The gray-white dust fully coalesced, and the Impure World Reincarnation was complete.
The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato, slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes, once as brilliantly blue as a clear sky and filled with light and intelligence, were now dull and gray, clouded by the nature of his resurrection.
Yet, the sharpness and vigilance flashing within them remained undiminished.
His consciousness was wrenched from an endless slumber, leaving him momentarily disoriented. But the instincts of a veteran Ninja took over, and he immediately assessed his surroundings.
Cold metal walls. Dim light. An unfamiliar underground space.
And two figures standing before him.
His gaze first locked onto the one directly ahead: a mysterious man in a black robe, his face hidden by a strange white mask with three fox-like eyes. The man's powerful aura and unfathomable presence put Minato on instant high alert.
"Who are you?" Minato's voice was rough from disuse but controlled, "This is... the Impure World Reincarnation?"
He recognized his state immediately. As the Fourth Hokage, he was familiar with the Second Hokage's forbidden techniques, and a deep sense of foreboding settled in his gut.
But then, his eyes shifted to the figure behind the masked man, and his entire body froze.
Red hair. A face he knew as well as his own. And those eyes, also gray now, shimmering with an intensity of emotion he hadn't seen in years.
Kushina.
His wife.
But...
Why was she holding a little fox girl he had never seen before, complete with a pair of furry tails? The small creature was tilting her head, studying him with large, intelligent eyes.
Minato's gaze snapped back to the masked figure. The figure remained silent for a long moment, then slowly raised a hand and removed the mask.
Beneath it was the face of a boy of about fifteen or sixteen. His black hair was spiky and unruly. His features were handsome but carried a gravity far beyond his years. And his eyes...
Minato's breath caught. They were as blue as a summer sky. Just like his. Just like Naruto's.
"Is it... Naruto...?" The name was a whisper, a desperate hope. But he instantly knew it was wrong.
The boy's calm, detached demeanor was nothing like the son he imagined. Another name surfaced from the depths of his memory, "You're... Menma?"
His tone was thick with disbelief and a dawning, painful realization.
The child who had been kidnapped, whose fate was a mystery... was alive.
The hair was different, but the blood-deep resonance, the familiar-yet-alien complexity in those blue eyes... it had to be him.
Menma met his gaze, a flicker of unreadable emotion passing through his own blue eyes. He gave a single, slow nod.
Minato looked at his firstborn son, now a young man. A thousand words choked him, finally emerging as a sigh laden with guilt and wonder, "You've... you've grown so much."
He tried to smile, but it was a hollow, pained expression, "I... I imagined so many ways we might meet again. But never like this."
He paused, his gray eyes filled with deep sincerity, "I am sorry, Menma."
The failure to protect his own child, to let him be stolen away at birth, was a wound that had never healed.
Menma seemed slightly taken aback that Minato had recognized him so quickly. He reached up and touched his own spiky black hair, "A parent's intuition? Even like this, in a different form and with different hair, you knew me."
Minato shook his head gently, "You were always special. That night, you were born, and you opened your eyes. You just looked around, quietly. You didn't cry, not like Naruto."
The memory was as vivid as if it were yesterday. The guilt surged back, "And I... I failed as a father. I let that masked man take you."
Menma was silent for a beat, then slowly shook his head, "I don't blame you. The situation was beyond anyone's control."
His tone was disturbingly calm, as if discussing a stranger's misfortune.
He then shifted the subject, "In reality, it has only been seven years since you died. This form isn't my real body… it's a Transformation Technique."
He began his prepared explanation, "The moment I came into this world, that masked man hit me with a Genjutsu. [Limited Tsukuyomi]. It was immensely powerful, creating a nearly perfect illusory world. I lived a full fifteen years inside that lie before I finally broke free and returned to reality."
Minato and Kushina listened, Minato reeling from the revelation, Kushina's heart aching for the son who had endured such a lonely, twisted existence.
Menma continued, his voice taking on a formal, serious edge, "I used the Impure World Reincarnation to free your soul from the Shinigami, Father. I wanted you to have your freedom back, and to ask you about the details of that night. But there is another, more important matter I must inform you of."
