But just as Natsuro had said, if the Nine Tails wasn't sealed into little Naruto, who else could it be sealed into?
After a long period of contemplation, Kushina finally nodded at Minato, who also made up his mind.
"Benefactor, please seal it into Naruto."
It was a helpless decision, but also a responsibility as the Hokage. If it were sealed into someone else, the village would likely need to frequently replace the jinchūriki.
That wouldn't just be dangerous for Konoha, but would it really be fair to those other people?
Besides, Naruto would still be watched over by him and Kushina. If it were someone else, Minato couldn't guarantee he'd care about them more than he would his own son.
So, at this point, their son was clearly the most suitable candidate to become the jinchūriki for the remaining half of the Nine Tails.
"Let's hope Naruto won't blame us for this in the future," Kushina said as she gently stroked baby Naruto's tiny head.
"If anyone should be blamed, let it be me, the useless father who couldn't protect you two. If I had stopped that guy from the beginning, we wouldn't have had to make this painful choice," Minato said with a reassuring smile.
"At least we're still alive," Kushina looked at Minato and smiled as well.
Natsuro fell silent, feeling like he'd just eaten a big spoonful of couple's PDA, but thankfully, he had a girlfriend too.
"Well then, let's begin," Natsuro turned to look at the now-halved Nine Tails.
"Go ahead, benefactor," Minato and Kushina said in unison.
The Nine Tails, meanwhile, was sensing its own power. What puzzled it was that aside from feeling a little weaker, it didn't actually feel uncomfortable.
Even so, it still loathed the person before it. Even knowing it was no match for Natsuro, it continued to glare at him with hatred.
What he had done was something the Nine Tails would never forgive.
"Don't look at me like that. Maybe this little guy will be a decent partner for you someday?" Natsuro said casually.
"Hmph, aren't all humans the same, coveting our power and restricting our freedom?" the Nine Tails snorted coldly, completely distrustful of anything Natsuro had to say.
If it weren't for the fact it couldn't beat him, the Nine Tails would've fired a Tailed Beast Bomb to blow them all up.
Natsuro just smiled and didn't say more. He then sealed the remaining half of the Nine Tails into baby Naruto, leaving a Eight Trigrams Seal on his belly that now contained half of the beast's power.
With that, the Nine Tails Rampage finally came to a true end.
"Waaah…"
Shortly after the sealing, baby Naruto was awakened by the immense commotion and began to cry loudly.
Kushina immediately rushed over to soothe him, cradling him in her arms.
Minato finally let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground. His chakra was completely drained.
During this entire crisis, he'd used the Flying Thunder God Technique far too many times. While regular teleportation was manageable, he had also used it once to redirect a Tailed Beast Bomb, and once more to teleport himself, the Nine Tails, and the bomb all at once.
That kind of chakra consumption was beyond what he could bear. Frankly, he'd only been standing up until now by sheer willpower.
"Kushina, are you alright?" Minato asked weakly.
"I…" Kushina had been focused on comforting Naruto, but when she heard Minato's question, she checked herself, and her eyes widened in shock. "I think I'm really okay."
"That's great," Minato smiled. But when he turned to look for Natsuro, he found that at some point, the man had already disappeared.
Flying Thunder God? Minato thought, but didn't dwell on it. The man clearly had no ill will toward Konoha, if he did, he wouldn't have saved him and Kushina.
At the very least, Minato knew how vital he was to the village, let alone how crucial the Tailed Beast was to their strength.
It was only then that the reinforcements led by the Third Hokage finally arrived.
Though they'd come as fast as they could, they simply couldn't match the speed of space-time ninjutsu.
Looking at the massive crater left behind by the Nine Tails, the Third Hokage couldn't help but swallow hard.
On the way there, they'd seen the Nine Tails suspended mid-air, as if it had been launched by some tremendous force.
Now, seeing this crater only made the Third more suspicious, had Minato gotten this powerful?
"Minato, is the Nine Tails dealt with?" Hiruzen asked.
"It's done. Half of the Nine Tails is still sealed in Kushina, the other half in my son Naruto," Minato replied. After some thought, he chose not to mention Natsuro. Since that man had left right after solving the crisis, perhaps he didn't want anyone to know about his presence.
"Split into two halves… Is that even possible?" the Third asked, incredulous.
Minato nodded, confirming that it was.
"What exactly happened? Why did the Nine Tails get loose?" This was Hiruzen's biggest question. They'd taken every precaution, and Kushina's delivery was top secret, so how did this happen?
