Child of Nature: "It's possible that Aleister deduced the chat group's existence through Misaka's behavior."
Child of Nature: "With his intelligence, figuring something out from some of Misaka's actions wouldn't be difficult."
Railgun: "I thought so. I did have that suspicion earlier."
Railgun: "So I'm being watched, huh."
Railgun: "Headache.jpg"
Railgun: "Nothing bad should happen, right?"
Ordinary Group Owner: "Probably not? If something was going to happen, it probably would have already."
Ordinary Group Owner: "He even sent you a big gift."
Ordinary Group Owner: "Jealous.jpg"
Since this mission involved Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, until Minato made up his mind, whether or not this mission happened had no impact on them. The conversation naturally shifted to other topics.
At that moment in the Naruto world, Minato Namikaze leaned back in his chair, his expression confused and conflicted.
Though this mission involved Naruto, it wasn't his world's Naruto. It was even a new personality formed after fusing souls with a transmigrator.
He didn't feel he had the right to make the chat group members give up this mission. At most, he could choose not to participate himself. So he was very grateful that they were willing to consider his feelings and let him handle it first.
If he was unwilling, they wouldn't force him.
But how should he handle this matter?
A Naruto from a parallel timeline had come to this world. Where he was now, what his purpose was—he knew nothing.
If not for the chat group's mission template issuing this mission, he wouldn't even have known that a parallel timeline's Naruto had come to his world.
"If we could communicate, perhaps—"
"Even if we could communicate, what could you possibly influence about me?"
A calm voice sounded in the Hokage's office. Minato's gaze sharpened as he stared straight ahead.
In his line of sight, a figure slowly materialized from the void.
Clad in black robes adorned with silver dragons, his angular face was as cold and stern as if carved from stone. A pair of unfathomably deep black eyes swirled with enigmatic light—strikingly handsome yet exuding a trace of ice.
"Naruto... no, I should probably call you Liu Yun."
Minato looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar person before him. Unlike the Naruto Uzumaki from the anime, this Naruto had no whisker marks, no sky-blue eyes, and no golden hair.
Pitch-black eyes, black hair. If not for the face being almost identical to his own, he would definitely have doubted the other's identity.
"Liu Yun? I haven't heard that name in a long time."
"So long that I've nearly forgotten it."
"So the one behind you even told you about that."
Naruto Uzumaki spoke calmly. A chair materialized behind him, and he sat down casually as he said:
"There is no longer anyone named Liu Yun in this world. There is only Naruto Uzumaki."
"Of course, if identifying me as Liu Yun can ease your guilt about wanting to kill me, you're welcome to call me that."
"I don't care."
"I won't—"
Just as Minato was about to say he wouldn't attack Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto cut him off.
"Don't make absolute statements before things actually happen. They're meaningless."
"Your so-called 'won't' comes with conditions. For instance, won't harm Konoha, won't endanger civilians, won't cause destruction to this world. If I did those things, could you still say that?"
"You couldn't. At least not with such certainty."
At this point, Naruto paused briefly, then spoke calmly:
"I didn't expect the system would have me transmigrate to a parallel timeline of the Naruto world again."
"The Naruto world isn't weak among the myriad realms, but it's not particularly strong either."
"I thought I'd transmigrate to One Piece, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, or worlds like those. I didn't expect to arrive in another parallel timeline."
"But since I'd already transmigrated, I originally intended to do what I did before all over again."
"What I didn't expect was a variable—you, with strength only one step away from the Six Paths."
"I asked the system. Your soul hasn't been taken over, so clearly you've obtained something similar to a system, like mine."
"Myriad Heavens Mall, Myriad Realms Mercenaries, Myriad Realms Tower, Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, chat group... What surprised me is that you only discovered this transmigrator now."
"The existence behind you has already issued a mission, right? What's the matter—don't dare accept it?"
"With your current strength, you're indeed lacking. But there should be beings from other worlds participating too. I wonder when they'll arrive."
Minato sighed and said:
"They're willing to let me handle your situation. If I'm unwilling, they won't accept this mission."
"So it's a chat group. Other factions wouldn't say something so laughable."
Naruto Uzumaki spoke indifferently.
Other factions wouldn't care about Minato Namikaze's feelings. All they cared about was profit.
Comparatively speaking, chat groups tended to be gentler.
But that was predicated on the chat group's owner being gentle.
"No wonder Danzo, Sarutobi, and those old council members are still alive. Your gentle chat group never taught you that power can only be held by one person."
"To this day, you as the so-called Fourth Hokage are still only Hokage in name."
"You possess strength no less than Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara. You clearly have the ability to suppress everything, yet you still tolerate the current situation. You really are pathetic."
"Just kill Sarutobi. Kill Danzo. Kill the council elders. Forcibly take over ANBU and Root."
"Kill anyone who voices opposition."
"Even if it affects your current reputation, you only need to use public opinion. Have the masses speak of what Danzo and Sarutobi have done, and everything you've done will be for Konoha's sake."
"Human experimentation, using wars and missions to destroy the Senju clan over time, inciting conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha, the deaths of Konoha's geniuses—whether there's evidence doesn't matter. Whether they actually did those things doesn't matter."
"Dead, they can't deny any of it."
"Be domineering. You don't need to do anything else. Just maintain your rule. Once you've ruled long enough, they won't care about these things anymore."
"Do these people's deaths matter to them? It's just a conversation topic."
At this point, Naruto Uzumaki paused and looked at Minato, speaking calmly:
"Yet you chose to do nothing."
"How laughable."
"Do you want to maintain the current situation and hope Hiruzen Sarutobi lets go of his desire for power and willingly hands it over to you? Or wait for Danzo to realize everything he's done was wrong, that you as the Fourth Hokage are what's best for Konoha, and then truly acknowledge you? Heh."
"Is that even possible?"
— End of Chapter —