See Who Can Control Everything

Konoha Hospital.

It was now early morning. In a spacious room, Naruto, who had fainted, was placed on a hospital bed, his body covered in semi-transparent tubes. Four medical ninjas in white coats were watching the monitors beside him, which displayed complex data with fluctuating, unstable readings.

The Third Hokage and a group of Anbu stood in a circle around the bed. No one spoke, and the silent atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

A night had passed, and Naruto still hadn't woken up. The Third Hokage and his subordinates had stayed to watch over him all night.

Apart from the people in the room, no one else in the village knew what had happened last night.

"Hokage-sama, the Jinchuriki's body shows no abnormalities," the lead medical ninja said, walking over to the Third Hokage. "His body can even be said to be very healthy. According to our data analysis, it's likely that after the Tailed Beast's chakra disappeared from the Jinchuriki, he fell into a state of extreme mental fatigue."

"Are you saying it's a possibility, or a definitive conclusion!"

The Third Hokage opened his eyes, which were bloodshot from a day of reviewing documents and staying up all night. His voice was cold and deep.

What happened last night had drained him significantly. Logically, he shouldn't have been unconscious for so long after he had placed the seal on Naruto. This matter weighed heavily on him.

A new day had arrived. Although he hadn't rested, he had to return to his office immediately to handle the incoming administrative affairs. Therefore, he needed a definitive answer.

"The data will not be wrong!" the medical ninja stated with a serious expression. "Hokage-sama! You don't need to worry too much. The Jinchuriki is not in any life-threatening danger. We have all the data for the Jinchuriki since his birth, and we will continue to monitor his condition!"

"I suppose that's all we can do for now," the Third Hokage said, feeling somewhat agitated but also helpless.

He glanced at the wall clock in the room and remained silent. Although the medical ninja's words were unhelpful and offered no real value, he was swamped with administrative duties and had to return to his office.

After giving Naruto, who still showed no signs of waking up, a deep look, the Third Hokage turned and walked out of the room with the Anbu.

The large room became utterly silent again. The four medical ninjas resumed checking the data one by one. Afterward, they covered Naruto with a blanket, tidied up, and then also left the room.

Beep—Beep—

At this moment, only the sounds of the operating equipment remained in the room.

A moment later, Naruto, who had been lying on the bed in a deep coma, suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp. A chilling edge simultaneously appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

Minato Namikaze's slightly worried voice echoed in Naruto's mind.

"I'm fine, Father. You don't need to worry."

After a brief moment of thought, Naruto closed his eyes again, his consciousness descending directly into the seal.

"Naruto, something's wrong," Kurama said, his gaze fierce as he stared outside the iron gate. "I just tried. The chakra that was leaking outside the sealed iron gate to you has been completely disrupted."

"This is the Five Elements Seal," Naruto said, stepping two steps into the iron gate and nodding. "It's in the sealing jutsu Father passed down to me. It can be broken by forming the Five Elements Seal with chakra of the five elements: Wind, Lightning, Fire, Earth, and Water."

"But I only have Wind and Fire chakra right now."

"What!" Kurama's fur immediately bristled. "What do we do!"

He was already trapped by an impossibly strong seal, and now the Third Hokage had added another one. It was truly detestable.

Minato Namikaze quickly said in a soft voice, "Kurama, Naruto can break this seal. Once a ninja's strength reaches a certain level, they can cultivate chakra of other elements. Even if Naruto can't break it now, he can find someone later..."

Bang!

Kurama slammed his claw against the iron gate. "Hmph! Fourth Hokage, I can't be bothered with you. I don't believe you don't know what the Third Hokage is planning by placing this seal on Naruto."

Minato Namikaze's face also filled with anger upon hearing this.

The seal he had placed on Naruto was the Eight Trigrams Seal, an even-numbered seal. Yet, the Third Hokage had unnecessarily added the Five Elements Seal, an odd-numbered one.

The seal he had placed allowed Kurama's chakra to leak out and be converted for Naruto's use. However, with the Five Elements Seal added on top of it, Kurama's chakra leakage would not only be immediately disrupted but would also affect Naruto's control over his own chakra.

