The former bodyguards of the Fourth Hokage were utterly shaken, as if a secret even they had never known was finally surfacing.
...
In the other parallel world…
After using the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Kushina Uzumaki's life was nearing its end.
The baby cried softly within the swaddling cloth.
["Sorry for waking you, Naruto…"]
"!!!!"
"What?!"
"That woman… did she just call her child Naruto?"
"I heard it too!!"
Those who didn't know the truth, people who had once believed Naruto was the incarnation of the Nine-Tails, were completely stunned.
"So that kid isn't the Nine-Tails?"
"I thought so too! I thought he was the Nine-Tails reborn!"
"So he's not?"
Unlike them, the current group of Konoha examinees stared in wide-eyed shock.
Shikamaru shifted his gaze to look at Naruto Uzumaki standing off to the side.
The others did the same. All this time, they had grown used to the idea that Naruto had no parents.
At this moment, still unaware of the exact relationship between the red-haired woman and the Fourth Hokage, what shocked them even more was Naruto's mother's combat strength.
She had just given birth and was severely injured.
Yet she could still turn her own chakra into golden chains and bind the Nine-Tails Fox tightly, assisting the Fourth Hokage by completely restricting its movements.
This was… just how terrifyingly powerful was this kunoichi?!
Even when compared to Tsunade-sama, she wouldn't be inferior in the slightest.
Quite a few former Konoha ninja had already recognized her.
She was the infamous, short-tempered Red-Hot Habanero!!
["Kushina!"]
Everyone else felt as if they were standing right beside them, yet their immobilized bodies made them completely useless.
All they could do was clearly see the shock, panic, and heartache in the Fourth Hokage's wide eyes in that parallel world.
Gaara stared in disbelief at the red-haired woman.
She was Naruto Uzumaki's mother.
Learning the truth about his own birth had brought him a sense of salvation, but now, realizing that Naruto's birth seemed to be accompanied by even greater tragedy, left him at a loss. There was nothing he could do to help.
Then he froze, startled by his own thoughts.
In such a short span of time, he had actually developed a desire to help someone else, an emotion he had never felt before.
But at this moment…
The only ones who could still move were the medical-nin.
Rin and Sakura both knew that if the Nine-Tails wasn't sealed back into Kushina's body as soon as possible, then any Medical Ninjutsu would be nothing more than a drop in the bucket for her condition.
["After I die, the Nine-Tails' next revival can be delayed."]
["This is the last thing I can do for you…"]
["Thank you… for everything you've done for me all this time."]
The red-haired woman had begun saying her final words, and Minato Namikaze in both parallel worlds felt unbearable pain upon hearing them.
"Kushina!!"
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline was actually standing right beside her and the Fourth Hokage, yet because of the spatial and temporal divide between parallel worlds, he was like a two-dimensional image. His presence couldn't be perceived, and he couldn't help in any way.
Only the grief in his heart tore at him.
Even knowing that all of this was happening in another parallel world, Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline couldn't remain unmoved.
Ino whispered to Shikamaru, "Who is that woman? She seems really close to the Fourth Hokage."
"Tch. She's Naruto's mom. Isn't that obvious?" Shikamaru replied.
Shikamaru Nara quickly pieced things together in his mind. In the previous parallel world, they had learned about what happened on the day Gaara was born. Now, this parallel world was revealing the events surrounding the day Naruto Uzumaki was born.
He didn't know why, but from the very beginning, it seemed as though Gaara's and Naruto's identities and backgrounds were being deliberately compared.
So if Gaara was the child of the Fourth Kazekage, then Naruto…
Naruto's identity was practically set in stone, leaving no room for doubt.
Shikamaru Nara had even guessed the identity of that blond man in ANBU attire earlier, based on the moment Naruto had called him "Dad."
Could it be that the Fourth Hokage hadn't died during the Nine-Tails incident back then?!
Then why did the Third Hokage return to the position?!
It made no sense at all!!
["Kushina… you made me the Fourth Hokage…"]
The ninja of Konoha watched as their Fourth Hokage, eyes filled with tears, responded to the red-haired woman before him, his voice nearly breaking as he spoke.
