"Sa... Sasuke...?"
Naruto stared, stunned, at the figure standing in front of him, his sky-blue eyes filled with disbelief and a deep, unhidden terror...
Sakura, who had been knocked back and thrown to the ground, barely avoiding being pierced by the senbon, turned around just in time to witness the scene.
Her trembling lips parted again and again, struggling to form words. Finally, her voice broke through the silence—
"Sasuke-kun——————!!!!"
The sharp, anguished cry echoed through the headset, sounding hoarse and pained, its breaking pitch cutting through the air and striking at the heart.
In an instant, Young Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were all frozen, their minds going blank!
"Sasuke—" Obito started to speak, but his words faltered, overwhelmed by his own panic. The sentence died on his lips.
Young Kakashi punched the tree next to him with all his strength. "What is the other me doing?!"
Kakashi, who had been trying to find a way to severely injure Zabuza without killing him, was now completely flustered! Forget the mission's completion conditions—he just needed to find a chance to use Raikiri on Zabuza and rescue the three of them immediately!
'Damn it!'
The more anxious he became, the more his mind scrambled!
Kakashi's hand, covered by a fingerless glove, clenched into a tight fist!
A drop, then two drops of blood fell through his fingers onto the ground...
In the past few days, he had let his guard down after seeing Minato-sensei, Obito, and Rin again! He had almost forgotten—he had already lost them! He had nothing left!!
And now he was going to lose three more students?!!
...
Inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, Sasuke spat out blood. His swaying body finally collapsed into Naruto's arms...
Their bodies, pierced by senbon, were tangled together. Yet neither of them felt any pain anymore.
"You look like you're about to cry... You're so stupid, you big idiot…"
"Why?! Who told you to save me?!!!"
"How... was I supposed to know... just now... there wasn't time... you moron!"
In their minds, they argued fiercely, each trying to outdo the other.
But when facing a powerful enemy, their coordination was more in sync than even brothers.
Sakura rushed to Sasuke, crying as she began performing Medical Ninjutsu, but she could feel Sasuke's life slipping away more quickly.
She knelt on the ground, her forehead pressed against the floor as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Naruto held Sasuke tightly, a sorrow deeper than anything he had ever felt before welling up inside him. But unlike Sakura, he couldn't cry.
"Aren't you the one who hated me the most?!! You bastard!"
"I... I thought... I hated you the most..." Sasuke's eyes lost their light, his consciousness slipping into darkness. For a brief moment, Naruto's and Itachi's figures overlapped. "Don't... don't die…"
Sasuke's hand, reaching for Naruto's, fell limply to the side.
Sakura let out a gut-wrenching wail, her cries louder than ever before.
The rest of Team Minato couldn't wait any longer and charged into the thick fog!
Upon entering the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, they found Minato Namikaze standing motionless. Obito and Young Kakashi rushed forward, trying to wake up Sasuke, whose eyes had already closed.
Rin used her Medical Ninjutsu to check Sasuke's vital signs.
Carrying the hopes of everyone, Rin remained silent for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
Naruto's pupils suddenly contracted and expanded! His normal, round eyes were replaced by vertical slits, like a beast's eyes!
At that very instant, Minato Namikaze sensed that familiar, loathsome chakra—the chakra of the Nine-Tails, the same evil chakra he had once felt within Kushina!
Naruto truly was...
Konoha's Third Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!!
...
Haku: "I thought he would choose one of you, but because you're both important to him, he chose to sacrifice himself."
Haku's voice reached Naruto's ears as a distant rumble. Though he could roughly make out the words, it was like trying to listen to someone speaking above water while submerged—the meaning remained elusive.
"Taking all the damage for you was his choice, and his instinct," Haku continued. "He protected the people who are most important to him. He is a ninja worthy of respect."
Young Kakashi's expression was complicated, while Obito's eyes blazed with fury as his Sharingan activated in an instant!
As he began to form the seals for Lightning Release and Fire Release, he was intercepted by Minato Namikaze, who had arrived first.
"Sensei?! / Minato-sensei?!!"
Minato Namikaze remained silent, instead staring at the young man named Haku with a complex expression. What troubled him more, however, was Naruto's state.
["The Fourth... The Fourth Hokage's chakra is nearby..."]
Compared to Haku's voice, a low, sinister voice echoed in Minato's mind—clearer, more forceful, mercilessly devouring his will.
["Damn it! To be sealed inside such a brat!"]
["This cursed cage! Let me out to kill him! Kill the Fourth Hokage!"]
"Kill…"
Kneeling on the ground, clutching Sasuke's lifeless body, Naruto muttered a single word that echoed in his mind.
"Kill... you...!"
As that sinister chakra grew stronger, Minato used Flying Thunder God Technique to snatch Sasuke from Naruto's arms.
He shouted, "Sakura, Obito, Kakashi, Rin! Retreat immediately with Sasuke!!"
Despite their grief, Obito and Kakashi carried the motionless Sasuke to the edge of the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!
They set Sasuke down, and Rin immediately pulled out several of the most lethal senbon from his body before beginning to treat him with Medical Ninjutsu!
