The Will of Fire was Naruto's spiritual pillar. His love for the village seemed boundless. Anyone could have betrayed Konoha, but not him. Others had parents, a family, and Naruto had only the Will of Fire!
Becoming Hokage was probably his only real dream.
And yet this child, who was supposed to have boundless devotion to the village, turned to darkness.
"Damn it, Jiraiya, what idiots you all are! What have you been doing all this time?!" — mentally lamented sannin.
He wasn't like this before!
Jiraiya hadn't noticed the relationship between the two sages, and if he had, it wasn't up to him right now. He stared at Naruto, but he couldn't see a single loophole. There was too little time. If they had a little more, they would definitely be able to defeat Naruto in his current state.
However, he was preparing his monstrous technique too quickly. It was only necessary to delay it for a moment, and one could tear off the Tailed Beast's cover, sealing its power. But there was almost no such opportunity — the nine tails, like living tentacles, repelled any attacks. Even if it was possible to chop them off, they recovered in the shortest possible time.
"Damn, is this kid really going to destroy Konoha?"
Damn it!
"If I had known that this guy had such a deadly move, I would have worked up my resolve earlier and just killed him!"
Naruto's death is not scary, but the Nine—Tails must not suffer now! Therefore, they hesitated during the battle. To defeat that monster, Uchiha Yue, the power of the Nine-Tails as a super-powerful energy source was necessary. And the life of the jinchuuriki and the Tailed Beast are connected: if the jinchuuriki dies, the beast will die.
"What should I do now? Is Konoha really finished?" — Jiraiya's face became more and more gloomy.
And so, at this most critical moment, Naruto's movements suddenly stopped.
A chance!
At the same moment, all of Konoha's ninjas, gathering strength, unleashed their most powerful attacks on him. Joy flashed across Jiraiya's face, and he crazily released his chakra and rushed towards Naruto.
Naruto's mind went into a fog. A figure suddenly appeared in front of him, giving him a strange, familiar feeling.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto frowned, looking at the man in front of him with annoyance. "How did you get here?" Wait a minute... From Konoha? Then die!
When he saw the protector on Minato Namikaze's forehead, his face changed dramatically and he immediately raised his hand, intending to incinerate the stranger. As for the familiar feeling, it's just a fucking illusion! Maybe he's in genjutsu right now!
"Naruto, stop!" Minato said painfully. —Teacher Jiraiya told the truth! You are the son of the Fourth Hokage! I am your father! Stop it, Naruto, you can't keep making this mistake!
Naruto's movements stopped abruptly. His eyes widened, and he stared at the man in front of him in disbelief.
- what? You... My father? "What is it?" he whispered. - no... it's impossible! You should have been killed by Jiraiya and the others! You can't be alive! Anyway, why are you trying to stop me? I'm taking revenge for you!
"Naruto, what are you saying?" His son's words made Minato's face freeze in amazement. It even seemed to him that he had misheard.
What do you mean, Jiraiya killed him? When he died, Jiraiya's teacher wasn't even in the village. What does his death have to do with the teacher?
Obviously, Minato didn't know that in Naruto's mind, his parents were never any Fourth Hokage. They were captured outside the village to be used as test subjects to create weapons—himself. After his birth, his parents lost all value and were eliminated.
"Isn't that so?" Naruto continued. "Weren't you the test subjects that the village used to create me, their weapon?" Father, don't worry, I will definitely destroy Konoha! I will avenge you!
—No, no, Naruto, you're wrong," Minato lowered his head and began to explain. — I am indeed the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. Forgive me, Naruto... I know, as a father, I may not have the right to demand anything from you, but please stop! Don't make your mistake worse! Don't let the Nine-Tails influence you any further!
Minato looked at his son with anguish. Obviously, he chose the village between the village and his son. He chose the Will of Fire! Perhaps he really loved his son very much, but the village was more important.
However, things did not go as he had hoped.
"I'm sorry, Father...— Naruto's gaze instantly turned cold. He took a step back, looking at Minato with incredible detachment. — It is better to destroy such a village. For Sasuke's sake, for the sake of all those she ruined, such a village should no longer exist! This is not the Konoha I imagined at all!
Naruto shook his head and laughed bitterly.
— The so-called Will of Fire... Ha-ha... What a mockery that is…
He had laughed at the Will of Fire and at himself in the past. As strong as his love was, so deep was his hatred. There was no turning back. Having learned the truth about the village, having known its bottomless darkness, he was completely disappointed in Konoha.
The real Konoha died that day. Now he's going to destroy this damn place!
— That's how it is... Naruto... Looking at his son, Minato lowered his head and sighed mournfully.
He regretted it. If he hadn't sealed the other half of the Nine-Tails back then, hadn't followed Kushina into death, but had stayed to take care of Naruto, maybe things would have been different now?
But it was already too late.
"If you count the time, it's almost..." he thought.
"What do you mean?" Naruto did not understand.