[Naruto : Yellow Flash] Chapter 571 - 575

Chapter 571: The two are in crisis

within the Land of Fire.

Swish!

Several figures were moving quickly through the dense forest. Two of them were constantly sticking detonating tags with thin threads on the inside of the trees they passed by.

These people were all dressed as Kirigakure ninjas, and their whereabouts were discovered by the ninjas sent by Fugaku half a day ago.

Behind them, a Konoha team whose strength was no weaker than theirs was chasing them.

“Bang bang!”

At this moment, a violent explosion occurred in the dense forest behind them.

They turned their eyes slightly, with a slightly gloomy smile on their faces.

This time, they finally got rid of the Konoha ninjas' persuit
in the explosion. Even if the ninjas chasing them were not all killed, they would definitely not catch up with them.

Just when several Kirigakure ninja thought they could rest easy, the leaves in the deep forest in front of them were slightly affected and began to sway and make slight noises.

The Kirigakure ninja didn't care. They didn't notice that there was no wind blowing under the swaying of the trees.

Swish!
A yellow light flashed past without anyone noticing.

“Puff!”

Suddenly, the throats of two of them were cut and blood spurted out.

The expressions in the two people's eyes were the same as before, there was no time for any change and they were frozen forever.

Soon after, the remaining few Kirigakure members were not in much better condition either, as they were stabbed in the vitals and died.

When the last person fell, in the last moment before he lost consciousness, a figure seemed to appear in front of his eyes.

Minato looked indifferently at the several Kirigakure who had been killed by him, and suddenly disappeared from the spot.

After a long time, several Konoha ninjas arrived here.

Looking at the dead Kirigakure in front of them, their eyes were still filled with anger.

However, they still started dealing with the bodies.
In the Konoha camp, Minato appeared.

"Has everything been resolved?"

Fugaku sensed something and turned his eyes to the side, and the latter nodded.

"What's Kirigakure's reaction?"

Minato asked anxiously, the news of the Third Raikage's death had spread throughout the ninja world in the past few days. At this time, he naturally had to negotiate with the Kirigakure and ask them to release Kakashi and Rin.

“No response yet.”

Fugaku frowned and said that Kirigakure's response to him was like a stone falling into the ocean, and there was no response to their request at all.

"Damn it!"

Minato's expression changed slightly, but he couldn't withdraw immediately at this moment.

"But I just sent out another group of ninjas to search for the remaining traces of Kirigakure."

the Kirigakure ninjas who invaded the Land of Fire have been dealt with by Minato and others.

But after all, they were short of manpower before, and the Kirigakure ninjas acted in small teams, making the search extremely difficult.

"Um."

Minato nodded, but his expression became a little serious at this time.

Because he didn't understand why under such circumstances, Kirigakure would allow some ninjas to infiltrate the territory of the Land of Fire, but did not move towards Konoha.

These people are scattered throughout the Fire Nation and attacking civilian.

This is too weird.

Their intention was not to harass Konoha, but rather seemed to be stalling for time.

Kakashi and Rin, who escaped from the Land of Water, did not head directly towards the coastline of the Land of Fire. Instead, they circled on the sea for a distance and entered the Land of Hot Spring first.

Because the two knew too little about the current war situation and chose to take a detour, which would interfere with the Mist Ninja's pursuit.

After all, there is no definite route on such a vast ocean.

The country of soup.

"We'll reach the border of the Land of Hot Springs in a short distance."

Kakashi took out a map from his arms, confirmed his and Rin's current location, and glanced at the tired-looking girl beside him.

"If it doesn't work, just rest here for a while."

After several days of fleeing, even though they were ninjas and could replenish their chakra and physical strength with military ration pills, their energy was already reaching its limit.

Rin shook her head and said, "No, we are not completely out of danger yet."

Although she is a girl, Rin is by no means squeamish. She is well aware of her current situation with Kakashi.

During the days of escape, they were almost discovered by the Kirigakure pursuers several times.

The two people who were in a rather weak state looked at each other and then continued to move forward.
However, they had no way of knowing at this time that there was a pair of eyes watching them in an unknown place that they could not detect.

“Hoohoo.”

There was a constant sound of panting coming from the underground cave.

Obito was carrying out his own rehabilitation training, and just as White Zetsu said, over the past few days, his originally weak body was gradually recovering.

