The wind whipped through the leaves of the forest as two figures dashed between the trees at inhuman speed.
"Faster, Minato! A ninja of your level shouldn't be losing to gravity!" shouted Jiraiya, a proud grin on his face.
The young blond-haired boy, barely a teenager, clenched his teeth and pushed forward. His feet barely touched the branches, his hands already forming complex mudras. A flurry of kunai shot out, followed by a brilliant teleportation jutsu.
Jiraiya suddenly found himself hanging upside down by his ankles, caught in an improvised trap.
"Well played, little genius..." he chuckled, upside down.
The scene changed.
Explosions thundered. Lightning tore through the black sky. The ground was soaked in blood and ash. Minato sliced through enemy lines at a speed no one could follow. The Kumo ninjas, terrified, had no time to react before being cut down.
"The Yellow Flash of Konoha... he's here!"
His gaze was cold, his blade stained red. Around him, many Konoha comrades fell, but he advanced without hesitation. To protect Konoha—even if it meant sacrificing himself.
Three years later...
Time sped up. A crowd roared a name.
"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!"
Minato, draped in the white cloak, the Hokage hat upon his head, stood proudly on the monument. His eyes overlooked the village. He had become what he had always dreamed of.
...
The setting sun bathed Konoha's rooftops in golden light. Minato, now Hokage at just 24 years old, walked home lightly, the weight of his duties fading at the thought of seeing her again.
Suddenly, a soft hand slipped into his. He turned—and saw her: Kushina, more radiant than ever, her crimson hair blazing like a sunset, her smile as bright as the day he saved her from Kumo.
"Minato..." she whispered, her eyes full of tenderness.
Before he could respond, she rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek gently.
"You're going to be a father."
The world seemed to freeze.
Minato's heart clenched, his breath caught in a wave of pure joy. A sincere smile lit up his face. Without a word, he pulled her close, wrapping her in a warm embrace, as if to shield her from everything once again.
"We're going to have a baby..." he repeated, voice trembling with emotion.
Kushina instantly blushed, her tsundere side resurfacing.
"H-Hey, don't make that stupid face!" she stammered, giving him a light punch on the shoulder, unable to hide her own smile. "It's not like I'm happy or anything, baka!"
Minato laughed out loud, his clear laugh echoing through Konoha's streets. He lifted her in his arms like he used to, spinning her under the orange sky.
"I love you, Kushina."
"Y-You're so annoying." But her eyes, glittering with joyful tears, betrayed the truth.
Suddenly, a crack split the sky.
The world shattered like a mirror.
Screams. An apocalyptic roar.
The Kyūbi rampaged through Konoha, waves of destructive chakra erupting in all directions. Minato, panting, stood atop a ruined building. He had repelled Madara, but the Kyūbi remained uncontrollable. He was injured, exhausted, covered in blood.
"I agree with Hiruzen-sama..." he murmured.
His fingers trembled as he held Kushina in his arms, weakened.
"We must sacrifice ourselves for the village..."
A Bijūdama swirled on the horizon, ready to annihilate everything.
He cast one last glance at the baby wrapped in a blanket.
I'm sure he'll protect Naruto…
Light engulfed him.
But he did not vanish.
No.
He floated in a void, a silent spectator. His hands were intangible, his feet touched nothing. And yet he saw—he was now just a soul.
A boy, poorly dressed, cheeks dirty, eyes sad, walked through the alleys of Konoha. Mocking laughter. Hateful stares. Venomous whispers.
An adult threw a rotten apple at his face. A woman screamed at him to stay away from her child. Then…
A civilian spat in his face.
The boy didn't react. He just wiped it off—like he was used to it—and smiled stupidly, shouting he'd become Hokage.
Minato felt his heart freeze.
"That's strange... why does everyone hate him? I can feel the Kyūbi's chakra in him," he whispered. "The last Jinchūriki I knew was Kushina. And before her, Mito-sama..."
He moved closer.
Then he saw the eyes. Blue. Just like his.
He saw the hair. The face.
And he understood.
"No… that's… Naruto?!"
An invisible blade pierced his chest.
He saw a decaying paper on a shabby door: Apartment of Naruto Uzumaki.
He saw expired noodles on a table. Torn clothes. No smiles. No photos of him or his wife.
"Why... why didn't anyone tell him?"
He remembered how he and Kushina had died sealing the Kyūbi in their son.
"Why didn't anyone tell him he's my son?"
Minato felt his heart shatter. He wanted to reach out, scream, protect the little boy wiping his face in silence—but he was just a ghost, trapped in this vision.
Fragments of information reached him, like shards of broken glass: after his and Kushina's death, Hiruzen had taken everything. Their home, their belongings, their legacy.
Naruto, orphaned, lived in a slum, eating expired ramen, rejected by the village Minato had died to protect. A quiet fury rose in him—a storm he could no longer contain.
Hiruzen... why?
He had trusted him. Trusted his wisdom. His promise to care for Naruto.
But the vision shifted again.
Minato saw Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, speaking to Naruto.
"The Will of Fire, Naruto, is what makes us shinobi of Konoha," he said, his paternal tone hiding a calculating glint in his eyes.
Minato was horrified.
Hiruzen was no different from Danzō. Both manipulated and used others for their own ends. They wanted to shape Naruto, use him as a weapon—just as they had done with him and Kushina.
"Damn it…" Minato murmured, his voice trembling with rage and despair. "If only I had a chance…"
He wanted to return, to change things, to protect his son.
But he was dead, condemned to watch, powerless.
The vision cracked one final time, like a shattered mirror. A blinding light swallowed him—and Minato, now in the body of a twelve-year-old boy, woke up with a jolt, breath ragged, drenched in sweat.
He was in his bed. In Konoha.
The room was quiet, bathed in pale moonlight.
He placed a hand on his forehead, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Was it… a dream?" he whispered, eyes staring at the ceiling.
But the images were seared into his mind.
Was it just a nightmare… or a warning?
A vision of a future he could still change?
Minato rose slowly and walked to the window.
"It can't be the future… right!?"