Learning

"Kakashi? Who's that? Never heard of him."

The Sealing Space fell into silence.

After a long while, the sound of Kushina sobbing echoed through the void.

"Minato, they... they treated our child like this. What did we do wrong? Did we ever wrong them?"

"Kushina, this... there might be some misunderstanding here..."

It was over; he had overacted. Naruto Uzumaki hurriedly entered the Sealing Space and saw Kushina leaning on Minato's shoulder, weeping. He comforted her, "Mom, don't cry. Aren't I doing just fine? Besides, now that I have you both, I'm living very happily."

"Mom?!"

Hearing her son call her 'Mom' for the first time, Kushina was overjoyed. She instantly forgot her tears and happily shook Minato by the shoulders.

"My son called me Mom, Minato! Did you hear that? My son called me Mom..."

"I heard it, Kushina."

Minato was genuinely envious. He turned his gaze toward Naruto Uzumaki and asked expectantly, "Could you... call me Dad as well?"

I suspect you're trying to take advantage of me... Naruto Uzumaki hesitated and said, "Next time. Let's wait until we're a bit more familiar with each other."

Minato was unwilling to give up. "What about Mom? I met Naruto Uzumaki before she did. If we're talking about familiarity, we should be closer."

"The situation was special just now. Next time..."

"Will Naruto Uzumaki not call me Mom next time?"

Kushina let go of Minato and stepped in front of Naruto Uzumaki. Tears swirled in her eyes, clearly threatening to cry if he didn't call her again.

Naruto Uzumaki hesitated. Kushina was crying, so he had no choice but to say it.

"Mom."

"Yes, good boy. Say it again."

"...Mom."

"Mm, sounds lovely. Say it one more time."

"..."

Watching the woman before him who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, Naruto Uzumaki was speechless and vanished from the Sealing Space in an instant.

"Naruto Uzumaki is still too shy."

Kushina blinked, then remarked without a hint of self-awareness.

"But he called you three times."

Minato wore a look of pure jealousy.

"Don't be jealous that Naruto Uzumaki has a good relationship with his mom, Dad."

Kushina put her hands on her hips, looking smug.

"I. Am. Not. Jealous."

Minato said each word distinctly, his expression of jealousy only deepening, which made Kushina burst into laughter. Seeing this, Minato began to laugh as well.

"Foolish humans."

The Nine-Tails curled its lip, turned its head away, and went back to sleep.

After joking around for a while, the couple began to discuss the grand project of their child's education.

If no one else would look after their child, they would do it themselves.

Both of them were experts, and both had the ability to guide Naruto Uzumaki's training.

However, in terms of suitability, Minato was naturally the better choice.

He was powerful, experienced, and possessed a vast breadth of knowledge; he knew everything Kushina knew, and he knew things she didn't.

But Minato couldn't do it all alone. To ensure Kushina felt involved, Minato would only teach Naruto Uzumaki ninjutsu and taijutsu, while Kushina would teach him sealing jutsu.

"What about Genjutsu?"

Naruto Uzumaki, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, appeared in the Sealing Space and said to Minato and Kushina, "Don't forget about Genjutsu."

The Rinnegan was not like the Sharingan, which came with innate Genjutsu, but the Rinnegan could serve as a Genjutsu amplifier.

The power of a Genjutsu cast with the help of the Rinnegan was no less than that of the Mangekyo.

Minato shook his head. "Don't be greedy, Naruto Uzumaki. You don't need to learn Genjutsu. You are a perfect Jinchuriki; Genjutsu simply cannot affect you. Learning it would just be a waste of energy."

Kushina chimed in, "That's right. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, and sealing jutsu—learning these three is already a heavy burden. You might not even finish learning them all, so where would you find the time for Genjutsu?"

"I have time! Once I learn the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, I'll have all the time I need. By the way... do either of you know the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique?"

Kushina asked curiously, "I know the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique. This technique is suitable for those with a lot of Chakra, so it is indeed perfect for you. However, it's a forbidden technique, and not many people know it. You're just a child—where did you hear about it?"

Minato signaled that he had the same question.

Naruto Uzumaki kept a straight face and said, "My eyes... they can see many things."

He wasn't lying; in his past life, he had indeed seen the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique with his own eyes.

"So it was the Rinnegan, truly mysterious..."

Kushina and Minato realized, no longer asking further questions.

The three chatted for a while longer, and Genjutsu was officially added to the curriculum.

Minato laid the groundwork first: "Dad isn't very good at Genjutsu and can't teach much, so don't get your hopes up too high."

Naruto Uzumaki nodded and said, "Understood. By the way, I also want to learn Medical Ninjutsu."

Genjutsu requires Yin Release, and Medical Ninjutsu requires Yang Release; he couldn't afford to miss either.

"It's good to be eager to learn, but can you handle the workload?"

"I'll take it slow; I'm just mentioning it for now."

"That works too. When the time comes, I'll have your mother teach you; she knows some Medical Ninjutsu."

Under Minato's guidance, Naruto Uzumaki changed his stance, striking the large tree using a technique that better aligned with human muscle mechanics.

He still got injured, but it was all within an acceptable range.

After exercising his body in the afternoon, Naruto Uzumaki entered the Sealing Space at night to study ninjutsu.

Shadow and General were there too; they had been introduced to Minato and Kushina by Naruto Uzumaki long ago, and over the past month, they had become quite familiar with each other.

"Please help me teach them as well, both ninja experience and ninjutsu knowledge."

Naruto Uzumaki made the request to his parents.

"We can do that."

Kushina and Minato nodded in agreement. Both of them understood the origins of Shadow and General and knew they were completely trustworthy; teaching them was equivalent to helping Naruto Uzumaki.

"Thank you."

Shadow and General bowed in gratitude; they had always held Naruto Uzumaki's parents in high regard.

Ninja Academy.

Naruto Uzumaki, who had been absent for a month, returned. Naturally, there was no welcome party; all that greeted him were fear and alienation.

Clearly, the leakage of Nine-Tails Chakra that day had left a deep psychological scar on everyone.

They finally understood that the rumors in the village were not without cause. Naruto Uzumaki might not eat people, but the word "monster" was fitting.

And humans... for the sake of their own lives, should not associate with monsters; the most appropriate method was to keep a respectful distance.

Seeing all of this, Kushina and Minato looked pained.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, we made you the container for the Nine-Tails, forcing you to carry a heavy burden for us..."

"There's no need to apologize to me. I'm doing just fine. This so-called heavy burden isn't actually heavy at all, and it even helped me gain a good friend..."

Naruto Uzumaki walked to his seat with a calm expression, constantly comforting his parents in his heart.

The first class of the morning passed quickly.

After class, Iruka called Naruto Uzumaki out of the classroom.

"Everyone doesn't hate you; they just have some misunderstandings about you. Naruto, give everyone some time to adapt..."

Iruka had also noticed the atmosphere of exclusion in the class, but he didn't know what to say.

Because, deep down, Iruka was actually afraid of Naruto Uzumaki too.

After all, that was the legendary Nine-Tails; who wouldn't be afraid?

Even the Third Hokage couldn't help it!

But fear was one thing; his sense of responsibility as a teacher allowed Iruka to overcome his fear and even go a step further to console Naruto Uzumaki.

A few minutes later, Naruto Uzumaki returned to his seat, and Minato's sigh of emotion echoed in his heart.