Just like Hatake Kakashi and Momochi Zabuza had detailed records on each other, a genius puppet master like Sasori had naturally been a high-priority subject of Konoha's intelligence network.
Then, one day, he had simply vanished.
Around the same time, the Third Kazekage had disappeared as well, and no one had ever found out where he went.
Only now, after seeing the video, did the truth come to light—he had joined Akatsuki.
Considering that Akatsuki only recruited top-tier talents and powerful individuals, it made sense.
Still, it felt strange.
They had always treated Akatsuki as a formidable enemy, yet now, somehow, they had become allies. The shift was jarring.
"If only that were real…"
Uchiha Sasuke murmured, his gaze lingering on the screen.
He watched the version of his brother standing on Konoha's side, and something twisted quietly in his chest.
If his brother had been like that Itachi—one who had left the village, but hadn't slaughtered the entire clan…
If he and their parents were still living peacefully in the village, waiting for the day his brother might come back…
How different would everything have been?
But he knew it was nothing more than a fantasy.
—
In the video, Naruto chased Menma straight into the depths of the training grounds, and the two immediately clashed.
"Trying to overwhelm me with numbers? How boring."
Menma crushed Naruto's shadow clones effortlessly, his tone filled with disdain.
Even though they were mirror versions of the same person, Menma's taijutsu was clearly on a completely different level.
Naruto's fundamentals had always been shaky. Compared to someone like Menma, who had clearly undergone strict training from a young age, the gap was obvious.
Naruto's overall combat strength was impressive, but anyone could see the weakness in his basics. Even Sasuke's foundation far surpassed his.
In pure taijutsu, it only took a few exchanges for Naruto to be pushed onto the defensive.
Watching this, Minato couldn't help but shake his head.
There was nothing he could do. These two were, in essence, his sons from parallel worlds, yet completely beyond his reach.
Still, it was a pity.
From Menma's performance alone, it was clear that Naruto's potential was enormous. He simply hadn't been trained properly, which left gaps everywhere.
When his own Naruto was born, he would make sure to guide him well.
In the video, both of his "sons" unleashed their techniques.
One formed a Wind Release: Rasengan Shuriken.
The other responded with the Great Spiraling Ring.
The collision blew apart the entire training grounds.
"He can use something like Rasengan Shuriken too?!"
Naruto stared in shock at Menma's jutsu.
It looked similar, yet completely different. The Great Spiraling Ring was dark, almost black, unlike the wind-infused Rasengan Shuriken.
At that moment, Naruto felt the Nine-Tails inside him growing increasingly restless.
"You can feel it, can't you?"
Menma let out a cold laugh.
"Since earlier, the thing inside you has been stirring. You're slow to notice."
"Inside me? How do you know that?"
Naruto frowned.
"Maybe it's what they call resonance."
As Menma spoke, the upper half of his clothing and his mask began to crumble away into ash.
Naruto's eyes widened.
The face revealed beneath was almost identical to his own.
The only differences were the black hair and a hairstyle closer to Minato's, just darker in color.
Everyone watching the scene froze in shock.
For those like Jiraiya and Kakashi, who had known Minato well, the resemblance stood out immediately.
Menma looked more like Minato.
His features, his bearing—even his style.
It made sense.
In this world, Naruto had grown up with his parents. Minato and Kushina hadn't died in the Nine-Tails' attack, so naturally, he had developed more like his father.
"Heh… even I didn't expect this."
Menma grinned, his expression twisted.
After the violent clash of energy subsided, the two stood amid the ruins of the shattered training grounds.
Menma's lips curled into a cold smile.
"I didn't expect someone like me to exist in this world. That's why I can't stand it. Just knowing you're out there makes my skin crawl."
His voice rose with fury.
"I'll erase you."
To him, Naruto felt like something unnatural, almost monstrous—a reflection he couldn't accept.
Drawing on the power of the Nine Masked Beasts, Menma infused it into his body, then summoned the Nine-Tails itself.
The massive beast emerged with overwhelming force, its presence carrying the weight of destruction.
