The same blond hair, similar features.
Even those azure eyes were astonishingly alike.
Namikaze Mirai looked at the face he had not seen in three years, suppressing countless complicated emotions.
In the end, he nodded.
"Yes, I'm back."
This was the first time he had seen Namikaze Minato in three years.
Although it was only a manifestation of Chakra, he looked exactly the same.
He had also retained Minato's memories from before his death.
The brothers' reunion seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words, yet all of them fell into silence.
Minato's gaze passed over Namikaze Mirai and settled on Naruto behind him. For some reason, his eyes trembled slightly.
"He is..."
"He's your son, Naruto. Don't tell me you haven't seen him for three years and already forgot your own son!"
Namikaze Mirai said with a smile.
Whoosh! Minato vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already standing before Naruto.
Naruto instinctively shrank back, but the moment he saw Minato clearly, his eyes instantly filled with tears.
"You are..."
"My dad?"
He had seen what Minato looked like—in the statue on Hokage Rock, in the photographs hanging in the Hokage Office, in Uncle's descriptions...
But never once had he truly seen him in person.
Hearing those two words from Naruto, Minato could no longer hold back. He pulled Naruto into his arms.
"Naruto, I'm your dad!"
The father and son, who had been separated for three years, finally embraced today.
"Naruto has had a hard life these past three years..."
Namikaze Mirai's faint voice came from behind them.
"The Villagers saw him as the Demon Fox that had brought disaster upon them, and he endured the bullying of the entire village..."
As Minato listened to Namikaze Mirai's account, his hands gradually clenched into fists.
"How could this happen?"
His eyes reddened slightly.
"Did the Third Hokage not intervene at all? Why did he just watch Naruto suffer through so much..."
Alongside his heartache and self-reproach, a trace of anger rose within him.
He had sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto in the hope that one day, Naruto would master that power and become the village's hero.
But it seemed things had turned out completely the other way around.
Naruto's childhood had been utterly miserable.
"I'm fine."
Naruto thoughtfully wiped away the tears at the corners of Minato's eyes.
Yet the more he acted this way, the deeper Minato's guilt became.
He could not understand why Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the Third Hokage, had been so inactive. Namikaze Mirai slightly lifted his eyes toward Naruto, hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
"Minato, the inheritance you left behind was taken by them as well. They didn't leave Naruto a single thing."
Silence. Minato merely remained silent.
But the fingers resting on Naruto trembled slightly.
"Naruto, do you hate me?"
Because of his selfishness, he had sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, causing Naruto to endure so much suffering in his childhood.
Just hearing Namikaze Mirai's description filled him with a suffocating pain.
Even an adult would likely have struggled to endure such experiences.
Let alone Naruto, who was only three years old.
He had been wrong! Horribly wrong!
"No, I don't hate you."
Naruto shook his head.
"At first, I didn't understand why my parents would do something so cruel, why they would seal the Demon Fox inside my stomach."
"But now I understand. They must have hoped their son would become a hero like them!"
Tears streamed down Minato's face as he embraced Naruto once more.
A dazed smile appeared on Naruto's lips.
Was this what a family's embrace felt like?
It was so warm.
The two embraced for a long time before finally parting reluctantly.
"Mirai, thank you. If you hadn't come back, I don't even know how I would have faced Naruto."
Minato's voice carried an apology.
He felt a deep debt toward Naruto.
"No, I came back too late."
Namikaze Mirai shook his head.
He was the one who should apologize.
"By the way, you seem stronger than you were three years ago, don't you?"
Minato smiled and punched him lightly in the chest.
Minato had sensed Namikaze Mirai's battle with the Nine-Tails from within the Sealing Space.
Although the Nine-Tails had underestimated him, the fact that he could beat it into such a state was enough to prove his strength.
"Yeah. Although there were some unexpected developments, my abilities have indeed improved quite a bit compared to three years ago."
"I see..."
Minato's eyes were filled with emotion.
Had his younger brother already surpassed him?
"With you here, I can finally rest easy."
Namikaze Mirai's expression turned serious as he spoke in a low voice.
"What exactly happened that night?"
Regarding the Nine-Tails Attack, he had investigated many times and obtained a great deal of information from Kakashi and the Uchiha Clan.
But it was not enough.
As the most important witness, Minato naturally knew the truth behind that night best.
"That night..."
Perhaps because it touched an old wound in his heart, Minato's gaze turned cold.
"I was guarding Kushina while she gave birth when we were suddenly attacked. The other man wore a Tiger Mask, and his Space-Time mastery was no weaker than mine..."
So it really had been Space-Time. Namikaze Mirai's gaze turned solemn.
Just as he had guessed, only another Space-Time Ability could have left Minato in such a sorry state.
"The enemy was very strong. Taking advantage of my concern for Naruto, he abducted Kushina immediately after she had given birth..."
Minato recounted everything carefully, doing his best not to leave out a single important detail.
The amount of time this body of his could remain was extremely limited.
He could only focus on the key points.
The Mysterious Masked Man, his hatred for Konoha, his claim to be Uchiha Madara, his Mangekyo Sharingan Space-Time Dojutsu...
As Namikaze Mirai listened to Minato's account, his profile of the enemy from that night became increasingly clear.
In a daze, a man wearing a Tiger Mask seemed to appear before him.
The scarlet Sharingan outside the mask wore a sinister smile.
Namikaze Mirai's eyes turned icy.
There was no doubt about it.
The Masked Man who had done such things would be his greatest enemy in the future!
No matter who he was, Namikaze Mirai would never let him go!
"Mirai, time is up."
Minato's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts.
The body formed from Chakra was slowly becoming surrounded by white light.
"So soon?"
Namikaze Mirai's eyes dimmed.
Time had passed even faster than he had imagined.
"I'm leaving Naruto to you."
Minato smiled faintly.
"Consider it the last request of this unworthy older brother."
Buzz! His gradually intangible body dispersed, turning into countless white motes that flew toward the deep sky above the Sealing Space.
"Dad!"
Naruto lunged forward and grabbed nothing. The motes passed through his body.
He was already crying his heart out.
"Why so soon? I still have so, so many things I wanted to say. Why didn't you wait for me to finish? Why..."
Namikaze Mirai crouched down and gently stroked his golden hair.
"Don't worry, Naruto. One day, you will meet again in the future!"
"R-Really?"
Naruto wiped his tears.
"But Dad and Mom are already..."
"You silly fool, who told you dead people can't be brought back to life?"
Namikaze Mirai flicked his forehead sharply, his eyes curving into crescents as he smiled.
"This world is vast, and there are many miraculous secret techniques that even Uncle hasn't mastered. Maybe there is a technique that can bring the dead back to life?"
"Is that so?"
Naruto's heart began to pound.
If Dad and Mom could really come back to life...
"That day will come."
Namikaze Mirai smiled toward the distance. He was not speaking idly; as far as he knew, Orochimaru possessed some Forbidden Jutsu capable of reviving the dead, though it was not yet complete.
Still, it was hope.
This world was vast, incredibly vast, filled with countless wondrous things waiting for him to explore.
Perhaps one day, he would discover a perfect method to bring the dead back to life.
When that time came, Naruto's family reunion would no longer be a fantasy.
"So Naruto, you must pull yourself together. If your brother and sister-in-law are revived someday and see you looking so dejected, they'll definitely be disappointed."
"Yeah! I understand, Uncle!"
Naruto seemed like a different person, brimming with determination. "For our reunion in the future, pinky promise!"
Namikaze Mirai held out his little finger.
Naruto hooked his own little finger around it.
"For our reunion in the future!"
Before you continue