Naruto was having an outdoor barbecue in the wilderness of the Land of Fire.
Participants included:
Naruto
One unlucky wild boar
One even unluckier hare
And a bird that absolutely did not wake up that morning expecting to get deleted by Wind Release
All of them had the misfortune of being "accidentally" sliced apart while Naruto was training his Wind Style chakra.
They unintentionally became the VIP guests at Naruto's luxurious wilderness lunch.
Naruto sincerely apologized to their spirits.
Then, with tears in his eyes, he ate three more bowls.
This scene had repeated countless times over the past half month.
The meat he couldn't finish was salted, packed, and sold in nearby towns. The income wasn't huge, but it kept his wallet from crying.
Running away from the village didn't mean running away from capitalism.
Besides financial gains, Naruto's progress in Wind Release had skyrocketed.
He had:
Expanded the effective range of standard Wind Style techniques
Reduced the size and chakra consumption of the Rasenshuriken
Increased its release speed
Modified several techniques for combat efficiency
And yes—credit where credit was due.
His fight with Danzo Shimura, a master of Wind Release, had been extremely educational.
Plus, thanks to the Sharingan he had previously copied, Naruto now possessed several high-level Wind Style techniques.
Danzo had tried to kill him.
Naruto had turned it into a free masterclass.
Fair trade.
After lunch, Naruto extinguished the fire and took out the Scroll of Seals from his storage scroll.
Compared to daily taijutsu and ninjutsu practice, breaking the seal on this forbidden book was his true obsession.
He had been drooling over the techniques recorded inside for a long time.
Half an hour later, he stopped.
He carefully resealed it and looked around vigilantly.
There was a tracking technique embedded in the Scroll of Seals.
Under normal conditions, Naruto could block tracking ninjutsu.
But while he was actively cracking the seal, that defense temporarily weakened.
That's when ANBU usually showed up to ruin his day.
Which was why he had let Shisui Uchiha leave first and head toward the Land of Whirlpools alone.
ANBU might hesitate to kill the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
They would not hesitate to eliminate Uchiha remnants.
There's a difference between "runaway village asset" and "political inconvenience that needs to be erased."
Naruto expanded his perception to the maximum and waited.
Hours passed.
He was honestly hoping ANBU would show up so he could use them to sharpen his combat skills.
But strangely—
Nothing.
No masked stalkers.
No surprise ambush.
No dramatic rooftop landing.
Naruto frowned.
Was the Third Hokage personally preparing to show up?
After all, Naruto's daily activity range spanned dozens of kilometers.
For a shinobi who could run faster than a damn train, that wasn't far at all.
Naruto even left a shadow clone on standby for half a day.
Still nothing.
"Did they give up?" he muttered.
Bored, Naruto resealed the Scroll of Seals and headed toward the nearest town.
Upon arrival, he put on a mask, adjusted his appearance slightly, and entered full "faceless wanderer" mode.
He ate.
He drank.
He spent money recklessly.
He lived like a mildly unstable rich kid.
A few hours later, back in his hotel room, Naruto lay on the bed and spoke into the darkness.
"Hey, Kurama. My proposal is still valid. If you materialize your chakra body, you can eat and drink too."
Inside the seal, the Nine-Tails—Kurama—looked mildly drunk.
It had indeed sampled some of the wine through chakra sharing earlier.
It gave Naruto a sideways glance.
Clearly not impressed.
Naruto entered the sealed space.
He stared at the Eight Trigrams Seal for a long time.
Then he said impatiently:
"You've been watching for over half a month. If you don't come out now, I'm removing the seal entirely."
His voice echoed.
To an outsider, it would look like only one boy and one giant fox existed here.
But Naruto knew better.
There was a third presence.
The chakra fragment of Minato Namikaze, sealed within the Eight Trigrams Seal.
Half a minute passed.
Naruto walked up to the gate.
And removed the Eight Trigrams Seal.
The cage restraining Kurama opened.
Golden light shimmered.
A familiar blond man appeared in the sealed space, wearing a helpless smile.
Minato Namikaze.
The Fourth Hokage.
Kurama instantly sobered up.
Its eyes locked onto Minato with cold hostility.
The last time they met, Minato had cut its freedom in half with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and shoved it into a newborn baby.
That memory had not aged well.
Naruto stared at the cheerful, sunlit man before him.
That smile.
Warm. Bright. Almost annoyingly sincere.
Maybe that was why Minato became Hokage instead of someone like Orochimaru.
With similar achievements, people prefer a warm little sun over a cold poisonous snake.
While Naruto observed Minato—
Minato observed Naruto and Kurama.
When the seal first loosened half a month ago, Minato had remained silent, waiting for Kurama to try breaking out so he could reimprison it.
But what he saw shocked him.
Naruto and Kurama… got along.
Not perfectly.
But far better than expected.
If a jinchūriki befriends their Tailed Beast, they can become a perfect jinchūriki.
That had been Minato's hope before his death.
Naruto, inheriting the Nine-Tails' power, protecting the village under the Will of Fire.
Instead—
Naruto had left the village.
In the past half month, Minato had witnessed everything.
Naruto's battle against Danzo.
Naruto's secret dealings with the Uchiha.
The political rot after his own death.
The conflict between the Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't surprised him.
Given the Uchiha's control of the police force and their temperament, conflict had been inevitable.
What shocked him—
Was Itachi slaughtering his own clan.
Minato had expected political dismantling.
Not annihilation.
And what concerned him most was Naruto.
Naruto did not feel like a nine-year-old child.
He felt older than thirteen-year-old Itachi.
Too calm.
Too sharp.
Too… aware.
It made Minato uneasy.
After a long silence, Minato finally spoke.
"Naruto… you may not have seen me before. I am not the Nine-Tails. I am—"
Naruto cut him off casually.
"You're Minato Namikaze. Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. The biological father of this body."
Minato blinked.
"You know who I am? Did the Third Hokage tell you?"
Naruto shook his head.
"The old man would never tell me the truth."
"I saw your face on Hokage Rock every day."
Then his gaze sharpened.
"Whether you're Hokage or my so-called father, I'm not interested in listening to a sentimental self-introduction."
"I care about practical benefits."
"Not fake concern."
Silence.
Minato didn't know how to respond.
He had died the very day he became a father.
He had zero parenting experience.
And certainly not for a child this sharp.
He had delayed appearing because he didn't know how to guide Naruto back to what he considered the "right path."
Now, forced into the open, he didn't even know which identity he had the right to use.
He was no longer the admired Hokage.
Just a father who died too early.
A man who sealed a demon into his newborn son and left him to deal with the consequences.
He had no qualification to criticize Naruto's coldness.
And he knew it.
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