Son of the Fourth Hokage

Danzo's blood had not yet dried. The people on Central Street were still stunned by that single slash. The night wind bent the torches, casting light across the scrolls on the long table and Danzo's head, bathing them in a red that made their chests tighten.

But the news brought by ANBU dragged everyone's attention elsewhere.

The Hokage Office's Underground Vault had been opened ahead of schedule.

Some of Minato Namikaze's belongings were missing.

Those words struck Hiruzen Sarutobi more directly than the Root files had.

Because Root did not control the Underground Vault.

It was in the Hokage Building.

Naruto tore open the sealed estate inventory and unfolded its first section.

The scroll's paper looked new and had been carefully preserved.

It read:

"Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage. Sealed estate inventory."

A brief gasp rose from the crowd.

Minato Namikaze.

The Fourth Hokage.

His name was not taboo in Konoha, but few people ever mentioned it in front of Naruto.

Naruto kept reading.

"Estate heir: Naruto Uzumaki."

When those words appeared, it was as though a hand had closed around Central Street's throat.

Naruto Uzumaki.

The heir.

Heir to the Fourth Hokage's estate.

Someone finally grasped what it meant, his face turning deathly pale.

An old man stumbled back two steps and knocked over a wooden crate behind him.

"He... he's Lord Fourth Hokage's son?"

The crowd erupted at those words.

"How is that possible?"

"Naruto is the Fourth Hokage's son?"

"Then all these years, we..."

No one dared finish the sentence.

They knew better than anyone what they had done to Naruto over the years.

They had called him a Demon Fox, driven him out of shops, sold him spoiled food, let their children throw stones at him, and even looked away when he fell.

They had thought they were tormenting the Nine-Tails Demon Fox.

Now the records told them they had tormented the son the Fourth Hokage had left behind.

The hero who had died for the village during the Nine-Tails' Attack had entrusted his son to Konoha.

Konoha had repaid him with six years of humiliation and expired milk.

Naruto did not look at their faces.

He looked at the inventory, his voice steady.

"Three properties."

"Cash deposits of seventeen million ryō."

"Flying Thunder God Formula research scrolls."

"Sealing Jutsu notes."

"An Uzumaki Clan genealogy left by Kushina."

"Twelve personal letters."

"A memorial pension for the Fourth Hokage."

With every item Naruto read, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew darker.

Shouldn't those things have been part of Naruto's life these past six years?

Even if his identity had to remain secret, at least the money should have reached him.

At least he should have been allowed to live in one of the houses.

At least those twelve letters should not have been locked away in a vault.

Naruto looked up.

"Third Hokage."

"Am I the Fourth Hokage's son?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth went dry.

With the whole village watching, he could no longer deny it.

"Yes."

That one word drew a wave of stifled sobs from the crowd.

Some villagers dropped to their knees.

The first was the milk shop owner.

His limbs went weak, and his forehead struck the stone pavement.

"Naruto, I didn't know... I really didn't know you were Lord Fourth Hokage's child..."

A second person knelt, then a third. More and more followed.

They kept saying they had not known.

They had not known.

Those words were the cheapest excuse they could find.

Naruto looked at them without a flicker of emotion.

"You didn't know I was the Fourth Hokage's son."

"But you knew I was a child."

The crying faltered.

Naruto closed the inventory.

"A six-year-old child."

"You cursed me for six years."

Those kneeling on the ground did not dare raise their heads.

The Third Hokage stood before the steps, the shadow of his Hokage hat falling across his face and making him look older.

When he spoke, his voice was weary.

"Naruto, we hid your identity back then to protect you. The Fourth Hokage had many enemies. If they knew you were his son, they would come to kill you."

Naruto looked at him.

"So you let the whole village know I was a Demon Fox?"

The Third Hokage had no answer.

Naruto took a step forward.

"Our enemies didn't know I was the Fourth Hokage's son."

"The villagers knew I was a Demon Fox."

"Root knew I was a Jinchūriki."

"ANBU knew who bullied me every day."

"The Hokage Advisors knew how much of my living allowance had been taken."

"I was the only one who didn't know who I was."

He slapped the estate inventory onto the long table.

The paper landed softly, yet everyone's heart jumped.

"You call that protection?"

The Third Hokage did not answer.

Naruto asked again, "Where are the letters my parents left me?"

The ANBU members' expressions changed.

The ANBU member who had brought the news lowered his head.

"Only nine letters remain in the vault."

Naruto's gaze slowly turned cold.

"Three are missing."

The Third Hokage immediately turned to the ANBU member.

"Who opened the vault?"

The ANBU member hesitated.

Naruto stared at him.

"Speak."

The ANBU member gritted his teeth. "There are seven recorded openings in the past six years. Three by Lord Hokage himself, two requested by the Advisors' Office, one for a logistics and finance audit, and one more..."

He stopped there.

The Third Hokage's voice hardened.

"Who was the last one?"

The ANBU member looked up but could not meet Naruto's eyes.

"Root authorization."

Danzo was already dead.

But Root authorization alone could not open the Hokage's vault.

Someone had to stamp the request.

Uchiha Tekka immediately pulled out the relevant record and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto glanced down.

At the bottom of the access request, beside Root's designation, was an Advisor's seal.

Mitokado Homura.

The crowd immediately turned toward the bespectacled old man.

Mitokado Homura went pale and retreated half a step.

"It was needed to investigate the Nine-Tails' seal! I didn't steal any of his belongings!"

Naruto walked toward him with the record in hand.

"I asked where the letters are."

Sweat broke out on Mitokado Homura's forehead.

"I don't know."

Naruto raised his hand.

A Chakra arm wrapped around Mitokado Homura's neck and lifted him off the ground.

Utatane Koharu shrieked, "Naruto! How dare you attack an Advisor!"

Naruto turned his head.

"You have a debt to answer for too."

Utatane Koharu fell silent.

Mitokado Homura's feet dangled above the ground, his face turning scarlet.

The Third Hokage was about to step forward when Nine-Tails Chakra spread out behind Naruto and blocked his path.

Naruto stared at Mitokado Homura.

"Where are the letters?"

Mitokado Homura struggled to force out a few words.

"Advisors'... Office... sealed cabinet..."

Naruto let go.

Mitokado Homura hit the ground and gasped for air.

Naruto turned toward the Hokage Building.

"Tekka, take some people and get them."

Tekka nodded at once.

But just as he turned, an explosion rang out from the Hokage Building.

Flames burst from the floor housing the Advisors' Office, sending scraps of paper and splinters spraying through the windows.

The gold in Naruto's eyes darkened.

Someone was burning the letters.