As the two figures solidified within the golden light, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, appeared.
For a moment, both looked around the seal in confusion.
Then their eyes widened.
Even the Nine-Tails had retreated into a corner of the seal and was trying to make himself as small as possible. He had even pulled his tails over his head, as though that might somehow help him hide.
But Kushina's gaze did not linger there for long.
Behind a beautiful unfamiliar woman, she spotted a small blond boy with the same eyes as her husband.
Then only one voice could be heard throughout the entire seal—bright, joyful, overwhelmed.
"Naruto! Mommy is here!"
In the next instant, Kushina was already with him.
Like a red flash, she shot forward, pulled him into her arms, and held him so tightly against her body as though she wanted to savor every single second she still had.
"Naruto…" she whispered, and her voice nearly broke. "Mommy failed you. I'm sorry."
She held him even tighter.
"I hope Jiraiya took good care of you… and I hope he didn't try to lead you down the wrong path too early."
Minato, who was watching all this, noticed something else in the meantime.
He saw the fear in the Nine-Tails.
He saw the fear in the eyes of the Third Hokage.
And he wondered what the hell Hiruzen was even doing inside his son's seal.
And who was this woman standing there beside Naruto?
Then his gaze returned to Kushina, who was holding Naruto tightly in her arms.
But there was something else she had not noticed yet.
Naruto's mindscape showed clear signs of damage.
Cracks. Wear. Neglect.
Minato's expression darkened.
It seems I could rely on no one.
A bitter thought forced its way into his mind.
I hope Naruto can forgive me for leaving him to grow up without protection.
Slowly, Minato set himself in motion and walked toward the mismatched group.
But the moment he stood before the unfamiliar beauty, it suddenly grew a little too warm beneath his cloak.
Damn… she's even more beautiful than Kushina.
In the next instant, chakra chains shot up from the ground and bound him.
Minato's eyes widened.
How did she—?
How did she know what I was just thinking?
Women and their sixth sense…
He cleared his throat inwardly.
The attempt to introduce himself with dignity lost a little of its impact when one was standing there tied up.
"My name is Minato," he said nevertheless, as composed as possible. "And I am Naruto's father. What are you doing with my son… and why is the Third Hokage here?"
The Nine-Tails, who had been watching the entire scene from behind his tails, could not suppress a malicious grin.
"Serves you right, Minato."
"I am the Lion King, Artoria Pendragon," she said calmly. "Protector and teacher of little Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki."
Her gaze remained fixed on Minato and Kushina.
"I hope that suffices as an answer for now. I found him cast out and nearly starving in the forest. And because children need protection, I took him under my care."
Minato blinked.
"If I may ask… what exactly is a Lion King? I have never heard such a title before."
Artoria looked at him.
"In your world, it would be roughly comparable to a daimyō, Lord Hokage—only not so limited."
But Kushina had truly heard only one part of her words.
Nearly starved.
Found in the forest.
In an instant, she went pale.
The next moment, her hair transformed into nine furious chakra tails. The chains that had just been binding Minato released him and instead shot toward Hiruzen.
They wrapped around his body and tightened.
"Where did the money Minato and I left for him go," Kushina asked in a voice vibrating with rage, "if my child did not even have enough to eat?"
The chains tightened further.
"And why is he not living in our house, old man?"
Hiruzen felt his bones slowly nearing their limit.
"W-we couldn't do that," he pressed out. "The danger would have been too great. You had too many enemies."
"That may explain why he wasn't living in our house," said Minato, whose voice had become dangerously calm. "But you still could have given him a small apartment and proper care."
His gaze sharpened.
"So what happened to the money?"
Sweat kept running down Hiruzen's forehead.
"Konoha was heavily damaged," he said with effort. "We needed funds for rebuilding. We thought it would be better for the village… and in your interest."
Artoria coughed softly.
"So that's why the four of you divided it among yourselves."
One of the chains around Hiruzen's arm tightened further.
The sound of bones breaking was unmistakable.
Hiruzen cried out.
Kushina's gaze was now nothing but pure rage.
"You stole money that belonged to Naruto."
She stepped half a pace forward.
"How did you justify that to yourselves?"
Then her eyes narrowed.
"I'm going to kill Jiraiya if I ever see him again. He signed it, didn't he? He was Naruto's guardian."
"Okay," Minato muttered, running a hand over his face. "So that part is settled."
Then he raised his gaze again.
"Why was Naruto in the forest at all?"
Before Hiruzen could answer, Naruto spoke up himself.
"Uh… blond man," he said quietly, "the whole village says I'm a monster. They hit me. They kick me."
For a moment, there was deathly silence.
Then Hiruzen's scream echoed through the seal once more as Kushina crushed one of his legs.
Minato grimaced.
"Kushina… could you maybe not use quite so much violence? We're still talking."
But the moment he said it, her gaze hit him.
It was as though, for one heartbeat, he had looked directly into hell.
Minato immediately raised his hands in appeasement.
"Uh… Kushina, just do whatever you think is right."
Naruto blinked.
Minato cleared his throat.
"Good," he said, making little air quotes with his fingers. "So. Naruto's lineage was kept secret because Kushina and I had too many enemies…"
He paused briefly.
"But apparently half the world still knew he was a jinchūriki."
Minato's expression turned cold."That is no justification," he said quietly. "You took what belonged to Naruto and abandoned your responsibility to him."
Hiruzen still tried to reply.
"You have to understand—"
But he got no further.
His body began dissolving beneath Kushina's chains.
Kushina blinked.
"Oops," she said, scratching the back of her head. "That may have been a little much."