That Road Inside the Nine-Tails Seal

After Naruto passed out, his consciousness didn't completely cut off.

That mental strength brought over by transmigrating was strong enough; after blocking out the pain, his brain could still function properly.

Who he was now, he was already completely clear on—the protagonist in the anime from his past life, Naruto: The Ninja Way, Naruto Uzumaki.

About becoming the protagonist, he didn't feel a single bit of joy.

The reason was simple, Naruto's life was truly too miserable.

Since he was little, his parents were gone, the identity of the Jinchuriki somehow leaked out, and not a single soul ever mentioned the title of the Fourth Hokage's son.

If his identity as the Hokage's son had been exposed earlier, the villagers at most would still fear him and avoid him, but they wouldn't have ganged up to ostracize him.

The best brother of his youth ran off, and there was a green tea bitch pulling strings back and forth in the middle.

That internet meme, "It's fine Sasuke, it's whatever Naruto," wasn't wronged in the slightest when people cursed him.

He finally managed to grind until he could use cheat codes, watching as he was about to be recognized by everyone.

As a result, his senior brother's move of Almighty Push came smashing down, and Konoha directly regressed back to the Warring States Period.

By the time he painstakingly used talk-no-jutsu to reform his senior brother, at the very least getting the guy back.

The Fourth Great Ninja War was declared to have started...

Naruto's entire life was either being used as a chess piece by others, getting beaten up, or having his family members die.

He finally dragged himself to the grand finale, wrapping up Naruto: Shippuden, smoothly marrying a wife and having a kid.

As a result...

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations arrived.

Sorting through Naruto's miserable working-stiff life from start to finish, even capitalists would shed tears upon seeing it and cry out in professional admiration.

He truly burned himself down clean just to illuminate others, living as that tiny, endlessly burning little flame.

Therefore, the Naruto who had transmigrated desperately did not want to walk that old road again; he was definitely not the kind of lunatic who could sacrifice all his family members and friends for the sake of others.

When other people transmigrate, either they bring a cheat, harbor an old grandfather, or have explosive talent and heaven-defying aptitude; shouldn't I have something?

Naruto's consciousness muttered.

System?

Old grandfather?

Yao Lao?

Xiao Du Xiao Du?

Xiao AI Tongxue?

Open the status panel?

He shouted through every possible external cheat that might exist in his consciousness, but reality gave him a fierce slap across the face right back.

It looked like he didn't have any cheats at all.

Could it be that the protagonist halo and cheats inherently belonging to Naruto are already enough?

Naruto's face darkened; he definitely didn't want to copy and paste Naruto's miserably tragic life all over again.

Steady, steady.

Naruto suppressed his thoughts, Even without a cheat, I know the plot of Naruto inside and out; I can definitely make myself live a lot more comfortably.

He began to calculate how to use the memories of his past life to secure the maximum degree of comfortable living for himself.

Right in the middle of his calculations.

Within the darkness of his consciousness, rows of lights suddenly flared to life.

Naruto's consciousness transformed into the appearance of an eighteen-year-old, standing in a hallway.

"Hm?"

Naruto froze for a second, "Shouldn't this be my conscious space?"

A flash of light crossed his mind, and he understood in an instant!

Holy shit?! This is the Nine-Tails's sealing space!

The mental strength accumulated across two lifetimes had directly dragged him in here ahead of schedule!

A bright, wide-open road instantly illuminated itself in Naruto's mind.

The memories of his past life paired with the identity of Naruto—wasn't that the greatest cheat in the Naruto World?

The bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan, coupled with the physique of Asura's reincarnation that could beat Indra's reincarnation black and blue for a thousand years.

If a Naruto like this went rogue, who could possibly stop him?!

Thinking of this.

Naruto stuck out his tongue and licked his thoroughly dry lips.

Wearing an excited expression on his face, he plunged into the darkness without looking back.

That's the location of the Nine-Tails' seal!

He had to make himself a perfect Jinchuriki first!

On the other side of the woods.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was ashen as he stared at the lifeless Minato Namikaze.

He had gone to such lengths to cultivate such an obedient puppet, only for him to commit lovers' suicide over a woman.

Back then, to suppress the various clans of Konoha, he had pulled a strategic retreat during the Third Shinobi World War.

Just as they were about to pluck the fruits of victory from the Hidden Stone Village, he had deliberately chosen that moment to sign an unconditional peace treaty.

Konoha's public grievances had exploded, and the major clans had pressed upon him, forcing him down from the Hokage's seat.

However, all of this had been calculated by him in advance.

Because by that time, he already had Minato, a successor to the Will of Fire who was strong, prestigious, and most importantly, obedient. Being his grand-student made him much easier to manipulate than that brat Orochimaru.

In this way, he not only smoothly trimmed the influence of Konoha's major clans, but could also continue to control all affairs big and small in Konoha, scooping up benefits for the Sarutobi Clan.

Once Asuma grew up, he could immediately take over Minato's position and turn Konoha completely into the private property of the Sarutobi Clan. What a flawless setup.

Yet just because of a woman, this guy had actually committed lovers' suicide!

If it was just about sealing the Nine-Tails, the Eight Trigrams Seal was enough; there was no earthly reason to resort to the Reaper Death Seal.

The fire in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart surged upward, but he couldn't show a trace of it on his face.

Behind him stood the ANBU and the Jonin who had rushed over to reinforce them.

"Lord Fourth?" "Lady Kushina?"

A few Jonin rushed forward to check the two of them for injuries, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's very first action was to pick up Naruto, who was to be the next Jinchuriki.

He knew that a Jinchuriki stripped of their Tailed Beast and a caster who used the Reaper Death Seal had no possibility of surviving.

Still, words for appearance's sake had to be spoken:

"Head to the Konoha Hospital immediately, and summon all the medical ninjas."

Yet he still underestimated how tough the life of the Uzumaki Clan was.

At this moment, Kushina, who should already have been dead, suddenly opened her eyes:

"Third!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart tightened as he squatted down beside Kushina.

"Kushina? You're still alive?"

"That child, I entrust him to you!"

A flash of darkness crossed Hiruzen Sarutobi's face; there was no hiding the fact that Naruto was the Fourth's son now.

He feigned a sorrowful look and nodded:

"Rest assured, you don't need to worry about anything."

Kushina forced out her remaining strength to speak:

"This child's name is Naruto Uzumaki..."

As the words fell, Kushina completely lost her life.