In his current condition, although he has not fully recovered, he has regained his mobility.

“Swish!”

He suddenly jumped up from the ground, his eyeballs swelled, and the black pupils suddenly turned scarlet, with two black magatama slowly rotating in them.

He lowered his eyes, and his Sharingan was able to see the flow of chakra in his body.

Obito could clearly observe the changes in his body compared to before.

Even he was not sure whether he could still be considered a human being.

At this moment, green plants emerged from the ground in front of Obito, and then the appearance of White Zetsu appeared.

Obito immediately looked over there, and before he could say anything, White Zetsu's anxious voice came over.

"I just seemed to have seen Kakashi and Rin, whom you often mentioned. But they are now surrounded by Kirigakure ninjas!"

When Obito heard this, his pupils suddenly shrank, and then he leaped forward suddenly, and his whole body slammed heavily into the wall in front of him.

"boom!"

The wall broke a little, but one of Obito's arms was also deformed by the recoil.

"With your current body, you can't break this wall!" said the White Zetsu with a Swirl face behind Obito.

Obito looked determined and said, "I must go. This time, I won't let her get hurt again!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the body of the Swirl face White Zetsu behind him gradually began to disintegrate, and like branches, it wrapped around Obito's thin body.

"Use my body."

The voice of Swirl face White Zetsu came, and Obito was stunned and said, "Aren't you Madara's subordinate?"

"Don't you want to save those two people?"

At this time, Obito's body had been completely covered by the body of Swirl face White Zetsu.

The only thing revealed was Obito's double magatama Sharingan.
After a brief silence, Obito raised his eyelids and said.

"Thank you very much!"

[AN:After this Chapter is published, many readers may think that I am copying the plot of the original work, but what I want to say is that I wrote about the rebirth of Minato. There are some thing Minato don’t know, this is just to show how strong is the manipulation of Madara and Zetsu have in the ninja world.]

Chapter 572 Leaving

On the body of the Swirl face White Zetsu that enveloped Obito, there was a white pipe connecting to the golem.

At this moment, Obito's mind moved, and the pipe behind him seemed to begin to move slowly.

A force much stronger than his own surged out, Obito's eyes flashed, and then he punched the huge wall in front of him.

“Boom!”

With a loud bang, the wall was shattered by the huge force.

Obito's expression changed slightly. The power of this force was beyond his expectations.

"He can actually utilize the power of the golem immediately," White Zetsu on the side said in surprise.

Finally breaking the wall, Obito shouted in joy and prepared to leave.

“Ahem.”

At this moment, a rapid cough was heard behind him. Obito turned his head slightly and met the eyes of Madara who had just woken up.

"Are you going?" Madara calmed his breathing and said lightly.

Obito looked at the old man in front of him and said, "Thank you for saving me, but I have to go. I have to go to Kakashi and Rin now."

"You are too impatient. It's too early to say thank you," said Madara.

"I probably won't come back, so let me just say thank you first. I'm leaving!" Obito turned his eyes back with a determined look.

"You..." Madara sighed slightly, then he stared at Obito, his eyes darkened, and said: "You will come back again, and that will be the time for you to truly return the favor."

Hearing this, Obito looked at him again, then cast his eyes on White Zetsu and said, "White guy, where are Kakashi and Rin, take me there!"

"The one covering you is my clone. At this distance, we can communicate with each other like a radio."

White Zetsu said, Obito nodded when he heard it, and then suddenly rushed out.

He first landed on the side of the broken wall, took out a black cloak from there, put it on, and then rushed out without hesitation.

After Obito left, White Zetsu followed.

"hehe."

Madara chuckled, and then in front of him, White Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground.

"We are dealing with Minato Namikaze using the Kirigakure ninja in the Land of Fire and he is not too far away from where those two are now," said White Zetsu.

Spotted Head said, "That would be best. When the plan is almost successful, lead that guy over."

White Zetsu was slightly stunned and said, "If we do this, Obito will..."

"Haha, no problem"

Madara smiled and waved his hand, then said: "His teacher who is known as the Yellow Flash and the fastest ninja cannot save his disciple in time. What a cruel reality this is. This reality will drag him into endless darkness, and then... I can use him for my own benefit."

"Where are we now?"

Obito emerged from the underground cave and moved forward at full speed. With the help of this zetsu covering him, his movement speed was much faster than his own.

