He didn't even have the reaction a father should have when his child is being bullied.
Does being a Hokage mean sacrificing your own child for the Villagers?
Look at that Old Monkey, he only knows how to play favorites!
"I'm telling you, I'm not going out to cause trouble for those ignorant Villagers."
"I'm going to settle scores with the Old Monkey."
Kushina still explained.
"What's wrong with Third Hokage-sama?" Minato Namikaze was stunned.
The Nine-Tailed remembered that the Third Hokage was one of the few people who had always been kind to Naruto.
"What's wrong with the Old Monkey?"
Kushina sneered repeatedly, pouring out everything she had seen in the diary.
Of course, she didn't mention the diary, nor did she read from it, but told it in her own words, yet she spoke so convincingly that those who listened almost believed seven-tenths of it.
Minato Namikaze was able to become the Fourth Hokage, so he was certainly not a political simpleton. With Kushina's hint, he immediately understood that the matter was true.
He clenched his fists tightly, his face full of anger.
"Hmph—" Minato Namikaze took a deep breath, suppressing his anger and asked, "Kushina, where did you hear about these things?"
He knew in his heart that Kushina was never a meticulous person, let alone when she was in such a fit of rage.
Even he himself hadn't noticed these problems, yet Kushina could discover them. This was too strange.
Whether it was about the Third Hokage or Obito Uchiha.
Kushina was either in the Pure Land or here. Where on earth did she learn about it?
And her ability to exist continuously now was also very unusual.
"Minato, you've disappointed me too much."
Kushina slowly closed her eyes, a bitter smile on her lips, but her eyes were full of anger.
At this moment, instead of seeking justice for her son, instead of confronting Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was asking irrelevant questions.
What could be more important than the suffering her son endured for thirteen years?
"Kushina, I'm afraid you're being deceived, being used as a pawn." Minato Namikaze explained, glancing at the Nine-Tailed.
The Nine-Tailed immediately felt extremely wronged.
It had only been beaten by Kushina for a day!
If it weren't for the uncertainty about Kushina's situation, it would have already started cursing.
"Being provoked and used?" Kushina sneered in response, "Fourth Hokage-sama, tell me, a person who can let me not worry about Chakra consumption, a person who can save me from the Shinigami without sealing, what can he deceive me or use me for?"
"Such a person, can't even destroy Konoha, and can't kill the Old Monkey?"
"I'm just going out to seek justice for Naruto."
Minato Namikaze was speechless for a moment, but still tried to calm himself down: "Anyway, I think..."
"Stop with 'anyway', stop being so self-righteous..." Kushina interrupted him directly, her voice full of exhaustion: "These past two days I've been thinking, endlessly thinking, whether the decision we made that day was correct."
"Now it seems, it was a huge mistake."
"Without parental protection, which Village, which Third Hokage, your master Jiraiya, and Kakashi, which one truly appeared in Naruto's life?"
"Don't talk to me about hidden circumstances, the big picture, the Village. It's my child who is suffering."
"If you said something useful, even if you scolded me, I'd be happy, but you didn't, instead you tried to persuade me."
"Fourth Hokage-sama, I feel like I've never truly understood you."
Kushina felt that she might have been too emotional before. She and Minato Namikaze had fundamental, irreconcilable differences in some principles and beliefs.
"I'll ask you one last time, for Naruto, are you willing to help?" Kushina asked seriously.
"Kushina, I..." Minato Namikaze looked conflicted, and ultimately chose silence.
He had his own ideas, and he didn't feel that he was wrong.
"Fine."
Kushina gritted her teeth and spat out two words.
She had never imagined that Lin Mo, an outsider, would be so enraged by Naruto's situation, even threatening to give Naruto a good time and show the Third Hokage and Danzo what's what.
In contrast, Minato Namikaze, as a father, was still there considering some 'big picture'.
It was utterly ridiculous.
How could the difference between people be so vast?
"On this matter, you have your considerations, and as Hokage, you have your stance. We don't need to argue about who is right or wrong."
"But if you really intend to stand on the side of that so-called 'big picture', then you are not worthy of being Naruto's father anymore."
"Just you wait and see!"
"I will seek justice for my son, Uzumaki Naruto!"
When she said the two words "Uzumaki," Kushina was especially solemn.
After speaking, she turned and glared at the Nine-Tailed, her eyes filled with menace.
