"Have you ever considered that if you die, the Naruto Uzumaki of this world might still repeat what I went through?"
"Demon fox, monster, damned beast—hated by everyone, rejected by everyone. Everyone couldn't wait to heap all their sins onto this child who had done nothing, using the ugliest malice in their hearts."
"Rice mixed with sand, expired milk and instant noodles, food with no nutrition, being surrounded and bullied by groups of children—these were merely insignificant parts of it all."
"If not for Ashura's chakra's influence and his innate kind nature, he should have been the person who hated Konoha the most in this world."
"And I merely released that darkness."
Minato remained silent for a long time. He didn't want to fight for power right now. What mattered most to him was ensuring Kushina and Naruto's safety. Everything else, he was willing to resolve later.
But he didn't refute Naruto either, because what Naruto said was indeed the most direct solution. He simply couldn't choose such a method.
He would choose other methods, but definitely not what Naruto suggested.
"In your world, you destroyed Konoha. Were Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Master Jiraiya among them too?"
"At least they were sincere toward you."
"Are you joking with me?"
A scoff came from Naruto's direction as he spoke with disdain toward Minato's words:
"Have you still not woken up from the anime's plot? Besides, so-called sincerity is merely a product of various circumstances that formed later."
"Setting aside the bond between Ashura and Indra, Sasuke Uchiha and I have no connection whatsoever. So-called sincerity requires both parties to give something. I've already destroyed Ashura's chakra, so that so-called bond naturally severed."
"I helped him grow stronger, killed Itachi Uchiha, killed Konoha's higher-ups. And he, through our deal, became my subordinate."
"As for Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya—what did they do when I was suffering?"
"Kakashi Hatake gave me no help whatsoever. The same was true after team assignments. And Jiraiya—all those years wandering the Shinobi World, yet before the Chūnin Exams, he never once returned to Konoha to check on his student's child."
"I don't blame them. After all, the title of 'teacher' is merely a status. It doesn't carry real emotion."
"I wanted to destroy Konoha. They wanted to stop me. So they died."
Naruto Uzumaki spoke calmly.
In his eyes, these so-called emotions were far too fragile. The emotions shown toward his original self later on were mostly just guilt.
He didn't need that kind of emotion.
"As for Hinata..."
A trace of tenderness flickered through Naruto's eyes.
Unfortunately, the system didn't have the function to bring people along when traveling between worlds. But he couldn't possibly give up becoming stronger.
So after spending a lifetime with Hinata, at the moment of her death, he froze her soul and body and stored them in the system space. When his journey ended, he would revive her.
The memories in his mind faded, and Naruto Uzumaki's gaze became calm once more.
"I need the Tailed Beasts of this world to revive the Ten-Tails and seize Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's power once again."
"That is my mission in this world."
"If you want to stop me, feel free."
Hearing Naruto's words, Minato stood up and said directly:
"Impossible!"
"Any other Tailed Beast is fine, but not the Nine-Tails."
"Kushina—"
"What does that have to do with me?"
Naruto Uzumaki's cold voice rang out.
"It's merely some pain. With the Uzumaki clan's constitution, as long as treatment is given promptly, she won't die."
"Besides, you've joined a chat group. You can easily exchange for healing items to help her recover."
"Or..."
As if remembering something, Naruto's expression became somewhat amused.
"You could also choose to give me the Nine-Tails inside your body."
"Alright."
Without the slightest hesitation, Minato nodded.
For him, as long as Kushina and Naruto wouldn't be harmed, losing one Nine-Tails meant nothing.
"..."
Naruto Uzumaki was momentarily silenced by Minato's directness. Then he couldn't help but laugh—his laughter growing increasingly manic and self-mocking.
"I don't even know what to say."
"Perhaps I should praise you for being a great father?"
"Heh."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think I was the son of this world's you."
"I can't understand it. I truly can't understand it."
"To both of us, we're just people from different worlds. Yet you're willing to give up the mission rewards, and you didn't hesitate to give up the Nine-Tails' power either."
"How ironic. Are you kind, or are you just foolish..."
As he laughed, Naruto Uzumaki's expression turned cold. His pitch-black eyes looked at Minato, and Minato looked back at him.
After a long while.
"I'm leaving."
Naruto Uzumaki stood up. A deep rift appeared in the void behind him.
"I won't come to this world again."
He felt the inexplicable emotion in his heart. What the hell was this—familial love?!
How ironic.
He had clearly decided he didn't need such fragile emotions... so what was this feeling rising within him now?
Unbidden, scenes from when he revived Minato and Kushina in the parallel world surfaced in his mind.
At the time, he had simply told them everything and handed power over to Minato. Though he had noticed the somewhat nervous, flustered, and concerned emotions the two showed toward him, his heart had remained cold.
Reviving them was simply because they were his parents—nothing more. No emotion was involved. There was no so-called familial love between the three of them.
Though he didn't hate Minato and Kushina Uzumaki, he had no feelings for them either.
But when it came down to it, they hadn't done anything wrong, had they...
His father had believed that his actions would make his son a hero's child, revered by everyone. His mother, on the verge of death, had poured out all her hopes for him.
Their love for him was no less than any other parents'!
The reason he had experienced such a tragic childhood was simply because his parents had trusted the wrong people.
Yes, simply that...
"I really am envious of you—the me of this world."
"You're enjoying a life I never had and always longed for."
Naruto Uzumaki took a deep breath. The system's voice echoed in his mind.
Ding. Detected that the Host has chosen to traverse again. Remaining traversal opportunities—None.
Ding. Countdown beginning. Traversal will commence in ten seconds.
Ding. Please prepare, Host.
Listening to the system's voice, Naruto snapped his fingers. A mysterious power acted upon all of Konoha.
"What a so-called Hokage needs is simply to give the civilians of this village a better life and help Konoha develop further."
"Benevolence and righteousness are qualities a Hokage should possess, but decisiveness and dominance are equally important."
"Peace sometimes truly doesn't need to be obtained through war. But the prerequisite is possessing strength so overwhelming that no one can challenge it."
"If you want to obtain peace without any cost... then try to obtain the power of the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
As Naruto Uzumaki's voice faded, his figure disappeared along with the rift.
— End of Chapter —