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Akio had noticed it too—Rin hadn't shown up for a long time now. She was probably dead. Luckily, Akio wasn't very close to her, or he might've been a little heartbroken.
Sometimes, Kakashi would stop by the window and lift his mask just a bit to smile at little Akio. But the smile looked so forced that Akio became even more certain Rin was gone.
"Little Akio, time for milk," the nanny said, walking over with a bottle. Akio was lying on the bed, and he took the bottle himself and started drinking without any help.
"What a good boy," the nanny said, patting his head. She'd never seen a baby this obedient before. And even though he was only five months old, he could already speak some simple phrases—he was clearly a little genius.
"Where's Mom?" Akio asked her.
"She's in the living room reading the paper. Your little brother's about to be born soon," she replied.
Akio nodded. "Okay. When I'm done, I'll call you," he said, speaking in broken phrases on purpose to hide the fact that he could actually speak fluent Japanese.
"Alright," the nanny smiled and nodded before walking out. She barely had to do anything here anyway—Akio didn't need much care, and Kushina could handle herself. The nanny's main tasks were just cooking, cleaning, and housework. Easy job.
Akio still remembered the first time he called Minato and Kushina "Dad" and "Mom." The two of them were over the moon. A baby that young being so well-behaved? They were convinced he'd grow up to be someone amazing.
Sometimes when Minato came home from work, he'd talk to Akio about ninja techniques. Akio would pretend he half-understood but actually memorized everything. Then when no one was looking, he'd use his tiny little hands to secretly practice hand signs.
In the blink of an eye, another five months had passed. Jiraiya had come to visit Akio once during that time and gave Kushina's soon-to-be-born child a name—Naruto.
And then, finally, that night came.
That day, Kushina, who was about to give birth, was taken out of the village by a woman. Her labor was top secret, so everything was done with extreme caution.
In a cave outside the village, with seals all around and four Anbu guarding the entrance, Minato was inside personally suppressing the Nine-Tails' seal. It was the first time he saw Kushina in such pain, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, the sound of a baby crying rang out. Kushina stopped screaming and just panted heavily. Hearing Naruto's cries, tears streamed down her face—tears of joy.
Minato, staring at the baby in the midwife's arms, froze for a moment. That was his actual, real son. He was overwhelmed, tears running down his face too.
Just as Kushina took one look at Naruto and Minato was getting ready to fully suppress the Nine-Tails again, the midwife was suddenly killed. A masked man appeared, holding baby Naruto in his arms.
Back at home, all Akio knew was that Kushina had been taken away by the midwife. He and the nanny were left at home. One-year-old Akio stood at the window, staring outside with a serious expression. It scared the nanny so much she didn't even dare to speak.
Akio knew—something terrible was going to happen tonight. He looked down at his tiny hands. In this body… what could he do? Nothing. All he could do was wait here… for Minato and Kushina to walk into their deaths.
Boom!
A huge explosion came from the backyard. A small storage building blew up. Akio immediately rushed over.
"Young master! Young master!" the nanny called after him, but Akio ignored her and ran outside, just in time to see Minato landing on the ground holding Naruto.
Earlier, the masked man had thrown Naruto into the air, intending to stab him with a kunai. Minato used the Flying Thunder God technique to save him—but the blanket Naruto was wrapped in had a paper bomb attached.
Minato had no choice but to teleport into the small house and toss the blanket away, which ended up blowing the place up.
"Dad!" Akio ran step by step toward Minato, panting heavily.
"Akio!" Minato crouched down, surprised to see him there. "Akio, what are you doing here?"
"I… huff huff… I had a bad feeling something would happen tonight. Then I heard the explosion, so I ran over," Akio said between breaths.
"You're hurt, Dad." Akio reached out and pulled a wooden shard from Minato's leg. It had gotten stuck there from the blast.
"Akio," Minato said, gently patting his head. "Take care of your little brother. I'll be back soon." He said this before using Flying Thunder God again, teleporting back to the house. He placed Naruto gently on the bed and left behind two scrolls. The masked man's real target was Kushina—he had to get back quickly.
Just as Minato was about to leave, Akio tugged on his sleeve. "You have to come back, Dad."
Minato paused for a second, looking at Akio's worried face. "Don't worry. I'll definitely be back," he said, then vanished again using the Flying Thunder God.
Akio held the two scrolls in his hands—one was for the Flying Thunder God technique, the other for the Rasengan.
Over on the masked man's side, he'd already tied Kushina to a pillar and started extracting the Nine-Tails. A wave of dark red chakra surged out of her belly, forming into the head of a fox. Then the full Nine-Tails burst out of her body, roaring into the sky. But its eyes—its eyes were already Sharingan.
Just as the Nine-Tails was about to strike the weakened Kushina, Minato arrived, grabbed her, and teleported again—this time showing up right in front of Akio.
"Mom!" Akio ran over and grabbed Kushina's hand.
"Akio, I'm back," Kushina said, weak but still smiling. Minato placed her on the bed, and the whole time, she held Akio's hand tightly.
"Mom… are you gonna die?" Akio sat by the bed, holding her hand. Kushina held Naruto in one arm and squeezed Akio's hand with the other.
"Don't be silly. I'm totally fine," Kushina said, forcing a smile as she turned and stroked his head.
"You're lying… when a tailed beast gets pulled out, the host dies." As Akio spoke, tears started streaming down his cheeks. Kushina and Minato looked at each other in shock. Kushina quickly wiped away his tears.
"How do you know that, Akio?" she asked gently.
"Dad… Dad's going to seal the Nine-Tails… and both of you are gonna die doing it. I… I saw it. I foresaw it." Akio panicked and suddenly remembered something the Third Hokage and Minato once talked about—a guy named Ensoro Hen who had the power to foresee the future. So he used that as a cover.
Whoosh—
Minato put on his Fourth Hokage cloak.
He walked over and placed a hand on Akio's head, laying it over Kushina's. "You can't tell anyone what you've foreseen, Akio."
"But Dad…" Akio looked up at him, tears still in his eyes. "Even knowing you'll die, you're still going?"
"Yeah…" Minato nodded. "Because it's my duty—as the Fourth Hokage."
"Minato, thank you. Be careful out there," Kushina said, turning to hug Naruto tightly.
"I will. I'll be right back," Minato said firmly, then vanished from Akio's sight.
"....."