The atmosphere in the chamber grew heavy. Kushina unconsciously held Kokyu tighter. The small fox, sensing the shift, stilled in her arms.
Minato's gray eyes narrowed. A cold dread crept up his spine. He knew, with absolute certainty, that whatever came next would change everything.
Menma looked him directly in the eye and spoke with chilling clarity, "Soon, in a relatively short time, the Konoha's leadership will issue an order. An order for the complete massacre of the Uchiha Clan."
"What?!" Minato's voice was a strangled gasp. Even for him, this was too monstrous to comprehend. Annihilate an entire clan? It was unthinkable.
But Menma wasn't finished.
"For this event, I have prepared... spectator seats. I would like you to be there."
"When it happens, I will intervene. I will take a portion of the Uchiha Clan and bring them into my village. My nation."
Minato was struck dumb again.
'Menma's village? His nation?'
Menma's voice was flat, declarative, as if stating an inevitable fact, "Then, when the time is right and we have gathered enough strength, I will lead these Ninja of the new era. We will launch the Fourth Great Ninja War."
He paused, his gaze sharpening into a blade, piercing through Minato's shock.
"We will sweep across the Five Great Nations. We will destroy the Five Great Ninja Villages. We will unify the entire Ninja World. We will put a final end to this thousand-year era of conflict. We will finish the work the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, could not complete."
He let the silence hang for a moment before delivering the final, pointed question.
"So, Father. Will you try to stop me?"
Silence.
A dead, crushing silence.
Minato stood utterly paralyzed, his mind a roaring void, 'The Uchiha massacre? Menma's own village and nation? A Fourth Great Ninja War? Unification?'
Any one of these concepts was world-shattering. Together, they formed a vision of such staggering scale and ruthlessness that he could scarcely process it.
Was this the boy he had just met? This... architect of a new, bloody world order?
"Why?" The word was a dry croak. He fought for composure, grappling for logic, "Why would Konoha order such a thing? It's impossible! Who is the Hokage now?"
"And Menma, your village? Your nation? This isn't Konoha?" He gestured at the cold, metallic room, his confusion immense.
Menma answered with dispassionate precision, "This is not Konoha. This is the Land of Stars, which I founded. As for what this nation is, and how its Ninja differ from those of the old era, you will have to see for yourself."
"Konoha," He said, a hint of frost entering his tone, "is currently under the rule of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen."
He then began to lay out the grim logic, "The reason the Uchiha face extinction... the root lies in the Nine-Tails Attack."
"You remember, don't you? The Nine-Tails' eyes that night. They held the tomoe of the Sharingan. Many of the Ninja who fought saw it."
Minato's face darkened. He remembered all too well. It was the central mystery of that night.
Menma went on, "And the Konoha Military Police Force, which should have been defending the village, was hamstrung by Danzo's Root. They were given tasks like civilian evacuation, kept away from the main fight."
"In the years that followed, the Konoha's leadership, Danzo in particular, became convinced the attack was linked to the Uchiha, or at least to a rogue Sharingan. They restricted them, watched them, pushed them to the margins. Resentment festered on both sides."
"Suspicion breeds hatred. Oppression breeds rebellion." Menma's voice was cold, final, "The Uchiha's discontent grew. The leadership's fear deepened. The path only leads to one end."
Minato's face was ashen. As a former Hokage, he understood the dark mechanics of power and the vicious cycles they could create.
As if to drive the point home, Menma added, "There is a precedent. A few years ago, in Kirigakure, the Yuki Clan, with their Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, was exterminated by the Third Mizukage for 'treason'. Soon after, the more militant Kaguya Clan rebelled and were slaughtered almost to the last. I took in the sole survivor."
'The Kaguya Clan... wiped out.' A chill, colder than any grave, seized Minato's heart. He could no longer doubt Menma's prediction. Konoha's Uchiha were walking the same path.
