As a Hokage, Minato Namikaze reflected on his life.
He had merely been a ninja born a commoner, rising step by step through achievement after achievement, yet he had ultimately become Konoha's First Hokage.
He had become the person he had always admired.
Most importantly, he had Kushina Uzumaki, a wife who loved him and whom he loved. To Minato, she was even more important than the position of Hokage.
Minato was very happy because Kushina was carrying his child, who was about to be born.
I'm going to be a father.
Whenever he thought of that, Minato clenched his fists in excitement. For a while, he agonized over what name to give the child. According to his teacher Jiraiya, Minato's child should be called Naruto.
It was the name of the protagonist in one of Jiraiya's novels.
But Kushina firmly refused.
If they really followed Jiraiya's suggestion, Naruto would probably face all sorts of criticism in the future, because the protagonist Naruto in Jiraiya's novel had rather poor grades. (This part has been heavily altered.)
That was also why Kushina had always refused.
At that moment, Minato stood outside a temporary wooden cabin beyond the village. Countless Anbu Ninja were hidden around it as guards, while inside were Kushina, who was about to give birth, along with Biwako Sarutobi and Tianlu, who were serving as midwives.
She should have given birth at home, but for safety's sake, Minato had agreed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's proposal. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina's seal would weaken during pregnancy because the energy used to suppress the tailed beast would be diverted toward nurturing the fetus.
There was precedent for this. When Mito, the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, had given birth, the Nine-Tails had nearly broken through the seal. Fortunately, it had not resulted in a