Minato

"Leave this problem to me."

The man's voice was gentle yet powerful.

Sakura Haruno and her clone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a blond man appear out of thin air, smiling as he walked towards them.

Almost the instant she saw him, Sakura Haruno recognized him.

Minato Namikaze.

Naruto's father, the Fourth Hokage.

"Hello... Fourth Hokage." Sakura Haruno smiled slightly.

Minato nodded and smiled faintly, "Hello, Sakura... um... everyone."

He walked up to the two of them. Minato Namikaze was even more handsome in person than in the manga, and his demeanor was just as they had imagined—warm, gentle, and approachable.

If he were in the world before he transmigrated, with such looks, Minato could easily debut as an idol. He wouldn't need any special skills; just standing there with a faint smile would be enough to make countless girls scream all night. If he had a bit more emotional intelligence and could say some tactful things, he might have become another wildly popular male version of a lucky charm.

"You seem to have anticipated my presence here," Minato said casually, glancing into Sakura Uchiha's eyes.

Sakura Haruno nodded.

She gazed at the seemingly asleep Nine-Tails not far away and said calmly, "Hmm, I vaguely sensed your presence when I was training with Naruto in the Tailed Beast form."

"As a father, it's only natural to leave some contingency plans within his son, isn't it?" Sakura Haruno glanced meaningfully at the Fourth. "After all, you were the one who personally sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto!"

Minato gave a wry smile.

He could certainly hear the emotions behind the girl's words.

That was Sakura Haruno expressing her dissatisfaction with Naruto teammate and close friend.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Nine-Tails inside him, Naruto would have suffered much less... Minato could see many things inside Naruto. However, at that critical moment when the Nine-Tails was causing chaos, he didn't have a good solution. He could only choose a path full of hardships but ultimately leading to a bright future for his son based on some vague premonitions.

"As a father..." Minato's eyes dimmed, and he sighed, "I've made Naruto suffer a lot!"

I'm sorry to him.

The girl shook her head slightly. "There's no need to say that... I don't think Naruto cares about that. He only cares that you and your wife weren't there to watch him grow up."

The Fourth Hokage fell silent.

The girl's words struck a nerve with Minato, who felt he had wronged Naruto the most.

It wasn't that Naruto was given a difficult path.

Instead, after choosing this path for Naruto, they were unable to give him fatherly and motherly love, and were unable to accompany him as he grew up.

Sakura Haruno realized she had said something inappropriate and chuckled awkwardly, trying to break the awkward silence. "Ha, ha! Actually, Naruto has been doing quite well these past few years, and he's gradually grown up and become a trustworthy man! You should be proud of him!"

The Fourth smiled, quickly recovering from his inexplicable emotions, and remarked with a sigh, "Yes! Naruto— "

As they spoke, Naruto's battered body suddenly materialized in the sealed space as his Chakra gradually recovered.

Minato's words caught in his throat. Looking at Naruto, who was covered in wounds, the three of them fell silent in unison.

"Naruto..."

Sakura Haruno Earth Flow Naruto was still unconscious, knelt down, and took his hand.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found that she couldn't utter a single word.

Should I apologize and say, "I'm sorry I'm late"?

Or are you feeling sorry for him and saying, "You've worked so hard"?

Or perhaps we should blame him for being too impulsive and stubborn, actually activating Tailed Beast Mode that he couldn't even control?

"I didn't stop Naruto when he activated his ninth tail," Minato said softly, "Because he was still conscious at the time."

"Naruto wasn't bewitched by Nine-Tails and entered the state of the ninth tail in a daze. He was fully aware that he needed to borrow more power from Nine-Tails to defeat the powerful enemy and protect himself and Sasuke."

"That was his choice."

The man lowered his eyes, recalling the scene that had occurred not long ago.

Naruto's eyes shone with a resolute light as he accepted the Nine-Tails' power without hesitation.

Naruto knew the risks of doing this, that he might never wake up again, but for victory, to protect Sasuke, and for so many other things, he made the choice resolutely.

Sakura Haruno could understand that feeling, that feeling of risking one's life and charging forward with the resolve to die in battle.