"It wasn't them," Minato insisted, grasping for the one inconsistency, "The man who took you, who killed us... he had a Sharingan, yes. But his Space-Time Ninjutsu... it was unlike anything. It couldn't have been any Uchiha from Konoha. They couldn't control the Nine-Tails!"
This had always been his core belief.
Menma gave a soft, hollow laugh, tinged with pity.
"You're right. He is not a member of Konoha's Uchiha Clan. But-"
He paused, his gaze flicking to Kushina before returning to Minato. He spoke the name slowly, clearly, letting each syllable land like a hammer blow.
"He is Uchiha-born. And you knew him, Father."
Minato stared, his gray eyes wide with dawning horror, "Who?"
Menma looked at him and delivered the final, shattering blow.
"His name... is Uchiha Obito."
Minato was struck by lightning.
He stood frozen, his whole world collapsing into a silent, screaming void. His eyes trembled violently, filled with a storm of denial, shock, and agony.
"No..." It was a breath, a plea, "That's impossible... It can't be Obito..."
'The boy who was always late. The one with the sunny smile who dreamed of being Hokage. The boy who loved Rin, who fought with Kakashi only to become his closest friend.'
'The student who had died a hero's death at Kannabi Bridge, giving his eye to Kakashi as a final gift.'
'He was the monster behind the attack? The one who murdered them? Who stole our child?'
The psychological impact was absolute, more devastating than any physical blow. In that moment, Menma's grand ambitions, his question of opposition, were utterly forgotten.
Menma, knowing Minato needed time, did not press further.
The next morning, Menma came downstairs to find his parents on the engawa.
Minato still looked shell-shocked, while Kushina's anger at the revelation about Obito was still simmering. They had clearly been up all night.
"Mother," Menma said, his tone casual, as if the previous night's conversation had never happened, "Why don't you show Father around Star City? Anywhere you like."
He glanced at Minato, "I'll leave you two to it. The Land of Stars has just absorbed three new territories. There's much to manage."
His blue eyes held a challenging depth, "And Father, you can see this nation for yourself. Think about what the world might look like... after it is unified."
Kokyu, tired of being cooped up, took her chance. With a happy 'Chuu!' she squirmed from Kushina's arms, scrambled up Menma's shoulder, and settled triumphantly on his head, her nine tails swishing as she claimed her perch.
Minato opened his mouth to speak. He had a thousand questions, a torrent of thoughts. But Menma was clearly done talking.
Before he could form a word, Kushina erupted.
"Let's go, you idiot!" She snapped, grabbing his arm with surprising force and hauling him to his feet. Her temper, fueled by the Obito revelation and old resentments, was fully ignited, "He said we should go, so we're going! Stop dragging your feet!"
Faced with a furious, red-haired Kushina, Minato wisely chose surrender. He allowed himself to be dragged away, a familiar, resigned wry smile on his face.
'Some things never changed.'
Inside him, the Yin half of the Nine-Tails stared intently at the little fox on Menma's head. The feeling it got from her was strange... like a Tailed Beast, yet like another version of itself. It wondered what it is.
Disguised as an ordinary couple, they melted into the bustling streets of Star City.
Kushina was soon distracted by the vibrant markets, her excitement a poignant echo of the girl she had once been. Minato watched her, his heart aching with a mix of tenderness and sorrow. Their time together had always been so brief, so stolen. It felt like a lifetime ago they were preparing for a baby who was now a conqueror.
As they walked, Minato absorbed the city's unique character. The streets were clean and wide, the shops overflowing with goods he'd never seen in Konoha Village. He saw Chakra-powered lamps and ordinary citizens using small devices powered by glowing crystals to operate simple machinery.
"Chakra Storage Units," Kushina explained, a note of pride in her voice, "From the Research Institute. Ninja charge them, and regular people can use them. Handy, right?"
Minato could only nod, amazed, 'This civilian application of Chakra was revolutionary.'
A loud whistle cut through the air. Minato looked up to see a long, metallic train speeding along elevated tracks.
"The Raiden," Kushina said, "Runs on Lightning Attribute Chakra. It's our main long-distance transport now, connecting the capital to the counties. They're even extending it to the new Snow County."
