In Konoha, the afternoon sun was heavy and lazy.
It had only been two days since the war, and the hurried "clanking" of tiles and wood still echoed throughout the village as damaged homes were being repaired.
But away from all the busy noise, the members of Team 7 were enjoying a moment of peace.
Today, the three of them had gathered under an old tree in front of the Ichiraku Ramen shop.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, Naruto was splayed out on the end of a bench like a pancake.
Sasuke was holding a teacup, his eyes blank, as if he had been battered by a giant wave of knowledge, ground to dust, and finally washed ashore.
Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke, pretending to be a lady, delicately using a small fork to cut a tiny piece of sweet bean jelly.
Heh, Sakura-chan is overdoing the act today.
The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dancing speckles of light on them. A gentle breeze blew, making the moment quite pleasant.
"Ah! So good!"
Ignoring Sakura, Naruto swallowed a whole piece of the bean jelly and gulped down some tea, letting out a satisfied sigh.
He glanced at Sasuke, who was consumed by his thoughts, radiating a low-pressure aura as if he were fighting some cosmic problem. Naruto cleared his throat. "So, Sasuke, where are you at with that stuff?"
Sasuke's fingers, holding the teacup, stiffened almost imperceptibly, and a vein on his forehead seemed to twitch.
After Naruto had made a run for it this morning, he had casually opened that stack of "sacred texts"—"Advanced Calculus," "Gravity and Black Holes"... all kinds of bizarre symbols and complex formulas instantly made his brain buzz.
To unlock the most powerful Mangekyō Sharingan! He had to tough it out!
But now, basking in the sun and sipping tea, his mind felt as heavy as lead.
"Elementary Mathematics 1..." was the only thing he could understand at the moment.
"Huh?" Sakura's gaze drifted suspiciously between Naruto and Sasuke before she finally turned to Sasuke with concern. "Sasuke, what are you studying? You look so exhausted."
Sasuke was silent.
How could he accurately describe that mixture of physical laws + cosmic theories + formulaic deductions?
After a long pause, he finally gave a perfectly accurate answer: "Knowledge!"
Sakura was taken aback. "Oh..."
This was a topic she, as the top student of the trio, could actually contribute to!
Just as Naruto was watching the scene with a playful expression, he unexpectedly received a message.
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: Boss, I have two pieces of bad news!
[Uzumaki One-Pounder]: You mean you ran into some trouble dealing with Danzō? Go on.
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: The first bad news is that Danzō isn't dead, and he can't die. He put a curse mark on all Root members. The moment he breathes his last, the curse marks will be released. You can imagine the chaos of a bunch of former Root members running around, knowing their protector is gone. Won't that be fun?
[Uzumaki One-Pounder]: He has such a high-level trick? Is that old geezer a thousand-year-old turtle or something? What's the second piece of news? It can't possibly be worse than that, right?
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: The second one, boss, this is... a bit hard to explain! It might be a surprise, or it might be a shock? Do you remember the story you told us about Gaara, the One-Tailed Jinchuriki who is also the son of the Fourth Kazekage?
At the mention of Gaara, the image of that irritable red-haired kid with heavy dark circles, radiating a "don't-come-near-me" aura, instantly popped into Naruto's mind.
The story that Gaara had poured out during his captivity was so melodramatic that Naruto couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap, that's even worse than my childhood!"
[Uzumaki One-Pounder]: Oh! That guy? Of course, I remember! The Jinchuriki like me who got the 'hated by the entire village' package, whose own father kept sending people to assassinate him, and whose beloved uncle was killed by his own hand. In the end, he was forced to close off his heart and only love himself, becoming an edgy kid who had to kill people just to feel alive?
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: Your summary is spot on, boss! The bad news is that your situation is... a tiny bit similar to his...
[Uzumaki One-Pounder]: What? We're both Jinchuriki. Isn't that similar enough?
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: No, there's something else that's even more similar. You... no, our dad is the Fourth Hokage!
What? My dad is the Fourth Hokage?
Naruto's mind buzzed. He couldn't believe it.
He remembered his "family history" perfectly: his dad was from the Uzumaki clan and had red hair. His mom? Name unknown, and had blonde hair.
But... the Fourth Hokage had striking golden hair, so that didn't match! And his last name was "Namikaze," not "Uzumaki"!
Had he never been suspicious before? That would be impossible! The Fourth Hokage's golden hair and deep blue eyes were practically a mirror image of his own.
But he never dwelled on it, as golden-haired, blue-eyed people weren't unique in the village.
More importantly, the surname issue was a huge roadblock! Especially the irony of his treatment! The Fourth Hokage was a great hero who sacrificed his life for the village. It would be ridiculous for his biological son to be treated like he was!
So, the thought that "my dad is the Fourth Hokage" was quickly killed off as soon as it appeared. It was pure self-torment!
And now you're suddenly telling me: Naruto Uzumaki! Your dad is the Fourth Hokage!
[Uzumaki One-Pounder]: Are you sure? Is there any mistake?
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: Boss, this is ironclad evidence from Danzō himself! There's no mistake!
Heh.
Naruto stopped the chatter. His powerful mental force instantly pierced through the space-time barrier, decisively choosing to forcefully sync the data.
In an instant, 70 years of Shimura Danzō's memories rushed into his mind like a torrent. For his current superhuman mental power, this amount of information was a piece of cake.
Konoha's secrets, the currents of the ninja world... countless fragments of memories flashed by. He precisely extracted the key evidence from this memory vault—yes, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was indeed his biological father!
What the heck is this "surprise"?
At this moment, the hair color and surname weren't the main points. Naruto's biggest question was: his dad was a great hero who sacrificed himself for the village, but he, his son, became the "demon fox" that everyone hated. Was Konoha's plan really that insane?
[Uchiha Six-Pounder]: Boss, while it's a bit of a shock, the 'good news' is that the Fourth Hokage is indeed 'long dead.' You don't have to go through the same terrifying childhood as Gaara!
Recalling his own "upbringing," a surge of anger made Naruto want to curse, "Konoha peasants!" but Six-Pounder interrupted his train of thought.
Heh. After hearing about fellow Jinchuriki Gaara's tragic history, he had secretly felt lucky that Konoha didn't have a pathetic Kazekage like the Fourth. Otherwise, his own suffering would have been even worse!
With Gaara's lesson in mind, should he really be grateful that his parents died early?
No!
Not all Fourth Kages were the same.
From Danzō's memories, the Fourth Hokage... no, his dad, Minato Namikaze, wasn't a cold-blooded and ruthless lunatic like the Fourth Kazekage, who was apparently driven mad by the sand.
Danzō's memory fragments clearly showed that his golden-haired dad, Minato Namikaze, was cheerful and sunny like an idiot. He was nothing like the cruel and calculating Rasa.
Therefore, Gaara's fate would never have befallen him.
The son of a hero being treated this way.
It's all Konoha's fault, of course!
"Should I just pick a good day and destroy Konoha already?"