Crazy Capital

"Naruto... I—I..."

Father and son reflected each other's images. Naruto quietly gazed at his father, while Minato Namikaze choked on his words, unable to form a complete sentence.

His son, standing right before him, felt as distant and untouchable as if he were on the other side of the world. This heart-wrenching emotion was beyond words.

He had once been so powerful that the entire Shinobi World gave him a wide berth, but now tears streamed down his face.

"Alright, Father, I'm just stating a fact. Don't take it so hard. Come on, would you mind shaking my hand?"

Everything he had suffered in his past life made Naruto, now in this world, fundamentally see himself as selfish and cold. But he wouldn't deny the genuine feelings that existed in the world.

He could appreciate them with admiration and support.

But such emotions weren't meant for him to possess.

Now he needed to collect data. The prompt had suddenly sounded in his mind again—his father carried data that the Mirrored World could gather.

This also let him understand for the first time that the Mirrored World required direct physical contact with the relevant target to collect data.

"Shake hands?"

Minato Namikaze was puzzled at first, but hearing his son call him "Father," he crouched down in excitement and pulled Naruto tightly into his arms.

"Beginning current data collection."

The moment he was embraced, Naruto instinctively resisted, but his body's reflexes made him abandon the urge to push away.

He could feel that, even with the soul of an adult, his heart was stirring with an indescribable ripple. This sudden surge of emotion left him wistful.

"Data collection complete. Relevant updates as follows: current data integrity 2%. Please complete the data as soon as possible."

After the mechanical voice faded, a glint flashed in Naruto's eyes. One of the updated features caught his attention. He sighed and buried that emotion deep in his heart.

"That's enough, Father."

"Oh, right!" Hearing Naruto's voice, Minato Namikaze reluctantly let go of his arms, then quickly said, "I've made you suffer so much. As your father, I have no face to apologize. I know asking for your forgiveness is—"

"It doesn't matter, Father."

"I haven't really suffered much. You've seen it these past few years—I've been living just fine. You might not believe me, but I want to tell you: I've never blamed you."

"You and Mother gave me the most precious gift—life—and a healthy body."

"And you care about me. That's what matters most!"

"So to me, you're already the best parents in the world."

After saying this matter-of-factly, Naruto walked toward the fox behind the iron gate.

Minato Namikaze still felt guilty hearing this, but when Naruto said he didn't blame him, tears started streaming from his eyes again. Yet just as his emotions were swelling with gratitude, Naruto said something that made his face change drastically.

"Father, can you let it out of this seal?"

The fox was secretly fuming that it hadn't seen the good show it had hoped for. When it saw Naruto approaching the iron gate again, it wanted to bare its fangs, but remembering how this brat hadn't even blinked when his head was nearly pierced, it gave up.

Besides, with the sealed iron gate in the way, what use was baring its fangs?

"Nani?"

The fox's eyes went wide, thinking it had misheard. Let it out?

Hadn't his old man clearly told him what a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast were? Even explained the seal's details?

If it really broke the seal, he'd be dead for sure.

"Absolutely not!"

Minato Namikaze strode over to Naruto in two steps and stared at the fox gravely.

"Once it breaks out, it will seize your body. You'll die. The Nine-Tails is an evil Tailed Beast, a Demon Fox full of hatred!"

"Heh! Kid, he's right!" The fox flashed an evil grin at that.

Naruto smiled back at the fox, then looked at his father and asked, "Evil? I don't think so. By the way, Father, I'm curious—can you tell me who decided that Tailed Beasts are inherently evil?"

"Uh—"

Minato Namikaze was stumped. He had no answer to Naruto's question.

Inside the iron gate, the fox's narrow eyes flickered with surprise as it looked at Naruto, a trace of complexity passing through them. Such a small brat asking a question like this?

"Well, Father, do you have an answer?"

Naruto looked up at his father's deeply furrowed brow and pressed on.

"Naruto, Tailed Beasts are evil. That's common knowledge in the Shinobi World, a fact passed down for over a thousand years. And setting that aside, do you understand the consequences of releasing it? Not only would you die, but if it got out, it would surely bring unimaginable disaster to Konoha. Its mere appearance would plunge Konoha into an inescapable crisis."

Minato Namikaze carefully chose his words, delivering a warning.