"Even the Nine-Tails exists here…"
Minato's expression tightened as he watched.
Both of them were, in a sense, his sons.
But one had fallen so far he was willing to kill even his own parents, while the other carried pride in his heroic lineage.
His heart had already chosen.
Still, he remembered something else.
Naruto would eventually become the hero who saved the world.
That meant he wouldn't fall here.
At least, not now.
He recalled what Kaede Kitahara's diary had mentioned—from the Naruto Era to the Boruto era, where the protagonist shifted from Naruto to his grandson.
Even if they were all family, something about that transition still felt strange to him.
"If even the Nine-Tails exists in this world, then what kind of terrifying jutsu is this Limited Tsukuyomi…?"
Uchiha Itachi murmured.
This Uchiha Kenji…
Even if he wasn't Madara, from everything he had shown, Itachi felt he was no less formidable.
"He looks just like Naruto… so he's the jinchūriki of this world?"
Sakura quickly pieced it together.
"The Nine-Tails embodies both immense power and pure hatred among the Tailed Beasts. If two like that clash, it'll be a fight to the death."
From within the void, Obito watched with growing interest.
This world might not be under his full control, but that unpredictability made it even more entertaining.
"He's targeting me. Everyone, get out of here!"
Naruto shouted a warning.
Faced with such a monstrous opponent, even Akatsuki chose not to engage. Their contract didn't include fighting something like the Nine-Tails.
In the end, Naruto stood alone.
The battle spilled into the inner lake. Naruto created multiple shadow clones, each forming a Rasengan, but they were wiped out instantly by the Nine-Tails' roar.
The clones were too fragile to withstand even a single shockwave.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto was slammed into the water.
"Damn it…"
Staring up at the towering beast, frustration burned in his chest.
"That's pathetic. You're really going to lose to a cheap imitation like that?"
The scene shifted.
Naruto found himself in the sealed space within his own body.
The Nine-Tails sneered at him.
Because the imitation wasn't just Naruto—there was also a counterfeit Nine-Tails.
"Shut up. I'm just getting started."
Naruto snapped back, refusing to back down.
"If I release the Tailed Beast Mode…"
"Are you an idiot?"
The Nine-Tails cut him off with a roar.
"It might be a fake, but it's still the Nine-Tails. You can only draw on a fraction of my chakra. How do you expect to fight it?"
"Make a deal with me, Naruto. Let me take over, and I'll deal with them myself."
One of its claws slammed against the cage, leaving deep gouges in the bars.
"Yeah, right. You think I'd fall for that?"
Naruto shot back immediately.
"I know what you're after. I'm not handing over my body."
He wasn't that reckless. If he released the Nine-Tails completely, everything would be over.
"Hmph. Still the same annoying brat."
The Nine-Tails snorted.
"But I hate that Uchiha Madara even more. If you die, I'll be trapped in this fake world. If this is his plan, why should I play along?"
Its tone shifted.
"This time, I'll make an exception. I'll lend you my power."
Naruto pushed himself to his feet.
"The enemy of my enemy, huh… fine. Just this once. One-time cooperation."
With that, he loosened the seal on his body, releasing the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"Looks like Naruto at this point still hasn't truly learned to coexist with the Nine-Tails… but he's getting there."
Minato watched carefully, already forming a conclusion.
In the traditional understanding, the Nine-Tails was nothing more than a mindless monster—a being formed from humanity's hatred.
That was how the world saw all the Tailed Beasts: violent, uncontrollable, incapable of reason.
Even Minato himself had once believed that.
Kushina had told him the same thing—that the Nine-Tails constantly tried to invade her mind, dragging her toward darkness. All she felt from it was endless resentment and malice.
But Naruto's interaction with it was different.
From what little they had seen, it had evolved.
From a feral, monstrous presence…
To something that could communicate.
To something that could speak.
And eventually, by the time Naruto became Hokage, it seemed they had reached mutual understanding.
It was a gradual transformation.
A path neither Minato nor Kushina had ever imagined possible.