"Ku..." Minato Namikaze felt something was wrong and was about to speak.
But in the blink of an eye, he found that his surroundings had changed completely, and he was in a damp sewer.
"Nine-Tailed, what are you doing!?" Minato Namikaze turned around, glaring at the Nine-Tailed with wide eyes.
"The big sister boss (term of respect/familiarity) told me to bring you here. If you have an opinion, keep it to yourself." The Nine-Tailed lay behind the iron gate, looking at him askance with a sneer.
Seeing Minato Namikaze's angry expression, the Nine-Tailed felt that the frustration it had experienced from being beaten by Kushina earlier was now much relieved.
"Send me back!"
"Heh heh, you can go back by activating your Chakra yourself." The Nine-Tailed sneered.
"Damn it!" Minato Namikaze's face changed drastically.
The Nine-Tailed was even more amused by this, and extended a finger, drawing it forward.
The water surface beneath Minato Namikaze's feet immediately rippled, eventually forming a whirlpool, revealing the scene on Kushina's side.
"Actually, you didn't need to expend Chakra to bring Naruto over."
"I just wanted to see what your reaction would be once you knew about it."
"As it turns out, you still disappointed me, Fourth Hokage-sama."
Kushina seemed to be talking to herself. After speaking, she activated her Chakra.
After experimenting for most of the day, she found that the "Infinite Energy" magic blessing allowed her to use Chakra for anything without restraint.
As long as she returned to Naruto's body and sealed her Chakra before midnight tonight, she wouldn't disappear.
"Boom!"
A not-too-large surge of Chakra began to continuously impact the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. Although the amount was not large, it could regenerate endlessly.
Before long, a thin crack appeared on the seal, and this Chakra seeped out, directly connecting with the Chakra inside Naruto's body.
"Huh?"
In Naruto's apartment, Lin Mo had long since disappeared.
Naruto sat at the table, opening his instant noodles, ready to eat.
Just then, he suddenly felt his stomach getting hotter and hotter, so he lifted his shirt to take a look.
As he was completely bewildered, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed. He found himself in a radiant world. Not far away, a red-haired woman was looking at him with tears in her eyes, crying as she walked towards him.
"You..."
The woman's crying made Naruto's heart inexplicably ache.
Just as he was about to ask, the woman had already walked up to him, hugged him tightly, and sobbed: "Naruto, I am your mother, Uzumaki Kushina."
Mother? Mother!?
Naruto was stunned.
After a long while, he asked woodenly: "Mother, why are you crying?"
He didn't ask why he was an orphan, nor what was happening now, nor did he question Kushina's identity. Instead, he first cared about her emotions.
At this moment, Kushina felt even more guilty about her decision. Her hatred for Obito Uchiha and Danzo, her anger towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, and her coldness towards Minato Namikaze all intensified.
"Naruto, Mommy missed you. Mommy is so happy to see you!" Kushina had Naruto sit down, wiped away her tears, and then smiled.
Naruto's heart experienced a series of emotional fluctuations: confusion, incomprehension, doubt, surprise, and finally, only immense happiness remained.
He had countless questions he wanted to ask, but Kushina was not in a hurry, patiently answering each one.
At the same time, Lin Mo had already returned home and was teaching Hinata how to cook.
But his mind was not on this; instead, he once again doubted the nature of this world.
The scene of Hinata, Ino, Kurenai Yuhi, and Anko, the four women, getting along harmoniously in his home, made him feel particularly unreal.
Logically, Hinata should care about Naruto, and Ino should care about Sasuke.
And Kurenai Yuhi, Anko, and Yūgao Uzuki originally had no connection.
But now they had suddenly become good friends and had come to his house to eat together.
If it were a dream, it would be fine, but this was happening in reality, which was truly strange.
Could it be that he had entered the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Because he had always longed for a harem, his wish came true?
But the fact that he could remember this made it feel wrong.
Moreover, with Naruto and Sasuke around, the Infinite Tsukuyomi would eventually be broken, so there was no need to worry too much.
He also suspected that the contents of the diary might have been seen by others, triggering a chain reaction.
But upon careful consideration, he felt it was unlikely.
Putting himself in their shoes, if he were any of Hinata or the others, after seeing the contents of the diary, knowing the secrets of this world, and his identity as a transmigrator, would they foolishly make abnormal moves and be discovered by him?
Certainly not. They would first cautiously probe and slowly gather clues.