Minato looked at the reinforcements Hiruzen had brought, all trusted individuals. Plus, it would be hard to hide anyway. The three tomoe Sharingan in the Nine Tails' eyes had been far too obvious. Even if he didn't say it, someone would notice.
So with a grim expression, Minato began to recount the incident.
At the end of the story, Minato looked apologetically at Hiruzen and said, "I'm sorry… for Lady Biwako…"
Hiruzen closed his eyes in pain. So that was it, the information about Kushina's delivery had been leaked.
And the enemy had the Sharingan, could summon the Nine Tails, and knew that during childbirth, the jinchūriki's chakra would be passed to the child, weakening the seal…
Who could it be? The Uchiha clan? Or was it, as Minato suspected… Madara Uchiha?
"Biwako…"
Why did it have to be like this? The birth of the Fourth's child should've been a joyful event, how did it turn into a tragedy?
"That bastard… Who the hell is he?!" Obito roared with rage. He had been so close to success.
As long as the Fourth died, Konoha's strength would be crippled, and his plan could proceed.
He'd overheard Kakashi mentioning the birth while visiting Rin's grave, it was his perfect opportunity.
He had buried his emotions, condemned himself to darkness, and paid such a heavy price, why did it still end in failure?
That mysterious man, why did he possess such overwhelming power that even the Nine Tails didn't dare resist?
Obito hadn't even dared show himself. If the Nine Tails was no match, then he might've been killed in an instant.
All he could do was watch as Natsuro ruined everything by rescuing the Fourth and Kushina and destroying his entire plan.
"Why, why, why!!"
Obito's eyes were bloodshot, seething with fury. Why did that man show up now?
Why didn't he appear back when Obito was crushed under rocks, or when Rin was captured and killed by Kakashi?
Why only now?
Was he some secret power hidden by the Leaf?
"Heh… hahaha!" Obito laughed maniacally.
To think they have such power and yet do nothing, but just watch their citizens all die…
Indeed, the Leaf deserves to be destroyed. A village like this shouldn't exist!
His laughter abruptly stopped. His gaze darkened further, and his body slowly faded into space.
The last thing to vanish was his Mangekyō Sharingan, filled with hatred.
.....
Natsuro walked through the village streets, while observing the familiarity and differences he recognised comparing his era of Konoha.
He was also thinking about the world's future. It seems this time, Naruto would probably have a decent childhood…
But then Natsuro tapped his temple with his finger. He suddenly remembered one of the Naruto movies, the one with Menma. In that version, Naruto's parents were alive, but he had become a villain, corrupted by Obito.
Still, if he could be corrupted, that spoke volumes…
Wait, this Naruto was still called Naruto, not Menma. So this wasn't the Infinite Tsukuyomi world.
Natsuro frowned slightly, then shook his head.
No matter what, the Fourth was alive, so Naruto would at least have a good childhood.
And with the Fourth still around, the Uchiha might not be wiped out. Sasuke too would probably have a better upbringing.
Why only probably?
Because from Natsuro's understanding of the Uchiha, and this wasn't just a stereotype, they were bound to self-destruct.
He felt the Uchiha clan would still cause trouble. It's just that with the Fourth alive, they wouldn't need to rebel outright, so genocide could be avoided.
That didn't mean their days would be easy though. As long as Danzo was alive, and the Uchiha didn't change, the conflict would continue.
Even if the Fourth wanted to improve relations, he'd be met with heavy resistance.
And now that the Nine Tails was manipulated by a Sharingan, that fact would definitely come up again. Though the Fourth didn't die, the tension had only almost crossed the line.
Konoha and the Uchiha would still have a rocky period ahead, how long it lasted would depend on Minato's political skills.
But then, Natsuro paused and thought, this wasn't his world. So he might as well let the Fourth worry about all that.
Meanwhile, he was walking in a certain direction, drawn by a presence he was very familiar with. It was because of this presence that he had come here while in that special space, dealing with the Nine-Tails had just been an accident, just something he handled along the way.
He had been delayed earlier because of the Nine-Tails incident, but now, Natsuro wanted to see what exactly it was that gave him such a strong sense of familiarity.
Very soon, he arrived in front of a building and fell silent...
This is... an orphanage?
So, the one who felt so familiar to him was an orphan? Natsuro suddenly realized something, his eyes narrowing.
He quickly avoided everyone's attention and entered a room, the source of that familiar feeling was here. Then, Natsuro saw an infant, only a few months old, sitting there.
There were also a few other babies sleeping beside the infant.
At that moment, the baby seemed to sense something, opened his eyes, and looked directly at him.
Those were eyes that absolutely did not belong to a baby, they seemed filled with confusion and emptiness, as if unaware of the meaning of life itself.
