Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"See me?"

Minato fell silent for a moment.

"Do I need to enter one of Naruto's shadow clones again?"

"No. That method is too troublesome. Just bring him here directly."

Inside the mental world, Minato listened to Kurama relay the situation, somewhat surprised.

It wasn't that he was surprised Kakashi had figured out he existed.

After all, whether it was Kakashi's attempted assassination of Naruto years ago or Naruto's extraordinary growth afterward, Minato himself would have reached the same conclusion in Kakashi's position.

In fact, the fact that Kakashi had waited until now to bring it up already demonstrated remarkable patience.

There had always been a concern in Minato's heart.

The concern wasn't Kakashi himself.

Rather, Minato did not believe someone who had spent so many years under the influence of the Third Hokage's ideals would accept his plans.

It wasn't a matter of right or wrong.

Minato simply believed there were many people who should never learn the truth of what he intended.

What truly surprised him was Kurama's attitude.

Previously, Kurama had explained that the chakra Minato left behind originally came directly from his own source chakra.

At that time, Minato could still function as an independent existence.

However, during the Uchiha Clan Massacre Night, when Minato used Flying Thunder God to transport the surviving Uchiha away, he nearly exhausted every last trace of that original chakra.

Only after years of replenishment through Kurama's chakra had he recovered to his current state.

As a result, Minato's chakra had fundamentally changed.

It had become a strand of assimilated chakra within Naruto.

The object of assimilation, however, was not Naruto.

It was Kurama.

The circumstances were extremely complicated.

Kurama's simplest explanation had been:

"Right now, Minato is basically one of my chakra clones."

"There's only a tiny fragment of his original chakra left at the core."

Because of that, nobody besides Kurama and Naruto could sense Minato's chakra.

Even the most powerful sensory ninja could at best detect an independent mass of Nine-Tails chakra inside Naruto.

Nothing more.

Thus, Kurama could allow Minato to enter Naruto's shadow clones just as he manipulated his own chakra.

Yet Kurama always complained that doing so was "troublesome."

Very troublesome.

Since Kurama rarely emphasized anything repeatedly, Minato chose not to burden him further.

Aside from that method, there was only one way to allow someone else into Naruto's mental world—

The power of the Sharingan.

When Kakashi had attempted to assassinate Naruto years ago, he had activated his Sharingan.

Kurama had deliberately taken advantage of that moment and dragged him into Naruto's inner world.

Then proceeded to place a seal on him to test his true intentions.

But Kurama hated the Uchiha and the Sharingan.

So why was he suggesting it now?

[Could it be that Kurama has finally...]

"Tch."

"Now that I think about it, even if it's Kakashi using the Sharingan…"

"I still hate it."

"Maybe I should just blind that eye of his."

"Oi, have you decided yet?"

"Are we meeting him or not?"

[...Never mind.]

[Looks like he still hates them.]

Minato smiled awkwardly.

In the real world.

A short while later, Naruto finally received Kurama's answer.

After pretending to hesitate, he looked up at Kakashi.

"...Well?"

"No problem."

"But Kakashi-sensei, you should return to the village and rest first."

"Once you've recovered some chakra..."

"I'll make arrangements."

The instant Naruto confirmed it, Kakashi's heart surged with emotion.

Minato-sensei really was alive.

For a brief moment, he even felt nervous.

He suddenly didn't know how he should face his teacher.

He had failed to protect Rin.

Failed to protect Kushina-sama.

Even worse, he had remained completely unaware that Obito was alive and working with the Akatsuki.

"Let's head back first."

"You need proper rest too, Sensei."

Naruto could not see the turmoil inside Kakashi's heart.

He simply placed a hand on him.

Flying Thunder God activated.

Wave Country.

"G-Gatō is dead?"

"Is that true?"

"Come to think of it, we haven't seen his men lately..."

"They were searching the town just a little while ago!"

"So... does that mean we can finally live in peace?"

"Thank goodness... I was reaching my limit..."

The people of Wave Country had gathered after being summoned by Tazuna.

After hearing his explanation, everyone stood dumbfounded.

Tazuna possessed tremendous prestige within Wave Country.

Even under Gatō's oppression, he had never abandoned his dream of building a bridge to save the nation.

Everyone knew that.

Ordinary people were not always brave.

But they could still tell who was good and who was evil.

As a result, very few doubted Tazuna's words.

Still, only a short time ago, Gatō had been hunting Tazuna and the ninja he hired throughout the country.

Now he was suddenly dead?

"Then... we're free?"

"I-Is that true?"

"But if Gatō's gone..."

"Who are we supposed to work for now?"

The question immediately earned contemptuous looks from everyone nearby.

Tazuna quickly raised both hands.

"Gatō being gone doesn't change our goal!"

"We're still going to build a bridge!"

"A bridge that connects Wave Country to the outside world!"

"A bridge that lets us stand on our own feet!"

"But before that—"

"We need to thank the Konoha ninja who traveled all this way to help us!"

Tazuna excitedly turned around and shouted toward the back.

The crowd craned their necks in curiosity.

Then two familiar figures awkwardly stepped forward.

One adult.

One child.

"Those are the Konoha ninja?"

"I heard Gatō's men talking about a woman and some kid..."

"Wait a second."

"What kind of nonsense is this?"

"Aren't those Tazuna's family members?"

"Isn't that Inari?"

"And Tsunami?"

"How come it's you two?"

Tazuna stared blankly at his daughter and grandson.

"Big brother, they..."

Inari scratched his head.

Clearly oblivious to the awkward atmosphere.

"They left."

Tsunami walked over and whispered into her father's ear.

"And..."

"They left all of Gatō's wealth at our house."

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