Inside the sealing space, Minato watched Naruto, a hint of worry in his eyes. "Naruto," he said softly. "are you sure about this? Maybe you should reconsider."
Before Naruto could answer, a low growl rumbled from the Nine-Tails at his side. "Minato," Kurama said, his voice laced with impatience, "you've known the brat this long. Does he strike you as the type to listen to anyone?"
Naruto stayed quiet, a silent agreement with Kurama's assessment. Minato sighed, trying again. "If you're discovered, you'll be marked a rogue ninja."
"Hahaha, Minato," Kurama chuckled, cutting him off again. The great fox bared a row of sharp, white fangs, regarding Minato with amused disdain. "With Naruto's power now, do you really think he'd care about being labelled 'missing-nin'?" He scoffed. "Or are you trying to say there's anyone left in Konoha who could actually stop him?"
Minato fell silent. Kurama was right. He had seen it himself these past few weeks, Naruto's power was growing at a terrifying rate, the kind of progress you could practically watch unfold day by day.
Just as Kurama said, there wasn't a single person in Konoha who could stand against him now. In fact, finding anyone in the entire shinobi world capable of rivaling Naruto would be incredibly difficult. The Third Hokage couldn't, Danzo couldn't, and Konoha's two advisors were even less of a threat.
And that was just Naruto alone. With Kurama's chakra added to the mix... if Naruto truly decided to turn on the Konoha, no one would be safe. The destruction they could unleash would dwarf what the Nine-Tails had done on its own.
"Don't say that, Kurama," Naruto said, pulling on a plain black jumpsuit. He slipped a spiral mask, just like Obito's, over his face, the hood concealing his tell-tale blond hair. "I do still care about being a wanted man... by Konoha. At least, I do for now."
A faint smile touched his lips beneath the mask. "If getting caught makes me a rogue, then the answer is simple. I just won't get caught." He turned to the silent Minato. "You'll help me, right?"
Minato hesitated for a moment but then gave a slow, deliberate nod. He couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Naruto's plan was to leave the village for a while, not by going through the standard channels with the Third Hokage, as that would never work, but by using Minato's Flying Thunder God. It was a plan he'd been sitting on for a while, just waiting for the right time to put it into action.
Leaving the village wasn't a simple matter for a jinchuriki. You couldn't just bat your eyes or sweet-talk the Third Hokage, he'd never agree no matter what, and neither would Danzo, despite the facade he put on around Naruto.
The procedures were incredibly strict, governed by layers of protocol regarding when and where a jinchuriki could travel. From a village leader's perspective, what would you think of village's ultimate weapon suddenly going missing?
As Minato himself pointed out, it was grounds for being marked as a rogue ninja. Jinchuriki were like living weapons, allowing one to wander freely risked international incidents.
Imagine a jinchuriki from another land just showing up in your territory, it felt like a declaration of war, like someone dropping a bomb on your doorstep.
Sunagakure must have paid heavy concessions to allow Gaara to 'perform' in Chunin exams during Konoha Crush. Sure they might've claimed it to be for getting economic boost along with Rasa constantly monitoring Gaara, with Danzo not being able to resist the easy intelligence available from having Suna's jinchuriki performing in Konoha.
This was why jinchuriki management was the highest priority for every major hidden village. Though, admittedly, some villages were better at it than others.
If a jinchuriki died abroad and the tailed beast escaped, weaker villages could often only accept their misfortune and hope to reclaim it before anyone else did.
Short, temporary trips or day-long excursions were one thing. Naruto often zipped off to the Land of Whirlpools, for instance. But this wasn't a casual visit. This time, his destination was Kusagakure, in Land of Grass.
It all came back to Naruto's earlier point: if he wasn't discovered, it wouldn't matter. It was like cheating on a test, if you didn't get caught, it was effectively the same as if you hadn't cheated at all.
'True Shadow Clone!' Naruto formed the familiar hand seal, fingers crossed. *Poof!* Another Naruto materialized beside him.
'Kurama,' Naruto thought, and inside the sealing space, Kurama gave a slow nod.
A moment later, a layer of fiery red chakra shimmered into existence around the clone, forming a three-tailed tailed beast cloak. It faded just as quickly, but the power hadn't vanished, it had simply been infused into the clone's body.
Three tails worth of power. This clone wasn't going to pop anytime soon, not until Naruto himself returned. Unless it took truly critical damage, not even a Byakugan user would sense anything out of the ordinary.
Naruto might have lacked talent for elemental jutsu, but his proficiency with Transformation Jutsu and Shadow Clones was absurd, perhaps matched only by his raw taijutsu power and proficiency of Ki.
The Harem and Reverse Harem Jutsus he'd invented, despite being simple transformations, could even fool sensor ninja.
He'd even managed to deceive Obito and Itachi, who possessed Mangakyo Sharingan, in their recent battle. But his Shadow Clone Jutsu was where his true genius lay. His 'True Shadow Clone' series, a fusion of Ki and Chakra mixed in specific proportions, resulted in clones far more resilient than standard ones.
They lasted indefinitely, limited only by their internal chakra supply, and had no distance constraints. While those were impressive upgrades, the true advantage was that True Shadow Clones could create more standard clones, effectively allowing someone with Naruto's immense chakra reserves to create an infinite army.
Most critically, the True Shadow Clone could house the conscious mind of another person or even a tailed beast, exactly what Minato was about to do.
The 'favor' Naruto had asked Minato for was simple: impersonation.
"Get me out of the village," Naruto instructed the clone now hosting Minato's consciousness.
The clone nodded. In a flash of yellow, the Flying Thunder God activated. Both the masked Naruto and the clone vanished. When the light faded an instant later, only the clone remained, now piloted by the consciousness of the Minato.
After Naruto was gone, Minato walked to the windowsill. He closed his eyes, feeling it all, the thick, lingering malice that clung to the air in this apartment, the hostile gazes that still found their way here. He opened them again, his sight drifting to the Hokage Rock. His eyes settled on his own carved face.
He stared for a long moment, and a shadow crossed his normally bright, clear blue eyes, gone as quickly as it appeared. So much time had passed, and in many ways, Konoha remained the same. But seeing it from this side, from Naruto's side... it felt alien. It was as if he were seeing the village for the very first time.
The gentleness in his expression receded completely, leaving behind a hard, focused edge.
'Some things', he thought, 'still need protecting... in my own way.'
--**--**
Narrator:
In the mindscape of the Jinchuriki, a hushed conversation unfolds...
Minato, the deceased Fourth Hokage and part-time conscience, tries to gently warn his son about the dangers of becoming a rogue ninja.
But Kurama, full-time nuclear deterrent and part-time life coach, reminds everyone that consequences don't really apply when you can level mountains by sneezing.
And Naruto? Already packing a mask and a black jumpsuit. Ready to wreck havoc and create ruckus.
Minato, The Hokage who once lit up the battlefield with yellow flashes? He now watches over the village not as a hero... but as a ghost with unfinished business.
Who will discover the deception first? How long can Minato maintain the ruse? And what does Naruto seek in Kusagakure... that he'd risk being labeled a traitor, especially with that disguise?
Find out next time on...
"Minato: From Fourth Hokage to Full-Time Clone Cosplayer!"
===============
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