Minato watched it pass, his mind reeling. This nation's progress was on a completely different path.
The sheer density of the crowd prompted his next question, "Kushina, how big is this city? The population seems immense."
"I'm not sure of the exact number," she mused, "But I heard from Kanon it's over five hundred thousand now, and still growing."
"Five hundred thousand?!" The number was staggering. Konoha, the largest Ninja Village, housed maybe a hundred thousand at most. The scale of governance here was monumental.
"How is order maintained?" he pressed, "Does the Land of Stars have that many Ninja?"
Kushina shook her head, launching into an explanation, "Our Ninja are part of the formal Star Ninja Army. They're salaried professionals… their gear, training, everything is provided by the state. They don't live mission-to-mission like we did."
"Being a Ninja here is a profession, an honor. Talented ones get more resources. The ones who work hard earn points and merits to exchange for better gear and techniques."
"And public security?" Minato asked as they navigated the crowd.
"That's the Police's job," She said, "Regular Police are mostly civilians or people with just enough Chakra to be like Genin. They handle patrols, small disputes. The Special Police are the elites… Chunin or even Special Jounin-level. They handle emergencies, armed gangs, disasters. The Army only gets involved if it's a full-blown crisis."
As if on cue, a peculiarly shaped vehicle humming with blue Chakra Light rolled past, marked [POLICE].
The officers inside scanned the streets keenly. The citizens gave way respectfully, their looks holding trust, not the fear or resentment Konoha's villagers often showed the Uchiha police.
The difference was palpable.
Kushina took him everywhere.
At the Star Ninja Academy, they saw children no older than ten sparring with a skill that nearly matched Genin. The investment in the next generation was clear.
In the trade district, merchants from all Five Great Nations haggled loudly, a testament to the nation's open and thriving commerce.
In the western farmlands, strange steel machines tilled the soil with incredible efficiency, directed by technicians working alongside farmers.
At a construction site, they saw Ninja from an [Infrastructure Corps] using Earth and Water Release to shape foundations and channel water, working in harmony with machinery. The sight of Ninjutsu used for creation, not destruction, moved Minato deeply.
The villages around the city echoed the same theme: busy, purposeful, and filled with hope for the future.
The vitality of the Land of Stars was undeniable. But Minato sensed something missing. The entire structure of noble lords and ruling Daimyo, the bedrock of the old world, was absent.
"Kushina," He asked, frowning, "The nobles... the Daimyo... where are they?"
Her expression grew solemn. She led him to a grand building in the city's heart: the Land of Stars' National Museum.
Inside, Minato walked through a stark and brutal history. Artifacts, pictures, and documents detailed the excesses of the noble classes from the five annexed nations. Extravagant luxuries were contrasted with evidence of the common people's suffering.
Most chilling were the public trial records… page after page of ordinary citizens testifying to the nobles' crimes: land theft, arbitrary taxes, murder, enslavement.
He saw schoolchildren being led through the exhibits. The teachers weren't preaching hate, but guiding them to ask why such inequality existed and how to build a fairer society, instilling the Land of Stars' ideal of a world shared by all.
It was a direct challenge to the [Will of Fire] and loyalty to the Hokage that Minato had been raised on. He found the complete rejection of the old order radical, yet he couldn't deny the progress and hope it had spawned here.
He remembered Menma's words: "What the world might look like after it is unified."
His mind was a whirlwind of conflict, 'Could a world without nobles, without warring villages, a world where power built instead of destroyed... could it truly be better?'
Lost in thought, they began the walk home. As they passed a quieter street near the military research zone by the Yuu River, Minato's senses prickled.
He stopped dead.
His gaze snapped towards a group of people. A figure in a researcher's white coat, with long black hair, pale skin, and distinctive golden, serpentine eyes, was overseeing the transfer of crates marked [DANGEROUS] to Star Ninja's officers.
The face was slightly different, but the sinister aura was unmistakable.
"Orochimaru?!" The name was a shocked whisper, torn from Minato's lips. His eyes widened in utter disbelief.
'What was he doing here?'