Chapter 231: Want To Know The Culprit Behind The Nine-tails Incident?
The grayish-white dust fully condensed, and the reanimated body fully formed.
Konohagakure Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes, once as blue as a clear sky and filled with sunshine and wisdom, now appeared a dull gray due to the characteristics of the Reanimation Jutsu, like dust-covered gems, but the sharpness and vigilance flashing within showed no reduction.
His consciousness seemed to be forcibly pulled back from endless long sleep, with a hint of daze, but the instinct honed by years of ninja life made him scrutinize the surrounding environment immediately.
Cold metal walls, dim light, unfamiliar underground space…
And the two people standing in front of him.
His gaze first locked onto the mysterious person directly ahead, wearing a strange White Three-Eyed Fox Mask and a black robe.
The powerful aura and that bottomless presence made him instantly alert, his brows unconsciously furrowing.
“You are…?” Minato’s voice carried the hoarseness of just waking, but still maintained calm: “This is… Reanimation Jutsu?”
He immediately recognized his own state; as Konoha’s Fourth Hokage, he had basic knowledge of the forbidden jutsu developed by the Second Hokage, and a bad premonition surged in his heart.
However, when his sight passed over the mysterious person and saw the figure behind, his whole body suddenly froze.
Red long hair, familiar face, those eyes now also gray and flashing with extremely excited light…
That was Kushina!
His wife!
But…
Why was she holding a little fox girl in her arms that he had never seen before, with a pair of fluffy fox tails?
And that fox girl was tilting her little head, curiously examining him with a pair of lively big eyes.
Minato turned his gaze back to the mysterious masked person ahead.
He saw the other remain silent for a moment, then slowly raise a hand and remove that white Three-Eyed Fox Mask.
Beneath the mask was the face of a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Black short hair stood up root by root like stubborn spiky hair, handsome features yet carrying maturity and indifference beyond his age.
And what made Minato’s pupils contract most was those eyes!
Those were eyes like his own, like Naruto’s, as blue as a clear sky!
Minato was completely stunned, his brain racing.
“Is it… Naruto…?” Minato subconsciously murmured, but immediately denied himself: “No… that’s not right…”
Looking at the boy’s calm, almost alienated gaze, another name slipped out: “Is it… Menma?”
His tone carried incredulous confirmation, along with a hint of realization.
So, that child kidnapped by the masked person, whose fate was unknown, was really still alive!
Though the hair color was completely different, the resonance deep in the bloodline, the extremely familiar yet strangely complex something vaguely revealed in those eyes…
Menma looked at Minato, a flash of extremely complex emotion in his blue eyes, too fast to catch.
He gently nodded.
Minato looked at his eldest son, now grown into a boy, a thousand words stuck in his chest, finally turning into a sigh filled with endless guilt and emotion: “You’ve… grown this big already.”
He tried to force a smile, but it appeared somewhat bitter: “Originally… I thought of many slim chances of reunion, but I didn’t expect… it would be in this way.”
He paused, his gray eyes filled with sincere apology, voice low and solemn: “I’m sorry… Menma.”
As parents, yet failing to protect their child, letting him face disaster right after birth and wander outside—this guilt was deeply buried in his heart.
Menma seemed somewhat surprised that Minato recognized him immediately; he reached up to touch his black spiky hair: “Is this parents’ perception? Even though my current appearance isn’t my true body, and even my hair color is different from birth, I was still recognized.”
Minato shook his head, gazing at him softly: “Because you’re very special. That night, you had just been born, yet you opened your eyes, quietly looking at everything around, unlike Naruto who cried and fussed.”
That memory of first meeting remained as clear as yesterday, even after years of death.
Immediately after, his guilt surged again: “And I… failed in my duty as a father, letting you, just born, be kidnapped by that mysterious masked person…”
Menma was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head: “I don’t blame you. The situation at that time wasn’t something you could fully control.”
His tone was unexpectedly calm, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.
