Father and Mother

Kurama? A friend?

Having been asleep within the seal, the blond man was awakened when Naruto frantically drew on Kurama's Chakra and nearly shattered the seal. Still unaware of what had happened, he looked utterly bewildered.

He carefully studied Naruto's expression. It did not look as though Kurama's Chakra had affected his mind.

Then he looked at the adorably cute Little Fox quietly crouching in Naruto's arms. Aside from glaring at him with displeasure, it made no other move.

Only then did Minato Namikaze finally confirm that he was not dreaming. His son had truly become friends with a Tailed Beast!

A smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

Looking at Naruto before him, he saw that the boy was neatly dressed. His hairstyle, as well as that calm and intelligent air, took after him. His delicate features resembled his mother's. At such a young age, he already possessed such formidable strength. He had truly grown into an outstanding ninja.

It seemed the Third Hokage had fulfilled the request they had made before their deaths and taken good care of Naruto.

"Naruto, are you undoing the seal now because you want to try using Kurama's power and train in Tailed Beast Transformation?" Minato Namikaze asked with a smile, withdrawing his hand and patting his son's head.

Unaccustomed to his father's affectionate gesture,

Naruto took a step back before shaking his head. "No. I want to borrow Kurama's power to destroy Konoha."

At those words, Minato Namikaze's smile froze, followed by a surge of anger in his heart.

He had sacrificed himself to protect Konoha. It would have been one thing if his son had failed to inherit the Will of Fire, but now he wanted to destroy the village???

Would that not make all his painstaking efforts meaningless?

He had just wanted to say something when Naruto held out his fist.

Minato Namikaze instinctively raised his own fist to meet it. The anger in his heart faded, and he fell silent.

In that brief instant, Minato Namikaze felt how Naruto had lived all these years. The dense, suffocating malice was enough to make even a mature adult like him shudder.

Much less Naruto, who had only been a child.

He had never imagined that the village he had worked so hard to protect would let his orphaned son end up like this.

Even though he had already guessed that Naruto, as a Jinchuriki, would endure some strange looks from the villagers, he had never imagined it would be this severe. And the Third Hokage, in whom he had placed such high hopes, had done absolutely nothing.

His wife had also been a Jinchuriki. She had endured some gossip in the village as well, but because not many people knew about it, it had not become a serious problem. Besides, Naruto had been under the Third Hokage's care.

That was why Minato Namikaze had chosen to seal half of Kurama inside Naruto's body in the first place.

Yet he had never expected that decision to bring Naruto such misery.

Seeing the murderous resolve in Naruto's eyes, Minato Namikaze wanted to persuade him. He opened his mouth, but could only give a bitter smile, unable to speak.

At that moment, even though he had once been the Fourth Hokage and carried the Will of Fire to protect the village, he did not know how to dispel the darkness in his son's heart.

Crack.

The sealing gate shattered completely.

The Sealing Space fell silent. Minato Namikaze looked somewhat dazed. Even after the gate had fully broken apart, he did not reinforce the seal as he had originally intended when he left this remnant behind.

At this moment, neither Naruto nor Kurama spoke.

Rattle.

In the silent Sealing Space, the sound of chains suddenly rang out.

Kurama's Main Body, which had been lying there quietly, was tightly bound by the golden chains that had suddenly appeared.

Naruto and Kurama turned their gazes toward it and saw a beautiful red-haired woman suddenly appear in the Sealing Space, just like Minato Namikaze had. The Adamantine Sealing Chains around her had bound Kurama.

"..." Naruto.

"I have something to say, but I'm not sure whether I should say it." Kurama.

"..." Minato Namikaze.

Coming back to his senses, Minato Namikaze looked over and saw the Chakra incarnation his wife had left behind. He was at a loss for words as well.

Seeing the two men and one fox looking at her strangely, the woman who had suddenly appeared gave an awkward smile. "Huh? Wasn't Naruto supposed to have a tug-of-war with the Nine-Tails to seize its Chakra?"

Minato Namikaze awkwardly scratched his head and hurriedly went over to explain the situation to his wife, Kushina Uzumaki.

Before long, Kushina flew into a rage, her long red hair billowing in the wind.

"So this is my mother? She really is as carefree and impulsive as you remembered," Naruto said with a smile to the Little Fox in his arms.

Kurama looked at his bound Main Body and did not want to speak.

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, the red-haired woman rushed over and pulled him into her arms, tears streaming down her face. "Sob, sob... Young Naruto has really suffered so much. If Mommy could stay by your side forever, you would not have had to suffer like this."

"It's all right now, Mom. I've grown up. I can live independently. I eat properly every day, bathe every day, and lots of girls like me. I don't have any bad habits, and I don't know Jiraiya, so you don't need to worry about me," Naruto said awkwardly, trying to comfort her.

Seeing this, Minato Namikaze also blamed himself.

If he had listened to his wife back then, letting her seal Kurama while he stayed behind to accompany Naruto as he grew up, Naruto would not have suffered so much all these years.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.

"Was I protecting everyone's village, or Sarutobi Hiruzen's village? Even the Uchiha clan was exterminated. Poor Sasuke."

With a listless sigh, Minato Namikaze felt that his death had not been worth it. At this point, he no longer intended to stop Naruto from doing anything.

After all, he was already dead. He could not concern himself with so much.

"Naruto, your mother's and my Chakra will soon disappear. Before we part, I will teach you the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan. No matter what you do in the future, I hope you can live well. Always put caution first."

Hearing Minato Namikaze say this, Kushina Uzumaki also realized that although her son was gifted and intelligent, that disgusting old Third Hokage had not handed over any of the inheritance or Secret Techniques left behind by the two of them.

Even though Naruto could now be considered a perfect Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki after the seal had been opened, it was still not safe enough.

She decided to teach Naruto all the Sealing Techniques she knew, along with the methods for using Kurama's Chakra.

You could never have too many skills. If he learned more, he would be able to calmly handle any situation in the future. Even if he became an enemy of the world, he could still retreat unhurriedly. As his mother, she unconditionally supported every choice her son made.

Thinking of this, Kushina hurriedly raised her fist as well.

A broad smile appeared on Naruto's face. He raised both hands and pressed his fists against those of his parents.

Smiling, he watched his parents' figures disappear before his eyes.

Two streams of tears unconsciously slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Bang. In the Sealing Space, all the Shadow Clones completed their tasks.

Smoke burst forth as they dispelled themselves.

A flood of information instantly surged into his mind.