Minato Namikaze was still thinking that the mysterious man could very well be the Second Hokage.
If Madara had somehow survived due to some miraculous reason, then it wasn't impossible that the Second Hokage had also lived on somehow, though with a drastically changed appearance.
After all, this person was clearly friendly to Konoha, possessed incredible power, knew the Flying Thunder God Technique, and even the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques.
If it hadn't been for the black-masked man making him suspect Madara's survival first, Minato wouldn't have even considered the Second Hokage. But since Madara might still exist, then it was also entirely possible for the Second Hokage to be alive.
Aside from that, Minato considered another possibility, that the man was a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan. Hair color was never a strict indicator of bloodline, so if he were an Uzumaki descendant, knowing the clan's sealing techniques would make perfect sense.
Who knew, maybe the Second Hokage had secretly passed down the Flying Thunder God Technique to the Uzumaki too...
And given how much this man wanted to save Kushina, it could be out of some sense of kinship.Thus, Minato felt this possibility was quite likely.
At that moment, Natsuro picked up a map of Konoha from the side, spread it on the table, and pointed to a location.
"The reason I came this time is to ask you to take special care of this orphanage."
He had decided to lend a hand to this world's version of himself. Even he thought this version of himself was too miserable. Without help, survival would be extremely difficult.
Minato was a little puzzled why he cared about an orphanage, but since it wasn't a big deal, and it would even improve the Hokage's reputation, he readily agreed.
Afterward, Minato also reported everything that had happened since the previous night, mentioning that he hadn't revealed Natsuro's existence to anyone.
"Well done, worthy of being the Fourth Hokage. Very thoughtful," Natsuro said, nodding.
Minato smiled and nodded back, hesitated a little, then couldn't help asking, "Benefactor, may I ask your name?"
"Me?" Natsuro sipped his tea, thought for a moment, and then smiled playfully.
"Alright, let me formally introduce myself."
Minato immediately straightened up, realizing that the other party might actually tell him.
"Nice to meet you, Fourth Hokage. I'm Natsuro Shindōkawa, the Sixth Hokage."
As he spoke, Natsuro summoned a set of clothing from a sealing scroll using a summoning technique. In the next moment, he was wearing a white robe patterned with flames, very similar to Minato's, but on his back were the characters for Sixth Hokage.
After doing all this, Natsuro smiled as he looked at Minato's shocked expression.
"Sixth Hokage?" Minato's eyes widened. No matter how much he thought about it, he hadn't considered that Natsuro might be from the future. But strangely, he felt like he'd encountered someone from the future before.
"That's right. I came back to this era from the future, and probably even from a different world altogether," Natsuro explained.
Minato was left completely speechless. His mind was in chaos. But if what he said was true, then…
Minato pondered, this would explain Natsuro's possession of advanced jutsu, immense strength, and sealing arts.
However…
"So, Kushina and I should've died during the Nine-Tails' attack, right?" Minato suddenly asked.
Natsuro nodded."Yes."
"Then you altered history?!" Minato's voice turned heavy. He wanted to blame him but couldn't bring himself to scold the man who had saved them.
Natsuro nodded, and then shook his head slightly.
"I don't know if I really changed history. After all, I'm not originally part of this world. Maybe in this world's original timeline, I was always supposed to intervene."
Minato fell silent, then asked, "Can you be sure this isn't your original world?"
Minato was a bit stunned by the idea of parallel worlds, but he quickly accepted it and asked logically.
"I'm sure. After the Nine-Tails incident ended last night, I specifically investigated it." Natsuro answered calmly.
Minato stared at him, unsure whether to believe him. Though Natsuro was his benefactor, his story was still so incredible it was hard to swallow.
Natsuro noticed Minato's hesitation and smiled."That's why I didn't reveal my identity at the start."
Minato looked at him, puzzled.
"If I had revealed myself from the beginning, even if you were dying, you probably wouldn't have let me help," Natsuro said.
It was just like what happened during the Dragon Vein incident, Minato had erased everyone's memories afterward to protect the timeline. He had even specifically warned Naruto not to reveal anything about the future.
If Minato had known Natsuro was from the future, he absolutely would have hesitated to let him interfere.
Even if Natsuro insisted, it would've been awkward and messy. Better to do it like now, accomplish the "fait accompli."
No matter how much Minato valued history, he wouldn't go so far as to commit suicide along with Kushina just to preserve the timeline…
Moreover, Minato probably still doubted his words, if Natsuro weren't his benefactor, he might've already been treated like a madman.
Minato paused for a moment and then nodded. Maybe he would have made that choice.
