shift to him, Danzo Shimura frowned and gave a cold snort.
"Hmph. It was indeed I who spread the news initially, to test the stability of the jinchuriki. But I never expected my Root organization to be so capable! In less than a day, everyone knew, making me almost think I was the Hokage with numerous ANBU members!"
"I realized my mistake afterward and wanted to help clarify, explaining it was just a misunderstanding—that the jinchuriki wasn't a demon fox. However, the Hokage forbade me to intervene further, instead sending people to cover it up and strictly forbidding everyone from discussing it..."
"Danzo Shimura, you're talking nonsense!" Hiruzen glared angrily, sharply interrupting Danzo's next words. He hadn't expected this scapegoat—who couldn't clear his own name—to actually refuse to take the blame! And even utter such sarcastic remarks!
This was practically a case of the scapegoat biting someone back.
After Danzo Shimura's explanation, none of the ninjas present were fools. They immediately understood.
The leak of information about the jinchuriki, leading to his ostracization, had been orchestrated by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Their motives were obvious. The old Hokage's strength was declining with age. He needed a powerful weapon that only he could wield to guarantee his power!
Unfortunately, not only was the jinchuriki out of his control, but his deceased Hokage father also had chakra clones remaining in the mortal realm!
"Seeing that everyone thought I was only here to announce my identity and accuse Hiruzen Sarutobi..." Menma suddenly stepped forward, standing before Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, whose expressions were uncertain. "Gentlemen, you should have already read this information, right?" He held up a scroll that Root had prepared. "Now, should I explain to you the 'Will of Fire' that uses newly sprouted leaves as fuel to nourish the old leaves?"
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