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Naruto fell silent, lowering his head to think for a while before finally looking at Minato Namikaze's expectant yet fearful gaze.

"I'm not particularly interested in airing grievances. The past is already past, and now they can only be angry without daring to say anything to me."

Minato Namikaze's expression dimmed somewhat.

"But," Naruto suddenly changed his tone, "if you really want to know, why not see it for yourself?"

With that, Naruto ignored Minato Namikaze's hopeful gaze and looked at the Nine-Tails, who was also looking down at him. He raised his fist high.

"Kurama, if I remember correctly, this is called the Shinobi Sect, right?"

The Nine-Tails' eyes widened, filled with shock but also hesitation. "Kid, you never mentioned this beforehand. And earning my acknowledgment won't be that easy!"

"Hahaha, I don't need your acknowledgment. Kurama, human lives are quite short, and there won't be another Jinchuriki. In a few decades, you'll regain your freedom. Why not treat it as a way to pass the time?" Naruto said with a smile.

The Nine-Tails fell silent. Looking at Naruto's smiling face, he felt strangely uncomfortable. Such a sunny expression did not belong on this brat's face. That kind of fake smile suited someone like the Fourth Hokage.

Still, this brat Naruto was rather to his liking. At least this past year had been far more interesting than the previous decades. After all, they were accomplices. The coming decades would surely bring plenty of interesting sights as well.

The Nine-Tails gave a mocking smile and extended his massive claw, pressing it against Naruto's fist.

"Fine. Let's call it a way to pass the time."

Boom—

A powerful wave of Chakra erupted from Naruto's body. Golden Chakra surged like a tsunami, forming an enormous vortex. Naruto's body was enveloped by that power, his eyes turning into vertical slits. Fine golden markings slithered across his skin like living creatures, outlining mysterious patterns.

The seal had only been undone halfway, but that was enough for Naruto to enter Tailed Beast Chakra Mode.

"This is..."

Minato Namikaze's eyes were filled with horror. Not even Kushina could use Tailed Beast Chakra to this extent. Perhaps only the first Jinchuriki, Lady Mito, could achieve such a level.

On the other side of the gate, Naruto also raised his fist toward Minato Namikaze.

"Fourth Hokage, if you want to see it, then come see it—the past of Uzumaki Naruto!"

Minato Namikaze looked at the Nine-Tails' mocking eyes, then at Naruto's utterly emotionless slit pupils. The unease in his heart suddenly grew immensely.

Gritting his teeth, he still walked over. His eyes remained fixed on Naruto, full of guilt.

Their fists met.

In an instant, Minato Namikaze froze in place.

As Naruto's Chakra entered his body, Minato Namikaze gained the Nine-Tails' Malice Perception.

And throughout all of Konoha, the dense, suffocating malice made even him, a mentally mature adult, shudder with dread.

"Th-this..."

Before Minato Namikaze could finish speaking, Naruto's memories began flooding into his mind.

At that moment, he became Uzumaki Naruto and felt the malice of the past.

A searing pain continuously spread through his throat. A scorching current like lava slid down his throat and all the way into his stomach.

He wanted to know what was happening, so he opened his eyes. Before him was a twisted, grinning face, constantly forcing hot water into his mouth.

"Why did my child die while you're perfectly fine?"

Minato Namikaze's eyes nearly split open in fury.

But the scene before him suddenly warped and changed.

He walked alone through the Streets of Konoha. All around him, the villagers looked at him with hatred and disgust, endlessly spitting curses.

Hungry, he wanted to eat at a restaurant, but the moment he entered, the owner shoved him outside. His tiny body hit the ground, his palms already covered in blood.

He then tried to buy some instant noodles from a supermarket, but the clerk snatched the noodles from Naruto's hands and smashed them all into his face before driving him out.

In the end, he could only eat instant noodles that were nearly expired while crying.

The scenes kept changing. At times, he saw Naruto, starving, eat poisonous mushrooms from the mountains and vomit violently in his rental room, alone.

Then he saw Naruto, only three years old, already having to wade into the water to catch fish himself.

In Naruto's memories, the Konoha villagers he had once protected were as terrifying as evil spirits. His former friends were as cold as strangers, and his former subordinates chose to protect themselves.

Why was no one willing to show his child even the slightest kindness?

Even as charity, could they not at least keep Naruto from going hungry?

Even the Third Hokage, whom he had always respected, was like a hypocritical old man, endlessly preaching benevolence and righteousness while taking away the food Naruto had struggled so hard to obtain.

How dare Konoha treat his child with such cruelty!

"How... how could this happen? Why..."

The memories flashed past. Minato Namikaze's body trembled slightly, his once-straight back slowly bending. He curled up like a shrimp, his eyes bloodshot, whether from grief or rage, even he did not know.

Why? Why did Naruto have to bear such hatred?

Minato could hardly believe that those villagers, who had been respectful and friendly toward him while he was alive, had become so ugly and vicious.

The villagers he had once been willing to sacrifice his life to protect, whom he had regarded as family, had harmed his child like this.

He did not understand why the Konoha Higher-ups had not revealed Naruto's identity as the Hokage's son after his death. Instead, they had allowed rumors that he was the incarnation of the Demon Fox to spread throughout the village.

And the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio—why could they not even offer his child some relief? Jiraiya-sensei, where were you at a time like this?

Third Hokage, how had you become so hypocritical and incompetent?

It was precisely because he believed in the village and trusted the Third Hokage that he had chosen to use his life to protect Konoha and its villagers, choosing to die alongside Kushina.

He knew Jinchuriki would be ostracized, because Jinchuriki in every village were treated that way. But he had been the Fourth Hokage, the Fourth Hokage who had died for the village. As his child, Naruto should have been embraced by Konoha's villagers even as a Jinchuriki.

Yet the Third Hokage, in whom he had placed such high hopes, had turned Naruto into an outlet for the villagers' hatred, while Sarutobi Hiruzen could still sit unperturbed in his Hokage seat.

Naruto should have been born carrying the legacy of a hero's son, yet from the very moment of his birth, he had borne the hatred of the entire village.

Minato Namikaze suddenly realized how laughable he was. In the past, his wife had been hated and ostracized by these people, and now even his child had become a rat crossing the street.

Minato Namikaze, what had you protected?

Was a village like this truly worth protecting?

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I... I never thought it would..."

Minato Namikaze hunched over, his face hidden beneath his hair and filled with pain. Two tears slowly fell, and even his lips trembled uncontrollably as he spoke.

"What kind of look is that? What are those tears for?"

The Nine-Tails' Chakra had long since withdrawn from Naruto's body, and he had returned to normal. Looking at Minato Namikaze, he spoke with some disdain. "What use are your tears now?"

"Or are you hoping for my forgiveness?"

Minato Namikaze's body trembled slightly. He wiped away the tears on his face and looked at the son who was both familiar and unfamiliar to him, then shook his head.

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. But at least let me make up for some of my past mistakes."

Minato Namikaze clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and wore an utterly sincere expression.

Naruto did not waste words.

"I need the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Four Symbols Sealing Technique."