"Why I came here—you should know, right?"
"Tell me the answer, Kurama."
"I want to know why I failed."
Uzumaki Kuming gazed from afar at Kurama inside the cage and asked in a low voice. Though Naruto Uzumaki had no idea what Kuming was talking about, he didn't interrupt. He stood to one side, studying Kuming and Kurama.
Uncle and the Nine-Tails seem like friends. Naruto pondered, stealing occasional glances at Kuming's face. He had only ever seen the uncle who died the day he was born in photographs and on Kage Rock. This was his first time seeing him in person.
"That goes back to when the brat standing next to you was born."
Kurama rested his head on his forepaws and lowered it as he spoke:
"It hadn't been long since you became the Fourth Hokage, and your nephew was about to be born."
"For some reason, you ordered all of Konoha to go on high alert when the boy was born."
"Maybe you'd already sensed something."
Kurama spoke calmly, and Naruto's attention was drawn to his words. Everything he knew about Uzumaki Kuming had come from his parents. He had never known the real reason for Kuming's death. Now, according to Kurama, Kuming's death was somehow connected to his birth.
"When Konoha went on alert, quite a few of its powerful shinobi were there to protect Kushina during childbirth."
"The two Hyuga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi; Uchiha Fugaku and Shisui Uchiha from the Uchiha Clan; Minato Namikaze; and a middle-aged man named Might Duy."
"Even the retired Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was sent there as a guard. Tsunade was in charge of the delivery."
"But in the end, the unexpected still happened. The one who came to report to the Hokage's office was Minato Namikaze. He'd used