What? Minato Died Too?

Hearing Naruto's words, Nagato stared at him with a complicated expression, an indescribable look in his eyes.

"W-What are you looking at me like that for? You're scaring me!"

Naruto felt his skin crawl under Nagato's gaze. He unconsciously covered his chest with both hands and looked wary, as if afraid Nagato might do something to him.

Seeing this, the people nearby all wore dark expressions and silently complained, What on earth is this kid thinking? How can he have such a strange reaction?

After a moment of silence, Nagato finally slowly asked, "He's Naruto's variant, right?"

Obito and Kakashi exchanged glances, then nodded at the same time, confirming Nagato's guess.

Nagato let out a deep sigh, looking somewhat helpless.

"Let Naruto and the other two step aside for a moment... Please..."

Kakashi pleaded again from the side.

But Naruto was unwilling.

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei, what secrets are you trying to hide from us by telling them? Don't tell me you want to betray the Hidden Leaf Village too?"

Kakashi ignored Naruto. Seeing that the three people before him had no intention of having Naruto step aside, he finally decided to reveal part of the information.

"You may not understand this, but a Jinchuriki's emotions are very important. If a Jinchuriki loses emotional control and goes berserk, the Tailed Beast may seize the opportunity to take over his body! There's even a chance it could escape the Jinchuriki entirely!"

"If the Tailed Beast leaves the Jinchuriki, the Jinchuriki will die!"

Kakashi could only gamble now—gamble on the Imperial Law they had mentioned, and gamble that they would treat the people on his side equally.

However, in the face of the information Kakashi had revealed, everyone's eyes focused on Nagato.

Nagato nodded, and Obito immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Haha, let me introduce you! This person before us is the genius ninja of our Empire! He majored in Sealing Technique at university. You may not understand what 'majoring' means, but let me tell you this: among the five elemental ninjutsu he studied as electives, he can easily use Earth Release to perform a terrifying technique like the one just now. You can imagine the rest!"

"Never mind the Tailed Beast leaving the Jinchuriki. If Nagato takes action, there isn't even the slightest possibility of the Tailed Beast leaking out a trace of Chakra!"

"!!"

Everyone was utterly shocked, staring at Nagato in disbelief.

Naruto was even more excited.

"Oh~ no~"

"Big Brother Nagato, does that mean you know a lot of techniques? Can I learn from you? I want to learn that flying technique too!"

Nagato looked at Naruto warmly and nodded.

"Oh~ yeah!"

"But before that, can Big Brother ask you something?"

Nagato's gentle voice made Naruto feel very comfortable.

"As long as it isn't information about betraying the Hidden Leaf Village, I'll tell you anything."

Naruto patted his chest and promised.

"Do you know your own identity?"

"My identity? I'm currently a Genin, but in the future, I'll become Hokage!"

Seeing that Naruto could not go three sentences without mentioning the Will of Fire, Nagato sighed.

"Come here and let me examine what's on your stomach."

"Oh."

Nagato lifted Naruto's clothes. Even without activating the Rinnegan, he could clearly see the Sealing Technique inside Naruto's body.

Although he had sensed the Sealing Technique on Naruto's body through Chakra earlier, it was obviously much clearer now.

"What an outdated sealing method... It can neither completely seal the Tailed Beast's Chakra nor properly control the leakage of the Tailed Beast's Chakra. No wonder this kid is still a Genin despite being so old..."

Naruto did not understand the first part, but he understood the latter.

"Huh? What do you mean? I do feel something constantly disrupting my Chakra whenever I train, but unfortunately, the teachers all say that I'm not working hard enough."

Naruto had been muttering and explaining the matter under his breath, but he could not hold back after hearing the last part.

"Huh? Are Genin really that weak? Big Brother Nagato, you should know that even Sasuke is still a Genin!"

A vein suddenly bulged on Sasuke's forehead.

Naruto's words immediately offended both Sasuke and Sakura.

He remained completely unaware of it.

"You said that in your world, there is another world like ours. Is there also a me in that world? How strong is that world's version of me?"

Naruto asked curiously.

Nagato looked up at the sky. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to tell the truth.

"The Naruto in our world is the same age as you, and he already possesses Six Paths-level power..."

After formally activating the Rinnegan in this world, Nagato could feel the improvement in his strength. But compared to the last time he had seen Naruto, his Six Paths-level power seemed more like the level of a Six Paths gatekeeper.

"Six Paths? What does that mean? Who's stronger, him or the Hokage?"

Nagato frowned and thought for a while before answering very seriously, "If we calculate it according to the Kage-level strength in our Empire, Naruto should be able to defeat dozens of Kage with ease."

Naruto's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open so wide that his chin nearly hit the ground.

"What? Nani? Sasuke, did you hear that? The me from that world is so powerful!"

Sasuke curled his lips disdainfully.

"So what? It's not like you're the strong one!"

Naruto said indignantly, "If he can do it, so can I!"

Nagato rubbed Naruto's head of blond hair, and his gaze sharpened as well.

"Enough, let's not talk about that anymore. Now tell me, what kind of existence did you—or your family—actually provoke?"

"What sort of grudge do they have against your family? Why was the Nine-Tails sealed inside you? And why did they use the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which completely disregards your aptitude?"

Seeing that Nagato had finally said it aloud, the last trace of hope in Kakashi's heart vanished completely.

He rolled his dead-fish eyes and simply lay down.

I give up!

"The Nine-Tails?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He suddenly remembered that the villagers loved calling him the Demon Fox.

Many people also refused to sell him anything. They would often pelt him with rotten eggs and vegetables, claiming that he had killed their relatives.

He had not understood what was happening back then, but now, putting everything together, he understood!

So I'm not the Demon Fox reincarnated... I'm the Demon Fox's vessel!

Seeing Naruto remain silent for a long time, Nagato frowned as well.

"Or perhaps they chose to seal the Nine-Tails inside you simply because of the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan?"

"As far as I know, your father was the Fourth Hokage. That makes you the Hokage's son. Although your world is rather sick, it shouldn't have turned a Jinchuriki into an auspicious symbol, should it?"

"Or is this the responsibility the Hokage's son must bear? Is the price of becoming Hokage forcing your family to endure this injustice?"

Nagato speculated that this world might really be like that!

Everyone loved talking about sacrifice and dedication, asking for nothing in return.

Naruto was stunned for a long time before finally speaking in a daze. "My... My father was the Fourth Hokage?... How is that possible?"

"And... the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself long ago, didn't he? Besides, my name is Naruto Uzumaki..."

Hearing Naruto's questions, Nagato's eyes widened as well.

On the way there, Jiraiya had told him that his proudest student was the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze.

What was going on?

Naruto did not know that his father was the Fourth Hokage?

Not only that, but he had also died?

Nagato thought this to himself, while Kakashi and Obito were even more shocked.

He died too?

Kakashi could no longer keep lying down. He could not let Naruto face all of this alone.

Since there was no avoiding it... then...

He might as well confess!

"Naruto, now that you've grown up, it's time for you to learn about certain things..."

"Your teacher never deliberately wanted to hide these things from you..."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

Obito was also filled with righteous indignation.

Naruto could be considered this world's teacher's child as well. How could he have suffered such treatment?

At first, he had thought Naruto was simply hopeless at learning. He never expected that the teacher had actually died!

What about the teacher's wife?

With her personality, there was no way she would have allowed Naruto to suffer such grievances, right?