The red-haired woman was only stunned for a moment before fixing her gaze on Naruto.
She stepped forward, bent down to be level with Naruto, and said, "Can you guess who I am? Naruto!"
Naruto stared at the beautiful red-haired woman before him, his heart seemingly stopping.
He wasn't that stupid. Now that his father had come out, then, "You, you are, my, mother?" Naruto's voice began to tremble, his eyes filled with hope, yet also with fear of that hope being shattered.
"Haha, looks like you guessed it!" The red-haired woman reached out and tapped Naruto's nose. " Naruto, you've grown up!"
Naruto could no longer hold back his tears. He threw himself into his mother's arms and hugged her tightly, as if afraid she would disappear at any moment.
Feeling Naruto sobbing in her arms, Kushina placed her hand on Naruto's back.
"So, I... I... I have a mother too!" Naruto's words were incomplete, but he still wanted to keep saying, "Why... why didn't you want me?!"
Kushina's heart was pierced by Naruto's words. She stroked her son's head, and all the words she wanted to say were left unsaid, "I'm sorry!"
Kushina pressed her face tightly against her son's head, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry! My Naruto!"
The Fourth Hokage walked over silently and put his arm around his wife's shoulder.
With tears welling in his eyes, the young Minato looked at the sobbing girl Kushina beside him, reached out to comfort her, but froze in mid-air.
"Okay!"
Kushina wiped away her tears and placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders. "I originally saved this Chakra to help you in the future, but it seems I don't need it now!" Kushina glanced at the three people around her and continued, "It seems you have some good friends. Now, can you tell your parents about your growth?"
Naruto stopped sobbing, looked at his mother, and felt a huge warmth fill his heart.
"Yes!" Naruto nodded heavily and began to talk about his childhood, how he was disliked by adults, how he played pranks, and how Shinsei treated him to ramen.
They talked about training together in the woods, failing their graduation exam, the Nine-Tails causing trouble, Jiraiya-sensei.
When she gets anxious, her verbal tics come out, causing the two Kushina to cover their mouths and chuckle.
Kushina reached out and wiped away Naruto's tears. "Your mother has always been impatient, and although she tried to hide it, she always had the same verbal tic as you!"
"I'm sorry, it's your parents' fault for making you the vessel for the Nine-Tails and burdening you with our responsibilities." Kushina looked at Naruto, feeling increasingly guilty.
The Fourth Minato, Minato, grasped Kushina's hand and looked at Naruto: "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Naruto, as your father, I failed to protect you when you needed me!"
Naruto lowered his head, then raised it again, his gaze resolute. "You don't need to apologize to me! Although I've suffered a lot because I'm Jinchūriki, I don't hate my parents. I didn't understand what parental love was before, but now I think I do!"
Naruto pointed to his chest and said, "I feel like I'm filled up inside, it's so warm!"
" Naruto!" Kushina hugged Naruto tightly, sobbing softly.
"Time is running out," said the Fourth Minato. "We need to conserve our Chakra to defend against the Nine-Tails. Is there anything we can do for you in our last moments?"
Kushina wiped away her tears and turned to look at the girl Kushina. "I'm so sorry, I haven't asked your names yet. And why do you look just like me and Minato when we were little?"
Shinsei pointed at the young Minato and Kushina, then addressed the Fourth Hokage and the adult Kushina, saying, " Lord Fourth, Kushina, let me introduce you. These two are Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, your alternate selves in a parallel world!"
The Fourth Hokage accepted the concept of parallel worlds after only a moment's thought, while the adult Kushina exclaimed happily, "Wow, so you really are Minato and Kushina!"
She reached out and touched the girl Kushina's face, nodding and saying, "I was really pretty when I was little!"
Naruto was completely confused and hurriedly asked, " Shinsei! You still haven't explained why they both look like my mom and dad!"
Explaining it to Naruto would be quite troublesome, but at least this is a mental space.
Shinsei snapped his fingers, and two tall mirrors appeared on either side of them, facing each other.
The shadows of the people in the room were repeatedly reflected in the mirror, creating countless shadows that formed a long line.
Shinsei raised his right hand, and countless Shinsei in the mirror also raised their right hands.
"Do you understand? You can think of the world in the mirror as a parallel world, and us in the mirror as us in that parallel world."
Shinsei pointed to the young Minato and Kushina, "They are your parents in the parallel world."
Shinsei then briefly explained the origins of the young Minato and Kushina.
Shinsei metaphor helped everyone present understand the concept of parallel worlds.
"But! But, what should I call them?" Naruto scratched his head, the two people opposite him looking a little younger than him.
Minato responded gently, "Just call me by my name. Although I am your father in this world, I am not your real father!"
Kushina agreed with Minato's statement. She didn't have much feeling for Minato yet, and now that they had another son, it felt very strange.
"Just call me Kushina- neechan, that's what Shinsei calls me too!"
The Fourth Hokage looked at the young Minato with a gentle expression. Since it was another version of himself, he should be able to accept his memories.
He separated a fist-sized amount of Chakra and handed it to the young Minato: "This is a bit of experience from my future training; I hope it will be useful to you!"
The Chakra entered the young Minato's body and disappeared.
The young Kushina also spared a bit of Chakra and handed it to the young Kushina: "If Naruto misbehaves, I'm counting on you. Give him a good beating!"
" Naruto!" The Fourth Hokage placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to say goodbye. We need to conserve some power to deal with the Nine-Tails!"
Naruto lowered his head, unwilling to speak.
The Fourth Minato, Minato, said softly, "I'm sorry, Naruto!"
"Time is so short!" Kushina covered her mouth, trying not to cry out loud. "Mommy still wants to watch you grow up and become a strong ninja."
Naruto hugged his mother, trying his best to hold back his tears.
Goodbye, Naruto!