“Poor kid,” Konan said, shaking her head at Naruto’s dejected look. “Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the second Nine-Tails Jinchūriki from Konoha. This place was her hometown. As for your father, the entire ninja world knows him as the Yellow Flash of Konoha. He was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Naruto Uzumaki, you are not a demon fox causing calamities; you are the son of Konoha’s hero.”
What?
Konan’s words left Naruto wide-eyed and stunned, his mind buzzing as if a bomb had gone off.
Fuu, nearby, was equally shocked. “Wow, you’re the son of the Hokage? That’s amazing. Gaara over there is also the son of a Kage, but he seems to hate his father. And like your father, his father is also dead.”
Fuu glanced between Naruto and Gaara, finding their backgrounds strikingly similar.
“Hmph,” Gaara snorted, releasing a burst of killing intent far beyond his years. Fuu shivered and hid behind Konan, making a face at Gaara. Despite his irritation at being compared to Naruto, Gaara was intrigued upon learning Naruto was both the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the Hokage’s son. He sensed a destructive power within Naruto, one that, if unleashed, would be terrifying.
After a long silence, Naruto finally spoke. He thought the woman in front of him must be lying. The reason was simple.
“If what you’re saying is true, why didn’t anyone ever tell me about my parents? The Third Hokage often visited me; he was the kindest person in the village. But even he said I was an orphan…”
Naruto stared at Konan, seriously questioning her.
Konan responded with a cold laugh. “Because you’ve been deceived by that old man. You’re called a demon fox because your father, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the Nine-Tails inside you, making you the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Naruto, you’ve been living a life full of lies and discrimination, while a few crumbs of kindness from Konoha’s higher-ups made you grateful and trusting. This allowed the Third Hokage to keep you, the Jinchūriki, firmly under his control.”
As an outsider, Konan saw Naruto’s ostracism in Konoha as orchestrated by the Third Hokage. After all, no one but the Hokage had the power to alter public perception and memory, turning Konoha against the hero’s son.
“No, the Third Hokage is a good person. I don’t believe he would do that,” Naruto insisted, shaking his head. But deep down, doubt began to take root, especially after his two instances of going berserk. Even Naruto couldn’t ignore the fact that something dangerous was inside him.
Is the Third Hokage a good person? Konan sighed, deciding to reveal the whole truth to Naruto.
“Do you know why the Third Hokage ordered your true heritage to be kept secret? There are rumors that he coveted power and intentionally kept the ANBU and the Uchiha clan from intervening during the Nine-Tails incident. This left your parents to face the Nine-Tails alone, leading them to sacrifice themselves for the village. The person responsible for your parents’ death is the very person you trust most—the Third Hokage. His kindness was driven by guilt and fear that one day you would learn the truth and seek revenge.”
Konan’s words began to dismantle Naruto’s understanding. His memories of the Third Hokage, always smiling kindly, suddenly became monstrous.
Naruto struggled to accept this. “I need to ask the Third Hokage myself,” he declared, jumping off the bed and running past Konan out the door.
However, outside, Naruto found not the familiar Konoha village but a wasteland. Everywhere he looked, ruins bathed in the crimson light of sunset radiate desolation.
Konan followed him out. “I forgot to mention, Konoha lost the war. It’s been occupied by the four great ninja villages. Your Third Hokage is now a fugitive, hiding who knows where. Finding him to ask questions won’t be easy.”
“Then…where are we?” Naruto asked, bewildered.
“This is Uzushiogakure, your mother Kushina Uzumaki’s childhood home and the ancestral land of the Uzumaki clan,” Konan explained, walking to a corner and brushing away cobwebs to reveal the red spiral symbol on the wall.
Naruto recognized the symbol. He had seen it on his clothes and the uniforms of Konoha’s ninja.
“This is the clan emblem of the Uzumaki clan, once Konoha’s allies. All of Konoha’s Jinchūriki, including you and your mother, were from the Uzumaki clan, as only your clan’s strong constitution and sealing techniques can suppress the Nine-Tails. However, when the Uzumaki clan was in danger, Konoha chose to stand by and let the clan be destroyed. Afterwards, Konoha hypocritically placed the Uzumaki emblem on their ninja uniforms. It’s laughable and hypocritical.”
Konan’s words struck Naruto hard. He stood frozen, unable to distinguish truth from lies, unsure of what to do or where to go.
Suddenly, intense pain flared in his eyes, causing Naruto to clutch them in agony.
Is this a reaction to the transplant?
Konan watched Naruto, frowning but not intervening, patiently observing.
After several minutes, the pain subsided. Naruto panted heavily, drenched in sweat, slowly releasing his grip on his eyes.
What’s happening to me?
As Naruto tried to understand what was happening, Konan produced a mirror and held it up to his face.
Only then did Naruto realize his blue eyes had turned purple, with concentric rings like the annual rings of a tree.
The reflection felt foreign to him. “My eyes…what did you do to me?”