Then, Menma changed the subject and began explaining: “Actually now, it’s only been seven years since you died. This current appearance of mine isn’t my true body either; it’s just a Transformation Jutsu.”
Next, Menma slowly stated the speech he had long prepared: “The moment I opened my eyes to this world, I fell into that mysterious masked man’s illusion technique ‘Limited Tsukuyomi.’ It’s an extremely powerful illusion technique that constructed a nearly complete illusion world; I spent a full fifteen years in that false world before finally breaking free and returning to reality.”
Minato and Kushina listened quietly; Minato’s heart was filled with shock, while Kushina felt heartache.
Fifteen years of illusory life, knowing it was a false world yet powerless to change it—what kind of lonely and distorted experience was that?
Menma continued: “This time, I used Reanimation Jutsu to free Father’s soul from the Shinigami, besides wanting you to regain freedom and ask about the specific events back then, there’s also a very important decision I need to inform you of.”
His tone became especially serious, making the atmosphere in the entire underground space instantly heavy.
Even Kushina subconsciously hugged the little Nine-Tails in her arms tighter; the little Nine-Tails seemed to sense the change in atmosphere too, quieting down and no longer moving randomly.
Minato Namikaze’s gray eyes stared tightly at Menma, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.
He sensed that what Menma was about to say next would be extremely…
Menma met his gaze, word by word, clearly stating: “In a not too long time, Konoha High Council will issue the order to ‘slaughter the clan’ against the Uchiha Clan.”
“What?!” Minato cried out in shock; even with his calm mind, this sudden news shook him to the core!
Slaughter a clan?
This was an unimaginable tragedy in any ninja village!
But Menma’s words weren’t finished.
“For this, I’ve prepared some ‘audience seats,’ hoping Father can attend as invited.”
“At that time, I will act and take away part of the Uchiha clansmen, letting them join my ninja village, my country.”
Minato was shocked again!
Menma’s ninja village?
Country?
Menma’s voice was steady, as if declaring a predetermined future: “Then, when the time is ripe and enough power accumulated, I will lead these new era ninjas to launch the Fourth Great Ninja War.”
He paused, his sharp gaze like a knife, staring straight into Minato Namikaze’s shocked eyes.
“Sweep across the Five Great Nations, overthrow the Five Great Shinobi Villages, unify the entire Ninja World! Completely end this chaos lasting a thousand years! Complete the… great undertaking that even the First Hokage Hashirama Senju failed to achieve back then!”
“So, will you stop me, Father?” Menma’s deep blue eyes burned as they stared at Minato Namikaze.
Silence!
Dead silence!
Minato Namikaze was completely speechless from his eldest son’s series of words, his mind blank.
Konoha High Council slaughters the clan?
Menma established his own ninja village and country?
Launch the Fourth Great Ninja War?
Unify the Ninja World?
Any one of these news alone would cause a massive earthquake, yet now they all crashed toward him at once!
He could hardly believe his ears!
Was this still his son whom he had just “met”?
This massive ambition, this cold plan…
“Wh… why?” Minato’s voice was extremely dry; he forced himself to calm down, seeking the core of the issue: “Konoha High Council… why would they issue the order to slaughter the Uchiha Clan? Impossible! Who is Konoha’s Hokage now?”
“And… Menma, your ninja village? Your country? This place… isn’t Konoha?” He looked around the cold metal walls, his heart filled with massive confusion.
Menma calmly answered his questions: “This isn’t Konoha. This is the country I established—Land of Stars. As for this country and the ninjas here, what essential differences they have from old era ninjas, Father can slowly observe and experience for yourself later.”
“And Konoha,” his tone carried a hint of coldness: “is now ruled by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.”
Then, Menma began revealing the cruel reality: “As for why the Uchiha Clan will face annihilation… the root lies perhaps in the Nine-Tails Attack back then.”
“You should still remember, the rampaging Nine-Tails had… Sharingan patterns in its eyes. Many Konoha ninjas who participated in the suppression saw this.”