Didn't she think the same thing during the battle with Pain that just ended?

Similar feelings, similar emotions.

The only difference is that Sakura Haruno is more confident in herself, believing she can win this life-or-death, extremely risky battle; Naruto, on the other hand, has absolutely no idea whether he will ever wake up again after growing nine tails...

That's why it seems all the more tragic.

That's why it's even more breathtaking.

In silence, Minato rewrote the Eight Trigrams Seal, completely locking the Nine-Tails inside Naruto's body.

His figure began to become blurry and uncertain.

"Your Chakra is running low, Uncle," Sakura Haruno sighed. "Leave the rest to us! Let's give Naruto the last bit of time, Fourth."

The Fourth Hokage paused for a moment, then turned to look at the girl, smiling with relief, "Very well... You're such a kind child, thank you, Sakura!"

Sakura simply shook her head slightly. "You're too kind. It's nothing, just a small matter. I was merely fulfilling my duty as a friend."

"No," Minato said solemnly, "I meant, thank you for accompanying Naruto's growth all these years..."

"Alright, I should say goodbye now."

"Go for it, Sakura!"

At the last moment, he raised his hand and gave the girl a thumbs up.

"Until we meet again, Fourth Hokage!"

Sakura Haruno waved goodbye, watching Minato Namikaze disappear into the air as a blur.

In reality.

After everything was taken care of, the girl finally couldn't hold on any longer, coughed violently a few times, and blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

"That enormous amount of radiant energy is quite unruly!"

Her face was deathly pale, and she managed a weak smile.

Sakura Uchiha, the clone, was startled by her and quickly supported the swaying girl. "Don't talk anymore, hurry back and heal your injuries. You always like to be stubborn, really!"

Speaking to her alter ego, Sakura Haruno didn't need to put on any pretense and said directly, "I need to go back to Shikkotsu Forest to find the Sage Katsuyu to heal my injuries. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto..."

"You can leave it to me without worry!" the clone readily agreed.

Sakura Haruno shook her head helplessly.

She's still worried.

The Clone Duplicate technique... on the surface, it seems perfect. It only requires a small cost to obtain a powerful clone, and there are no countermeasures, making it very useful. However, in reality, it contains great danger.

As the old saying goes, there is no perfect technique. Every technique has its flaws or weaknesses!

The biggest advantage of Clone Duplicate is that it uses a real clone as its clone, but its biggest disadvantage is also the same.

A healthy body will spontaneously and slowly develop a spirit, and eventually grow into a soul. When a clone has an independent body and an independent soul, it is no longer a clone, but another independent individual!

Another Sakura Haruno.

When two Sakura Haruno exist in the world, which one is the real Sakura?

A ninja with a slightly darker mindset wouldn't dare use such a technique. Even a clone can think and has its own ideas. Why would the original body allow a clone to risk its life? Who knows if the clone might suddenly turn against the original, kill it, and take its place?

Sakura Haruno has always been very strict about controlling her Clone Duplicate, dispelling the technique after each use to prevent them from becoming independent entities. But this time...

She, however, wanted to keep Sakura Uchiha with her.

But Sakura Haruno had no choice. The trio were either injured, unconscious, or exhausted; what if something happened if they didn't leave their clone behind?

After thinking for a while, Sakura sighed.

"Then I'll leave it to you." She patted her clone's shoulder, then turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke, she'll be taking care of you all for now... I'll be back as soon as possible!"

Sasuke sat on the ground and nodded weakly.

With this matter settled, everything here has finally come to a satisfactory conclusion.

As for what happens next, let's deal with that later! Sakura Haruno can't concern herself with that much anyway.

"Reverse Summoning Technique!"

Before she fell into a deep sleep, the last thing she saw was the magnificent acid lake of Shikkotsu Forest.

"Have we found a power stronger than Natural Energy so quickly?" The Sage Katsuyu's booming voice echoed from mid-air, "The speed at which humanity is advancing is truly frightening!"

"However, absorbing such powerful energy into your body rashly will cause you a lot of trouble, Sakura..."

Sakura Haruno couldn't hear what was said after that.

She had completely lost consciousness.

[Volume 15, Complete.]