Inquiry

Compared to the sunny and handsome Minato Namikaze, Naruto Uzumaki's face was more sharply defined, lacking that same approachable quality.

The white cloak with flame-patterned trim certainly suited Minato Namikaze very well, but in Naruto Uzumaki's eyes, the words "Fourth Hokage" were still more eye-catching.

Minato Namikaze's attempt to give Naruto Uzumaki a good first impression seemed not to have been very successful.

Although the man before him, who claimed to be his father, did fulfill many of his fantasies about what a father should be like, it still somehow felt unreal.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to see your father? ...A hug would be fine too!"

Looking at Minato Namikaze with his arms spread wide, Naruto Uzumaki, somewhat involuntarily, still stepped forward and hugged him.

"How does your father's embrace feel?"

"Not warm enough!"

As if sulking, Naruto mumbled in a muffled voice.

"Then I'm truly sorry. After all, I haven't been among the living for a long time!"

He was merely a lingering obsession borne by a trace of chakra, an extension of only part of the original body's emotions—like a holographic projection that could wield a little power and make limited physical contact.

"I wasn't complaining!"

"Is that so? You've suffered all these years."

Minato Namikaze stroked Naruto's messy blond hair.

"Looks like you've been doing fairly well. That puts me at ease. It seems Lord Third didn't forget what I told him..."

"The Third died years ago!"

"I know..."

Tsunade had already become the Fifth Hokage. Given the undercurrents of crisis stirring through the Shinobi World when he died, the Third had most likely fallen in battle.

"What a pity. Still, a Hokage devotes everything to the village, so his death wasn't without value... Oh, right. Were these mismatched space-time marks on you also set by