Minato’s face darkened; of course he remembered!
This was also one of the biggest doubts in his heart!
Menma continued: “And at that time, the Konoha Military Police Force, which should have been responsible for part of the village’s guard, was restricted in action by Shimura Danzō’s ‘Root’ for various reasons and assigned to evacuate commoners, failing to arrive at the core battlefield in time for effective rescue.”
“In the following years, Konoha High Council, especially Danzō, always suspected the Nine-Tails Attack was related to certain people in the Uchiha Clan, or at least caused by the Uchiha Sharingan’s ability going out of control. Thus, they imposed all-around restrictions, surveillance, and exclusion on the Uchiha Clan. From marginalization of power to relocation of residence, dissatisfaction and resentment accumulated endlessly within the Uchiha.”
“Suspicion breeds hatred, oppression breeds rebellion.” Menma’s voice was cold, like reading a death sentence: “The Uchiha Clan’s discontent grew louder, while the high-level officials’ distrust and fear deepened. The end of this road seems to leave only…”
Minato’s face became extremely ugly; he had already foreseen that terrible ending.
As a former Hokage, he knew too well the darkness of political struggles and the vicious cycle once trust broke.
Menma seemed to think it wasn’t enough and added an example: “By the way, just a couple years ago, something similar happened far away in the Land of Water’s Kirigakure.”
“The Yukigakure Clan with Ice Release Bloodline Limit was ordered exterminated by the Third Mizukage on charges of rebellion. Immediately after, the more extreme and warlike Kaguya Clan launched a rebellion and was bloodily suppressed by the Third Mizukage leading Kirigakure ninjas; nearly the entire clan was slaughtered, with only one child remaining, whom I took in.”
Kaguya Clan… wiped out…
Hearing these bloody examples, Minato Namikaze felt a chill rise from his spine straight to his head!
He was almost certain that the future Menma described for the Uchiha Clan was no exaggeration!
Konoha’s Uchiha was following in the footsteps of Kirigakure’s bloodline families!
Minato spoke with difficulty, trying to grasp the last straw: “The one who kidnapped you back then, killing me and your mother, was indeed a mysterious person with Sharingan! But the space-time ninjutsu he used was extremely strange and powerful; it couldn’t possibly be done by anyone in Konoha’s current Uchiha Clan! They couldn’t have that ability to manipulate the Nine-Tails!”
This was Minato’s long-held judgment, and why, though suspecting Sharingan, he hadn’t directly pointed the finger at Konoha’s Uchiha.
However, Menma let out a light laugh, carrying a hint of mockery and a hint of pity.
“You’re right; that person indeed isn’t anyone from Konoha’s current Uchiha Clan. But…”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the equally tense and concerned Kushina behind him, then back to Minato, slowly, clearly spitting out a name:
“He is indeed from Konoha Uchiha. And… he knows you, Father.”
Minato suddenly froze, his gray eyes widening slightly from extreme shock: “Who… is it?”
Menma looked at him, word by word, unveiling that cruel truth:
“His name is Uchiha…”
“Obito.”
“…”
Minato Namikaze was struck as if by an invisible thunderbolt, his whole body stiffening in place.
Those gray eyes trembled violently, filled with disbelief, shock, pain, and confusion.
“No… impossible…” he subconsciously murmured to himself, as if hearing the world’s most absurd and terrifying joke: “How could it be… Obito…?”
That boy who was always late, with a sunny smile, shouting to become Hokage, liking his teammate Rin, initially on bad terms with Kakashi but gradually becoming close friends…
The student confirmed dead in the Kannabi Bridge battle, who gave his Sharingan to Kakashi…
Was actually the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails Attack, killing him and Kushina, kidnapping his son?!
At this moment, Minato Namikaze suffered an unprecedented fierce impact.
To the point that his eldest son’s ambition to unify the Ninja World and the question of whether to stop him were thrown to the back of his mind.
Menma knew Minato needed time to digest these cruel truths, so he didn’t dump too much on him at once.
