"Naruto?"
Seeing Nine-Tails looking at him with confusion, Naruto took a long breath. "Nine-Tails, do you remember when we first met? You said the Fourth Hokage died because of you."
Hearing this, Nine-Tails' pupils shrank. The fox showed an unnatural expression. "Actually, even though that's technically true, if I hadn't been controlled by that masked man, the Fourth and his wife wouldn't have died either."
"Overall, the masked man is the real culprit."
Speaking of the masked man, Nine-Tails' killing intent flared again. Obviously, he deeply resented having his mind controlled to cause such destruction.
Thinking about it made Nine-Tails feel bitter resentment all over again. They talk about freedom, but first someone casually grabs me with one hand. Then someone's eyes stare at me and I can't help myself.
What kind of life is this?
Nine-Tails looked utterly dejected.
"Yes." Naruto sighed. "The masked man is the real culprit."
"You... you know everything now?" Hearing Naruto's sigh, Nine-Tails easily guessed he'd learned the Fourth Hokage was his father.
Though Nine-Tails had known this day would come eventually, now that it had arrived, he still felt lost.
What he feared most was that Naruto would become suspicious of him because of this.
After all, even though the masked man was the culprit, Nine-Tails had still been the weapon in his hand. Even if the weapon had no will of its own at the time.
"Yeah, I know. The Fourth Hokage is my dad. And you were sealed inside my mom before me."
Naruto nodded. Seeing Nine-Tails' bewildered look, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. The System had taught him how to train, but it had also taught him to distinguish right from wrong, to judge fairly. Why had he felt that flash of hatred toward Nine-Tails just now?
Thinking this, Naruto looked at Nine-Tails. "Nine-Tails, don't worry. I won't blame you. After all, you didn't want any of this, right?"
Hearing Naruto's words, Nine-Tails breathed a huge sigh of relief and nodded frantically. "Yeah, Naruto! Actually, I don't even like humans that much. Even if humans treat me like a beast and fear me, I really don't think about it much. I just want to hide in some forest somewhere, eat and sleep every day. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Unfortunately, his dream had shattered the moment he met the man named Uchiha Madara. First, that man forced the fox to sign a contract. Then fought with him.
That guy was simply inhuman. He'd beaten a tailed beast with one hand.
In the end, he'd had the audacity to say: "Nine-Tails, you're too powerful. I have no choice but to seal you."
Nine-Tails had wanted to scream back: You're way stronger than me! You beat me with one hand! But I'm supposedly too powerful?!
But overwhelming force won out. Since then, Nine-Tails had been trapped in endless darkness.
"Naruto, if you want to know the details, I can show you." Nine-Tails looked at Naruto with a serious fox face.
"No need. Let's go eat. Don't keep Sasuke waiting."
Naruto shook his head. He'd already seen the specifics from his parents. Reading it again would be pointless.
He already knew right from wrong in his heart.
Back at the wooden house, Naruto had recovered his usual smiling expression. He didn't like bringing his negative energy to others. People weren't trash cans.
"Naruto, Nine-Tails, you're back!"
"Hurry up and sit down—let's eat!" Sasuke called out loudly.
"Speaking so loud just to eat..." Naruto joked. Now, he tried to talk to Sasuke with a cheerful attitude. After all, it had only been a month since the Uchiha massacre.
He hoped Sasuke would calm down soon and return to some semblance of normal life.
It would be difficult, but Naruto thought this way: I'm here. Nine-Tails is here. Shikamaru, Choji, Sakura, Ino, Hinata—so many friends are by Sasuke's side. No matter how hard life gets, the strength of many people can always help us face it.
After dinner, Nine-Tails went to wash dishes. Sasuke followed to help.
Naruto came out to the yard and lay on a deck chair under the large tree to enjoy the shade. The summer solstice was approaching.
The Summer Festival was almost here.
The Summer Festival was a very lively celebration in Konoha. On that day, people would dress in formal kimonos, carry lanterns, and walk through the streets at night, looking at stars and moon.
Then they'd come to the temple and wait for fireworks to bloom across the night sky.
In previous years, Naruto could never bring himself to go watch the fireworks. He didn't like going to crowded places. For him, crowds often meant even greater coldness and isolation.
But this year, he had friends.
He should invite Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke to watch the fireworks together.
He could take Sasuke out to have fun. Maybe his heavy heart would lighten a bit.
Thinking this, Naruto began looking forward to that day.
At that moment, Sasuke finished helping Nine-Tails with the dishes and came to the yard, ready to practice.
Minato hadn't just taught Naruto his famous techniques—he'd also shared practical experience. Therefore, Naruto stopped Sasuke in time. "Sasuke, training like that isn't right."
"Why not?" Sasuke was curious about what Naruto meant. In the past, his brother and father had taught him how to train.
"You keep practicing until you completely drain yourself. That's not right. You need to understand how chakra is produced. It's physical energy drawn from all the cells in the human body, combined with spiritual energy. These two energies convert into chakra through hand seals."
"So if you overtrain, you'll damage yourself."
"Naruto, how do you know this?" Sasuke knew Naruto never practiced ninjutsu or refined chakra.
He also understood chakra formation, but he didn't know about the dangers of excessive training.
"Sasuke, do you know who I am?" Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked with a sigh.
"Uh..." Sasuke didn't understand why Naruto was asking something so obvious, but he still replied, "You're Uzumaki Naruto. Who else?"
"Actually, I'm the son of Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki."
A hint of pride unconsciously appeared on Naruto's face.
Hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke's pupils shrank. He said in surprise, "What?! You're the Fourth Hokage's son? Why didn't I know?"
Sasuke genuinely hadn't known. In his family, his brother Itachi and his parents had known, but they'd never told him. Additionally, Sasuke had only been two months old during the Nine-Tails attack, so it wasn't surprising he didn't know.
"That's right." Naruto was about to continue explaining, but the words turned into: "Sasuke, wait for me. I need to use the bathroom."
He turned and headed into the toilet. Sasuke stood there, processing when exactly Naruto had become the Fourth Hokage's child.
Naruto entered the bathroom and relieved himself. As he was about to pull up his pants, he suddenly felt a flash of understanding pass through his mind.
He looked down. The cultivation method for the Protective Retraction Technique appeared in his thoughts.
"Finally! One more vulnerability eliminated." Naruto pulled up his pants, excitement crossing his face.