Meanwhile, in another timeline, Black Zetsu was also staring intently at the sky.
This was a secluded forest somewhere in the Shinobi World. Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves as Black Zetsu emerged halfway from a tree trunk, his pitch-black face tilted upward toward the Sky Screen, the illusory light reflecting in his pupils.
"Mother…" His voice, tinged with a slight sob, echoed through the dim forest. At this moment, Black Zetsu felt like crying, but no tears came.
With the appearance of this screen, his plan to resurrect his mother seemed to be veering off course. Worse still, the screen kept leaking information about her—her identity, her power, the location of her seal—being broadcast to the entire Shinobi World piece by piece.
If that guy Obito found out the truth, he probably wouldn't resurrect Madara, which meant Madara would have died for nothing. And that lunatic bastard Obito, once he learned the Eye of the Moon Plan was a lie, he'd probably go insane.
Of course, if Madara was revived and discovered that he had been deceived, he'd go mad too.
Black Zetsu could only pray silently that the screen wouldn't reveal these secrets too soon.
---
[Konoha, Year 83. The Uzumaki Household]
"Dad… is Kaguya still up in the sky right now?" Boruto turned to look at Naruto, who was sitting beside him.
Naruto scratched his head. "She's in another dimension now… It took me, Sasuke, and Aunt Sakura a lot of effort to seal her back then."
Boruto looked somewhat puzzled. "Seal? Even you guys couldn't kill her?"
According to the Sky Screen, both his Dad and Uncle Sasuke were Six Paths-level fighters. And the two of them working together couldn't kill one person?
"Yeah, that rabbit lady can't be killed, only sealed."
"Come to think of it, she's probably the strongest person in the Shinobi World," Naruto said with a hint of nostalgia.
Boruto and Himawari were both stunned, their mouths hanging wide open.
Seeing his children's shocked expressions, Naruto found it quite amusing, though he didn't bother explaining further.
As for the ordinary people and shinobis across other Timelines—they were absolutely floored.
Nagato… was the weakest among those named?!
But Nagato was Super Kage-level!
So how insanely strong must the others be?
The waters of the Shinobi World truly ran far too deep.
Meanwhile, on the screen—
As blood continued to seep from Nagato's nose and mouth, the Nine-Tails-enhanced Naruto was eventually completely encased in rubble, a massive meteor-like sphere hanging in the sky.
Quietly, the scene shifted to Naruto's inner world.
"Someone, help me... give me the answer." Naruto knelt on the ground, clutching his head, looking utterly helpless.
Just then, the Nine-Tails' voice echoed, constantly tempting him to break the seal. At the same time, in the real world, the encased Naruto grew more and more violent, with a head already emerging.
Just as Naruto was about to tear off the seal, a figure suddenly appeared in his mental world and stopped him.
Soon, clarity returned to Naruto's eyes, and he recognized the man standing before him, who was wearing the Hokage's haori.
"Dad…"
Just as the viewers were expecting a touching father-son reunion, Naruto suddenly threw a heavy punch straight into Minato's abdomen.
Thud!
Naruto seemed to have shown no mercy, as Minato curled up from the impact.
"Why did you seal the Nine-Tails inside your own son?!"
"Do you have any idea what I went through because of that?!" Naruto's voice trembled with emotion as tears streamed down his face.
Hearing his son's words, Minato could only respond in a low, heavy voice: "Naruto… I'm sorry."
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Konoha Village]
Although the villagers of Konoha had long since learned of Naruto's true identity through the screen, they still hadn't found the courage to admit their mistakes; at most, they had stopped openly discriminating against him.
But as Naruto's words echoed from the screen, many villagers actually nodded in agreement.
"That's right! Sure, the Fourth Hokage was a good leader, but he definitely got this one wrong! Why seal the Nine-Tails inside little Naruto?" An auntie in an apron put her hands on her hips, speaking with self-righteous conviction, as if she had completely forgotten how she used to grab her own child by the ear and say, 'Stay away from that demon fox.'
"The Third Hokage was also at fault. If he had told us who Naruto really was, we wouldn't have… we wouldn't have done those things," muttered a middle-aged man nearby, scratching his head with a hint of guilt in his voice.
"Exactly, exactly." The villagers chimed in one after another, their voices growing louder, as if the noise alone could lighten their guilt.
But no one had truly reflected on their actions. At least not yet.
---
[Land of Waves, Tazuna's House]
Naruto sat cross-legged on the floor, tears streaming down his face. He didn't bother wiping them, letting them drip from his chin onto his clothes.
"Naruto…" Sakura crouched beside him and handed him a tissue. She didn't know what to say, so she simply placed it in his hand, then quietly stood up and stepped back.
Sasuke stood by the window, watching the crying Naruto on the screen, then glancing at the real one wiping his tears. A strange emotion stirring within him.
'This idiot… his father still cared about him so much, he even left chakra inside his mental world to protect him.'
Then thinking of his own parents, Sasuke's heart immediately sank.
Kakashi looked at the Minato on the screen—curled up after taking a punch from his own son—and then looked at Naruto on the floor. He let out a deep sigh.
'Sensei… have you been watching this whole time?'
'I wonder what do you think when you see Naruto's future? Are you proud? Heartbroken? Probably both.'
---
[Konoha, Year 48. Hokage Office]
Minato's shoulders trembled slightly. The word "sorry" echoed over and over in his ears, stabbing into his heart like a needle.
"Naruto…"
Kushina stood behind him, her hands resting gently on his shoulders. She looked at the weeping Naruto on the screen, her own eyes reddening, but she held back her tears.
"Minato, it's not your fault."
"We… both did the best we could. Fate was just too cruel."
"And besides, even if we're not there in the future, didn't Naruto make it through? He became such a remarkable shinobi, a hero, and he'll even become Hokage one day. We should be proud."
*****
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