"Third Hokage..."
Namikaze Minato's voice was heavy.
The face that always wore a gentle smile was filled with regret.
"I treated him as the elder I respected most."
"I entrusted my only son to him!"
"My life and Kushina's... the result we traded them for was this?"
Uchiha Yao looked at Namikaze Minato.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi was never some kind grandfather. He was merely a politician obsessed with power."
Every word pierced his heart.
Minato swayed, and the light in his eyes dimmed.
That was right.
How could he have been so naive?
It was not as though he did not understand the filthiness of politics.
He had simply chosen to believe in the brighter side of human nature, to believe in the village he had sacrificed himself for.
In the end, reality gave him the loudest slap in the face.
"What about Jiraiya-sensei?"
"Wasn't he Naruto's godfather? Where did he go?"
Uchiha Yao said blandly, "After your death, he made searching for the Child of Prophecy the entire meaning of his life. He wandered all over the world, and when he occasionally returned to the village, he only gathered material beneath the walls of the women's bathhouse."
Minato's fists clenched with a crack.
"What about Kakashi?"
"Kakashi Hatake..."
"He was immersed in the shadows of the past, standing before the Memorial Stone every day to say meaningless things. He never recovered."
Minato fell completely silent.
Jiraiya-sensei... Kakashi...
The two people he had trusted most—one had chosen to flee, while the other had chosen to drown in the past.
Minato bowed deeply to Uchiha Yao once more.
"Fifth Hokage."
"There is no use saying more about the past."
"I only ask one thing of you."
"Please... take good care of Naruto."
"He is everything to me... and to Kushina."
Uchiha Yao