Minato's Question

Within Naruto's consciousness space, a soft blue-white halo, like diluted dawn, enveloped the indistinguishable heaven and earth, bathing the three people inside in a gentle glow.

But the chaotic thoughts in my mind at this moment seemed completely out of place in this peaceful and tranquil space.

In the blue and white space, Kushina looked at Koko, who had been keeping his head down and hadn't uttered a word since earlier, and the doubt in her eyes grew deeper and deeper.

She turned her head, exchanged a worried look with Minato beside her, and cautiously began to speak:

"Strange, what's wrong with this child all of a sudden? He was perfectly fine just a moment ago."

Oh! Did I say something wrong?

Kushina Minato, who was anxiously standing beside him, and a deep worry appeared in his eyes as he looked at Kokoro.

He had noticed something was wrong with Kou the moment he fell silent.

But regarding the reasons behind this...

Just as Minato was about to ask something, Koko preempted him, bowing his head and asking:

"Brother Minato, if I'm not mistaken, you and Sister Kushina must have awakened inside Naruto's body after I defected, right?"

Minato hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to answer truthfully:

"Well, since this is our first time using it, we can't say we fully understand what the final effect of the Sealing Jutsu will be."

After sealing my soul along with Nine-Tails's body into Naruto's, Kushina and I became extremely weak, and our consciousnesses fell into a long slumber.

It was about a year ago that we were truly awakened inside Naruto's body.

At that time, Kakashi was still on a long-term mission, and it was the Lord Third Hokage, who regularly visited Naruto every week, who was the first to discover our presence.

"A year ago...?"

Kou repeated the time point in a low voice, and the light in his eyes, which were hidden by stray hairs, dimmed slightly.

If he remembered correctly, that time period was exactly when that idiot Shisui chose to die.

Minato and the others probably woke up sometime after Shisui's death.

If that's the case, even if Minato can immediately prove the Uchiha Clan's innocence in the Nine-Tails Incident' attack to the Third Hokage after waking up, the long-standing conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha will have reached an irreparable point.

He had already foreseen the immense damage his defection would inflict on the already fragile trust between the Uchiha and Konoha from the moment he made the decision to defect.

The fact that Shisui later lost his life almost completely extinguished the Uchiha Clan's last glimmer of hope for Konoha.

Under such circumstances, even if the Third Hokage had learned the truth about the Nine-Tails Incident from Minato and confirmed the Uchiha Clan's innocence, the high walls built up by years of suspicion and injustice could not be dismantled overnight.

Moreover, the fact that Minato and Kushina were still alive inside Naruto was a secret that could overturn the entire Ninja World's order, and under the circumstances at the time, it absolutely could not be made public.

Add to that the fact that almost all of Konoha High Command, except for the Third Hokage Uchiha, sided with Danzo, that troublemaker, regarding the Uchiha incident, and that Uchiha Itachi, that lunatic, watched the plot at double speed like he was watching a movie...

At that point, the Night of the Uchiha Massacre was indeed unavoidable.

But all of this could have been avoided!

If I hadn't lost my mind and chosen to defect back then, but instead gritted my teeth and persevered until Minato and the others woke up...

Everything might be different!

He bowed his head, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Even though I know better than anyone else that thinking about these things now is just hindsight, it's like putting the most cruel pressure on my former, helpless self from the perspective of knowing the outcome.

But that genuine remorse, like a fine, sharp needle, still pierced through what I thought was an unyielding heart.

In the past, I could perhaps console myself with the thought that "I've tried my best, but nothing has changed."

But at this moment, he could no longer deceive himself.

He, Uchiha Kuro, ultimately underestimated himself.

It was my own damned inferiority complex and arrogance that took away the last hope of changing everything!

"What does this mean? My inferiority complex outweighs all those who love me?"

He silently mocked himself, asking the question he had always been unwilling to confront.

Perhaps, the version of myself that always looked down on Shisui and Itachi was the most self-centered and arrogant person among them all...

He silently mocked himself in his heart, the light in his eyes gradually sinking into the unfathomable shadows amidst the soft blue and white glow.

After a long while, Kou let out a heavy sigh, as if he wanted to expel all the regrets and dejection that had been building up in his heart along with this breath.

There's no point in dwelling on past mistakes.

The important things are the present and the future!

I am no longer the powerless and helpless Uchiha Kuro I once was.

I now possess the power to make up for all the regrets of the past!

"I can also steam!"

Let's turn the tide!

With a firm conviction in his heart, he instantly raised his head and met those two concerned gazes once more.

Looking at Minato, who had finally returned to his usual self, Minato's surging worry instantly dissipated.

But the heaviness in his heart was not lessened in the slightest.

He could roughly guess the reason for Kou's unusual silence just now.

Minato looked at Kouchi, a deep sense of self-reproach and guilt surfaced on his gentle face.

"Knock, regarding the Uchiha Clan, I..."

"No need to say anything more, Brother Minato."

Kou smiled slightly, a gentle smile that carried a calm and serenity that had been building up over a long period of time.

"The deed is done, and nothing we say will change that, will it?"

You don't need to blame yourself. I know it wasn't your fault.

Hearing Koko's words of comfort, Minato paused for a moment.

He looked at Kou's face, which appeared remarkably calm in the blue and white light, as if he wanted to say something.

However, as if he had already anticipated what he was about to say, Kou spoke first:

"Let's not talk about returning to Konoha anymore."

"Brother Minato, you should already know my response from Kakashi, right?"

He looked at Minato's hesitant expression and shrugged slightly.

"Although when I met Kakashi and the others in Mist Village, I didn't fully explain why I left Konoha."

But what I told them back then was, without a doubt, all of it was my true feelings.

This is the choice I've made, and I hope you can understand, Brother Minato.

Hearing Koko's earnest words, Minato said nothing more, but gazed at Koko's calm and resolute eyes for a long time, and nodded heavily.

Kushina stood beside Minato, looking at Kokoro before her, a faint sadness flashing in her eyes.

During their absence, something did quietly change...

Looking at the reactions of Minato and Kushina in front of him, he sighed helplessly in his heart.

He had said these words of rejection to far too many old friends.

But whenever I see them like this, I still feel really bad.

Just as Kotori sensed the increasingly heavy atmosphere and was about to steer the conversation in a slightly lighter direction, Minato first, slowly opening his mouth:

"I can certainly understand your decision not to return to Konoha."

He turned his gaze back to Kou, and the sadness and guilt in his gentle eyes had been replaced by a more solemn emotion:

"It's just about why you chose to join the Akatsuki after leaving Konoha..."

I hope you can talk to me.