The next day, morning sunlight streamed through the window into Menma’s home.
When Menma came downstairs yawning, he saw on the veranda, Minato Namikaze still with massive shock and confusion between his brows, and beside him Kushina, who clearly hadn’t fully recovered from the shock and anger of “Obito is the culprit,” sitting facing each other, seemingly having thought all night.
He said to the two: “Mother, take Father to stroll around Star Capital; you can go anywhere.”
Menma’s tone was calm, as if last night’s earth-shattering conversation never happened.
He paused, adding: “I won’t disturb your ‘two-person world.’ Land of Stars just annexed three countries; government affairs are busy, lots of follow-up matters to handle.”
Saying this, he looked at Minato, a hard-to-describe depth in his blue eyes: “Also, Father, you can take this chance to see this country with your own eyes, and think well about… what kind of world the Ninja World will be after unification.”
The little Nine-Tails, obediently held in Kushina’s arms, had long been restless; seizing the chance, it “peeped” and flexibly wriggled out of Kushina’s arm bend, scampered up Menma’s shoulder in a few jumps, skillfully climbed to his head, found a comfy spot to lie down, and smugly flicked its fluffy nine tails, as if declaring ownership of this “territory.”
Minato Namikaze opened his mouth; he hadn’t slept a night, though Reanimation Jutsu didn’t require rest.
But he was still immersed in that cruel truth and the shock from Menma’s massive ambition, with countless questions and thoughts to discuss, but Menma clearly didn’t plan to continue last night’s topic.
He was just about to say something when Kushina beside him suddenly erupted.
“Let’s go! Idiot Minato!” She grabbed Minato’s arm with force unlike a reanimated body, almost dragging him out, her tone carrying obviously suppressed anger.
“Son said let us go stroll ourselves! What are you dawdling for?!”
Clearly, the matter of Obito, and the old score of Minato failing to protect the child back then, had reignited Kushina’s fiery temper.
At this moment, she needed something to distract her, and “teaching” her husband was clearly a good choice.
Facing Kushina who was obviously angry, red hair almost floating, Minato Namikaze very sensibly chose to shut up, not daring the slightest resistance, helplessly dragged along, a bitter smile on his face.
This familiar feeling…
Truly long missed.
And the yin Nine-Tails inside Minato stared deadly at the little fox girl with nine tails on Menma’s head.
Always a strange feeling… like a Tailed Beast… yet like another self…
What the hell is this thing?!
Minato and Kushina used Transformation Jutsu, disguising as an ordinary young couple, before leaving Menma’s mansion and blending into Star Capital’s bustling crowds.
Walking on the prosperous commerce district streets, Kushina was quickly attracted by the dazzling array of goods, seemingly temporarily forgetting her worries, excitedly looking left and right like a real young girl, occasionally exclaiming in amazement.
Minato Namikaze followed beside her, watching her lively back, infinite tenderness and emotion in his gray eyes.
In his memories, during their dating period, he was mostly out on missions, and as Nine-Tails jinchūriki Kushina’s movements were restricted; their time together was already brief and precious.
After marriage it was even more so; he hadn’t even given her a complete honeymoon.
As if yesterday they were still preparing clothes for the soon-to-be-born child, discussing names, and in the blink of an eye… seven years of life and death separation, reuniting as reanimated corpses with the child’s mother, while the child had become a hegemon stirring the Ninja World.
This sense of temporal dislocation made him feel as if in a dream.
While accompanying Kushina shopping, Minato Namikaze also personally experienced the uniqueness of this city.
Streets wide and clean, shops lining both sides, goods in great variety, many things he had never seen even in Konoha.
What surprised him more was chakra lamps clearly placed at some shop doors, even seeing ordinary people using some small device, embedding a crystal emitting faint chakra fluctuation, to activate simple machinery.
“That’s a chakra energy storage device,” Kushina noticed his gaze and explained, a hint of pride in her tone: “Those research institute guys made it; ninjas can pre-charge it, and ordinary people can use some simple chakra devices too—very convenient, right?”
