"Don't be afraid, Naruto."
Uchiha Yū held the boy's small hand and led him onward. As they went deeper, the surroundings began to change. The once bustling city gradually gave way to a dim underground passage. A row of murky yellow lights glowed overhead, stretching all the way to the end of the tunnel, as though leading into an unknown world.
As more and more tailed beasts were reclaimed, the Ten-Tails' revival grew increasingly complete. The entire space was filled with the pressure brought by the tailed beasts, and Uchiha Yū walked ahead, shielding Naruto from it.
"There is someone from your clan waiting for you here, but because of his physical condition, he can only remain in this area."
Someone from his clan?
"Won't he feel lonely staying in a place like this? This place is terrifying..."
Naruto's voice held a trace of confusion. Thinking of his own situation, with no peers to interact with, only he understood that feeling of loneliness.
"Of course he will, but all of this is for peace in the ninja world."
The only clan that could be called his own was the Uzumaki Clan. Naruto was still named Uzumaki Naruto. Because Minato missed his wife, he had changed the boy's surname to hers.
When they arrived in a vast underground chamber, they looked up at Nagato, suspended above them. Black rods pierced his body one after another, and behind him was connected a ferocious monster.
Uchiha Yū raised a hand to block Naruto's view, sparing him from bearing the Ten-Tails' overwhelming pressure. Looking solemnly at Nagato in the air, he said, "Nagato, as the tailed beasts continue to be collected and the Rinnegan gradually matures, your body is already starting to fail."
Even though scientific personnel had helped Nagato stabilize his body, that