Chapter 38 (Patreon)

Sarutobi Hiruzen left the Hokage Tower together with several ANBU.

Minato withdrew his gaze and quietly let out a breath.

The next instant—

Shunshin no Jutsu.

His figure vanished without a trace.

When he appeared again, he was already deep within the forests behind Konoha.

The moment Minato arrived, he saw Yujiro training alone.

Yujiro also sensed Minato’s presence almost immediately. He stopped his training and walked over calmly.

“Congratulations.”

Minato smiled warmly.

“Yujiro, you’re officially the top-ranked student of this year’s class.”

Then he scratched his cheek slightly.

“To celebrate, how about coming over to my place for lunch today? I’ll treat you.”

After saying that, Minato glanced toward Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Izumi nearby.

“Itachi, Izumi, you two should come too.”

Yujiro narrowed his eyes slightly.

He could tell Minato genuinely meant it.

This was not simply because they happened to be standing here together.

Minato clearly had his own thoughts regarding the Uchiha Clan.

“Alright,” Yujiro replied with a faint smile. “Then we’ll take you up on that.”

Then he asked casually,

“Should we buy something before we go?”

“I already prepared everything.”

Minato answered with unusual seriousness.

Other things could be improvised.

But this absolutely could not.

It wasn’t that Kushina’s cooking tasted bad...

Well.

Actually, it was exactly because of that.

If you were inviting guests over, you could not seriously serve them something that looked capable of poisoning a Jōnin.

Half an hour later, everyone arrived at Minato’s home.

The moment Uzumaki Kushina saw Yujiro and the others, her face immediately brightened with a happy smile.

Ever since becoming pregnant, she had very little contact with outsiders.

After all, she was the Kyūbi Jinchūriki.

If news of her pregnancy spread outside the village, it could easily become dangerous.

Everyone knew that during childbirth, the seal binding the Nine-Tails became its weakest.

If another village learned about that...

Things could get troublesome very quickly.

The ninja world was still far from peaceful.

Large-scale wars had stopped for now, but smaller conflicts never truly disappeared.

At the moment, Kushina’s stomach already showed a faint curve beneath her clothes.

Yujiro clicked his tongue inwardly.

Sasuke would be born in July.

Naruto would be born in October.

And now, spring had already arrived.

Which meant...

Konoha’s peaceful days would not last much longer.

Before long, Minato brought all the prepared dishes to the table.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Itadakimasu.”

After lunch, everyone moved to the living room to rest.

Minato went to clean up the dishes while Kushina casually sat down beside Yujiro.

She had heard Minato praise this boy countless times already.

And anyone who could earn Minato’s admiration definitely was not ordinary.

“Ara~”

Kushina leaned closer with a teasing grin.

“Looking carefully now, Yujiro, you’re actually pretty handsome.”

She laughed mischievously.

“I wonder how many girls are going to chase after you in the future. That sounds like a real headache, huh?”

Yujiro looked at Kushina’s carefree smile and could not help chuckling softly.

Then his gaze slowly lowered toward her stomach.

Inside it...

Was the complete Kyūbi.

The true Nine-Tails possessing both Yin and Yang chakra.

A monster overflowing with overwhelming chakra.

Ordinary sealing techniques could never suppress something like that.

Only the powerful sealing arts of the Uzumaki Clan could truly restrain it.

Of course...

The Mangekyō Sharingan could also suppress the Kyūbi.

And Senju Hashirama was simply a different monster altogether.

As for everyone else...

That was difficult to say.

“Naruto.”

At that moment, Minato walked back over with a gentle smile.

“When our child is born, that’ll be his name.”

He said it with a warmth that carried obvious affection.

Yujiro nodded lightly.

“That’s a good name.”

Of course it was.

That name had accompanied an entire generation.

Meanwhile, Kushina quietly stared at Yujiro with a strange expression.

Ever since her pregnancy began, the Kyūbi inside her had become increasingly restless.

As time passed, she could constantly feel the painful pressure from the seal.

But just now—

The moment Yujiro looked toward her stomach—

That painful sensation vanished instantly.

Even Kushina herself found it unbelievable.

The Kyūbi, who usually rampaged endlessly inside the seal, had suddenly gone completely quiet.

Could it really be because of Yujiro?

At that moment—

Inside Kushina’s spiritual world.

“Oi, Kyūbi...”

Kushina looked toward the enormous fox curiously.

The massive Nine-Tails was lying quietly behind the seal.

Countless chains wrapped tightly around its body.

The Uzumaki Clan’s sealing technique—

The Adamantine Sealing Chains.

“That’s rare,” Kushina said while crossing her arms. “You’re unusually quiet today.”

“What? You preferred the pain instead?”

The Kyūbi opened one eye lazily.

“Then why’d you suddenly stop earlier?” Kushina asked suspiciously.

“Hmph. Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”

The Nine-Tails turned its head away.

“Tell me anyway! Maybe I will.”

Kushina immediately pressed on.

After several seconds of silence, the Kyūbi finally narrowed its eyes.

“That brat named Yujiro…”

“There’s something inside him.”

“A power that doesn’t belong to this world.”

Kushina blinked.

“Eh?”

Then she tilted her head curiously.

“So compared to you, which is stronger?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions!”

The Kyūbi roared instantly.

“Of course I’m stronger!”

Its voice shook the entire mental space.

But after a moment, the giant fox slowly became quiet again.

Its massive eyes narrowed slightly.

“...For now.”

“I can feel it.”

“If the power inside that brat fully erupts one day…”

The Kyūbi suddenly stopped speaking.

No matter how much Kushina continued asking afterward, it refused to say another word.

There was no way it would openly admit that one day, Yujiro might actually become a threat even to it.

At least not now.

For the time being, it still needed to wait for Kushina’s seal to weaken further and gather its strength.

Meanwhile, outside—

Yujiro was completely unaware that his unconscious perception had already reduced Kushina’s suffering.

Just now, he had only instinctively sensed the Kyūbi’s existence.

A massive, violent mass of chakra and consciousness.

Right now, he absolutely could not defeat something like that.

Which meant—

He needed to unlock the Third Limiter as quickly as possible.

Otherwise...

When the Kyūbi incident finally arrived—

What strength would he have to protect the people around him?

Thinking that far, Yujiro’s desire to grow stronger deepened once again.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Looks like...

It was finally time to stop hiding so much.