["You made me your husband…"]
"!!!!"
What?!
["Just moments ago, you even made me the father of your child…"]
"!!!!"
The father of your child…
Almost everyone's gaze snapped toward the thin, small blond boy, the one who had endured Konoha's long-standing cold neglect and silent hostility.
["But I!!"]
Each sentence Minato spoke sent another shockwave through the crowd.
Aside from Team Minato and Team Kakashi, who already knew the truth, everyone else wore the same blank, stunned expression.
Although the people in that parallel world couldn't sense their presence, from the perspective of these Konoha ninja, it was as if they were standing right beneath the Nine-Tails, directly in front of the Fourth Hokage.
They could almost feel his guilt, his pain, his sorrow, and his helplessness.
No one could speak.
That fox brat who had always been blamed for killing the Fourth Hokage-sama…
Was actually…
His son?!
["Don't make that face… Minato…"]
The woman smiled gently.
"I'm already very happy. You love me, and today is also this child's birthday…"
Tears welled in Naruto's eyes, making his blue gaze shine even brighter. Watching his mom comfort his dad and his newborn self at a moment like this, the longing for family that had been buried deep in his heart for more than a decade surged up all at once, leaving him overwhelmed with mixed emotions.
The others pressed their lips together. Even though they stood outside this parallel world, they hadn't forgotten.
In their world, the birthdays of Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki were also the anniversaries of their mothers' deaths.
["If we were all alive… I can't imagine anything happier than the three of us living together as a family…"]
In the parallel world, Minato Namikaze shed silent tears.
Kushina looked down at the baby in her arms and made a wish.
["I only have… one last wish…"]
["I really want to see Naruto after he's grown up…"]
"..."
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline, unable to move, felt a lump rise in his throat. He desperately wished that Kushina from that parallel world could see the future Naruto, to know that despite all the hardships he would face, he would grow into an exceptional ninja.
[Mission Reward, preparing for disbursement…]
For a moment, Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline thought he heard his own voice.
But no one else seemed to hear it. It felt like nothing more than an illusion born from overwhelming grief.
Even though he was startled, nothing in the parallel world changed.
["Kushina, you don't have to die together with the Nine-Tails! I'll seal all of your remaining chakra into Naruto's body! Leave the Nine-Tails to me! I'll use the Reaper Death Seal to deal with it!"]
Neither Team Minato nor Team Kakashi knew what the Reaper Death Seal was.
[In the parallel world, Minato Namikaze told his wife, "I'll seal half of the Nine-Tails inside myself, and the other half…" He looked down at the infant in his arms.]
Everyone fell silent.
They had already guessed how this would end.
But still…
The Fourth Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage had done the exact same thing.
Both had sealed a powerful Tailed Beast into their own flesh and blood.
"The Hokage…"
"The Hokage actually did the same thing as our Kazekage?!"
The Sunagakure ninja were utterly stunned.
As for those Konoha ninja who had once insisted the Hokage would never do something like the Kazekage, they were already so numb they couldn't even feel the sting of being proven wrong.
Outside the parallel world, Gaara glanced at Naruto Uzumaki beside him, who was barely holding back his emotions.
In the earlier parallel world, hadn't that younger Naruto once said something like this?
If his own dad sealed such a monster inside him, he would definitely punch his dad hard.
Gaara looked toward Minato Namikaze and Rasa, both frozen in place.
As a genin, Gaara couldn't help but wonder whether the two of them were prepared for that punch.
Kushina Uzumaki, facing imminent danger, naturally refused to allow the Nine-Tails Demon Fox to be sealed into her newborn child.
Everyone heard the Fourth Hokage explain:
["Jiraiya-sensei once said that, in the future, a Child of the Prophecy would appear. That child might push the ninja world toward destruction, but might also bring lasting peace to the shinobi world."]
["Now I believe…"] Minato Namikaze continued. ["The masked man will inevitably plunge the ninja world into bloodshed and chaos. And I also believe that the one who can stop him can only be this child!!"]
