Art Is Tragedy—"Master of Arts" Daren Yi

In reality, scarlet Nine-Tails Chakra tightly enveloped the sleeping Naruto Uzumaki. Though the Nine-Tails was fundamentally connected to nature, over the long years, it had been steeped in the negative emotions accumulated by countless eras of humanity—hatred, loathing, resentment, and more.

At this moment, it too sensed the suppressed despair in its Jinchuriki, despair so profound that he wanted to destroy everything. A mocking, indifferent smile appeared on the enormous fox face within the seal.

"Hatred. Loathe them. The endless cycle of grudges and vengeance—this is the fate humanity will never escape! Go on, go on. Vent it. Kill them. I'll lend you all my power!"

"Ah, little fox, don't make trouble. I have something to do right now. We'll talk about your business later."

In the dark, desolate Sealing Space, the Nine-Tails suddenly heard a stranger's voice. Its vertical beast pupils, which had just closed, flew open.

Its enormous orange-red eyes stared coldly down at the stranger. From between its sharp, interlocking white fangs, it forced out the surname it hated to the bone.

"Uchiha!"

"Sorry, sorry. To give Naruto the best and most authentic viewing experience, I had no choice but to activate the Mangekyō. Did I scare you?"

Daren Yi's spiritual body still held its hand seal. The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes slowly rotated, like three Shinigami's scythes harvesting all living beings, or a twisted blaze bent on burning the world to ashes.

It was also the first time the Nine-Tails had felt Dojutsu Power at the Mangekyō stage this strong, surpassing even that masked man from seven years ago.

It was only slightly weaker than the Dojutsu Power of Madara Uchiha's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan at his peak, which it had once experienced.

"Another monster from the Uchiha clan!" The Nine-Tails' fur stood on end. It hunched over with all four limbs taut, like a drawn bowstring, entering an unprecedented state of vigilance.

Two streams of Chakra extending from Daren Yi also manifested in the Sealing Space with his arrival.

The Nine-Tails carefully sensed the other ends connected to those two streams of Chakra, then flew into a rage.

"Minato Namikaze! Kushina Uzumaki!"

That dog man and woman who bullied foxes all day long—how could they have left behind two streams of Chakra here after being dead for so many years? Who were they guarding against? And it had never even known?

Thinking of how, one day in the future, when it was about to break free and gain complete freedom, its long-dead "jailers" might suddenly pop out and stuff it back into the cage—

Perhaps twice in a row... the Nine-Tails could not help but rage furiously. They were bullying foxes too much!

I, the Nine-Tails, might not be human, but you two husband and wife are definitely dogs!

The Nine-Tails before him, hopping around and bristling inside its cage, had gone from an apocalyptic beast to a pet orange cat or a house-wrecking husky in the eyes of Daren Yi, whose strength was now completely different from seven years ago.

Seeing this giant beast, once the source of his nightmares for a long time, Daren Yi's feelings became a little complicated. He gave a solemn warning.

"Nine-Tails, I'm not here to bully you. So don't deliberately cause trouble either. Withdraw your Chakra.

"I'm a reasonable person. Don't force me to be unreasonable!"

"You think this old man is afraid of you? Brat from the Uchiha clan, back when I encountered your Konohagakure legends, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, I fought them both. I merely lost by a hand!"

The Nine-Tails continued baring its teeth and growling in the cage like a husky. After grumbling for quite a while and seeing that Daren Yi did nothing, it finally lay down again while remaining wary. Its nine tails behind it were still drawn tight, ready to react at any time.

It did retract all of the Nine-Tails Chakra from Naruto's body, though. A good fox did not suffer immediate losses, after all!

Yes, yes, you only lost by one hand! The other side still had nine hundred and ninety-nine hands that hadn't moved...

Holding back a laugh, Daren Yi calmed himself and continued focusing on connecting Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's Chakra. Without waking them, he maintained with all his strength this "real dream" that the three of them were sharing with Naruto!

The Chakra containing Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's consciousness served as a "database," providing vast amounts of content and all kinds of authentic details for this dream. That was why this "tearjerker blockbuster" could move people so deeply.

Together with the "director" Daren Yi's polishing and repairs to parts of the plot, as well as his careful editing, they had finally forged such an outstanding work.

With such painstaking effort, once Naruto learned of it, he would surely be deeply grateful to him, right?

In the Dream World, Naruto Uzumaki was already crying his eyes out. He had never imagined that the parents he had longed and dreamed of ever since he became aware of the world would appear before him like this.

And they were so much more perfect, so much better than he had imagined. He had never known that happiness had once been so close to him, seemingly within reach...

Minato Namikaze was sunny and cheerful, gentle and kind. He was an almost perfect Hokage, and an even more perfect husband. His love and care for his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, went to the very marrow.

He could handle any household chore and was deeply considerate. The tenderness and affection in his expressions and words toward his wife could make any woman fall for him. Just as Kushina herself said, he was the "Little Sun" who would forever warm and shine upon her.

Kushina Uzumaki was beautiful and gracious, forthright and lively. The gentleness, cuteness, slight coquettishness, and little bouts of willfulness she displayed before her beloved husband were scenes enough to intoxicate and stir anyone's heart.

The couple's sweet interactions and happy moments made everyone around them cry that they could not take it anymore—they had eaten their fill of dog food!

Unfortunately, this was a tragic story with an ending already set in stone. The sweeter the sugar they spread now, the crueler the blade that would come later...

Naruto Uzumaki had realized the latter half of the story.

He frantically ran circles around his parents without pause, shouting, warning, screaming, and roaring.

Unfortunately, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, living within the scenes, knew nothing of it and continued their happy lives.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, happy in the past, and Naruto Uzumaki, struggling in pain in the present—this interweaving overlap of the same family across different times formed a cruel picture of tragic beauty and despair.

The "Master of Arts" Daren Yi outside the scene subconsciously captured and saved this moment, planning to find a way to turn it into an oil painting or photograph in reality.

Later, he could give it to Naruto so he could hang it above his bed or desk, remembering them always...

Time passed little by little, and Naruto Uzumaki grew desperate little by little. At last, it was time for Kushina Uzumaki to give birth!

Outside Konohagakure, inside the cave sealed by the barrier, Naruto ran around like a madman. He only wanted to find the source of danger in advance. Even though he already knew it was useless, he simply could not accept it. He could not accept it!