Chapter 185: Team Seven's Land of Waves Mission, But the Client is Kado
After being hit by this heavy punch completely unprepared, Namikaze Minato's waist bent completely. He looked up at Naruto in disbelief.
However, at this moment, Naruto's face was already streaming with tears.
"Why did you seal the Nine-Tails inside my body? Do you know how I lived as a child because of this? Everyone in the village was hostile towards me," Naruto said emotionally. "If it weren't for Kakashi-bro and Teacher Douhuan, I might still be living like that now."
"Sorry, Naruto," Namikaze Minato reached out and gently hugged Naruto. "For making you suffer so much."
Perhaps experiencing a father's embrace for the first time since childhood, Naruto was instantly stunned by this unfamiliar warmth.
"Back then, during the Nine-Tails Incident, there was a mastermind behind the scenes manipulating the Nine-Tails to attack the village. His power was extremely bizarre; without special strength, it was impossible to contend with him," Namikaze Minato explained.
"Regarding that, the culprit who manipulated the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha back then has already died by my hand," Uchiha Douhuan interjected at this point.
Namikaze Minato looked over at the sound, met Uchiha Douhuan's gaze, and a smile also appeared on his face.
"Douhuan, long time no see. You're already the Fifth Hokage?"
"Thanks to the trust of the village people," Uchiha Douhuan said after nodding.
"These past few years, thank you for taking care of this child Naruto. I've seen it all from within this seal space," Namikaze Minato said.
"It's what I should do," Uchiha Douhuan nodded. "Taking care of the village's children is also the Hokage's duty."
"The masked man who planned the Nine-Tails Incident, has he been killed by you?" Namikaze Minato asked.
"Correct," Uchiha Douhuan nodded. "My sincere apologies, a traitor emerged from the clan."
"In that case, I can rest assured," Namikaze Minato nodded.
"Fourth Hokage, please let your esteemed wife also come out and meet him," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Now?" Namikaze Minato glanced back at the Nine-Tails within the seal space, somewhat hesitant. According to their original plan as husband and wife, Kushina's chakra was meant to help Naruto acquire the Nine-Tails' power in the future.
"I brought Naruto here to meet you, hoping he can understand the path he should take in the future. He is already a ninja," Uchiha Douhuan said. "But right now, he doesn't even have the most basic goal."
"I do too!" Naruto immediately grumbled discontentedly upon hearing this.
"Sasuke wants to become Konoha's Hokage in the future, and Neji wants to lead the Hyuga clan onto a new path. They are both working hard towards their respective goals. But what about you? Have you thought about what you want to do after becoming a ninja?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
"I... I also want to become Hokage!" Naruto stammered for a moment before finally saying, but his words sounded somewhat lacking in conviction.
This was also normal. In the original timeline, although Naruto always aimed to become Hokage, he actually didn't understand the true meaning of being Hokage until before the great battle with Pain. All he wanted was everyone's acknowledgment. But now, he had already obtained this acknowledgment. Who didn't know that Uzumaki Naruto was now the head of the Uzumaki clan, one of the twin stars of the Ninja Academy, a future pillar of Konoha? The impact of his Jinchuriki status on him was already minuscule.
Therefore, although the current Naruto looked cheerful every day, when Sasuke and Neji were pondering the world, Naruto's little brain, on the contrary, was mostly occupied with where to find limited-edition ramen to hoard.
Seeing this, a few traces of worry also appeared on Namikaze Minato's face. For a profession like ninja, whose duty involved killing, it was indeed a very dangerous thing not to have a clear goal as a spiritual anchor.
"Fourth Hokage, you see it too," Uchiha Douhuan spread his hands. "For this child, what he needs now is guidance from his parents. As for the Nine-Tails..."
Uchiha Douhuan glanced back at the Nine-Tails, which had been silent since just now. Upon noticing Uchiha Douhuan's gaze, the Nine-Tails' fur bristled again, though its body obediently took half a step back.
"With me here, nothing serious can happen," Uchiha Douhuan said, then deactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Alright, I understand," Namikaze Minato nodded, then formed a hand seal.
Within the seal, another surge of chakra gushed out. Soon, the figure of a red-haired woman materialized before Naruto.
