The Masked Man - Minato Namikaze

Hokage Building.

The clan heads of Konoha, the Jonin Squad Leaders, the Anbu Captain, the Advisory Council, and the Third Hokage had all gathered together.

"By now, you clan heads should already know that the Fourth Hokage gave his life sealing the Nine-Tails." Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at the head, his expression grim as he looked at each clan leader. "To rebuild the village as quickly as possible and stabilize the situation, I will be reassuming the position of Hokage."

None of the clan heads or advisors spoke, silently consenting to Sarutobi Hiruzen's return to power.

At that moment, Shimura Danzō immediately stepped forward to speak. "Because of this Nine-Tails disaster, a large number of buildings in the village have been destroyed. Therefore, we have decided to relocate the clans. Here are the new clan territories. Everyone, please take a look."

Shimura Danzō unrolled a map of Konoha and began explaining the new territories to each clan.

The meeting ended quickly, and most were satisfied—except Uchiha Fugaku, who was rather displeased.

The Uchiha Clan's new territory was far from the center of Konoha. This was clearly the Hokage faction deliberately suppressing the Uchiha.

But because of the Sharingan reflected in the Nine-Tails' eyes, Fugaku knew his clan couldn't escape suspicion. Since Sarutobi Hiruzen had already imposed the punishment of relocation, he had no grounds to argue.

Because of this Nine-Tails' Rampage, Kushina had not died, so there was still some deterrent power to the outside world.

Thus, the surrounding situation was temporarily stabilized.

Even if there were movements, they were only thinking about snatching small advantages. Actually making a move against the victor of the Third Shinobi World War was still a considerable pressure on the neighboring villages.

Even the war-hungry Kumogakure, upon hearing about Konoha's Nine-Tails' Rampage, did not immediately march their army to the border.

Especially after hearing that Kushina Uzumaki had not died alongside Minato Namikaze.

But for the common people, the story was told differently.

That is, Minato Namikaze had saved everyone, sealing the Nine-Tails Fox back into Kushina Uzumaki. There was no mention of Naruto, the Son of the Fourth Hokage, who was also a Jinchuriki.

Moreover, to win over Kushina Uzumaki, the Third Hokage had Naruto publicly proclaimed as the Son of the Fourth Hokage, a hero's child.

The Son of the Fourth Hokage, in order to guard the Nine-Tails, had willingly chosen to live with Kushina Uzumaki.

Good heavens, the villagers were moved to tears.

On the fourth day after the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Kushina Uzumaki had received treatment and woken up in the hospital. Some of the other patients at Konoha Hospital looked at her with pure malice.

After all, they knew their loved ones had died at the hands of the Nine-Tails inside Kushina's body.

More villagers directed fearful, evasive glances at Kushina. She was already immune to it.

She had grown up enduring that step by step—back then, it was mostly just stares as if she were a freak.

In Kushina's eyes, as long as Naruto grew up healthy, that was enough.

Because Kushina Uzumaki was still alive, Danzō didn't dare to directly scheme against the Jinchuriki.

At that moment, inside Naruto's Sealing Space—since Naruto was still small, Anju had completely remodeled the place.

A big fox and a little fox were watching television.

That's right, watching television.

All of it was conjured by Anju using Chakra.

Kurama was staring intently at the screen.

It was playing Ultraman.

The very first generation Ultraman.

Anju used Chakra to dig the Ultraman series out of the depths of his own memory, then played it on the TV.

"Anju, are you sure this is future technology? You're not messing with me?"

Kurama had just finished watching the tenth episode of Ultraman and immediately pressed Anju for answers.

"Relax. I'm you from the future, traveling back in time. That's all technology that will exist later."

Anju's current identity left no room for Kurama to doubt him.

After all, he was the Yin Nine-Tails. How could he lie to himself?

"Hmm, these monsters are really strong. And Ultraman is even stronger. What kind of jutsu do they use? Can I use it?"

Anju was speechless. You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?