Kakashi: "!!!"
"Rin, he didn't..." Obito thought to himself. Rin had just shaken her head earlier—she hadn't said Sasuke was dead!!
"Could it be..."
Rin made a shushing gesture and looked at Naruto, whose condition now seemed far worse than Sasuke's.
At that moment, Kakashi also realized... Minato-sensei... seemed to be planning something?!
First, a mist denser than Zabuza's Hiding in Mist Technique!
The mist completely enveloped Naruto!
The dense fog persisted for several seconds, emitting chilling, ferocious growls like a wild beast's "Grrr."
Sakura had already blanked out when Sasuke turned into a "corpse," being dragged to the side by Young Kakashi, who grabbed her by the collar.
Now, as she stared at the thick fog gathering where Naruto should have been kneeling, her face drained of color as she heard the terrifying beastly roars!
"Naruto..." What happened to Naruto?!!
"Sakura... heavy..."
Unaware that her upper body was pressing down on Sasuke-kun's 'corpse', Sakura gasped in shock, then burst into tears of relief.
Obito and Young Kakashi let out a sigh of relief.
Rin quietly told the three, "That boy named Haku struck only Sasuke's feigned death pressure points."
With Rin and Sakura's Medical Ninjutsu continuously treating him, Sasuke struggled to sit up, supported by Obito.
He stared at the white mist at the center, the very place where neither Haku nor the Fourth Hokage could approach, his eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
"What happened? Where's Naruto?"
The growling sounds of the beast inside the fog continued, and an overwhelming sense of unease suddenly enveloped the newly awakened Sasuke.
["Yes... continue to hate..."]
"Shut up!"
That hoarse, rough voice was slightly distorted, but Sasuke immediately recognized it! That voice belonged to Naruto Uzumaki!
["The only one willing to protect you is dead now... Don't you hate it?"]
"Shut up!!"
["What is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, doing? He's watching you die without coming to save you."]
"Shut up! Shut up!!"
Occasionally, red chakra leaked out from the white mist!
That crimson chakra was unlike anything Sakura and the others had ever seen!
Evil...
Powerful...
Just watching those strands of chakra leaking from the dense fog made them feel a chill run down their spines!
The girl with cherry-colored hair didn't know what was happening but instinctively felt fear.
Sasuke recognized the voice as Naruto's. "Who is he arguing with?! What just happened?!!"
Obito: "I don't know! Just now, Naruto thought you were dead, and he completely lost it!"
He looked at Minato Namikaze. "Sensei! Could Naruto have some kind of Kekkei Genkai?!"
Sasuke stared at Minato Namikaze in shock. He had never heard of a Uzumaki clan in Konoha, let alone a Kekkei Genkai.
Rin anxiously asked, "Minato-sensei, what happened? What about Naruto? Shouldn't we go save him?"
Minato Namikaze's expression was grim as he slightly shook his head.
They didn't know how long they could stay in this era. Forcing a stronger seal on Naruto now would severely hinder his future growth.
Kushina had told him that the most important thing for a Jinchūriki was a strong heart and the most vital thing to fill the void within them.
Minato remembered immediately pressing her on what that thing was.
Kushina's answer had been:
"Friends."
And, more importantly, "The person who would never give up on loving me, no matter what."
Kushina's gaze had made Minato understand that he was that person.
So, when he saw Sasuke instinctively acting to protect Naruto, Minato made a decision far more difficult and daring than simply rescuing Naruto at this moment!
—He would tell Sasuke and Sakura that Naruto was a Jinchūriki!
"Sensei!!"
The young Kakashi, outside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, urged Minato Namikaze. That chakra—no need to sense it—was the Nine-Tails! It was time to intervene! Even if the mission wasn't completed, they couldn't let Naruto come to harm!
No!
Minato stared fixedly at the swirling red-and-white fog overflowing with crimson chakra, like a whirlpool!
He was going to take a gamble!
If things didn't unfold as he feared, he would seal away Sasuke and Sakura's memories of this moment!
...
As Minato was swiftly formulating his thoughts, the fog surrounding Naruto was suddenly torn apart by the swirling crimson chakra!
A tornado-like, tangible vortex of chakra formed!
Inside this fiery, burning tornado...
Was none other than Naruto Uzumaki!
He lay on the ground, his limbs splayed out!
His pupils were the same crimson as the surrounding chakra!
A beast-like vertical slit had replaced his once human-shaped pupils!
His hands, slammed into the ground, were tightly curled! The shape of his hand bones visibly shifted into a more beastly form!
Rapidly growing nails easily shattered stones!!
Naruto's mouth twisted back in a fierce grin, exposing his fangs like a wild beast!! The birthmark on his face, resembling whiskers, had completely transformed into beast-like facial markings!!
The menacing growl—loud and fierce—echoed from Naruto's mouth, a warning to all!
Hidden inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, Haku, like the others, couldn't step into this chakra storm!
Sasuke, Sakura, Obito, Young Kakashi, and Rin were all stunned!
Is this...
The Naruto Uzumaki they knew?!