However, the next instant, a series of chains shot out from behind the red-haired woman, lashing towards the Nine-Tails within the seal space.
In the blink of an eye, the Nine-Tails was trussed up like a zongzi.
"Naruto! Quick, make your move! Seize the Nine-Tails' chakra!" A bustling, impetuous voice rose in everyone's ears. However, when Kushina noticed the surrounding situation, she suddenly became embarrassed. "Uh, isn't Naruto supposed to be in a tug-of-war with the Nine-Tails?"
"Wuwuwu!" The Nine-Tails, its mouth also sealed, made a series of noises. Although it was unclear what he said, Uchiha Douhuan, seeing his agitated state, figured his curses were probably quite foul.
"Haha..." Kushina laughed awkwardly, then looked at Naruto, her eyes lighting up. "Are you Naruto? You've grown so big!"
With that, Kushina rushed forward to hug Naruto, roughhousing him affectionately.
"Still very handsome, indeed worthy of being mine and Minato's child! Come, let Mama hug you."
Kushina's tsunami-like motherly love instantly overwhelmed Naruto, making it a bit hard for him to breathe.
"Mo... Mom," Naruto struggled for a moment, found he couldn't calm his own mother down, and could only let his mother roughhouse him.
"Kushina, let Naruto go first," Namikaze Minato spoke up at this point.
"Minato?" Only then did Kushina release Naruto, then asked puzzledly, "Didn't you say my chakra would only appear when Naruto is in a tug-of-war with the Nine-Tails?"
"Kushina, Naruto's current problem is even more severe than a tug-of-war with the Nine-Tails," Minato said. After speaking, Minato explained Naruto's current situation to Kushina.
"Is it that... serious?" Kushina was somewhat puzzled.
This was understandable. Although Kushina was Konoha's previous generation Jinchuriki, she hadn't actually been trained as a proper ninja. Therefore, it was difficult for her now to understand how dangerous it was for a ninja not to have a goal, or in other words, not to have a Nindo as guidance.
"Kushina, Naruto is a ninja now. His hands are destined to be stained with blood in the future. If he doesn't have a correct Nindo as guidance, then he might get lost in the killing. And what's more dangerous is..." Namikaze Minato glanced back at the trussed-up Nine-Tails. "Naruto also possesses power unattainable by ordinary people."
Hearing Namikaze Minato's words, Kushina was also stunned, looking at Naruto's somewhat blank little face.
However, after a moment of silence, Kushina suddenly burst out laughing, patting Naruto's head, "It won't be like that. Naruto is a kind and good child. I believe him."
Namikaze Minato also fell silent after hearing his wife's words. After a while, a relieved smile appeared on his face: "That's true. Naruto is our child, after all."
After the Fourth Hokage couple's words fell into Naruto's ears, Naruto was first stunned, then his eyes reddened. Growing up, he had never been unconditionally believed in like this before.
"Naruto, whatever you want to do, just do it boldly," Namikaze Minato looked at Naruto with a smile. "Mom and I believe you can definitely become a great ninja."
"Naruto, think thrice before acting. Remember the three ninja prohibitions," Kushina instructed. "If possible, Mom hopes you can always be this happy."
"Dad... Mom..."
"Douhuan," Namikaze Minato turned his head towards Uchiha Douhuan. "Sorry, Kushina and I probably can't give Naruto much advice. As parents, we are willing to trust Naruto's own choices."
"This is enough," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled lightly and nodded. "I am also willing to believe that Naruto will not betray your trust."
"We'll have to trouble you to look after him more in the future," Kushina then released Naruto, came before Uchiha Douhuan, and said earnestly.
"Rest assured," Uchiha Douhuan said. "Naruto is also my disciple; I naturally won't watch him go astray."
The figures of the Fourth Hokage couple became illusory at this moment.
"It seems our time is short," Namikaze Minato sighed deeply.
"Dad? Mom?" Naruto, seeing this scene, also became anxious. He had only just met his parents and naturally didn't want them to disappear before his eyes like this.
