Kushina's barrage of soul-crushing questions finally broke through Minato's defenses.
His expression dimmed, his eyes lost their light, and his whole being seemed to fall into a daze.
"Yeah, why exactly... Master Jiraiya, Kakashi..."
"Why could you watch my child go hungry, watch him rummage through trash for food, and let him be cursed at..."
"Third Hokage... didn't you say you would sacrifice yourself to light the way for future generations..."
"Is my descendant not considered a sprout of Konoha..."
"What exactly... did I protect..."
As he questioned himself, Minato's figure began to blur.
The Chakra composing his body inexplicably began to dissipate at a rapid pace.
"Using death to escape responsibility, you really are so cowardly it makes me sick..."
Along with the sound of a voice, Lock appeared in front of the two.
Reaching out to press against Minato's chest, pure yang attribute Chakra was funneled into Minato's body.
The body that had been gradually dissipating and becoming illusory quickly solidified once more.
"No, it's not like that, I just lost my way for a moment."
Hearing Lock say he hated him, Minato hurriedly explained himself.
He then stared blankly at Lock, regret surfacing on his face.
"Actually, I was wrong from the very beginning."
"I shouldn't have left such a heavy burden to you, expecting you to be the child of prophecy and recklessly intending for you to deal with that masked man."
"Imposing expectations that I failed to achieve onto the next generation—and a parentless next generation at that—I really am a failure of a father."
"I'm truly sorry. If you want to blame someone, blame me. This was all my own decision; it has nothing to do with your mother."
Minato's monologue and self-reproach also awakened Kushina, who had been affected by those painful memories nearby.
She understood that blaming each other or regretting now was completely useless.
The main thing was what Lock intended to do and how they could make amends.
Thinking this, Kushina took Minato's hand again.
She wanted to reach out for Lock with her other hand, but she stopped in mid-air.
"Minato, it's not just you; I'm also at fault. We were both foolish to believe Hiruzen Sarutobi's lies."
"He clearly said he would treat our child as a hero of the Village and give him the treatment of a hero."
"In the end, it was nothing more than a deception."
"Now I understand, too. From the moment you became the Fourth Hokage, you were just a puppet in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands."
"While he retreated behind the scenes, he firmly controlled the Anbu, while you only had a few personal guards."
"You even had to report to him and get his approval before doing anything."
"Back then, I thought it was because he was worried you were young and afraid you'd make mistakes."
"Looking back now, he just couldn't bear to let go of power and wanted a powerful, useful puppet."
"And after we died, he treated our child the same way he treated you, using him as the next useful puppet."
In truth, Minato had long since sensed it without Kushina having to say it.
But because he had been brainwashed by the will of fire for so long, he had been playing dumb, holding onto expectations for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But in the end, it was clear that by playing dumb, he had become a true fool.
The Nine-Tailed, who had been sealed inside Kushina's body, was also very clear about what happened during Minato's time as Hokage.
It immediately began gloating from the side: "This old man guessed back then that you would be played to death by that Third Hokage."
"After all, one was a complete idiot, and the other was brainwashed by that will of fire nonsense."
"Shut up!" Mocked by the Nine-Tailed, Kushina angrily pinched the ear of Minato next to her.
Minato's expression twisted in pain.
But he didn't dare cry out or resist, letting Kushina vent her anger.
Only after he felt the pressure on his ear loosen did he immediately speak up to change the subject.
"Lock, is there anything you need us to do later?"
"Rest assured, the Yondaime who lived for the Village is dead. Now, only a father named Minato Namikaze remains."
"Me too!" Kushina immediately echoed.
"Even if you want me to help you destroy Konoha Village, I won't even blink!"
After experiencing that dark, suffocating life, Kushina no longer had any goodwill toward the Village.
However, this was a normal person's reaction.
Unlike Naruto, who was abnormally influenced by Ashura's Chakra.
"I do need you to do some things, but not right now. You just need to follow my arrangements."
Lock planned to have the two of them go to Six-Star Village later to prepare for the future revenge against Konoha Village.
Of course, this revenge was never as simple as just killing people.
Death iseasys, but a fate worse than death is not.
Only by making the people of Konoha Village wish they were dead could the ten-plus years of painful memories be eased!
"I understand." Minato nodded, then remembered something and asked.
"Between you and Naruto, who exactly is the primary personality?"
"And what did you mean by what you said to the Nine-Tailed earlier?"
Kushina, who was beside him, also had a face full of curiosity, pricking up her ears to wait for Lock's answer.
"What I said before was literal. I am the primary personality."
Lock spoke without blushing or breathing hard, looking as if it were a matter of fact.
The Nine-Tailed on the side also smacked its lips and provided an assist.
"Given Lock's terrifying talent, he is indeed the primary personality who perfectly inherited both of your talents."
"The one outside, to be honest, if his personality didn't somewhat resemble yours, he'd really seem like an impostor."
Minato nodded and asked thoughtfully.
"Since you are the primary personality, why can't you control the body, and why are you restricted?"
"Because I gave up the body when I was young, then hid myself away to bear all the pain."
Lock had long prepared his rhetoric, which was also the rhetoric he planned to use on Naruto later.
"You've experienced those memories, so you should know very well how much I hated those people when I was little."
"But no matter how much I hated them, there was nothing I could do. Plus, because of the Village, that hatred was very detrimental to my survival."
"So I actively gave birth to a naive and pure personality to let him lull the Third, Danzo, and those people into a false sense of security."
"While I bore all the pain alone, biding my time until I was strong enough to protect this body."
Hearing Lock's calm narration, both Minato and Kushina fell into silence.
It was indeed as Lock said. If it weren't for Naruto's optimistic and kind personality...
Perhaps the Third wouldn't have just relied on the will of fire to brainwash him; there might have been other restrictive measures.
"Then can we call the Naruto outside in and tell him everything too?"
"In any case, with your current strength, there's absolutely no need to fear the Third or Danzo."
Whether it was the primary personality or the sub-personality, they were both their children in the end.
Especially Kushina; even if she couldn't embrace Lock, being able to hug Naruto would be very nice.
"Now is not the time. Besides,some special things are affectingg Naruto's personality."
"I'm thinking of a way to clear them; you don't need to worry about these things."
What a joke. Lock would certainly not bring Naruto in.
And then give him three massive cheats to make him not rely on himself!
Even if he were to find out, that would have to wait until the trust and dependence value reached 80% and he became the master.
Suddenly, Kushina, who had focused her attention outside, cried out in surprise.
"Naruto is actually with that big pervert Jiraiya!"
"And it looks like the big pervert Jiraiya is heavily injured and has fainted!"
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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