“Don’t be afraid. These are the eyes of my friend, Nagato, who was also from the Uzumaki clan. When Konoha betrayed their allies and allowed Uzushiogakure’s destruction, Nagato and his family were forced into a life of hardship. His dream was to bring peace to the ninja world, to create a world without war. Though he’s gone, he left behind his unfulfilled dream and these precious eyes. I decided to transplant them to you,” Konan said, her tone meaningful.
“But I don’t want these eyes. Give me back my original eyes…” Naruto protested loudly, rejecting the “gift.”
“Silence! You don’t know anything, kid!” Konan interrupted. “These are the Rinnegan, the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, coveted by many. I transplanted Nagato’s eyes to you because you’re his kin and the only one qualified to inherit his dream!”
Konan’s outburst stunned Naruto, but he reflexively retorted, “If Nagato was your friend, why didn’t you take the eyes yourself and continue his dream…”
Konan was at a loss for words.
Indeed, she lacked the Uzumaki clan’s immense chakra to become a vessel for the Rinnegan. But deep down, it was because Konan was a coward, someone without her own dreams. She lacked the courage to fulfill Yahiko and Nagato’s vision herself, pinning her hopes on this young boy.
It was a form of escape.
Sighing again, Konan softened her tone. She knelt to Naruto’s level, looking into his eyes sincerely.
“I’m sorry. It was selfish of me to impose Nagato’s dream on you. But these eyes give you enough power to see through the fog of destiny, to seek the truth you desire. Don’t you want to uncover the truth for yourself? One day, when you fully master the Rinnegan’s power, you might even be able to revive your parents and ask them face-to-face.”
Revive his parents?
Naruto was once again shocked. Could these eyes really have such miraculous power?
He was tempted.
As someone who had always yearned for love, Naruto often envied other children with parents. He had longed to know what his own parents were like and imagined that if they were alive, he wouldn’t be bullied by the villagers.
Thinking this, Naruto touched his eyes again, less resistant to their existence.
Konan wasn’t lying. Nagato had once told her that with the Rinnegan, it was possible to perform a technique called “Rinne Rebirth” to bring souls from the afterlife back to the living.
Konan believed that once Naruto learned the truth and realized he had lived a life of lies and deceit, he would hate Konoha, accept Akatsuki’s ideals, and follow Nagato’s path.
She was willing to be patient and witness Naruto’s growth and transformation.
Seeing Naruto calm down, Konan turned to see Fuu and Gaara also stepping out.
Gaara was a troubled child, his situation even more severe than Naruto’s, caused by his own father, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. Rasa was a cold man who turned Gaara into the One-Tail’s Jinchūriki to create Sunagakure’s ultimate weapon. Later, to test Gaara’s control over Shukaku, he ordered Gaara’s uncle, Yashamaru, to assassinate him, leading to Yashamaru’s death at Gaara’s hands and leaving Gaara with deep psychological scars.
Rasa deemed his son a failure and continually sent assassins to kill him, further darkening Gaara’s personality.
Konan couldn’t fathom such a monstrous father. Reflecting on Rasa’s death at
Pain’s hands, she felt it was too lenient a fate for him.
A day earlier, Gaara had lost control, releasing Shukaku, which Konan had struggled to reseal. Despite the trouble, she didn’t abandon Gaara but showed him motherly care and patience, determined to heal him.
Gaara, indifferent, stayed. Whether in Sunagakure or with Konan, it made no difference for him. He loved no one and was a soulless shell.
Fuu, in contrast, had a much happier life. Though also a Jinchūriki, her childhood wasn’t as tragic as Naruto’s or Gaara’s, as evidenced by her cheerful demeanor.
Worth noting, Fuu chose to stay with Konan willingly, as Konan promised to train her in ninjutsu and help her avenge her village, Takigakure, against Kakuzu.
At that moment, a paper crane flew through the ruins, landing in Konan’s hand.
“Just as I thought, except for Kirigakure, the other villages have sent people, and quite a few. The last time this place was so lively was when various forces attacked Uzushiogakure,” Konan said, her eyes cold.
Fuu tensed up, blaming Gaara. “It’s your fault for losing control of Shukaku and attracting the enemies.”
“I’ll kill them all,” Gaara replied coldly, having done it many times before.
Naruto stayed silent, remembering his past. He had been locked in a small room by Konoha’s ANBU for months, without seeing sunlight, then manipulated into transforming into the Nine-Tails, causing destruction and suffering.
He never wanted to relive those nightmare days.
Konan looked at Naruto. “They’re after the Nine-Tails inside you and the Rinnegan. We can’t let them get either, or the ninja world will face a catastrophe.”
“Teacher, we should escape,” Fuu urged, worried.
But Konan shook her head slowly.
“Uzushiogakure is Nagato’s and Naruto’s home. Those who destroyed it are coming again. Today, I will avenge the Uzumaki clan and honor the spirits of the dead.”
Her eyes shone with determination, revealing her intentions.
Konan had been prepared all along.
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