Inside, the fox sneered at Minato Namikaze's words, but its gaze was fixed on Naruto, as if waiting for something.

"Heh... Konoha, huh."

"My Father, I know. You want to save Konoha. You want to protect them."

"Of course, of course. Just looking at your Hokage Robe tells me that—because you're the Fourth Hokage of Konoha."

After Naruto said this with a light laugh, the entire Sealed Space fell silent again.

Minato Namikaze's heart trembled at these words. Naruto's statements struck him as particularly jarring.

The fox behind the iron door watched Minato with a mocking expression, able to hear the biting sarcasm in Naruto's tone.

"Naruto... I—"

Minato tried to say something.

Naruto waved his hand, then pointed at the fox inside. "Alright, Father, since we have the party involved here, let's discuss the definition of a Tailed Beast."

"The definition of a Tailed Beast?" Minato asked, puzzled.

Naruto nodded. "Yes. You talked a lot about Tailed Beasts earlier, so let's start with the origins of the Tailed Beasts in the villages of the Shinobi World."

Minato instinctively replied, "Currently, the Tailed Beasts in the major ninja villages were captured by the First Hokage of Konoha. To maintain peace in the Shinobi World and balance the power of each country and village, he voluntarily distributed them as gifts during the first Five Kage Summit. That was—"

The fox's face grew even more indignant at this, as the core of those words treated them, the Tailed Beasts, like gifts exchanged between humans.

Naruto cut him off. "Stop!"

"Hm?" Minato looked confused as his son interrupted him.

"Father, that's enough. Let me take over now." Naruto nodded, then turned his gaze to the fox. "May I ask, before you were captured, had you ever gone out to harm humans?"

The fox behind the iron door initially didn't want to bother with Naruto, but its pent-up resentment burst from its Big Mouth: "Never! We Tailed Beasts all live far away from humans. Who has time to go looking for trouble with them?"

"Thank you." Naruto nodded in acknowledgment, then looked at his father. "So it's clear. The Tailed Beasts were minding their own business at home. The First Hokage, for the sake of human peace in the Shinobi World, captured them one by one and turned them into gifts. Isn't that excuse a bit too tyrannical?"

"What does human peace have to do with the Tailed Beasts? Are they obligated to pay the price for the peace of the Shinobi World?"

"You said Tailed Beasts bring disasters that harm humans, so why capture them in the first place? Isn't that just tying a noose around your own neck?"

Minato was embarrassed. Hadn't the Shinobi World always handled Tailed Beasts this way?

"Father, this is just human selfishness at work in the Shinobi World. You suffer from persecution paranoia and shift the blame onto the Tailed Beasts. When you see power you can't control, you want to seize it and hold it in your hands, even if it hurts yourself and others."

"Look at it—it's clearly an intelligent being. Apart from its biological traits being different from ours, what separates it from humans? Why didn't our First Hokage ever try to communicate with them?"

"They captured the Tailed Beasts like mindless beasts, then tried to control and steal their power. If they don't hate you, are they supposed to love you? The most absurd part is that humans seem to expect the Tailed Beasts to understand their reasoning."

"They lock the Tailed Beasts inside Jinchuriki, never seeing the light of day, and still want them to willingly accept that outcome—all while putting on a righteous front."

"This kind of unreasonable behavior, I can only describe as shameless."

Minato was stunned. He couldn't even count how many times he'd been left speechless since meeting his son.

Inside, the fox's face was full of shock. Those words struck a chord deep in its heart.

"Why are Tailed Beasts defined as evil? Father, you've known the truth all along. If they weren't branded as evil, how could humans claim to be righteous? Then capturing them would have no justification. So from the start, the Tailed Beasts had to be evil—no reason needed."

Minato felt the conversation growing heavier. He opened his mouth. "Naruto, I can't refute what you're saying, but regarding the Tailed Beasts—"

"No buts!" Naruto cut his father off decisively, stepping forward until he was nearly pressed against the iron door.

"Just like when I was born in Konoha. From the start, I was branded with the label of Demon Fox. That's why everyone hated me, feared me."

"Why do people fear Tailed Beasts? Because they have the capital to run wild in the Shinobi World!"

"And since it and I are one and the same, that capital for madness—I happen to have it too!"