Seeing Kyusei pleading in front of her, Kushina's sense of triumph was written all over her face.
She pressed a hand onto his soft red hair and said proudly,
"Reaching this level isn't something that comes easily."
"It took me six whole years to get here."
Six years…
Kyusei instantly calmed down.
There was no way Kushina could stay with him for six years.
After his seal was reinforced in a couple of days, she would at most teach him for a short while before leaving together with Namikaze Minato and Hyūga Hinata.
As if sensing Kyusei's thoughts, Kushina gently rubbed his head and said,
"It's fine. If I can reach this level—"
"Then you definitely can too."
"After all, you are me."
"I've already paved the road for you. All you need to do now is walk it."
"Ganbatte!"
Looking at Kushina's bright smile as she encouraged him, Kyusei clenched his fists in his heart.
That's right!
If Kushina could do it, then so could he!
And not only that—he would do it even better!
"Then… after you leave, will I still be able to see you again?"
"…That, of course—"
"No."
Just as Kushina was about to say it would be no problem, Minato had already walked over.
Kaoru followed quietly behind him.
"Minato!"
Kushina puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
Honestly—already forty years old, yet she was still as willful as a little girl.
Minato glanced helplessly at his wife, then turned to Kyusei and spoke calmly.
"Every world has its own laws."
"Because of this accident, we've already caused quite a few disturbances."
"Fortunately, everything is still within a controllable range."
"But if something critical were to go wrong—if something that should have succeeded were to fail because of us—"
"Then we would become sinners."
Minato looked steadily at the red-haired boy.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Kyusei muttered unhappily.
"For example," Minato said quietly,
"what if we appeared at the moment when the First Hokage fought Uchiha Madara—"
"And caused the First Hokage to lose a battle he was meant to win?"
"In that case, would the people of that world—including us—even be born?"
From afar, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been observing, felt his scalp go numb.
If that were truly possible… then everything would collapse.
"Uh… why wouldn't we just help the First Hokage kill Madara?"
Kyusei countered.
"Then maybe he'd even live a few more years?"
"Because the cost of failure is unbearable,"
Minato replied gravely.
"Kyusei—can you accept Kaoru completely disappearing from your life?"
"This is something far more terrifying than death."
"Even death leaves behind memories."
"But if the dragon vein erases someone from the flow of time—"
"Then their existence vanishes entirely. From the world. From memory."
"If that person were Kaoru—"
"Could you accept Kaoru disappearing even from your own memories?"
Minato let out a soft sigh and looked past Kyusei, toward the Hyūga girl standing behind him.
He had already spoken with Hinata.
From her, he learned that this girl was Hinata's mother in this world—
and that their relationship was… extremely strained.
Through subtle probing, Minato had also learned something else:
At this point in time, Hyūga Hiashi had not yet won this White-Eyed Princess's heart.
To completely extinguish Kyusei's dangerous thoughts, Minato turned to Hyūga Naori and asked:
"If I'm not mistaken, you are Hinata's mother in this world, correct?"
Naori blinked in surprise, not understanding why she was suddenly dragged into the conversation.
"I… suppose so," she replied hesitantly.
"Then," Minato asked calmly,
"knowing that your daughter would grow up to become that Hinata—"
"Would you still choose to be with Hiashi?"
Naori's lips twitched.
"Absolutely not."
Too infuriating.
Too rude.
Too arrogant.
That was Hyūga Naori's honest evaluation of Hyūga Hinata.
Minato turned back to Kyusei and said evenly,
"Do you see now?"
"In this world, Hinata will most likely never be born."
"And neither will her sister—Hanabi."
"Two girls who should have existed will disappear completely because Hinata's arrival disrupted the natural order."
"They will vanish from the future."
"Even their memories will not remain."
Kushina stared at Minato in shock.
She hadn't realized that traveling through time could carry such terrifying consequences.
Thank goodness she hadn't told Kyusei how to cross time.
"…Alright,"
Kyusei replied quietly.
"But don't be too sad," Minato said gently, smiling.
He placed a hand on Kyusei's shoulder, crouched down, and met his gaze.
Out of affection for his wife—and by extension her counterpart—Minato's fondness for Kyusei had already reached its peak.
"We will always remember this extraordinary journey."
"Kushina and I will always know that, in another world, there is a younger version of ourselves—"
"Growing, striving, and moving forward."
"Do your best, Kyusei."
"This is the blessing of your closest family from another world."
"Minato…"
Kyusei stared blankly at the man whose warmth felt almost overwhelming, not knowing how to respond.
"And me too!"
"And me—I'll always be thinking of you!"
"Kushina wrapped Kaoru tightly in her arms, rubbing her cheek affectionately.
"Kaoru—this is also a blessing from someone who is closest to you in another world!"
"Yes!"
"I'll remember you forever!"
In truth, Minato had briefly considered simply sealing everyone's memories.
But too many people had already seen them.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Hatake Sakumo.
Even the Nine-Tails.
He couldn't seal the memories of beings that powerful—
they would eventually break free.
In that case, it was better to lay everything bare,
to let everyone understand the true cost of crossing time.
"Still," Minato said softly,
"I will treasure the remaining time we have."
"Once Kyusei's Eight Trigrams Seal is completed—"
"We'll immediately begin strengthening all of you."
As always, Namikaze Minato felt unshakably reliable.
Hyūga Naori glanced at the group and clicked her tongue.
She was jealous.
Why was her daughter such a menace—
constantly acting like an enemy, always trying to drive her mad?
Meanwhile, Minato and Kushina were so gentle, so understanding, so reliable.
This was unfair.
Completely unfair!!!
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