Just then, Kushina also came to Naruto's side and instructed again, "Naruto, seeing you grow up so healthy has made Mom very happy. Although it's regrettable I couldn't personally witness your growth, you are a ninja now. Regarding the three ninja prohibitions, I believe your teacher will tell you. But there's one point you must pay special attention to: absolutely stay far away from a person named Jiraiya."
As Kushina continued to exhort, the figures of the two gradually became more illusory.
"In short, Naruto, Mom and Dad will always love you."
The chakra of the Fourth Hokage couple slowly dissipated, transforming into a stream of light that circled around Naruto once before completely vanishing. The Nine-Tails within the cage also lost its restraints and fell heavily to the ground.
The freed Nine-Tails originally wanted to curse a few words, but looking at Naruto's dejected appearance, it hesitated for a moment and then closed its mouth.
"Naruto, don't betray your father and mother's expectations," Uchiha Douhuan then came to Naruto's side, patted his head, and said.
"Teacher, I want to stay here alone for a while," Naruto looked up at Uchiha Douhuan and said.
"Alright. After you go out later, send your body back," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled in amusement.
"Thank you, Teacher," Naruto nodded.
"Regarding your goals, think about it carefully. But no matter what your Nindo is, as your teacher, I will always support you. And so will your comrades."
"Yes!" Hearing this, Naruto perked up slightly.
Uchiha Douhuan, seeing this, smiled and left the seal space, leaving the space for Naruto.
After Uchiha Douhuan left the seal space, Naruto found a place to sit down within the seal space, then looked at the Nine-Tails before him.
"Big Bro Nine-Tails..." After a moment, Naruto cautiously spoke.
"What do you want?" the Nine-Tails bared its teeth irritably. Being unceremoniously tied up by Kushina just now made him feel very humiliated.
"My mom was rash just now. I apologize to you on her behalf. I'm sorry," Naruto said.
Nine-Tails: ...
Naruto's sudden apology completely stumped the Nine-Tails.
However, looking at Naruto bowing with sincere apology, a strange emotion also rose in the Nine-Tails' heart. It seemed that in all these years, this was the first time a human had apologized to him.
The Nine-Tails focused its gaze on Naruto's azure blue eyes, its mind recalling the words the Sage of Six Paths had once spoken.
"Hmph." The Nine-Tails flicked its tail, raising a strong gust of wind that blew Naruto around.
"What are you doing!" Naruto complained after finally steadying himself with difficulty.
"Kid, from now on, address me as Lord Kurama. Understand?" the Nine-Tails finished speaking, closed its eyes, and it was unknown whether it had truly fallen asleep.
...
The next day, the fully prepared Team Seven arrived early at Uchiha Douhuan's office, wanting to receive their first mission as ninjas.
Uchiha Douhuan carefully selected from today's mission roster, but for a while, he really couldn't find a suitable mission for them. With the current strength of these three, ordinary C-rank missions wouldn't serve as training at all, but B-rank and above missions were indeed not very many recently.
Just as Uchiha Douhuan was about to simply pick a mission to annihilate a bandit stronghold in the southwest of the Land of Fire, rumored to have rogue ninjas from the Land of Wind, to let the three little ones see some blood, a knock suddenly came on the office door.
"Come in," Uchiha Douhuan casually called out.
The office door opened, and Kado walked in at this moment.
"Lord Hokage," Kado, after entering, first bowed to Uchiha Douhuan. Then, upon seeing Naruto and the other two, he also smiled and greeted them, "Young Master Sasuke, Young Master Neji, and Young Master Naruto are all here. Yo, have you all become ninjas already? Congratulations."
"Coming to find me at this time, is there something you need?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
"It's like this," Kado, seeing Uchiha Douhuan seemed very busy, didn't waste time. "My businesses over in the Land of Waves have been constantly harassed by ninjas from North Kiri recently. So I was wondering if I could trouble Lord Hokage to select a stronger team of ninjas to go over and help resolve the situation."
"Are you still up to your old tricks in the Land of Waves?" Uchiha Douhuan frowned upon hearing this.
"Lord Hokage, you're wronging me with this," Kado spread his hands and said. "How much money could my old methods of making money earn? After shifting my focus to the Land of Fire side, I've only made normal business investments in the Land of Waves. I even invested in building them a large bridge."
(End of Chapter)
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