What? Minato Died Too?

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

"W-Why are you looking at me like that? You're kind of scaring me!"

Naruto's scalp tingled under Nagato's gaze. His hands instinctively covered his chest, and he put on a wary expression, as though afraid the other man might do something to him.

Seeing this, the people beside them all had dark expressions as they silently complained, What the hell is this kid thinking? Why would he react so strangely?

After a moment of silence, Nagato finally asked slowly, "He's Naruto's alternate version, isn't he?"

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

Nagato let out a deep sigh, his expression somewhat helpless.

"Have Naruto and the other two step aside... Please..."

Kakashi pleaded again from the side.

But Naruto was unwilling.

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei, what secret are you trying to hide from us so you can tell them? Are you planning to betray the Hidden Leaf Village too?"

Kakashi ignored Naruto. Seeing that the three before him had no intention of avoiding Naruto, he finally resolved to reveal part of the truth.

"You may not understand this, but a Jinchuriki's emotions are extremely important. If a Jinchuriki becomes emotionally unstable and goes berserk, the Tailed Beast may seize the chance to take over his body! There's even a chance it could break free from the Jinchuriki!"

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

All Kakashi could do now was gamble—gamble on the Imperial Law they had mentioned, gamble that they would treat everyone on his side fairly.

Yet after hearing Kakashi's words, everyone turned their eyes toward Nagato.

Nagato nodded, and Obito immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Haha, let me introduce him! The person before you is a genius ninja of our Empire! His university major was Sealing Technique. You may not understand what a major is, but let me tell you—one of the Five Nature Transformations he studied as an elective was Earth Release, and he could easily use a terrifying technique like the one from before. Now you get the idea!"

"Forget about a Tailed Beast escaping its Jinchuriki. If Nagato made a move, the Tailed Beast wouldn't even have the slightest chance of leaking out a thread of Chakra!"

"!!"

Everyone stared at Nagato in shock, unable to believe it.

Naruto was even more excited.

"Oh~ no~"

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

Nagato looked at Naruto gently and nodded.

"Oh~ yeah!"

"But before that, could big brother ask you something?"

Nagato's gentle voice made Naruto feel very comfortable.

"As long as it isn't information that would betray the Hidden Leaf Village, I can tell you."

Naruto patted his chest in assurance.

"Do you know your own identity?"

"Identity? Right now, I'm 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. Let me look at the thing on your stomach."

"Okay."

Nagato lifted Naruto's clothes. Even without activating his Rinnegan, he could clearly see the seal on Naruto's body.

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

"A very outdated sealing method... It can neither completely seal the Tailed Beast's Chakra nor properly control the Tailed Beast's Chakra leakage. No wonder this kid is already so old and still a Genin..."

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

"Huh? What do you mean by that? I really do feel like there's always some kind of energy disrupting my Chakra whenever I train, but the teachers always said I just wasn't trying hard enough."

Naruto muttered explanations at first, but when he heard the rest, he could no longer hold it in.

"Huh? Are Genin weak? Big Brother Nagato, even Sasuke is still a Genin right now!"

The veins on Sasuke's forehead suddenly bulged.

Naruto's words instantly offended both Sasuke and Sakura.

Yet he was completely unaware of it.

"You said there's another me in your world. Is there really a me there too? How strong am I in that world?"

Naruto asked curiously.

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

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

After arriving in this world and officially activating his Rinnegan, Nagato could feel his own strength improving. But compared to the last time he had seen Naruto, his Six Paths-level power was more like that of a Six Paths gatekeeper.

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

Nagato frowned and thought for a while before answering very seriously, "If we calculate based on the Empire's Kage-level strength, Naruto could probably defeat dozens of Kage with ease."

Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open so far that his jaw nearly hit the ground.

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

Sasuke curled his lip disdainfully.

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

Naruto protested, "If he can do it, so can I!"

Nagato rubbed Naruto's blond hair, his gaze turning sharp as well.

"Enough of that. Now tell me—what kind of people did you... or your family offend?"

"How deep was their hatred for your family? Why was the Nine-Tails sealed inside you? And why did they use an Eight Trigrams Sealing Style that completely disregarded your potential?"

Seeing Nagato finally say it aloud, the last trace of luck in Kakashi's heart completely vanished.

His dead-fish eyes rolled back, and he simply lay down.

He gave up!

"The Nine-Tails?"

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

Many people refused to sell him things, and they often pelted him with rotten eggs and spoiled vegetable leaves, saying that he had killed their relatives.

He had not understood what was going on back then, but after connecting everything now, he understood!

So he was not the Demon Fox reincarnated... He was the Demon Fox's container!

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

"Or was it simply because of your Uzumaki Clan constitution that they chose to seal the Nine-Tails inside your body?"

"As far as I know, your father was the Fourth Hokage. You're the Hokage's son, too. Even though your world is deeply twisted, surely they wouldn't treat a Jinchuriki as some kind of auspicious symbol, would they?"

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

Nagato guessed that this world might really work that way!

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

Naruto stood there in a daze for a long time before speaking in a trance. "M-My father was the Fourth Hokage?... How is that possible?"

"And... didn't the Fourth Hokage die a long time ago? Besides, my name is Naruto Uzumaki..."

Hearing Naruto's questions, Nagato's eyes widened too.

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

So what was going on now?

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

And not only that, he had died?

As Nagato thought this, Kakashi and Obito were even more shocked.

He died too?

Kakashi finally could not keep lying there. He could not let Naruto face all this alone.

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

He should just tell the truth!

"Naruto, now that you've grown up, it's time for you to know some things..."

"Sensei didn't intentionally try to hide all this from you..."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

Obito was also filled with righteous indignation.

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

At first, Obito had thought Naruto was simply lazy and ignorant. He had never expected that his sensei had died?

Then what about his teacher's wife?

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