["I don't know why, but I believe this without a doubt!"]
["But!"] No mother would ever agree to something like this.
Before she could stop him, Minato Namikaze had already summoned the altar of sacrificial power using a summoning technique.
Immediately after—
Snake, Boar, Ram, Hare, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse
Clap!
The Fourth Hokage pressed his hands together.
["Reaper Death Seal!!"]
"!!!!!"
The true form of the Shinigami, normally visible only to those who formed a contract with it, was fully revealed before everyone's eyes due to the spatial and temporal distortion between parallel worlds.
More terrifying than any jutsu, the god who ruled over death and souls stood right before them.
"Th-the Shinigami?!"
"What did the Fourth Hokage-sama do back then?!"
"I've never even heard of a technique like that! Is the Reaper Death Seal a forbidden jutsu?!"
Ninja from Konohagakure and Sunagakure whispered among themselves, but no one had ever seen or heard of such a technique.
["Trust this child, Kushina! Because he is our son!!"]
["Precisely because he is our child, I don't want him to shoulder such a painful life and such heavy responsibility, do I not?! And why use the Reaper Death Seal?! Just so I could see Naruto one more time, you didn't need to sacrifice your life!"]
"..."
Her sorrowful, broken voice was heartbreaking. Even with so many Konoha comrades present, the separation of time and space meant that no one could help.
They could only watch.
Only listen.
This was all part of the past that had once occurred in their own world.
["Minato, I want you to stay by Naruto's side! Why must Naruto be sacrificed for the balance of the tailed beasts, for the nation, for the village?! And why must you become a sacrifice for me?!!"]
Kushina's questioning caused everyone present to look toward the Naruto Uzumaki of their world.
That twelve-year-old boy—what had he been through?
Even if they hadn't noticed their own cruelty back then, after repeatedly traveling through the many parallel worlds of Sunagakure and Konohagakure, there was no way they could remain unaware.
At this moment, Naruto Uzumaki…
He was standing right beside his mom.
He could see the reluctance and pain in her eyes, yet she could not see the grievance and sorrow filling his own.
Over there, Obito was still desperately thinking of a way to break free. He shouted,
"Rin!! Why are you still standing around at a time like this?! Go in there and save Kushina!!"
How could Rin Nohara not want to save Kushina?
But she knew that relying on medical-nin alone was useless. Even Tsunade-sama was no match for a tailed beast, and she had also realized that Tsunade-sama was suffering from severe hemophobia at this moment. Without two Minato-sensei working together, it was simply impossible to completely reseal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina's body.
There was just… no way.
The only thing she could do now was not interfere.
Seeing Rin clench her fists, bite her lip, and cry silently, Obito felt a sharp pain pierce his chest. At this moment, he and Kakashi could do nothing. That sense of helplessness burned his eyes, and blood-tinged tears welled up once more. Despite possessing incredible latent talent, he still could not awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, because chakra could not be used here.
["Abandoning the nation…"]
The ninja of Konohagakure looked at the young man before them, their Fourth Hokage, already claimed by the Shinigami.
["Abandoning the village…"]
["That is no different from abandoning a child."]
["You should understand this deeply, Kushina. Your homeland was destroyed."]
Naruto: "!!!"
Although Naruto knew that Madara had once promised to help the Uzumaki clan avoid destruction during Konoha's founding era, he had subconsciously forgotten that, in this parallel world, the Uzumaki clan had already been wiped out along with their country.
["You know better than anyone what kind of cruel life those who lose their country are forced to live, don't you?"]
"!!!"
The Fourth Hokage's words struck straight into Karin's heart.
No one noticed…
As a special medical-nin, she was also someone who could still move. Blending in among the many medical-nin and Konoha ninja, her unique identity went completely unnoticed.
With a single bite, even severe injuries could be healed.
She didn't know whether she could save that sister who had the same hair color as her mom, but at the very least, she could buy her a little more time.
But…
In front of so many people, Karin's reason warned her not to reveal her ability.
Otherwise…
The image of her mother's death flashed through her mind.