"The Land of Fire." White Zetsu replied.

"What's the current situation of Kakashi and Rin?" Obito asked.

"According to the information gathered by my friend, the situation seems to be quite bad."

" Kakashi and Rin seem to be surrounded by dozens of ninjas, and they all seem to be very skilled jonin and ANBU."

"WHATTT!"

Obito gritted his teeth anxiously. He had previously learned from White Zetsu that Kakashi and Rin had escaped from the Land of Water.

His thoughts turned, and he murmured in his heart: "Rin may have been carrying Minato sensei Flying Thunder God Kunai! With that, Minato-sensei should be able to get to Rin in no time. What is Minato-sensei doing?"

Obito asked hurriedly. A few days ago, he received information from White Zetsu that Minato had killed the Third Raikage.

So by now, the war should have subsided.

And Minato will definitely know that Kakashi and Rin were captured by the Kirigakure Ninja.

Then he should go and rescue Kakashi and Rin immediately!

"He seems to be dealing with some emergency, but he seems to be in the Land of Fire now." White Zetsu said.

“Why!”

Obito looked anxious, and in this situation, the power in his body seemed to be operating subconsciously.

"Instant Step!"

His speed suddenly increased at this moment, turning into a black light, flashing through the forest.

As the night deepened, in an open space on the border of the Land of Fire, Kakashi and Rin were surrounded by dozens of Kirigakure jonin and ANBU.

"Damn it! Why is this happening?!"

In the encirclement, Kakashi was holding a ninja sword snatched from the enemy, and looked around with a serious expression. These were all Mist Ninjas.

He was already protected their movement to avoid the enemies, so why was he still caught up by the Kirigakure ninja?

He protected Rin behind him. The gap in numbers and strength between the two sides was too great. He and Rin were surrounded and there was no way they could escape unscathed.

"Hand over that girl!"

A Kirigakure stared at Kakashi and spoke in a deep voice, not daring to approach rashly.

Although the white-haired boy in front of him is very young, his skills are quite strong. Most importantly, Rin behind him has extraordinary significance to Kirigakure.

So, even though they were numerous, they did not take action immediately.

Kakashi seemed to have noticed this as well. He looked at Rin and said softly, " Rin, I will try to find you a chance. You can take this opportunity to escape out."

"Kakashi" Rin's expression suddenly changed.

At this moment, Kakashi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I don't think they will hurt you."

"But if that's the case, then you..." Rin said with a worried look.

At this moment, outside the Mist Encirclement, a white figure slowly emerged from the ground.

White Zetsu slightly formed seals with his hands.

"Bang!"

As the seal was cast, the expression in Rin's eyes behind Kakashi suddenly changed.

Her heart trembled violently, and an extremely cold feeling enveloped her whole body. Rin's eyes immediately lost their luster.

"You don't have to worry about me."

Kakashi forced a very forced smile on his face, but the next moment, he also noticed the sudden change in Rin's expression and his white brows wrinkled slightly.

"Take Minato-sensei's kunai."

But he didn't have time to think about these things anymore. He took out the Flying Thunder God Kunai from his arms, then turned around and planned to hand it to Rin.

"puff!"

However, just as Kakashi was stunned, Rin suddenly pounced forward and her left chest hit the tip of the kunai.

The Flying Thunder God Kunai pierced through Rin's heart directly

Chapter 573: Bloody Night

rustle!

Obito's figure quickly shuttled through the dense forest.

"Kakashi and Rin are just ahead."

When White Zetsu's voice was heard, Obito, with an anxious look on his face, suddenly jumped down from the tree, and finally rushed out of the forest.

Outside the forest is an open space with rocks scattered across it.

"Rin, here I come! This time, I will definitely protect you!"

At the last moment before rushing out of the forest, Obito said this in his heart.

"Rin"

As Obito murmured, the scene in front of him made his pupils shrink suddenly.

"Kakashi"

In front of him, the white-haired boy and the desperate-looking girl looked at each other.

In the boy's hand, he held a kunai with a special mark, and the kunai pierced the girl's left chest.

Kakashi was stunned. Looking at the girl with blood slowly dripping from the corner of her mouth, his body trembled violently.

He loosened his grip, and the girl in front of him leaned forward and fell towards him.

"Why!?"

