You've cornered me, Fourth Generation.

"Naruto...?"

Minato's voice was so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself, his azure eyes shining startlingly bright in the dim light.

Lin Zi did not answer immediately.

He slowly straightened up and walked over to Minato, the distance between them close enough to hear each other's breathing.

He stared at Minato, his golden slit pupils unblinking, as if trying to see through to the deepest parts of his heart.

"I'm not entirely sure."

Lin Zi finally spoke, his voice low and slow, each word sounding as if it were being forced out from his throat.

"Or even if I were sure, I shouldn't tell you, because this is... his wish."

He kept staring at Minato, his snake-like pupils reflecting the face filled with shock and longing, as if he were trying to peer into the contents of his mind.

"Is that so..."

Minato was silent for a moment, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the edge of the desk.

Then he looked up, his azure eyes fixed directly on Lin Zi, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through that pale face.

"So, my assumption wasn't wrong—you... really are from another world?"

Lin Zi tilted his head, a flash of amusement crossing his golden slit pupils, and he suddenly grinned.

"Wow, checkmated by the Fourth Hokage."

He spread his hands, shrugging his shoulders high.

"That's right, I am not the Orochimaru of your world at all, though I've already said that many times."

He laughed with airy indifference, as if what had been exposed wasn't a world-shaking secret, but rather what he had eaten for breakfast.

"No wonder..."

Minato leaned back, his spine pressing against the edge of the desk, his gaze drifting toward the heavy curtains over the window.

He pondered for two seconds, then suddenly straightened up, leaning forward like a fox that had caught the scent of blood.

"Then in other worlds, are there completely different progressions? And as for why you accepted the commission... what is your reason?"

His gaze was burning, his fingers gripping the edge of the desk tightly, as if he had finally found the loose thread of the truth and refused to let go.

"I want to know what your true purpose is in doing all this."

"Purpose, you say..."

Lin Zi crossed his arms, his snake-like pupils narrowing slightly into two thin lines under the dim light, and he tilted his head to think, his tone light and airy.

"It's actually quite simple, Fourth Hokage."

He paused, extended two fingers, and tapped his temple lightly.

"I, or rather we, simply don't want this kind of ending."

"It's that simple. You can interpret it as... out of goodwill, or just a spontaneous idea; there is nothing else."

"Nothing else?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been standing to the side smoking in silence, suddenly spoke up, tapping his pipe against the table and sending a few red sparks flying.

His eyes glared over, his voice heavy with seasoned probing.

"Orochimaru, that is not the kind of thinking you would have."

"Old man."

Lin Zi rolled his eyes, his golden slit pupils filled with impatience.

"How many times do I have to say it? I am not the Orochimaru from here. I didn't defect, I didn't conduct human experiments, and I didn't kill any of your people. In our world, the one who defected... you should have a candidate in mind for that, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe froze in mid-air.

He narrowed his eyes and slowly exhaled a name.

"Jiraiya...?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Lin Zi scoffed.

"Where I come from, he and I took paths completely opposite to your world; he became the dark scientist, and I... well, I ended up like this."

"Is that so."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him for a few seconds, slowly put the pipe back into his mouth, and took two deep drags, the smoke billowing from his nostrils and lingering in the pale light.

"Then I have nothing more to say on this side."

Lin Zi brushed the dust off his shoulders, his tone casual.

"Is the house next to Minato's ready? I'm planning to move in."

Minato was pulled out of his deep thoughts by his voice, stunned for half a second before he managed to force a smile.

"Yeah... the room next to ours is already in good condition, you can just move right in. Do you know where it is?"

"How could I possibly not know where my student lives?"

Lin Zi walked to the door, placed his hand on the knob, and looked back, his golden slit pupils reflecting Minato's stunned face.

The corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a faint, almost gentle smile.

"Kid, you underestimate me too much."

Click.

The door was pushed open, and he turned and walked out, his black ponytail flashing through the gap before vanishing into the hallway.

The office was terrifyingly quiet.

Minato remained frozen in place, his lips moving, taking a long moment to squeeze out a single word.

"...Student?"

"Fourth Hokage."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke suddenly.

"It seems your assessment was entirely correct; he is indeed not that Orochimaru, and the way he addressed you just now..."

"Yeah."

Minato lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the desk, his voice so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself.

"I understand now. In his world, Jiraiya-sensei and Orochimaru took completely opposite paths. That is why... he has become the person he is today."

"Is that so."

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to finally set down a heavy burden; his shoulders slumped noticeably, making even his tight combat uniform appear a bit loose.

"It doesn't look bad, actually."

He chuckled suddenly, the sound filled with a touch of sentiment.

"No wonder that fool Jiraiya would make promises for him. Turns out, they were the same kind of people all along."

Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his mouth twitching.

"Indeed, Third Hokage. To be honest, I didn't expect it at first either..."

"Today's events,"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's laughter stopped abruptly, his voice hitting the floor like a block of ice.

"Are not to be disclosed to anyone. Only you, me, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kushina Uzumaki are to know."

Minato nodded.

"Understood."

Before his words had even faded, he hadn't even had time to react.

Snap.

An extremely faint, crisp sound of bone displacement.

Minato whipped his head around.

The ordinary Anbu who had been standing in the corner from the very beginning was now collapsing limply to the floor.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was already standing behind him, his calloused hand still held in the position of having snapped the neck, his face devoid of expression, as if he were disposing of nothing more than common trash.

The Anbu's mask slid to the floor, revealing a young, terrified face with dilated, unfocused pupils.

"Pretend he was sent on an external mission."

Hiruzen Sarutobi withdrew his hand and wiped it on his hem.

"In a while, have his family come to collect the pension."

He raised his eyes to look at Minato, his gaze devoid of ripples, revealing the ruthlessness of the Professor.

"The fewer people who know about this kind of thing, the better."

Minato stared at the corpse on the floor, his throat bobbing.

He took a deep breath, quickly regained his composure, turned to pull a blank mission form from his drawer, rapidly filled in the Anbu's serial number and name, and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"...Then I leave it to you, Third Hokage."

"Mm."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the mission form, tucked it into his sleeve, and walked toward the door. As he reached it, he suddenly stopped and spoke without looking back.

"That world... I truly would like to see it."

The door was pulled shut gently.

Minato was left alone in the office with the corpse on the floor that was slowly growing cold.

He sat back in his chair, his gaze falling on the unfinished casualty list on the desk, then shifting toward the window, toward the direction of his home where Kushina was still sleeping.

"Other worlds, huh..."

Minato picked up his pen, then set it down again, finally letting out a soft sigh as he tapped his fingers twice on the desk.

"I am quite curious myself."

He shook his head, forcibly dragging his thoughts back to reality, and lowered his head to continue processing the mountain of paperwork.