Minato nodded in surprise.
Popularizing and civilianizing chakra like this was unimaginable in Konoha.
Just then, a loud whistle sounded from afar.
Minato looked toward the sound, seeing a steel dragon in the distance roaring along laid tracks, extremely fast!
“That’s…” Minato was shocked once more.
“Thunder Train!” Kushina said with a smile: “This is a large vehicle powered by Lightning Release chakra, which has become the long-distance transportation method in the Land of Stars.”
“It connects the Star Capital and several counties below with main trunk lines, facilitating transportation and personnel movement. I heard the next step is to extend it to the newly occupied Land of Snow.”
Minato watched the departing thunder train, his heart surging with waves.
This country’s development direction and technology application were completely different from the ninja village model he was familiar with.
The endless flow of crowds made him unable to resist asking: “Kushina, how big is this city… I see the population density is very high.”
Kushina thought for a moment and said: “I’m not sure about the exact number, but I heard from Vanilla that the Star Capital’s population has now exceeded five hundred thousand and is still increasing.”
“Five hundred thousand?!” Minato was shocked by this number again.
Konohagakure, as the largest ninja village in the Ninja World, had a population of only around one hundred thousand including all residents.
A city with five hundred thousand people had extremely terrifying management difficulty and required resources!
He immediately thought of a key question: “For a city on such a large scale, how is public security ensured? Does the Land of Stars… have that many ninjas?”
In his understanding, maintaining order inevitably required a large number of ninjas.
Kushina shook her head and began to explain in detail. Clearly, during the time she had lived here, she had already thoroughly understood the Land of Stars’ structure: “The ninjas of the Land of Stars are professional combat personnel formally incorporated into the ‘Star Ninja Army’. Their equipment, training, and even living needs are all handled by special funding from the Land of Stars’ military and political department.”
“Although they occasionally take on tasks such as bandit suppression, escorting important merchant caravans, protecting key figures, and the like, essentially they do not need to take missions themselves to earn rewards to support themselves and their families like Konoha ninjas do.”
She paused, then continued: “Here, being a ninja is more like a profession and an honor. Of course, talented ninjas receive better resources and training, while those with average talent but who work hard, diligently execute tasks, can accumulate ‘points’ and ‘military merits’ to exchange for better ninja tools, higher-level ninjutsu, or even some rare secret technique cultivation methods.”
“What about public security then?” Minato followed Kushina through the crowded crowd, asking.
“Public security maintenance is handled by a profession called ‘police’.” Kushina explained: “They are divided into basic police and special police. Basic police are mostly ordinary people, and a few who can only simply refine chakra with strength roughly equivalent to genin; they handle daily patrols, dispute mediation, and such minor matters.”
“Special police are the elites among them, some even possessing chunin or special jonin level strength, mainly responsible for handling sudden emergencies, such as natural disaster rescue, confronting armed riot groups, and so on. Only when the situation is so severe that special police cannot handle it will the Star Ninja Army be deployed for military action.”
As they spoke, a vehicle with a unique design flashing with blue chakra light slowly passed by them, the clear “police” marking on the vehicle indicating its identity.
The two patrol officers inside sharply scanned the street.
Minato noticed that the surrounding pedestrians would actively and friendly make way for the patrol vehicle, the expressions in their eyes showing not the subtle fear and alienation that Konoha villagers had toward the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force, but a respect and trust from the heart.
This police-civilian relationship felt very novel to him.
Next, Kushina took Minato to many places.
At the training ground of the Star Ninja Ninja Academy, they saw children around ten years old intensely practicing taijutsu and ninjutsu spars, with quite good standards, almost all reaching genin level, which greatly surprised Minato at the Land of Stars’ investment and results in cultivating the next generation.
