Rengoku burst out laughing on the spot. He had finally seen the "meeting dad, one punch."
'Live on site. Pure satisfaction.'
Still, it had to be said, this Namikaze Minato was a bit wronged. After all, at this point, he truly had not done anything yet.
'Judging from the fact that Kakashi's eyes are still perfectly intact, Rin should still be alive.'
It was just that her life had probably already entered a countdown.
At most, she only had a few short months to about a year left.
"Naruto, you need to get this straight."
"Minato sealing the Nine-Tails into your body was indeed meant to protect Konoha. There's no doubt about that."
"It's just a pity that he had no idea the Third Hokage would treat you so cruelly."
"He even allowed the entire village to bully and abuse you together."
"In his eyes, the Third Hokage had always been that kind, benevolent old man."
"After all, Minato right now is only twenty-two years old."
"Compared to you at this moment, he's only six years older at most. How much smarter could he possibly be than you?"
"And then there's Iruka. In truth, he was originally someone the Third Hokage deliberately arranged to be by your side to keep watch over you."
"And Kakashi, he's your father's student. As for Jiraiya, he's your father's teacher."
"But when you were still a child, suffering all the way from early childhood for a full twelve years, not a single one of them ever came to visit you. Are people like that really still good in your eyes?"
Hearing this, Naruto's face instantly turned deathly pale, his lips trembling slightly.
"W-what… what? How could this be… I always thought… at least Iruka-sensei…"
Naruto could not finish his sentence.
He never imagined that Iruka had actually been sent by the Third Hokage.
Unwilling to give up, he asked again, "Iruka-sensei was really sent by the Third Hokage?"
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Rengoku's mouth as he mocked, "I told you long ago, someone like you, a Nine-Tails jinchuriki, would definitely need someone to guide you properly."
"The truth is, everyone around you, including Iruka, was carefully planned and arranged."
Hearing this, Naruto's mental state instantly collapsed.
The faint trace of joy that had just risen in his heart was blown away without a trace, like it had been scattered by a freezing wind.
His entire body seemed to lose all strength as he collapsed limply onto the ground.
Beside him, Minato frowned deeply and asked in confusion, "Rengoku, what exactly is going on here? Why didn't even Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi go to see Naruto?"
"Could it really be that the Third Hokage interfered and deliberately stopped them?"
Rengoku reached up and gently stroked his chin, then said slowly, "As for Jiraiya, what kind of person he is, you should know better than anyone."
"Ever since he learned about that so-called prophecy, this guy stopped thinking about anything else and focused entirely on searching for the legendary Child of Prophecy."
"Any free time he had was spent indulging in visiting prostitutes and peeping."
After a pause, Rengoku continued, "Besides, by then you were already dead. With his carefree, unrestrained personality, how could he have the leisure to constantly look after your son?"
"He probably just heard the Third Hokage casually say that Naruto was doing fairly well, then tossed the matter aside."
Then, after letting out a soft sigh, Rengoku went on, "And then there's Kakashi. When he was young, he first watched his own father commit suicide right in front of him."
"Not long after that, he watched helplessly as his close friend Obito sacrificed himself to save him and died."
"Immediately after, he personally killed the girl he loved, Rin."
"You and Kushina were basically the last elders Kakashi had, but unfortunately, you died as well."
"Such crushing blows came one after another. An ordinary person would have gone mad long ago."
"But Kakashi wasn't completely crushed by it. That alone proves his mental fortitude is beyond imagination."
At this point, Rengoku could not help but shake his head and sigh, "So, when it comes to Kakashi not being able to look after Naruto, you really can't blame him too much."
"After all, the pain and suffering he himself carried were already enough to leave him barely able to cope…"
Everything Rengoku said carried an overwhelming amount of information.
Because of that, Minato felt his mind in complete chaos, not knowing where to even begin asking questions.
"Then what exactly is the matter with my student destroying the ninja world? Could it be Kakashi?", Minato frowned, speaking thoughtfully.
After all, Kakashi had experienced far too many separations, deaths, and tragic changes. It would be understandable if he harbored resentment toward the world.
By normal reasoning, Kakashi seemed like the most likely person to fall into darkness and be blinded by hatred.
However, the truth was not like that at all. Kakashi still upheld the justice and light within his heart.
At this moment, Rengoku thought silently to himself.
He had already revealed enough. He could not forget where he was right now.
This place was Roran, and it was tied to whether he could return smoothly to his original time space.
From what he knew, Mukade, who had fled here, had already transformed into Anrokuzan and successfully taken control of Roran's Dragon Vein.
Moreover, Anrokuzan was carefully plotting a conspiracy, intending to kill Queen Sara of Roran during today's celebration and completely seize control of the entire country.
Naruto was also here now. If no one saved Sara, this beautiful queen would surely die.
Thinking of this, Rengoku quickly said, "Let's stop here for now, Minato. If I remember correctly, your mission this time is to protect Queen Sara, right?"
"And there's one more thing I need to remind you of. That Anrokuzan is actually the Mukade Naruto mentioned."
"At this moment, Mukade should be planning to kill Queen Sara here."
"I won't talk with you anymore for now. I need to save her first."
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Rengoku suddenly turned around, his figure shooting up into the air like lightning.
Accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, he sped toward the sky like a swift bird in flight.
"Remember to come find me yourselves later."
At the moment of parting, Rengoku shouted once more, then without hesitation dashed straight toward the massive hole that had been blasted open earlier by the puppets.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished from everyone's sight.
All that remained were Minato and the others standing there in a daze, faces full of shock and lingering disbelief.
During that brief exchange with Rengoku just now, Minato had keenly sensed something.
Especially that man called Uchiha Rengoku, who seemed to show a particular fondness for Naruto.
Most of what they talked about revolved tightly around Naruto.
But what made Minato itch with impatience was that the most crucial information he cared about and desperately wanted to know.
Rengoku had not mentioned a single word of it.
"Naruto, our mission this time is to protect Queen Sara."
"So for now, stay here and wait for us. Once we finish the mission, we'll come back to get you right away."
Minato instructed Naruto.
Hearing his father's words, Naruto hesitated slightly before slowly speaking, "Dad, how about… we just stay here and wait for Mister Rengoku to come back safely?"
Ever since learning that Rengoku was actually the legendary Hokage, a ripple could not help but rise in Naruto's heart.
His emotions were extremely complicated right now, so much so that he did not even know how to properly address this elder with such a special status.
But from now on, he would never casually call him "mister" in that slightly disrespectful way again.
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