Once they understood some information about the "future," they might take action, but they would definitely not appear directly in front of him to assert their presence in a short time, to avoid attracting his attention.
Ugh, this really doesn't feel right!
Unless, getting close to that guy could net them some huge advantage, otherwise, who would do this?
But is that possible, a pie falling from the sky?
"I say, is this diary really only visible to me?" Lin Mo muttered to the diary in his heart.
The diary remained silent and directly opened to the first page.
It clearly stated: "This diary is exclusive to the author, can be flipped, read, and recorded, and there are rewards to be had."
Alright, it was indeed his secret.
"Could it be that I'm just overthinking things myself?"
Lin Mo always felt that something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
After pondering for a long time, he decided to be more cautious, lest he be foolishly tricked without even knowing it.
"Aha, I got it!"
Lin Mo's mind raced, and he immediately wrote down all his recent thoughts in the diary, secretly glancing at the expressions of the four girls at home.
Upon closer inspection, they all seemed quite normal.
That girl Anko, being very familiar, was sprawled out on the bed, one hand propping her head, the other flipping through a manga, chewing on candy.
Ino and Kurenai Yuhi were chatting about flowers on the balcony, with Ino doing most of the talking.
Hinata was busy cooking in the kitchen.
"No reaction doesn't mean nothing's wrong. I need to observe more." Lin Mo felt it was better to be safe than sorry.
But little did he know, Kurenai Yuhi and the others, as well as Tsunade and Mei Terumī, were incredibly nervous in their hearts, it was beyond words.
[Anko (Streamer Identity)]: How is this guy's thought process so peculiar? Thinking so much, and always looking at me. Sisters, my legs are shaking, what should I do?
[Hinata Hyuga]: Anko (Streamer Identity)-nee, why don't you change your posture? Lin Mo-sensei keeps looking at you, maybe it's that part of you... it's noticeably plump.
Kurenai Yuhi and Ino Yamanaka: "..."
Anko, stop messing around, we're about to burst.
Still in Lin Mo's Konoha apartment.
Anko was lying on the bed when suddenly a long snake emerged from behind her and flicked its tongue at her face.
She looked up from her book in confusion and followed her gaze to Lin Mo.
Seeing Lin Mo truly staring at her, she paused, a blush rising on her face, and quickly sat up, tugging at her skirt, and chided: "Lin Mo-kun, you're not being very gentlemanly."
"I just don't know how to tell you." Lin Mo said with a serious expression.
To be honest, he never expected that Anko, who seemed so carefree, bold, and usually dressed quite provocatively, actually liked pink.
So, Anko had a little princess living in her heart?
This contrast was truly baffling.
"You're the only man here, can't you just not look?" Anko waved her fist, but the threat was like a tickle.
Lin Mo stroked his chin and said thoughtfully: "You're right, but this is my home."
The implication was, I can look wherever I want.
Anko immediately bristled, changing her sitting posture: "I'm a girl, you should at least show me some respect."
How could you say something like that with such righteous indignation?
Lin Mo nodded slightly and continued: "But this is my home, after all!"
"Just because it's your home, you can do whatever you want?"
"Yes." Lin Mo said seriously, "In my home, I can do as I please. Anko, you'd best not do anything that puts me in an awkward position, otherwise, I don't know what I might do."
"You're simply unreasonable." Anko looked like she was on the verge of collapsing.
At this moment, Hinata quietly asked: "Lin Mo-sensei, what's the situation now?"
Lin Mo turned his head to glance and immediately said: "It's almost done, you can reduce it over high heat now."
Seeing that he no longer paid attention to her, Anko could only sit there and sulk.
But in reality, her thoughts had returned to the diary's copy.
[Anko Mitarashi]11: Sisters, how do you think my acting was this time?
[Kurenai Yuhi]: You said "take" the group? The numbers are arranged quite well... I meant Lil' Red (the summoning snake).
[Ino Yamanaka]: Hehe, pretty realistic.
[Hinata Hyuga]: Hmm, group chat consumes Chakra, let's talk about serious business first.
[Yūgao Uzuki]: Hinata is right, everyone be serious, don't let Lin Mo-kun find out.
That's right, the five girls were currently in a group chat.
At noon today, Anko treated them to sweet soup, and all five of them took out their diaries and added each other as friends.
After chatting, they found they could create a group, but group chats consumed more Chakra.