These words echoed in Kakashi and Obito's hearts at the same time, but their states of mind were completely different at this moment.

Rin fell down and Kakashi caught her.

His body also went limp. The long escape and previous battle, coupled with this sudden blow, made his brain tremble violently and everything went dark before his eyes.

Kakashi forced himself to stay conscious and not faint.

"ah!!"

At this moment, a faint roar like that of a wild beast came to his ears.

That voice was slightly familiar.
"Why!!"

As Obito roared madly, branches like tree trunks began to cover his face, and his scarlet pupils were spinning rapidly!

Three magatama. Then they linked together and formed the shape of a Mangekyo Sharingan!
The roar made all the Kirigakure ninjas here look over.

"Who is this guy?"

A Kirigakure ANBU's eyes flickered.

At this time, Obito, whose face was covered, rushed forward frantically. With every step he took, the ground crumbled!
Swish!
In the dense forest, in front of several Konoha ninjas, a figure suddenly fell.

"Minato-sama!"

These Konoha ninjas said this with respect on their faces.

"Um."

Minato nodded, and then said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Immediately, these ninjas told Minato the location of the Kirigakure ninja they were tracking.

Upon hearing this, the latter suddenly rushed in that direction.

Swish!

Several Ninja were shuttling through the dense forest. At this moment, a yellow light flashed behind them.

“Puff, puff, puff!”

Minato caught up with these Kirigakure members and killed them all in an instant.

However, looking at the corpses in front of him, Minato frowned slightly.

Because according to the information previously gathered by several Konoha ninjas, the number of Kirigakure in front of him was still one person short.
He immediately formed seals with his hands and spread out his perception.

"this"

After a slight sensing, Minato did not sense any enemy's chakra fluctuations, but he sensed an extremely subtle and weak breath.

That breth was actually his Flying Thunder God Kunai.

"What's going on?"

Minato's face froze, because he had never left a Flying Thunder God Kunai in that direction
. "Could it be..."

After a brief pause, Minato came to a conclusion that was somewhat unbelievable to him.

Someone had moved with his kunai, and the only ones who could have been there were Kakashi and Rin.

They escaped from the imprisonment of Kirigakure!?
Although the possibility was very low, it was the only possibility that Minato could think of. He sensed it a little, and then with a thought, he disappeared.

Swish!
When Minato reappeared, it was still a dense forest.

“.”

Minato pondered for a moment as he looked at the scene before him.

Drip, drip!

At this time, a light rain began to fall from the gloomy sky. The raindrops fell on the leaves, making a rustling sound.

"boom!"

At this moment, a slight vibration sound was heard from about several kilometers away.

Ordinary ninjas would not be able to detect this vibration, but Minato could certainly feel it.

Immediately, he suddenly jumped up and landed on the top of a giant tree. Then, looking around, he saw a giant tree without branches and leaves standing at the end of the dense forest.

But the giant tree looked a little strange because its branches were faintly dark red.

Looking at the strange scene, Minato pondered for a moment, then his body turned into a yellow light and rushed towards the giant tree.

The dark red giant tree was covered with thorns, and on each of its branches were hung the pierced bodies of the Kirigakure ninjas.

Under the tree, Obito was covered in blood, with bloody traces of water dripping down his cheeks.

He walked slowly through the pool of blood, and when his body overlapped with the corpse at his feet, it seemed as if he had passed through it directly.

Obito walked to Rin's body, slowly paused, and stretched out his hand, wanting to touch her cheek.

But his palm went straight through it.

Obito was stunned for a moment, and then the Mangekyo in his pupils condensed slightly.

He stroked Rin's cheek. The cold touch made him realize, despite his inner struggle, that the girl in front of him was dead.

"Rin"

At this moment, pictures of girls' smiling faces kept flashing through his mind.

"Obito, I'll always be watching over you! I will watch you become Hokage and save the world!"

The girl's voice, appearance, and eyes were just like
what he couldn't understand. Why was the world so cruel to such a pure and kind girl?

She shouldn't have died, she shouldn't have fallen in a pool of blood.

I have clearly made a vow to protect her! !

But why, why did she die?
"No, I know."

The next moment, Obito's expression changed again.

"This is all fake. Yes, it is fake. Otherwise, how could Rin die?"

He murmured this in his heart, and gradually, a smile appeared on his face.

