CH_168
Tōji knew—
Even if he forcibly gave Minato more "spoilers," Minato might still seal away the "extra" memories. In the end, everything would return to normal.
Just like when Naruto traveled through the Ryūmyaku in Rōran and ran into a Minato from several years earlier—that Minato had already performed a memory seal once.
Of course, it was also possible that Minato at Rōran didn't yet know he would die tragically alongside his wife, and only knew his son would grow into a shinobi who'd make him proud over a decade later.
But one thing was certain—Naruto couldn't recognize Minato. So Minato at Rōran could easily infer that he'd be dead before Naruto was old enough to remember him.
And even knowing he would die young, he still chose without hesitation to seal that memory of himself. He never tried to change anything, and never asked Naruto anything about the future.
At that time, it would've been hard for Minato not to know the Nine-Tails was already inside Naruto—so he likely also deduced that Kushina had died young as well.
Besides, Kushina's dream had also been to become Hokage, and Minato actually became Hokage. Both were outstanding inheritors of the Will of Fire—during the Nine-Tails Incident, husband and wife both accepted death calmly…
And during the Nine-Tails Incident, Minato decisively chose to follow his wife's wish—saving the child first, not his wife.
Tōji couldn't guess what choice Minato would make if he knew everything. But there was a strong possibility Minato wouldn't change the fated outcome.
But if it was just one line—"You will die"—Minato probably really wasn't afraid of dying young…
While pondering just how great and selfless Minato could be, Tōji finished packing his ninja tool pouch. This time, of course, he'd bring his tool pouch to the Land of Seas.
He left a note at home, and Tōji set out immediately.
Before leaving the village, he still needed to restock some Exploding Tags. After all, his tool pouch had been idle for so long—the old tags might not work anymore. He also needed to prepare some new Soldier Pills and a few days' rations.
Once everything was bought, Tōji headed straight through Konoha's main street and out of the village.
Along the way, he did hear quite a bit of gossip—among which "Shisui of the Body Flicker" was mentioned relatively often.
Tōji admitted he couldn't learn Shisui's superb A-rank Body Flicker, but he had his own traits and strengths, so it was worth spending time figuring out new ways to kill and new techniques.
Against just one or two enemy chūnin, Tōji felt he could possibly succeed with a quick ambush. But once the numbers grew, he was out of luck—no matter how fast his Body Flicker was, it couldn't produce flashy "solid afterimages."
『Only eight, and he already "stands out in the forest"—nothing to be done…』 Tōji couldn't help but sigh.
In the end, Shisui died half because of his excellence, and half because he was still "too young"—he didn't guard against others.
But though Tōji felt Shisui's fate was a pity, he had no intention of interfering in someone else's destiny.
After all, he'd just gained the hidden identity of "Protector of the Future"!
Now, even if Tōji stood by and let someone die, he'd have far less psychological burden—the Hokage had asked for it! All for that white tomorrow, bright as a white hole!
Of course, saving himself, and maybe his family and friends, shouldn't change history… right?
"…"
No matter what—right now, Tōji just focused on the road. Dealing with those things that mustn't be seen by Orochimaru was the top priority.
His ears were filled with nothing but the whish-whish of the wind, and he didn't stop to rest until dark.
Traveling light like this, it would take at least two days and one night to reach the Land of Fire's coastline.
But now that Tōji had suddenly found a chance to turn danger into safety, he couldn't help feeling happy—and his pace really did speed up a bit.