[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konohagakure, 43.
...
...
Minato and Sakumo stared at each other as silence quickly took over the place.
"You are here." The first to break it was Sakumo, murmuring the words like wind to Minato. He did not fail to curve his lips into a closed smile.
"Yes. I came to check a few things and also see everyone," Minato said.
"Jiraiya said you did not intend to return to the village, but not now," Sakumo sighed, closing his eyes before looking at Minato again. "Tell me, Minato… does the village still mean something to you, even though we disappointed you? It's been almost a year since you left..." He began with a small pause before continuing.
"We heard about your feats in the fight against the villages, before we could arrive with reinforcements... What I'm saying is that, in other words, I would like to have you back. You don't owe us anything. I know the village, just like they did to me, turned its back on you. When I was filled with darkness, you helped me. You know you can count on me," he said.
"Konoha never stopped belonging to me," Minato replied sincerely. "There are important people here, and I wish to return to continue protecting them. I'm glad my old property is still standing," Minato said with a certain good humor. He had checked his house, and it remained untouched, the village preserved his belongings, not even the shops he owned were taken by the village, because it was no longer administered by those greedy elders.
"It belongs to none of us, your things, and you never gained the status of a traitor." Sakumo nodded, looking at the fallen ANBU.
Obviously, Minato did not want to be alerted. Minato simply knocked them down in an instant to speak privately with Sakumo, which was very impressive; if he were an assassin... Sakumo would have had serious problems.
Minato would not stay long, so he resolved this with his current Conqueror's Haki ability; knocking down a group of elite ninjas was easy. The ANBU were not even injured, only unconscious.
For Sakumo, the question was how Minato had done that.
There were reports that, even in the civil confusion that occurred to overthrow the elders before the Uzumaki clan was attacked, he released a force that began knocking down several ninjas around him 1 or 2 times according to the reports.
There was also a report that a jōnin from the Hidden Cloud Village witnessed Minato releasing a wind around his own body, a type of energy invisible to common eyes, which knocked down dozens of ninjas trying to protect the Raikage before the latter was killed by Minato.
It was clear that, whatever he was using, it was getting more powerful. He didn't even need to form hand seals; with just his will or by thinking, he could release it. That was what Sakumo easily analyzed.
"I imagine you are wondering what the state of the village is," Sakumo spoke again, his eyes finally returning to Minato.
"Yes. I would like to know before reporting some worrying things that I found before coming here, things that you probably didn't know."
This made Sakumo raise an eyebrow, but he nodded. Whatever Minato had to say, he would listen later. First, Sakumo explained the situation of the village.
Naturally, the elders no longer had any political power. Their clans had gradually been relegated to ostracism. Even Hiruzen's son was suffering from this at the academy, something Sakumo said was not fair; he should not suffer for his father's actions. Minato agreed, Asuma was not to blame.
In any case, the village was functioning normally. The clans now had more autonomy. It was no longer only those of the elders who possessed privileges kept only for themselves, but these were now distributed in a more balanced way.
The Uchiha were more satisfied with the village. There was no longer constant pressure nor excessive surveillance like under Hiruzen/Danzou's government.
Kakashi was also beginning to become a different person; he had managed to become a Chuunin and was working as a shinobi on some teams, but he was no longer so indifferent toward others.
"You had asked me to become your teacher one day, hadn't you? I want that," Minato said, making Sakumo raise an eyebrow in the middle of the explanations with Minato's interruption.
"Really?" Sakumo asked, feeling a bit surprised, after all he had expected Minato to pay for another position in the village.
"I'm keeping an eye on him and on two more children who are still at the academy: Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara. I wish to become their teacher. That will be the first thing I do," Minato declared.
Sakumo was about to say something, but Minato continued. "I know you want me to wear the hat. And I will do that, but only after whatever is to come from the other villages. After all, the nations are preparing, aren't they?" Minato said.
Sakumo grew quite serious at that, nodding his head as he heard it. "Yes. A war is approaching, and we need you more than ever. The village needs you."
"About that, don't worry. But I'll wear the hat only after this is over. I prefer to be on the battlefield leading a camp rather than wearing the hat and having to command all of Konoha's forces. I'll be more useful on the battlefield than behind a desk analyzing strategy. Meanwhile, you should remain as temporary Hokage. Your knowledge is one of the best in the village, if not the best. You have the experience of leading the northern border alone in the second war," Minato said.
Sakumo gestured at those words. "Well, now let me tell you why I came here. I had no intention of making contact with the village yet. I wanted to first see the situation of the other villages and would begin investigating them in the next few days," Minato paused.
"I came to investigate some places I found strange since I left the village." Minato omitted the knowledge he already possessed from the original work. However, he knew that once it was discovered that Yamato had acquired the Wood ability, Orochimaru would become fascinated, searching for children to redo new experiments and try to create others like him. So new laboratories would be created.
At that time, Minato had no proof against Orochimaru, as the laboratories had not yet been made. So he turned back to Sakumo with the following words.
"I found some laboratories with human experiments carried out by none other than Orochimaru. The place is full of dead human bodies of civilians and ninjas, many of them children," Minato said.
Sakumo widened his eyes, stunned. "Where?"
"Let me take you there." Minato took a step forward and touched Sakumo's shoulder. In the next instant, he disappeared, leaving a small mark to return.
