The masked man from the Akatsuki—the man who was no one—never expected that the footage of him ambushing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and unleashing the beast on Konoha would be broadcasted to the world.
"What is that screen? Still haven't figured it out?" came a cold, sharp voice questioning Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu's beady eyes glinted with an icy gleam. "No. It just appeared out of nowhere."
I wonder… will my identity be exposed too?
That strange screen shouldn't know about my plan to resurrect Mother through Infinite Tsukuyomi, right?
Each harbored their own secrets, their own fears.
—
On the Screen—
[After drawing that conclusion, the Fourth Hokage shook his head and backtracked, "No… that's impossible. He died long ago."
The man in the black cloak lowered his hood. "Who knows?"
Minato's gaze turned frosty. "At this point, your identity no longer matters. But why are you targeting Konoha?"
The masked man shrugged indifferently. "Maybe it was a whim. Maybe it's been years in the making. Maybe for peace. Maybe for war."]
Words gave way to blows.
Minato raised his guard to the highest level. In his eyes, this man's ideology was dangerously extreme.
The two rushed at each other.
Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai pierced through the masked man's body. In that exact moment, the man's body and weapon—the chakra chains—solidified and nearly caught Minato.
Thanks to Flying Thunder God, Minato vanished and reappeared nearby. In just a few seconds, he had already analyzed the weakness of the enemy's space-time technique.
He becomes tangible the instant he attacks.
In other words, as long as he struck at that precise moment, he could kill him.
They clashed again.
Minato hurled his kunai, which phased through the masked man's body. But in that same moment, the kunai's path had already been calculated.
A blue spiral of chakra suddenly spun to life in Minato's palm.
"It's over." The masked man's hand was just about to touch Minato.
But the next second—
Minato vanished.
"Flying Thunder God: Second Stage!"
Boom!!
The Rasengan crashed into the masked man and slammed him into the ground! The earth shattered, dust and debris flying in every direction.
—
[Beep beep!! System level-up! Bullet Chat Feature Unlocked!]
As the robotic voice announced it, lines of text began scrolling across the top of the video.
Most were pixelated, unreadable—but a few stood out clearly:
(Yellow Flash supremacy!!)
(The fastest man in the Shinobi World—Namikaze Minato!)
(Fastest to marry! Fastest to have a kid! Fastest to become Hokage! Also… fastest to kick the bucket!)
(The Fourth is so hot! Ahhh! My husband! He's so hot!!)
[Uzumaki Naruto: So... so cool! Is the Fourth Hokage really that strong?!]
He still hadn't fully processed that this man was his father, but thanks to Jiraiya's chakra suppressing the Nine-Tails, the beast hadn't broken free.
[Jiraiya: Of course! That's my top student, the pride of Mount Myōboku. That blue chakra ball in his hand is the very same Rasengan you're training to master. Watch closely—you might learn something.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Well, it is the Fourth Hokage we're talking about. Naturally, he's amazing.]
[Monkey D. Luffy: Sugoiii!!! Ninjas are so cool!! I want him on my crew!]
[Tony Tony Chopper: This is awesome! So this is a ninja? Shoo shoo! Check me out—Flying Thunder God: Second Stage!]
[Ino Yamanaka: Those comments… they look like reactions from people like us who watched the video. But who are they?]
[Sakura Haruno: So rude! How can you say the Hokage was fast at dying?!]
[Borsalino: Woahh~ Shiny coat there~ So fast… Yellow Flash, huh? That's the same nickname as me. Would love to see whose speed is truly faster.]
[Zephyr: Borsalino, you rely too much on your Devil Fruit. There are always greater heights to climb. That man didn't even use a fruit, yet still earned the title of the fastest. You should focus on training your Haki properly.]
[Borsalino: Woahh~ Zephyr-sensei's being harsh today~]
—
Back in the Fourth Hokage Era
The council room was filled with applause after watching Minato trounce the masked man.
But those floating bullet chats quickly dampened the mood. A cold wave of ellipses passed over their faces.
Fastest to marry, have a kid, and become Hokage— all true. At a young age, Minato had achieved both a happy family and a brilliant career. A true prodigy.
But fastest to die too? Pfft.
Sorry. Couldn't help it.
A bead of sweat rolled down Minato's forehead. "The fastest man in the ninja world"?
Sure, he knew they meant speed. But part of him couldn't help but wonder if they were doubting his other manly prowess. Still, that didn't matter. Whether he was fast or not—Kushina knew best.
But that "husband" shout in the comments? Who the hell was that?! Only Kushina gets to call him that!
Minato kept a straight face, but internally, the snark was bursting at the seams.
Jiraiya noticed the weird atmosphere, coughed twice, and teased, "Didn't expect you to be so popular with the ladies, eh? Even your own kid thinks you're cool. Proud much?"
He wasn't wrong. Seeing Naruto's admiration gave Minato a deep sense of warmth.
"Maybe he's already learned the Rasengan I developed," Minato said proudly. "Master, you must've taught him, right? You're the only other one who knows that jutsu…"
Jiraiya's face fell and he patted Minato's shoulder.
"Then you'd better stay alive, you hear me? I still wanna help you raise your grandkid."
"Ah, but imagine—a parallel world with its own 'fastest man.' What kind of world is that, anyway? Wonder if I could go there to gather inspiration. What kind of women would that world have compared to ours?"
Seeing Jiraiya drift off into yet another bizarre fantasy, everyone in the meeting room sighed in unison.
Still, after watching Minato's battle, they all felt much more at ease.
If that masked man really was Madara, there's no way he'd have been defeated so easily.
[Ōnoki: What the heck? That's not Madara. His abilities are way too weak. The real Madara was called the "Shinobi Shura" for a reason—just standing in front of him would paralyze you with fear. Voices can be mimicked, but presence? That's not so easily faked.]
[Uzumaki Naruto: Hiding behind a mask, huh? Coward. When I find you, I'm smashing that mask to pieces!]
[Monkey D. Luffy: You got this, ninja guy! Break that mask!]
[Tony Tony Chopper: You can do it! You can do it!]
[Usopp: Alright! Leave it to the Great Captain Usopp! Listen up, ninja guy! Don't freak out, but I've got 8,000 powerful subordinates—each one strong enough to beat that guy into next week!]
[Uzumaki Naruto: Whoa!! You've got eight thousand subordinates? That's amazing! Thank you for the support!]
The shinobi crowd froze.
Eight thousand subordinates? That's terrifying!
Could this "Usopp" guy be a major pirate warlord or something?
Having watched some videos from the One Piece world earlier, they had a rough idea—it was a world overrun by pirates. So naturally, their minds jumped to the worst.