Natsuro clearly knew Minato very well, which was another point that confirmed he might really be from the future.
"So whether you believe me or not, it's up to you. Goodbye, or maybe farewell forever."
With that, Natsuro put down his cup.
In the next moment, he disappeared from the Hokage's office, leaving Minato staring blankly into the distance.
Eventually, Minato smiled bitterly.What else could he do? It was too late to even consider dying, and it wasn't like he could commit suicide now over something he wasn't even sure was true.
All he could do was move forward, one step at a time. Just as Natsuro said, the future wasn't set. Maybe his arrival was meant to happen.
Thinking along those lines, Minato suddenly froze as if he thought of something. He immediately vanished from the office and reappeared in the archives.
He soon found a file and began flipping through it. Although his hand covered much of the text, the characters "Shindōkawa" were still visible.
Minato closed the file and exhaled deeply.
"Shindōkawa... Natsuro," he murmured.
After thinking for a moment, he recalled the orphanage Natsuro had asked him to take care of, the same orphanage where the child in the file was currently living.
Was it really as he imagined?
Soon, Minato arrived at the orphanage and met Nonō Yakushi, who was caring for the children.
Seeing the Fourth Hokage, Nonō was surprised and quickly came over to greet him.
"Hokage-sama, what brings you here?"
Minato smiled gently and motioned for her not to be so formal, then asked, "Is the Shindōkawa child here?"
Nonō nodded, a bit puzzled as to why the Hokage was looking for the little one. But she trusted that the Hokage wouldn't harm an infant.
She led Minato to where little Natsuro was.
"This little one is the Shindōkawa child," Nonō said. "He had no parents or relatives from birth. If no one took him in, he would've been abandoned. So I brought him here."
She looked down at little Natsuro with a smile.
"He's very easy to care for, he never cries, never fusses, and eats whatever he's given."
Minato nodded thoughtfully, then asked:"Did anything strange happen here last night?"
Nonō thought for a moment and replied:"Hokage-sama probably knows about the Nine-Tails incident, so I won't talk about that. Strangely enough, after I had finally coaxed all the children to sleep, they suddenly woke up crying again."
Minato nodded, deep in thought.
So Natsuro came here last night and stirred them up?A bit mischievous...
Minato couldn't help but smile wryly. Still, Natsuro hadn't harmed any of the children and had even asked him to care for the orphanage, so overall it wasn't a bad thing.
But how had Natsuro confirmed this wasn't his world? Minato had a guess, it must've been from discovering differences in his counterpart's life story.
Minato looked at the little child in front of him and saw that he was staring back at him with wide, curious eyes.
Minato smiled gently. Unbeknownst to him, little Natsuro was inwardly stunned. If he could talk right now, he'd probably be asking: Wasn't there a Nine-Tails Rampage last night? Why are you still alive?!
Just then, Minato said, "I don't know your name yet."
Nonō hurriedly bowed and said:"Apologies, Hokage-sama. I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Nonō Yakushi, the head of this orphanage."
"No need to apologize. You must be working very hard, taking care of such a big orphanage," Minato said with genuine respect.
Nonō didn't know how to respond and just nodded.
"It's not too bad. Some of the older children help me look after the younger ones," Nonō said, thinking of Kabuto and smiling, though that smile soon turned bitter.
The pressure from those people was the real burden she faced…
Suddenly, she looked at Minato and wondered if this might be an opportunity.
"May I give this little one a name?" Minato suddenly asked.
"Of course, Hokage-sama. It would be an honor for him to be named by you," Nonō said respectfully, sensing how much Minato cared for this child.
"Don't say it like that…" Minato said, thinking. Since Natsuro had said this wasn't his original world, he probably wouldn't mind being given a different name.
Although Minato had said he would name little Natsuro, the truth was... Minato was terrible at naming.
Many of the names he had come up with for his own jutsu were constantly vetoed by both Jiraiya-sensei and Kushina.
Still, Minato personally thought his naming skills were great! So... should he just go with his instincts and give the child a name?
In the end, Minato gave up. A name follows a person for life, and being too casual about it wouldn't be good.
Suddenly, Minato's eyes lit up.
He remembered a name he had originally thought of for Naruto, but after reading Jiraiya-sensei's book, he changed it to "Naruto."
"Menma. Let's call him Menma." Minato said.
"Alright, and the surname...?" Nonō Yakushi asked.
"The surname? It's up to you. You can just keep Shindōkawa, or pick something else, it doesn't really matter," Minato said after thinking for a moment.
"Then, how about Menma Namikaze?" Nonō cautiously suggested, wanting to see just how much Minato cared about the child.