Natsuro stared at the infant in silence. So, a version of me exists in this world too... But why is he in an orphanage? What happened to this world's Shinai?
The infant Natsuro seemed to realize that he was not someone from the orphanage. He immediately opened his mouth, about to cry and scream, trying to attract the attention of the orphanage staff.
Even though there was confusion and emptiness in those eyes, there was still a desire to survive.
Natsuro's lips curved slightly. He looked complexly at the crying infant trying to draw attention, then disappeared from the room, he needed to investigate and confirm some things.
After Natsuro disappeared, a woman with long brown hair and black-rimmed round glasses hurried in.
Because of the infant Natsuro's crying, the other babies had woken up too, and now the cries filled the room, giving the woman a massive headache.
She had just barely managed to coax them to sleep, and now they were all crying again...
As she began clumsily comforting the children, a boy with short white hair entered as well, helping her soothe the babies.
Seeing the boy, the woman smiled and said,
"Thanks, Kabuto. But I've got this. You're still young and need plenty of rest."
However, Kabuto didn't listen to her and said, "I want to help you, Nonō."
Nonō smiled, rubbed the head of this orphan she had recently taken in, and didn't insist further.
...
The Day After the Nine-Tails Attack.
Minato Namikaze sat in the Hokage's seat, overwhelmed, handling an avalanche of matters.
At this moment, he should've handed over most of the Hokage duties to others and returned home to take care of Kushina and little Naruto. However, the recent upheaval completely disrupted his plans.
Now not only was he drowning in work, but he also had to face criticism from the higher-ups.
No matter what, as Hokage of the village, Minato had let Konoha suffer such a huge blow, and it was caused by the Nine-Tails inside his wife. There was no escaping the blame.
Even after he told the council about the masked man in black, it was of no use, they didn't care about that...
Worse yet, the relationship with the Uchiha clan had become even more strained.
Minato sighed. Even he couldn't help but feel some resentment toward the Uchiha, after all, he and his wife and child had nearly died in that incident!
But what he couldn't understand was, why would the Uchiha do such a thing?
If it really was Uchiha Madara, that might make some sense. After all, ever since that day, Madara wasn't just a rogue ninja of Konoha, he had cut all ties with the Uchiha clan.
But could Madara really still be alive?
Minato was on the verge of slamming his head on the desk in frustration, it was just too much to deal with.
Knock knock knock~
Just then, a knock came from the door. Minato sighed helplessly. Probably someone else coming to scold him… but he couldn't refuse, so he said, "Come in."
The next moment, Natsuro walked in.
"Benefactor?!" Minato's eyes lit up when he saw Natsuro. He immediately put down his work and personally pulled over a chair for him to sit on.
"There's no need to be so polite…" Natsuro was a bit startled by Minato's gesture, then spoke with some helplessness.
"It's necessary. If it weren't for you, not only Kushina, but probably I would've died as well," Minato said. At that time, he had even prepared to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Though with his strength, if he didn't have to protect the village, he might've had a way to deal with the Nine-Tails. But back then, his chakra had been depleted, and with Kushina possibly dying, he had lost all hope of surviving.
But everything changed thanks to you. Though there was still a huge mess left behind for Minato to clean up, at least he and Kushina were alive, and as long as they were alive, there was hope.
Natsuro glanced at Minato but didn't argue. During the Nine-Tails' attack, many people believed Minato had "died for love," but that was still death, regardless of intent.
Minato thought for a moment and then directly used the Flying Thunder God to leave. Soon, he returned with a high-quality tea set and began making tea for him.
Natsuro paused but didn't stop him. He was lost in thought, thinking over the results of last night's investigation.
In this world, he really was an orphan. His father's circumstances were the same, but Shinai had died shortly after giving birth to him...
According to hospital records, this world's version of him was originally a stillborn. But just as they were about to dispose of the body, he suddenly showed signs of life, so he was kept and sent to an orphanage.
As Natsuro thought, his expression grew strange. Compared to this world's version of himself, his own beginning was practically "S-tier luck," while this one was total misfortune...
Because the orphanage that took in the baby Natsuro was none other than Nonō Yakushi's orphanage, the one under Danzo's constant surveillance!
If Natsuro had grown up in this world, he wasn't sure how he would've escaped that trap. As an orphan, he might not have even made it into the ninja academy, and most likely would've been forced down the path of Root...
And once you join Root, trying to rise to the top... it's just way too difficult.
Minato was also looking at Natsuro, wondering about his identity. He had already come up with several guesses.
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Currently on Chapter 375 - The Heaven Trembling Battle Continues...