Sakumo found himself in another place, with a strong smell of blood filling his nostrils. He looked around and saw a warehouse full of research, cells, and experiment chambers.
"This… is it in the village?" he asked, completely stunned, looking around.
Minato took a scroll from his pocket and opened it in front of Sakumo. On it, there was the marking of three laboratories that Orochimaru had built around the village on the map.
"You can investigate later. In any case, I took some things about genetics, but there is still proof that everything belongs to Orochimaru, and he is not in the village from what I noticed," Minato said, handing the material to Sakumo, who nodded.
"Yes, he is on a mission... so he is involved in this..." Sakumo murmured, stunned by such things beneath the village.
"In any case, I have to go back home. It's almost dawn. I only intend to go to one place first, to the Senju clan. I'll return you to the Hokage building and inform Jiraiya as soon as I return to the village," Minato said.
Sakumo felt the displacement when Minato teleported him back to the office, remaining there alone with Minato already heading somewhere else.
Sakumo was quite thoughtful about what he had seen. He could not help but feel anger; citizens, ninjas, and even children were dead in those cells after horrible experiments.
He approached the fallen ANBU and began to wake them. Some belonged to Minato's old squads, and he wondered what they would think upon discovering that their former comrade had defeated them in an instant... In any case, he had no time for that.
Sakumo stood up and began summoning several ninjas. The village began to stir.
At the same time, at the Senju clan, Tsunade stood with her arms crossed, looking at Minato. Nawaki had a wide smile and nodded excitedly.
"So you want all my notes on how I implemented Mokuton in Nawaki, is that it?" Tsunade asked, while Minato nodded his head.
"Yes. I need to do something similar with Hanabi."
"The Hyuuga? You're not thinking of putting Mokuton in her, are you?" Tsunade asked.
"No, it's not Mokuton. It's something else, but I need to adapt her body. That's why Nawaki is the best living example. You managed to adapt his body. I need to do something similar," Minato said.
Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright," she said, entering the clan.
Meanwhile, Nawaki approached Minato. "So you're already a father and, soon, Tsuna will also give birth to a child, right? My great-nephew," he said with a smug smile.
Minato raised an eyebrow at him; Nawaki seemed very happy about that. "Yes. He'll be born in less than a month," Minato replied.
"Congratulations! Well, in the meantime, I'm making my sister's life hell, calling her old for becoming a grandmother. She hates it and even hits me sometimes, but it's worth it when I say it," Nawaki commented, laughing.
Minato raised an eyebrow but still snorted. "I know your sister is pushing you to get married soon, you should do it. Since she no longer wishes to marry after Dan's death, and my child will not belong to the Senju clan or any other, all of them will be Namikaze," Minato declared.
Nawaki looked a bit discouraged for a moment, but nodded, understanding perfectly. He seemed to want Minato to give the Senju name so he wouldn't be left with the sole responsibility of reviving the clan again through marriages.
Tsunade returned a few moments later with a scroll in her hands. "Here are all the research data I did. Now tell me, how is my daughter? How is the child?" Tsunade asked in a demanding voice.
Minato took the scroll and stored it away.
"She's healthy. And there are some surprises, but you should see for yourself. In any case, go with Jiraiya at the next meeting, your grandson will have been born by then," Minato said.
Tsunade clicked her tongue, but nodded. "When are you bringing them back to the village? I want her back. There isn't a single living soul here right now who wouldn't want a ninja capable of defeating multiple Kage outside our ranks along with his family," Tsunade murmured. Obviously, she wanted her daughter to return, and no one would protest their return. Quite the opposite, they were waiting for it.
"We'll go when the time comes. In any case, I'm leaving. You'll be busy in the next few hours. Goodbye," Minato simply declared and disappeared, leaving Nawaki and Tsunade a bit confused.
"That brat… I hadn't even finished saying things to him," Tsunade murmured irritably, before ANBU began to appear inside the Senju clan.
As if Minato had already foreseen that and disappeared beforehand, two ninjas appeared.
"Tsunade-sama, Nawaki-sama! Sakumo-sama urgently requests your presence at the Hokage tower," the ANBU declared.
Tsunade looked at Nawaki and nodded. Whatever it was, it seemed like too much of a coincidence to happen exactly when Minato was in the village after all this time. Still, they went immediately to see what was happening.
Meanwhile, Minato traveled through the sky, already leaving the Land of Fire. He knew Tsunade would be furious and disappointed with her companion, Orochimaru, but there was no other way to do this.
Minato entered the skies of the countries to the east along the coast of the continent and descended south, until he finally saw the Uzumaki island in the sky, as the sun began to appear on the horizon, shining and painting the sky yellow with shades of red.
Minato teleported inside his house moments later. He found his wives having the first meal of the day and talking about him, obviously wondering if he was alright.
Minato appeared with a smile. All heads turned toward him, even the baby nursing with Mikoto's help turned toward his father.
"Hello. I'm back," Minato said.
His nighttime adventure had finally come to an end.
Other men arriving home at that moment might say they had gone out to drink or to face a ninja mission. However, for Minato, in that single night he had gone to the moon, entered a village he had deserted without being alerted, knocked down elite ninjas with ease, and discovered and exposed a mad scientist. Not to mention that he had gathered valuable information and was now ready to take the next steps to further strengthen his family.
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