But that smile seemed extremely distorted.

"This world is fake, Rin and Kakashi, everything is fake, nothing is real!"

At this moment, Obito thought of what Madara said to him in the underground cave.

He suddenly understood. He stroked Rin's cheek in his arms, his eyes filled with determination.

"Rin, I want to create another world with you in it."

"That world is the real one!"

Obito was no longer confused and stunned. He slowly stood up, and at this moment, a familiar feeling suddenly came to his heart.

That wave is extremely familiar. It is moving towards here quickly and will arrive soon.

"Minato-sensei!?"

He pondered in his heart, the chakra fluctuation was actually from his teacher.

He's coming.
Therefore, a ferocious smile appeared on Obito's face again, but after a moment, he regained his composure.

"Minato sensei"

"No, Yellow Flash, you are finally here."

Chapter 574: Dream World

"You are finally here."

A teasing smile appeared on Obito's lips, and the Mangekyo in his pupils rotated slightly.

The space in front of him was distorted, and visible vortex ripples appeared, which directly sucked Rin's body in.

Obito turned his body slightly and looked in one direction.

The next moment, whirlpool-like ripples centered on his right eye immediately swept his body in.

rustle!

When they intersected, a figure rushed out from the forest. When Minato saw the scene clearly, his pupils trembled violently.

The first thing that caught his eye was a giant dark red tree with thorns growing on its trunk, on which hung the pierced corpses of Mist Ninjas.

“Wood Release!?”

Minato exclaimed in shock. What surprised him most was not the dozens of Kirigakure ninjas being killed in front of him.

But the method to kill the Kirigakure ninja was actually the Wood Release that only the First Hokage mastered.

"Kakashi?"

At this moment, his sensor detected the already extremely weak chakra fluctuation.

Immediately he moved and came to the side of the unconscious boy.

How come he is here?

Thinking of this, Minato first helped him up. At this moment, something fell from the latter's hand with a slight sound.

Minato looked over and saw that it was his Flying Thunder God Kunai.

He frowned slightly, then picked up the kunai and examined it.

Minato was stunned. He couldn't sense this kunai before because there was a restriction placed on it.

Such a seal is actually a method used by the Uzumaki clan.

“Buzz.”

At this moment, at the edge of the forest, the ground rippled slightly and then returned to calm.

Minato's face was solemn, and his palm tightly clenched the special kunai in his hand.

Because... from the current situation, he was being plotted against!
The kunai was placed there intentionally by someone.

The purpose is to lead him here...

Minato looked at the unconscious Kakashi, who looked particularly weak.

There were many scars all over his body, but none of them were fatal.

At this time, Kakashi's chakra fluctuations were extremely weak, and his fainting was due to excessive fatigue.

Since he escaped, where is Rin now?

Suddenly, Minato sensed an extremely cold feeling.

“This feeling…”

Minato was stunned, and a faint growl was heard in the air in front of him.

He was not unfamiliar with that feeling,
the chakra of the tailed beasts!

Such fluctuations would be impossible to detect if Minato's body had not been transformed by the Nine-Tails' chakra.

This feeling is definitely not wrong, but if it is the chakra of the tailed beast, why is it so weak?
Obviously it cannot be because there have been traces of the tailed beast raging here, otherwise he would be able to sense it from a long distance.

The terrain here should also undergo drastic changes.

But if this is the case, then the final possibility is that
the Jinchūriki who seals the tailed beast in his body dies, and the tailed beast dies with it.

The tailed beast's chakra was too huge to dissipate for a while, so he was able to sense it.

If that's the case, then who was the Jinchūriki who died here?

There were too many clues, even with Minato's wisdom, it was impossible to digest them.

There are still ninjas in this world who can use Wood Release Ninjutsu. Where did Rin go?
A tailed beast died with the death of the Jinchūriki.

These temporarily unexplainable information were pieced together in his mind.

Faintly, a fragmented but huge conspiracy was formed.

Since his youth, there has been someone plotting against him.

Perhaps it was because his strength was no longer comparable to what it was before, so that person never attacked him again.

His target is the people around him.
In this way, it can be explained why Kirigakure only kidnapped Kakashi and Rin!

Immediately his heart trembled violently.

"Kushina!"