This was truly malicious!

If Naruto hadn't initially peeled off the seal sticker to acknowledge him, and then reached an understanding with Kurama, his son's chances of breaking the Five Elements Seal would have been left to fate.

He had intended to tell Naruto to find Master Jiraiya, but now a realization struck him: Jiraiya might not act according to the Third Hokage's will.

As for anyone else, he couldn't think of anyone who could help his son.

At this thought, Minato Namikaze felt deeply disheartened. He found his position as the Fourth Hokage to be truly ironic.

He and Kushina had sacrificed themselves for Konoha. Before their deaths, they had sealed the Tailed Beast within their son, hoping that the villagers would treat Naruto as a hero.

Who would have thought it would backfire? Not only had his son become a demon fox that everyone wanted to hunt down, but the Third Hokage was also using such despicable means to try and curb Naruto's growth.

Naruto calmly extended his fist towards Kurama and said, "Kurama, don't worry, the situation isn't that bad yet?"

"Hmm?" Kurama's gaze sharpened upon hearing this. He clasped his claws and placed them on Naruto's fist. A moment later, he spoke, "Heh heh, I forgot you could go there."

Minato Namikaze looked at the man and the fox with a bewildered expression. He didn't know what Naruto and Kurama had discussed, but why was Kurama suddenly able to smile.

"Naruto, what did you mean when you said the situation isn't that bad yet?"

"It means it's still okay."

Minato Namikaze was stunned. Was his son mistaken? In the current situation, he could still say it was okay.

"Yes," Naruto said, his gaze as calm as water. "The current situation can still provide me with some cover under certain suitable circumstances."

"You've also noticed that since my birth, the higher-ups, led by the Third Hokage, have treated me as a harmful and useless Tailed Beast weapon due to their selfish desires and political motives."

Minato Namikaze nodded with difficulty upon hearing this.

"However, Father, you've also noticed that they are reluctant to give up on me as a weapon, because this weapon is one of the necessary conditions for maintaining the current balance between the major ninja villages in the Ninja World."

"So, the Third Hokage was monitoring me all along."

"To put it another way, this was a necessary process for them to slowly cultivate a weapon."

After flashing through his mind was the childhood experience of Gaara from the anime, Naruto continued, "First they monitored me, and then they arranged specific people for me to befriend."

"After all, I have a Tailed Beast inside me, so they were observing and controlling my humanity."

"Everything was meticulously arranged and designed, just to ensure that even if I couldn't become a qualified weapon in the end, I would still have to be under their control."

Minato Namikaze's expression had turned extremely grim. Naruto's words suddenly made him think of a possibility.

"How about it, Father? Does this pattern sound very familiar to you?"

"Impossible!" Minato Namikaze roared back with a frenzied expression. "My mother and I were definitely not designed! That's impossible!"

Kurama slightly parted his steel teeth. He had also understood Naruto's meaning, but he found it hard to believe as well, especially since he knew everything about the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki.

"Oh?" Naruto calmly looked at his father and continued, "From the memories you passed down to me, Father, it does seem impossible. But they still got the results they wanted, didn't they?"

"I..." Minato Namikaze closed his eyes bitterly.

He had been a Hokage, so he understood political maneuvering.

Naruto had no intention of comforting his father; in his opinion, recognizing certain realities was necessary.

"Now it's my turn," Naruto's gaze shifted back to Kurama. His eyes stared exceptionally firmly into Kurama's crimson vertical pupils, saying, "Unfortunately, my mother and I have different personalities. To prevent me from escaping their control, the methods they used naturally wouldn't be so gentle."

"Since they believed I knew nothing from beginning to end and wanted to control everything about me,"

"Then let them stand on the edge of the unknown themselves, probing into the void, and see what the outcome will be."

After finishing his last sentence, Naruto's consciousness had already shifted to the Mirrored World.

After carefully reviewing the data of all the currently challengeable Puppets, he walked towards Shikamaru, the good friend the Third Hokage had arranged for him.