Minato paused, looked at Nonō, and then nodded without rejecting the idea.
Immediately, Nonō smiled.
Though this little test could have been dangerous, judging by Minato's interest in the child, it had been worth it, and it succeeded.
Now, a bond had been formed between this child and the Fourth Hokage. It might prove useful in the future.
After thinking for a moment, Minato added, "I'll sponsor this orphanage from now on. As for Menma, when he reaches school age, I hope you'll send him to the ninja academy. If there are any school fees, you can send the bill directly to me."
Nonō's eyes widened in shock, and she was so moved that she burst into tears.
"Thank you, thank you so much, Hokage-sama!" she choked out.
Seeing Nonō's tearful gratitude, Minato sighed inwardly.
He looked around at the many babies in the orphanage, there were so many even just at the infant stage, and who knew how many older children there were.
A village with so many orphans wasn't a good sign. It made Minato feel a little heavy-hearted, a bit guilty even.
As Hokage, he still hadn't done enough.
At that moment, Nonō also made a decision in her heart.
Meanwhile, little Natsuro, or rather, Menma Namikaze now, lay there blinking in confusion.
He couldn't understand what the two adults were saying.
It seemed to be about him, but seeing Nonō crying and Minato standing there smiling, he felt his idol image shatter a little.
Seriously? Wasn't Kushina enough? And now you're eyeing my director too?!
Like teacher, like student! If Jiraiya was like this, how could Minato be any better?!
Fuming with anger, even though Menma didn't know why Minato hadn't died during the Nine-Tails attack, he still thought, even if you survived, that doesn't mean you can bully people!
Just then, Minato noticed little Menma's movements. He thought of Naruto and felt that Menma was quite adorable. He couldn't help but reach out and pick him up.
Nonō watched the scene with a smile.
However, Menma, furious and distracted, didn't notice Minato's approach.He only knew, it was time for revenge!
And there was only one move he could use...
"Old man, take this!"
Minato's smile froze as he felt his chest become warm and wet.
Awkward.
"Ah—I'm so sorry, Hokage-sama! He's never done this before!"
Nonō panicked and hurriedly snatched Menma back, fearing that Minato might get angry and stop funding the orphanage.
She kept apologizing profusely.
"Haha, it's fine. My own child was just born, just consider it a warm-up for me." Minato laughed, showing no anger at all.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama..." Nonō let out a huge sigh of relief.
She felt even more certain now, the Fourth Hokage really had a kind heart. Unlike Danzo... if it were him, she would've been punished immediately. Maybe it was time for her to jump ship?
After all, she would still be serving Konoha, and under the Hokage's command, her work would be more legitimate.
Although Danzo probably wouldn't agree, she would have to rely on the Hokage to protect her.
Nonō looked down at the little Menma in her arms.
She realized that just relying on Menma's connection might not be enough, she would also need to prove her own worth.
At this moment, Minato said:
"I'll leave for now. Later, I'll send someone over to register the number of orphans here so we can determine the funding amount."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Nonō could feel Minato's sincerity and thanked him again.
Minato nodded, and then disappeared from the orphanage, he needed to go home and change clothes.
None of them noticed that someone had been quietly observing them all along.
It was Natsuro.
He had heard everything that Minato and Nonō had said.
"Menma Namikaze, huh?" Natsuro rubbed his forehead.
He hadn't expected Minato to go this far. Was he practically adopting him as a godson already?
If Minato really went that far, Natsuro wondered if he should step in to stop it.He didn't really want an extra "dad", even if it was technically in a different world.
Natsuro was also thinking, Little Natsuro—no, Menma Namikaze, would be enrolling in the academy eventually.
Most likely in the same class.
When the time came, there would be two Namikazes in the same class: Naruto Namikaze and Menma Namikaze.
He wondered how Minato was going to explain that to Kushina.
After all, with the Fourth Hokage alive, there was no need to hide Naruto's identity anymore.The Fourth Hokage had many enemies, sure, but under Minato's nose, it would be almost impossible for anyone to touch Naruto.
And even if they tried, they'd have to face Minato's terrifying wrath, which was not worth it.
"Nonō Yakushi... Kabuto Yakushi..." Natsuro murmured their names.
He realized he was becoming very curious about the direction this world would take.With Menma's existence, their fates might change significantly.
Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't get to see how it all played out.
Natsuro could feel that his time here was almost up.
Most likely because the cause of this time-space disturbance had been resolved, and so he would be pulled back.
It was a bit regretful.
Natsuro looked at little Menma one last time.
Then, his figure quietly disappeared from this world.
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Currently on Chapter 376: The Power of Sage Arts