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"My Father Is the Fourth Hokage?"
"Youā¦ you're me from another world?" Naruto asked, his expression filled with confusion. "Then why are you called Namikaze Menma?"
Shouldn't he be called Uzumaki Naruto, just like him? Even their teacher, Kakashi, had the same name in both worldsāHatake Kakashi.
"I should be asking you that question." Menma shook his head and explained, "My name is Namikaze Menma because I bear my father's surname, Namikaze Minato. As for 'Menma,' it was a name given to me by His Majesty."
Naruto's mind spun. His father's surname?
"Namikazeā¦ Namikaze Minatoā¦" Naruto muttered, his eyes clouded with uncertainty. "Who is that? Is that my father's name?"
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Nearby, Sasuke's body suddenly tensed.
He turned his head sharply, staring at Naruto in disbelief.
Narutoā¦
"Wait, Namikaze Minatoā¦" Sakura spoke cautiously, her voice laced with hesitation. "Thatā¦ that's the name of the Fourth Hokage, right?"
"Sakura, don't!" Kakashi tried to stop her, but it was too late.
Naruto's world seemed to shatter in an instant.
"The Fourth Hokageā¦ my father?" Naruto whispered, barely able to comprehend the words.
Sasuke was equally shaken.
How?
Why?
If Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokageāthe man who sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tailsāthen why had he been treated like that since childhood?
Sasuke had seen how the adults and children of Konoha treated Naruto with disdain, avoiding him as if he were a disease.
That wasn't how the son of a hero should be treated.
Naruto clenched his fists. His mind reeled.
"Iā¦ my father is the Fourth Hokageā¦"
Memories of the past flooded his mindāloneliness, isolation, the cold stares of the villagers.
No! That couldn't be true!
If his father was the Fourth Hokage, why did the village treat him like this?
Konohamaru wasn't treated like this!
Yes!
Konohamaru was the grandson of the Third Hokage. Everyone in the village respected and adored him.
If Naruto were also the child of a Hokage, there was no way the villagers would have treated him like an outcast!
His head snapped toward Kakashi, desperation in his gaze.
"Sensei! Tell me!" Naruto pleaded, his voice trembling. "Who is my father? The Fourth Hokageā¦ he isn't my father, right?!"
Kakashi remained silent.
The Third Hokage had issued strict orders forbidding anyone from revealing Naruto's parentage.
The villagers weren't even allowed to speak about the Nine-Tails in his presence, let alone tell him about his father.
Menma sighed, shaking his head.
"So you really didn't know your own pastā¦"
Looking at Naruto, Menma couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.
Both he and Sasuke had lost their families. Once, they had happy lives, loving parentsābut in the end, both became orphans.
And Kakashiā¦
A team of three, none of them with parents to come home to.
Naruto suddenly let out a dry laugh.
It was eerie.
The way Kakashi remained silent. The way Sasuke and Sakura looked at him with those complicated expressions.
He wasn't stupid.
If Kakashi wasn't denying it, then it had to be true.
His father really was the Fourth Hokage.
Swish!
A burst of heat exploded from Naruto's body.
Red chakra surged around him like flames, bubbling with raw power.
A deep, resounding heartbeat echoed in his ears.
His normally bright blue eyes shiftedāhis pupils morphing into thin, fox-like slits.
"My father is the Fourth Hokageā¦" Naruto repeated, but his voice was no longer entirely his own.
His fingers twitched as his nails grew sharper, his canines elongating into fangs.
The oppressive aura of the Nine-Tails' chakra spread, making the air thick with malice.
Unforgivable.
The villagers who bullied him.
The people who rejected him.
Unforgivable!
"Not good!" Kakashi tensed, his eyes narrowing. "The Nine-Tails' chakra is breaking loose!"
He had witnessed its destructive power firsthand twelve years ago. Even from a distance, the sheer force of the beast had been overwhelming.
Now, that same terrifying presence was erupting from Naruto.
However, Menma remained completely unfazed.
With a calm expression, he extended his hand toward Naruto.
"So Kurama really does have a bad temper in this world tooā¦" Menma mused.
Golden chains suddenly emerged from his palm, slithering like living vines before sinking into Naruto's body.
Inside Naruto's mindā¦
The familiar darkness of the sealed space stretched endlessly.
A colossal, monstrous fox glared at Menma with burning red eyes.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains?!" The Nine-Tails roared as the golden chains wrapped around its massive frame, binding its limbs and torso.
"Damn it! Not this again!" The beast thrashed, but the chains held firm.
Menma chuckled.
"Kurama, you really need to stop causing trouble," he said, walking up to the cage. "Unless you want to stay tied up like this all the time?"
The Nine-Tails snarled.
"Damn humans! First, you seal me away, and now you're threatening me?!"
"Consider this a little punishment." Menma snapped his fingers. "How about you stay in this position for a day?"
The fox growled furiously but couldn't break free.
Menma smirked, taking a moment to observe his surroundings.
Just before the Nine-Tails' chakra had leaked out, he had sensed somethingālike a dormant seal stirring within Naruto.
Something left behind by his father?
He would investigate it later.
For now, he turned to leave the sealed space.
Back in the real worldā¦
Naruto's chakra receded.
His transformation faded, but his face remained dark with anger and confusion.
"I'm curious," Menma spoke up, looking directly at Kakashi. "Why doesn't Naruto even know his own past?"
Naruto turned to Kakashi as well, his gaze burning with frustration.
Yes.
Why?
Why had he been kept in the dark about something so important?
Kakashi hesitated before finally speaking.
"It was for your protection," he explained. "Minato-senseiā¦ that is, the Fourth Hokage, made a lot of enemies during the war. If people knew you were his son, they would have come after you."
Naruto's fists clenched.
"That's it?" Menma frowned. "That's the reason?"
It made senseā¦ but something still felt off.
Naruto deserved better than this.
He wasn't just some nameless orphan.
He was the son of the greatest Hokage Konoha had ever known.
And yetā¦
He had been left in the dark.
Alone.
Unwanted.
Betrayed.
A deep silence hung between them.
And in that silenceā¦
Naruto made a decision.
Things were going to change.
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