A Strong Heart

Golden sunlight, handsome blond hair, and the words "Fourth Hokage" on his back. He had shown up to save the day at the crucial moment. Mirai smiled. This really was the protagonist, with every box checked. No wonder all those boys and girls were fans of the Fourth Hokage.

Uchiha Obito tried to turn intangible, but Mirai had clamped onto his hand and wouldn't let go. The face beneath Obito's mask changed drastically. He had been outmaneuvered by Mirai from the very beginning. How could a child have him so completely figured out? He should have killed him with a powerful jutsu right from the start.

Konoha's Yellow Flash was no empty title. During the Shinobi World War, the great ninja nations had all issued orders: if you encountered Konoha's Yellow Flash, you were allowed to flee without facing any repercussions. That showed just how infamous he was among shinobi.

And the "Flash" in Yellow Flash described his speed—so fast that, in the blink of an eye, he could take down every enemy on the battlefield. Anyone who survived an encounter with Namikaze Minato was lucky. Who would think of holding him accountable?

"Whoosh—!" The Fourth Hokage's expression was grim. He was clearly furious. A jutsu appeared in his right hand in an instant. It looked like a ball, glowing pale blue, with strands of chakra spinning rapidly inside it. This was the Fourth Hokage's original A-rank jutsu, one that required no Hand Seals: the Rasengan, the jutsu Naruto Uzumaki would later become famous for. No Hand Seals meant it could be used fast enough—in the Fourth Hokage's hands, it took almost no time at all.

At first, from this close, Obito had held Mirai like a chicken waiting to be slaughtered. Now, however, Mirai had grabbed his hand, and Obito couldn't break free. Obito held a Kunai in his other hand.

He had three options. He could toss Mirai aside and turn intangible, but he didn't have enough time. He could absorb Mirai into his Kamui Dimension, but the Fourth Hokage would attack him while he did so, since his body would have to become tangible during the absorption. His third option was to attack the Fourth Hokage directly with the Kunai in his left hand.

Obito made the perfectly sensible choice and went with the third option. But with the Fourth Hokage already having the initiative, who could possibly strike back?

Bam!! The Rasengan slammed straight into Obito's abdomen.

"Gwaah—!!" Obito let out a scream. His clothes tore open at the stomach, and his body bent into a bow as he flew backward.

Crash! Obito smashed through several enormous trees, each thick enough to take several people to encircle. Even after being hit by such a powerful attack, he suffered only minor injuries.

Just as the Fourth Hokage was about to reach him, Obito's body twisted and vanished, then reappeared some distance away. A few drops of blood ran down his arm. Splinters from the shattered trees had lodged in it, leaving him with a minor injury.

"Minato, check on Mirai! Is he hurt? You weren't here earlier, and Mirai was the one who held off that man's attacks. If it weren't for him, Naruto and I might already be dead!" Uzumaki Kushina shouted to Namikaze Minato.

Minato supported Mirai by the back and checked him over. Mirai had suffered some moderately serious injuries, but he would be fine after resting and recovering in Konoha for a while. He wasn't in any danger of dying. Minato breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Minato looked at Mirai with deep gratitude. "Mirai, thank you. If you hadn't been here, Kushina and Naruto..."

The Fourth Hokage spoke with heartfelt sincerity. He had surveyed the scene and could tell a fierce battle had taken place. Uzumaki Kushina was in no condition to fight, and Mirai was the only one who could take on their enemy. Mirai had saved his wife and son. He could never repay such a debt in a lifetime. If Mirai died here, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

Mirai managed a strained smile. "This was a mission from the Hokage, so of course I had to complete it. But I probably won't be much help from here on. Cough, cough!" He coughed up a clot of blood that had been building in his chest, his face paling. After only a year of training, going head-to-head with someone like that was a real disadvantage.

Namikaze Minato slowly stood up and fixed his gaze on the Masked Man. "You've done more than enough. Get some rest. I'll take care of things from here."

Suddenly, the Masked Man turned to Mirai and asked, "How did you notify the Fourth Hokage?"

Mirai was taken aback. He hadn't expected Obito to suddenly ask that, but he answered anyway. "Remember those first two Kunai? I'd wrapped ten Paper Bombs around them. Their explosions were powerful enough to carry a long way. And since Paper Bombs burn, scorching the trees would create smoke. The Great Fireball I used against you just now was actually meant to create a Smoke Bomb, but you sucked it away. I had no choice but to attack you with Phoenix Sage Fire. As for the rest, just as you said, I was trying to buy time. The Nine-Tails is causing destruction in Konoha, but only in that one area. It hasn't reached here. Why would smoke suddenly appear here? This is also the Fourth Hokage's home, where his wife and son are. Even if the Fourth Hokage was fighting the Nine-Tails, he would surely notice what was happening here..."

"I understand. You truly are a genius, far beyond every genius I've ever met. But without a reliable way to contact him, how could you be sure the Fourth Hokage would show up to save you when I grabbed you?" Every question the Masked Man had asked was meant to get that answer.

Mirai gave him a strained smile. "Of course I didn't know for sure he'd show up. But... sometimes you have to believe in miracles. If you believe, a miracle just might happen. See? Didn't one happen?"

The Masked Man, the Fourth Hokage, and Uzumaki Kushina were all stunned by Mirai's words. They could hardly imagine that Mirai, who had been lifted into the air and might have been killed at any moment, had simply smiled and believed that a miracle would happen.

To stake his life on a gamble, and still think that way while facing death—what a powerful heart. They couldn't imagine what this child's future would hold, but all of them had the same feeling: perhaps he would become the greatest shinobi in history, surpassing every Hokage before him.