Konoha is currently extremely weak, and the people who are plotting against him are extremely powerful and calculating. There is no guarantee that Kushina, who is in Konoha, will not get into trouble!

He didn't have time to think through all the chaos at the moment, picked up Kakashi, and then his sensor extended to the direction of Konoha and his figure disappeared.

In the underground cave, Madara and Obito stood opposite each other.

There was a dull look in the latter's eyes, as if he had been under an illusion.

Obito raised his eyebrows, calmed down, and then said: "How do we achieve this plan?"

His expression was still filled with shock. After all, what Madara had just said to him was too shocking.

"The first thing is to obtain the nine tailed beasts from the five major ninja nations. Only by gathering their power can the Ten-Tails be resurrected. This is the basis for all actions."

"It's just that you should be very clear about the difficulty involved."

Madara said that even though Obito has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan now, with the power of the thing he transplanted to him, as long as he gives him a little guidance, the latter will be able to become one of the best ninja in the current ninja world.

"But you don't have to worry. Nagato will definitely be a help to you."

He had already told Obito that he had transplanted his own Rinnegan to Nagato.

With Nagato's bloodline, even if he couldn't unleash the full power of those eyes, but only a part of it would be enough to dominate the current ninja world.

"Next, I will teach you some forbidden techniques of the Uchiha and Six Paths, and allow you to fully utilize the power of your eyes."

Madara raised his eyes, then looked at Obito and said: "After I die, you must join forces with Nagato and do something."

"What is that?"

Obito asked with an indifferent expression.

"Find the right moment to control the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, and with the help of you, the Nine-Tails, and Nagato's power, get rid of Namikaze Minato!"

As Madara spoke, he paid attention to Obito's expression, the latter's eyes trembled.

"What? You don’t want to attack your own teacher?"

Obito's face darkened, and then he said: "Everything in this world has nothing to do with me. No matter who it is... as long as they hinder my plan, they must be eliminated!"

He was well aware of Minato Namikaze's strength, and if he was not eliminated, he would be a huge threat.

"Great"

Madara looked at the boy in front of him and smiled sinisterly.

…

Konoha Hospital.

The unconscious Kakashi suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw the person in front of him clearly, he, who was usually calm, burst into tears.

"Minato-sensei...I...killed Rin!"

Chapter 575: Minato and the Kyuubi

"I killed Rin!"

Kakashi's voice was hoarse, his breath uneven, as tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. His entire body trembled, and his hands clenched the hospital sheets beneath him. Lying on the hospital bed, his expression was one of torment, his emotions locked in a fierce battle between guilt and anguish.

Hearing those words, Minato's expression froze. His normally calm and composed demeanor shattered in an instant, his hands slowly curling into fists. A flicker of hope had existed within him before Kakashi awoke, a small part of him clinging to the possibility that this cruel truth could be avoided. But now, with Kakashi's confession, that fragile hope was utterly destroyed.

Because this outcome aligned exactly with what Minato had feared.

“What!?”

Beside Minato, Kushina’s reaction was just as severe. Her eyes widened in shock, and sorrow quickly clouded her gaze. Obito and Rin had been like younger siblings to her, their bonds forged through shared struggles and laughter. To hear of Rin’s death—especially at the hands of Kakashi—was a blow she was not prepared for.

But unlike the impulsive girl she had once been, Kushina forced herself to suppress the flood of questions that surged in her heart. She wanted to know every detail, but she knew this was neither the time nor the place.

"Who is it?! Who was behind this?!"

Minato’s thoughts were a whirlwind of rage and suspicion. He refused to believe that Rin’s death was a mere accident. There were too many coincidences, too many threads leading back to something sinister. A deep, seething fury rose in his heart—a rage unlike anything he had ever felt before.

His sharp mind instantly recalled the masked man who had attacked Konoha, the one who had unleashed the Nine-Tails upon the village. Could that same individual have orchestrated this tragedy?

Minato could not say for certain. But one thing was clear—whoever had set these events in motion was now on his list of those who must be eliminated.

The intensity of his emotions leaked into the air around him, an unintentional burst of killing intent radiating from his body. Even without meaning to, Minato’s sheer presence was enough to send a chill down the spine of those nearby.

Kakashi, already drowning in guilt, was the most affected. The overwhelming aura sent him spiraling into memories of that night—the look of despair in Rin’s eyes as his blade pierced her heart.

