The Nine-Tails' Overwhelming Presence

"Lord Nine-Tails."

The Nine-Tails raised his head and looked at Minato Namikaze before him. Lately, after growing accustomed to talking with him, Minato seemed to have taken a liking to addressing him that way. How should he put it... the Nine-Tails did not dislike Minato's courtesy. After all, in his memories, Minato was the culprit who had split him in two and sealed the halves separately without a word. Even with Naruto connecting them, it was better not to get too familiar.

"What is it? Shouldn't you be preparing what you're going to teach Naruto today?"

"There's still a little while before Naruto's usual bedtime. I'd like to ask you a few questions." Minato looked into the Nine-Tails' impatient demonic eyes, hesitated for a moment, then asked anyway, "In the future you described, the one fighting alongside Naruto was Sasuke Uchiha."

"That's right. He caused plenty of trouble at first, but against those powerful enemies, the two of them were the only ones in the shinobi world who could put up a fight after receiving gifts from the Sage of Six Paths." The Nine-Tails briefly recalled the events, then teased Minato, "You were revived and joined the battle against Madara Uchiha and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki too, but you weren't much help!"

"...Really? Then my future self was quite a failure." Hearing this, Minato felt somewhat helpless, but more than anything, his heart tightened.

The Nine-Tails had already told him that his future self had been revived through Impure World Reincarnation, the Forbidden Technique invented by the Second Hokage. But according to the Nine-Tails' description, his combat abilities would not have been much weaker than when he was alive. Had he still failed to accomplish anything?

"Hmph. So, what do you want to ask?" Seeing Minato's expression, the Nine-Tails could roughly tell what he was thinking through his ability to sense negative emotions, and interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, sorry. What I wanted to ask was what happened to the Uchiha Clan." Minato Namikaze came back to his senses and apologized. "In your account, Obito, Uchiha Itachi, Madara Uchiha, and Sasuke Uchiha all seemed to act as Konoha's enemies at certain points, yet no one from within the Uchiha Clan stepped in to resolve—"

"Because they were all dead."

The Nine-Tails told Minato Namikaze the outcome outright.

And even though Minato had suspected something, this answer was undoubtedly one he could not accept.

"Why... no, who did it?"

"Hmph, how would I know? Isn't it a good thing that all those Uchiha brats died out?" The Nine-Tails had no fondness whatsoever for those humans with the Sharingan. After all, that kekkei genkai, which had developed from the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline, possessed the ability to control tailed beasts. There was really nothing about it for the Nine-Tails to like.

Having suffered at their hands for so long, the Nine-Tails remembered being positively delighted within Naruto's inner world when he learned that the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out.

"Then when did it happen?" Minato asked gravely.

"Hmm? When?" The Nine-Tails paused. In his eyes, such a trivial matter was not worth noticing. Perhaps the Uchiha Clan was important to Konoha as a whole, but that was only true at this particular moment. The rise and fall of human clans meant nothing to him. Even the once nearly invincible Senju Clan had faded away with time. What did it matter?

"Let me think. It seems... oh, right. It should have been when Naruto was attending the Ninja Academy. For a while, the people around him suddenly started discussing the Uchiha. I still remember because I kept hearing that annoying surname for a time. It should have been then." The Nine-Tails traced his memories of the time he had spent inside Naruto's body. Honestly, it was not easy to recall. Back then, he had mostly been venting his rage and had paid little attention to what was happening around Naruto.

"Wouldn't that mean two years from now?" Minato worked out the answer and frowned. "Then there should still be a chance to ease the conflict now. Third Hokage, could it be that over these next few years..."

"Minato, a word of advice."

Suddenly, an immense pressure descended upon Minato Namikaze. The crushing force was all but impossible to resist, forcing him down onto one knee, his face contorting.

The Nine-Tails' pupils, visible behind the bars, narrowed into slits. Gone was the lazy, approachable air he had worn for almost a year. Anyone who saw him at that moment could have only one thought—

Fear!

"I don't know what you intend to do, nor do I care to find out. You're Naruto's father, and I trust that you mean him no harm, but..."

The Nine-Tails' enormous eyes radiated a soul-chilling menace.

"But don't try to impose your ideas on Naruto and make him do something utterly pointless, like saving those Uchiha fools. Perhaps you believe the Sharingan could serve as a means of keeping me in check, but that is meaningless." The red chakra around Minato Namikaze had already surged into a solid fox-shaped form, locking his limbs in place so tightly that he could not even raise his head. "If any change you make does nothing to help Naruto, you're only putting him in greater danger. You know absolutely nothing about the Ōtsutsuki Clan."

The crushing pressure receded, and Minato Namikaze, who was nothing more than a chakra spirit, gasped for breath. Had this body been capable of sweating, he would probably have been drenched by now.

Why... is the Nine-Tails so strong? Minato's composure wavered. If he had not misjudged the overwhelming pressure and powerful chakra he had felt in that instant, the strength displayed by the Nine-Tails, who should currently have had only half his physical form, had already surpassed that of the Nine-Tails at his peak in Minato's memories!

"I understand." But Minato quickly suppressed his shock. As an elite ninja, his mental fortitude was plain to see at that moment.

When he raised his head, his expression was calm again, betraying not the slightest uncertainty.

"Oh, I remember now." Seeing Minato Namikaze's expression, the Nine-Tails returned to his lazy demeanor. Lying down in the space behind the bars, he said with feigned casualness, "It should have been Sasuke Uchiha's older brother, Uchiha Itachi, who did it. He was probably acting on someone's orders, but... he was still deranged enough to go through with it."

Uchiha... Itachi?

Minato Namikaze remembered him. He was Fugaku's son, which meant...

"It's about time. Naruto's asleep."

The Nine-Tails gave him a reminder, and then the dreamscape unfolded. Minato and the Nine-Tails disappeared from this space once more.