"How about you study it, Kurama? See if you can figure out how they use Chakra?" Anju chuckled, not knowing how else to respond.

Hearing Anju's words, Kurama got excited. Right—he was the strongest of the tailed beasts. Studying a few jutsu would be a piece of cake!

"Oh, is there more?"

"Yeah. Tiga, Dyna, Ace, Jack, and so on."

"Great! Let me study them all."

Anju's mouth twitched. This research was going to keep him busy for who knows how long. Digging through memories was also mentally taxing. Luckily, Chakra helped him recall so many Ultraman plots.

"By the way, Kurama, want to come over to my side for a visit?"

"No way. Those two damn humans sealed me inside this brat. I can't swallow that anger."

"That's a shame. Minato and Kushina are both really easy to get along with." At this point, Anju had no idea how badly that "easy to get along with" comment would come back to bite him.

At this moment, in Kushina Uzumaki's Sealing Space.

A small house stood on the grassland, looking quite out of place. Minato Namikaze stayed inside, staring intently at the television in the living room.

The image on the screen showed Naruto drinking milk—it was from Kushina Uzumaki's perspective.

Anju cleared his throat twice.

Minato Namikaze immediately sat up straight. When he saw the little fox at the door, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"What, jealous of your own son?"

Minato Namikaze's face flushed red. "No such thing!"

"By the way, Minato, how do you plan to raise Naruto?"

"Let Naruto grow up slowly, then go to the Ninja Academy—isn't that fine?"

"Naive! What if the village gets attacked by that Masked Man again? What about Kushina? What about your son?"

Minato Namikaze's expression turned grim. "The Third Hokage will handle it!"

"The Ninja World isn't peaceful right now. News of your death has spread across the entire Ninja World. If nothing is done, Konoha might not be able to hold back the surrounding villages." Anju began to sound alarmist.

"That won't happen. The new generation has already..."

At that point, Minato Namikaze fell silent.

Anju continued, "The new generation! The Fourth Hokage is dead, and Konoha's Sannin go without saying. You heard it too—the Third Hokage has taken back the reins. Why hasn't anyone taken his place?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"Simple. For peace, you just need to create a common enemy for all the villages."

Minato Namikaze couldn't believe it. He had no idea what Anju was planning.

"How is that possible? Who would dare provoke the Five Great Ninja Villages!"

"Why not? That Masked Man attacked Konoha—why couldn't he attack other villages?" Anju chuckled, looking at Minato Namikaze.

"How should I know? Wait, you mean..."

"That's right. Use the Transformation Technique to become the Masked Man. You know what he looks like, right? Then disguise yourself and attack the Jinchuriki of other villages."

"But I'm already..." Minato tried to emphasize that he was dead.

"Have Kushina split off a Shadow Clone, inject it with your Chakra, plus my Chakra. You can cause a huge ruckus in other villages. Even if you fail, it's just a Shadow Clone."

"I don't know that Masked Man's techniques."

"Don't you know Flying Thunder God? Just use Flying Thunder God!"

"Wouldn't that expose my identity?"

"Minato Namikaze! Let me repeat—you're dead! How could a dead man show up in other villages?"

"But..."

"It's fine. Having a Masked Man like you out there will make other villages wary of Konoha and indirectly protect its safety. What do you think?"

"That would make Konoha enemies everywhere."

"Konoha lost a Fourth Hokage to the Masked Man! No one can claim the Masked Man was Konoha's doing. Trust me, the Third is better than you at politics."

"Anju, what is your real goal?"

"To maintain Konoha's stability and ensure a safe environment for Kushina Uzumaki and your son Naruto." Anju dodged Minato's question about his purpose.

Minato Namikaze let out a light laugh. "Whatever your goal is now, we're still on the same side. You're right—stabilizing Konoha is important."

"That's more like it."

"So, how much Chakra are you planning to lend me?"

Anju cleared his throat twice, turned around, and walked out. He planned to find Kurama again and watch Ultraman together.

"Let's discuss it when Kushina gets here. How much I can give depends on how much she's willing to spare."