[Kakashi]

“Ahhh!!”

A gut-wrenching scream tore from Kakashi’s throat. He clutched his head with both hands, his body curling inward as if trying to escape from his own mind.

"Minato!"

Kushina’s sharp voice cut through the air as she reached out, placing a firm hand on Minato’s arm. Her touch grounded him, snapping him out of his dark thoughts. He blinked, his expression shifting from rage to concern as he registered the distress he had caused.

At that moment, the ward’s door burst open, and several medical staff rushed inside.

"The patient's condition is unstable," one of them stated firmly. "We ask that you refrain from visiting for now."

Minato, realizing his presence was only agitating Kakashi further, nodded in understanding. He offered a quiet apology to the doctor before allowing himself to be led out of the hospital with Kushina by his side.

Minato walked in silence, his face devoid of expression. His mind was a storm of thoughts, each one darker than the last.

Kushina, walking beside him, stole glances at his face. She knew him better than anyone. She understood the depth of his connection to his students—Obito, Rin, and Kakashi. They were more than just pupils to him; they were his responsibility, his cherished comrades.

Minato had saved countless lives during the Third Great Ninja War. He was a hero on the battlefield, the legendary Yellow Flash of Konoha. And yet, he had failed to protect the ones he loved the most.

No matter how strong someone was, there were some losses that could never be accepted.

When they finally reached their home, Minato forced a small, bitter smile.

"I’m going to rest for a while," he said softly, his voice lacking its usual warmth. "Sorry, Kushina."

"Minato..."

She whispered his name, watching as he slowly retreated into their home. The weight of grief on his shoulders was so heavy, it made her chest ache.

Minato’s Room

Once inside, Minato shut the door behind him. He leaned against it for a brief moment before letting out a deep breath. His hands trembled slightly, his emotions pressing down on him like an unbearable weight.

Two silent tears slipped down his cheeks.

A ninja must not cry. That was the way of the shinobi. Especially for someone like him—the Fourth Hokage, the man who stood at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

On the battlefield, no matter the enemy, no matter the odds, he had always faced challenges with an unwavering smile, as warm as the sun.

But in the end, he had still failed.

He had failed Obito. He had failed Rin.

Their voices echoed in his mind.

[Minato-sensei, you are so kind.]

[Minato-sensei, I’ll become Hokage after you. I’ll protect this village, so watch over me until then!]

[Minato-sensei!]

Memories of their smiles surfaced, as vivid as if they had happened just yesterday.

"Why… why couldn’t I reach them in time? Why did I failed again and again!"

His fists clenched, his nails digging into his palms.

Then, suddenly—

A Voice in His Mind

"Hmph… pathetic, Fourth Hokage. If the likes of Hanzo the Salamander, the Third Raikage, or any of those you’ve defeated could see you now, they’d be ashamed."

The deep, mocking voice resonated in Minato’s head.

His eyes widened slightly.

"The Nine-Tails…"

Of course, the Kyuubi had chosen now to taunt him.

Minato let out a bitter chuckle, fully expecting the beast to enjoy his misery.

But instead, the next words the fox spoke were far from what he expected.

"Hmph. Those brats—Obito and Rin—are already dead. Crying over them won’t bring them back. If you have the time to sit around mourning, you should be using it to figure out who’s behind all of this."

Minato’s breath hitched.

The Kyuubi… was offering him advice?

It wasn’t wrong. Obito and Rin weren’t coming back. If he truly wanted justice, if he truly wanted to make their deaths mean something, then he had to act.

"Earlier," the Kyuubi continued, "when you saved Kakashi, you sensed it, didn’t you? That chakra belonged to a tailed beast. It was the Three-Tails from Kirigakure. Its Jinchūriki must have perished as well."

Minato’s eyes sharpened.

Kirigakure. Again.

Everything kept leading back to that village. The more he uncovered, the more certain he became—someone had infiltrated or manipulated Kirigakure from the shadows. Even the Mizukage might not be in control of his own actions.

The realization sent a cold shiver down Minato’s spine.

As his mind raced, the Kyuubi let out a huff.

"Don’t get me wrong, human," it scoffed. "I just don’t want you to get yourself killed and take me down with you."

Minato smiled faintly at that.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, centering himself.

Then, in the quiet of his mind, he spoke.

"Thank you, Kyuubi."