"So this and that, things happened just like that."
Minato Namikaze explained everything about the light screen as quickly as possible.
But when he finished, he noticed Kushina was staring at him with a blank expression.
"Uh… Kushina, what's wrong?"
"Minato… do you think I'm an idiot? You actually said something that ridiculous out loud?"
Clearly, Kushina didn't believe a word Minato had just said.
And understandably so.
Something like a mysterious light screen—without seeing it for yourself, no sane person would believe it.
Seeing that Kushina didn't believe him, Minato could only swear on his word, saying he absolutely wasn't lying.
Kushina knew what kind of person Minato was. Seeing him swear so seriously, she became half-convinced.
"Alright then. Even if what you said is true… what do you plan to do next?"
"What do I plan to do?"
Minato fell silent for a moment, then finally said, "Let's put everything else aside for now. The most important thing is still the Nine-Tails incident."
Just mentioning the Nine-Tails attack soured Minato's mood.
He had already learned from the Third Hokage timeline's Jiraiya that the person behind the attack was none other than his prized student—Uchiha Obito.
He didn't know why Obito would do something like this.
He only knew one thing: he would risk everything to protect his wife and child.
No matter who the enemy was—even if it was Obito—he would crush him.
"Obito, huh?"
Upon learning that Obito was behind it all, Kushina's expression turned complicated as well.
But the moment she thought about the unborn child in her belly, her resolve hardened.
"Minato, I have a question. Obito hasn't returned to the village in a long time—how did he know my due date?"
"That… I don't know."
Minato shook his head, then said, "But I have a guess. Most likely, there's a traitor among us, or someone accidentally let something slip."
"I don't think it's a traitor."
Kushina shook her head. She didn't believe it was the work of a traitor.
Those chosen by her and Minato as guards were all people they trusted.
Because her due date was still over twenty days away, they hadn't decided exactly who to choose yet, but they had it figured out in their minds.
Kakashi Hatake, as Minato's student, was definitely one of them.
The Third Hokage was the former Hokage.
With such an important event as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's delivery, he would surely be involved.
And as the midwife, who could be more trustworthy than the Third Hokage's wife, Biwako?
Besides these three, members of Minato's Hokage guard, like Shiranui Genma and others, would also definitely be selected.
No matter how you looked at it, these people didn't seem like traitors.
"So someone let it slip?"
"Yes, that's probably what happened."
Minato thought carefully. The Third Hokage definitely wouldn't have let anything slip.
For the others, since he didn't know who leaked the information, he decided to set a trap.
He would publicly announce that Kushina's delivery date was postponed by two days, informing Kakashi and the others of the new time and place two days later than planned.
Secretly, he would protect Kushina's delivery with the Third Hokage and his wife.
With that, plus help from the Third Hokage's Jiraiya and the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, it would be absolutely foolproof.
"Let's eat first. Later, I need to discuss something with the Third Hokage."
"Alright."
Just as the Fourth Hokage Minato was preparing for the upcoming Nine-Tails incident, in the Third Hokage's timeline, Izuna immediately told Madara about what happened in the office as soon as he got home.
"So you mean, next month another me and Hashirama will come here to subdue Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
"Yes, big brother. If you want to make it to this battle, then hurry and recover."
Izuna knew Madara's personality well and understood that he definitely wouldn't want to miss this great war.
But Izuna wasn't sure if Madara could recover before the war started.
Even if his soul recovered early, it would still take time to get used to the new body.
Also, he knew that even if his big brother fully recovered, when facing a powerful opponent like Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, there probably wouldn't be many options.
Still, having Madara join the battle would be beneficial at least to broaden his horizons.
In the Fifth Hokage's timeline, when Naruto learned that he and Sasuke would travel to another timeline, he was very excited.
Sasuke didn't like Naruto's excitement and sneered, "Hey, why are you so excited?"
"Hehe, I heard from Granny Tsunade that my parents have been revived over there, and I can finally see them alive."
Hearing this, Sasuke fell silent for a moment.
He didn't know that his parents were also revived in that world, but based on the timeline, Uchiha Itachi probably hadn't died in front of him yet.
He didn't know how the world would develop after the light screen appeared, but he felt that this time he would likely meet Uchiha Itachi.
Regarding Itachi, Sasuke's feelings were undoubtedly very complicated.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, he met the reanimated Itachi, which helped him resolve part of his emotional knot, but in the end, Itachi was still the sinner who massacred their entire clan.
If he faced Itachi again, and it was a living Itachi, could he forgive him on behalf of the clan?
Perhaps noticing Sasuke's worry, Naruto casually comforted him, "Sasuke, don't think too much. What if things aren't that bad?"
"Tch~ I'm not at the point where I need a loser like you to comfort me."
"What? I'm telling you, I'm much stronger now. You better not call me the last place, or else—"
Sasuke sneered, replying provocatively, "Or what do you want to do?"
"Hmph, if you dare call me the last place, then I'll dare call you Stuck-up Sasuke."
"."
Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead, and said, "Alright, as expected of you, I shouldn't have had too many expectations for you."
After saying that, Sasuke started walking home.
Hearing this, Naruto was also upset, shouting as he chased after him, "You bastard Sasuke, what do you mean by that? Do you look down on me?"
"I do look down on you. What can you do about it?"
"Don't run. Let me beat you up—I can't swallow this anger."
"Tch, wanna fight me? Catch me if you can."
Time passed quickly, and the date for Kushina's delivery in the Fourth Hokage's timeline was getting closer.
That day, Kakashi, as usual, bought a bouquet of fresh flowers and came to the grave of Rin Nohara.
"Rin, I'm here to see you again."
"Did you know? Lady Kushina is about to give birth, the date is the 12th of this month."
"Don't worry, as her guard, I will definitely protect her."
"."
After staying at Rin's grave for a sufficient time, Kakashi left.
Not long after he left, Obito, wearing his mask, stepped out from Kamui space.
After coming out, he threw away the flowers Kakashi brought, placed the flowers he had brought on Rin's grave, and spoke.
After a long pause, Obito whispered to himself, "The 12th of this month, huh?"
"Heh heh heh, I hope Teacher Minato will like the gift I brought him."
After speaking, he returned into Kamui space and disappeared.
****
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