In the bustling trade district, they saw merchants from the Land of Earth, Land of Wind, Land of Fire, and even distant Land of Water and Land of Lightning bustling about, haggling in different accents, with a dazzling array of goods, displaying the Land of Stars’ active commerce and open attitude.
In the western suburbs of the Star Capital, they saw vast expanses of fertile fields, with many never-before-seen, strangely shaped steel machines working in the fields—plowing, sowing, channeling water—with extremely high efficiency, and some people looking like technical personnel operating nearby or exchanging with farmers.
Even at a large construction site, they saw several ninjas wearing Star Ninja Vests but with armbands marked “Construction Brigade” using Earth Style and Water Style ninjutsu proficiently in coordination with large machinery for foundation reinforcement and water diversion drainage work, using ninjutsu for construction rather than destruction—this scene deeply touched Minato.
They also randomly visited several villages around the Star Capital, seeing similarly busy and hopeful spring plowing scenes, with villagers’ faces full of anticipation for the future.
Minato deeply felt the vigorous vitality contained in this country, that momentum of everything developing upward.
But he keenly felt that something seemed missing here.
He thought carefully and finally realized!
It was that omnipresent, high-and-mighty noble and daimyo class!
Here, he saw no domineering noble masters, no daimyo processions with attendants front and back.
“Kushina, the nobles and daimyo here…” Minato frowned slightly and asked: “Where did they go?”
Kushina’s expression became slightly more serious.
She pulled Minato to a grand building in the center of the Star Capital.
Land of Stars National Museum.
Entering the museum, Minato felt as if he had stepped into a heavy yet magnificent history.
The museum used a large number of artifacts, pictures, and textual materials to detail the history of the nobles and daimyo class in the five countries originally annexed by the Land of Stars: Land of Bears, Land of Demons, Land of Swamps, Land of Shadows, and Land of Snow.
A large portion of the exhibition area specifically displayed items collected from various places recording the extravagant and wasteful lives of nobles and daimyo, as well as stark contrasting evidence of the difficult lives of commoners.
Even more shocking were the many exhibition panels plastered with testimonies and tearful records from countless ordinary people who had stood up at public trials to accuse the nobles’ crimes.
Seizing land, arbitrary taxation, disregard for human life, bullying men and dominating women… each one was bloody and infuriating.
Minato saw some children from ordinary schools, led by their teacher, quietly listening to explanations in front of these exhibition areas.
The teachers did not simply instill hatred; while explaining history, they emphasized guiding the children to think about “why such inequality existed”, “how to build a fairer society”, and continuously instilled in them the new era will of “the world for the public” advocated by the Land of Stars.
This clashed hugely with the education Minato had received since childhood at the Konoha Ninja Academy, which emphasized the Will of Fire, loyalty to the Hokage, and protecting the village.
He instinctively felt that this way of completely negating the old order was somewhat radical, but looking at the evidence before him and the unprecedented vitality shown by the Land of Stars, he could not refute the changes it brought.
Minato recalled what Menma had said: ‘What kind of world will it be after the Ninja World is unified’.
His heart fell into deep contemplation.
After the Ninja World is unified, would it really be a better world as Menma described?
No nobles and daimyo, no divided ninja villages, power used for construction and creation rather than war and destruction…
Could such a world really be achieved?
With chaotic thoughts, the two ended the visit and walked toward home.
However, while passing a relatively quiet street near the military research and development zone on the east bank of the Ghost River, Minato’s powerful perception ability suddenly captured an extremely familiar yet chillingly cold chakra fluctuation!
He abruptly stopped, looking in the direction of the perception.
Not far away, a man—or rather woman—wearing the common white lab coat of Land of Stars researchers, with black long hair, pale skin, and golden snake-like pupils, was handing over several crates marked “Danger” to several Star Ninja Army officers along with some subordinates also in white lab coats.
Although that face was somewhat different, that signature chilling demeanor…
“Orochimaru?!!” Minato Namikaze’s pupils contracted sharply, blurting it out almost involuntarily, his voice filled with incredulous shock.
How could Orochimaru be here?
