Sealing Unleashed! The Fourth's Fury!

"Namikaze Minato!"

Boom!

When enemies met, their eyes burned with hatred.

The moment the Nine-Tails saw the culprit who had sealed it away—and sealed half of its chakra inside the Death God's body—its violent chakra surged, ready at any moment to affect Uzumaki Naruto in the outside world.

"Settle down."

"..."

With a single word from Senju Hashirama, the Nine-Tails immediately cowered.

Though they were all Naruto, it only dared lose its temper with the Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage. It did not dare bare its fangs at the First Naruto, who usually looked like a simpleton but could beat it senseless with one hand.

Unless it wanted to experience a Head-pat Kill again.

"Naruto, recklessly undoing the Nine-Tails' seal is still far too dangerous..."

Namikaze Minato had been wondering why the normally hot-tempered Nine-Tails had suddenly gone quiet, just as he was about to take a look at his son.

The instant he turned around, he froze.

Such a tall figure... had nearly twenty years already passed?

His son had grown this much without him realizing it?!

"Sorry, Fourth Hokage, but I'm not your son." Senju Hashirama spoke gently. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Senju Hashirama. You should have seen me on Hokage Rock."

"F-First Naruto?!"

Namikaze Minato's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

What the hell? This was clearly Naruto's mental world, and he had personally sealed this Nine-Tails.

But why was the First Naruto, who had been dead for decades, here? This was downright ghostly—though he himself was only a collection of chakra, not a real living person.

"W-Why are you here?!"

"There is no need to be surprised. I only returned because I wanted to see how the son of a hero had been treated."

"What do you mean by that?"

Hearing Senju Hashirama's tone, Namikaze Minato frowned, instinctively sensing that something was wrong.

Kushina and he had left behind at least tens of millions of ryō in savings—enough capital for a small clan to rise. If Naruto did not become a Ninja and did not buy Ninja tools, he could have lived as a wealthy merchant for dozens of lifetimes.

And that was not even counting their savings. There was also the compensation for a Naruto dying in battle.

That alone was an astronomical sum. Together with the Third Hokage's care, it should have been more than enough to let Naruto live comfortably.

By sealing half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, Namikaze Minato had also intended to leave his son a "cheat." Once he grew up, he would surely become an elite powerhouse.

"What does it mean? Ask the Nine-Tails, and you'll know."

"Hahaha! Namikaze Minato, you bastard! You expected your son to become a hero? If you knew how miserable his fate really was, even I would be moved to tears. It was utterly miserable."

Seeing Namikaze Minato's expression, the Nine-Tails' malicious amusement immediately surfaced.

The depression from being sealed away for so long seemed to have finally found an outlet, and it doubled over with laughter.

For Konoha Village, this man had willingly used a forbidden technique like the Reaper Death Seal to perish alongside it. Yet the son who survived not only received none of a hero's treatment, but was instead treated like a Demon Fox.

"What happened to Naruto?!"

"Nine-Tails, show him those twelve years of memories."

"Of course."

The hatred of the past had already been carried away with its soul by the Death God. What remained here was merely a chakra consciousness.

But that did not stop the Nine-Tails from wanting this hero who had died for the village to witness his son's treatment with his own eyes. Wouldn't it be even more entertaining to watch him blame himself, feel guilty, and regret everything?

Crimson tailed beast chakra condensed into fragments of memory, all things Uzumaki Naruto had once experienced.

"Monster! Stay away from me!"

"It was because of you, you monster, that my daughter died! I'll strangle you to death!"

"A Demon Fox? If not for the Third Hokage's orders, I would have starved him to death long ago. Just give him some expired milk and be done with it."

"Why let the Demon Fox live? Wouldn't it be better to get rid of him sooner?"

"..."

Scene after scene flashed continuously before Senju Hashirama and Namikaze Minato.

It was precisely because the Third Hokage wanted to redirect the villagers' conflicts and fury, unwilling to bear responsibility for Nine-Tails' Attack, that he hid Uzumaki Naruto's true identity.

Not only had Naruto failed to receive the treatment due to a hero's son, he had instead become an unforgivable Demon Fox!

Putting himself in Naruto's place, if he had grown up in such a world filled with malice, with resentful, icy stares cutting into him like blades...

Eating worse than pigs every day, wearing clothes too thin to keep warm.

And with so many villagers wanting to strangle Uzumaki Naruto to death while he was still a child!

He probably would have broken down long ago.

"No! That's impossible!"

"Why did it turn out like this? The Third Hokage clearly promised to take good care of Kushina's child and mine!"

"I sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto because I wanted him to become an outstanding Ninja, not a Demon Fox hated by everyone!"

"There must be some mistake!"

"..."

One memory fragment after another directly shattered Namikaze Minato's psychological defenses.

This powerhouse who had been unstoppable on the battlefield was also a father. These despairing scenes caused his hatred toward Konoha Village to soar at a geometric rate.

Senju Hashirama, standing beside him, had also lost his smile. His expression darkened to the extreme.