Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 215 - Nawaki's Condition.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 41.
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“Minato, did you really kill an elder of the clan…” Mikoto murmured beside Minato as they walked back toward the clan’s entrance.

“Yes.” Minato spoke in a dry tone.

They were heading out of Uchiha territory. Mikoto couldn’t help but glance back, noticing the clan members staring at them as they left alone. Some ninjas merely watched from a distance, monitoring to confirm they were truly leaving.

'Maybe... But it doesn’t matter now.' Minato said to himself. He was certain the Uchiha clan would not escalate the incident to the Hokage. They were too proud, and in the end, everything had started from a misunderstanding they had caused themselves.

And so, they left the clan. Mikoto just sighed and looked at Minato, taking his hand and squeezing it.

“Thank you for everything,” she said to the man she loved.

Minato nodded in silence.

“Where are we going now?” Mikoto asked, as there were no plans after the sudden outcome of that situation.

“We’re going to the Senju clan,” Minato replied, and, taking advantage of Mikoto’s touch, he teleported them with his jutsu. Both disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared near the Senju clan’s entrance.

They began to pass through the gate and had no trouble entering the place. It didn’t take long for Tsuna to appear, sensing their chakra as they approached.

“You’re here! I thought you were going to handle things with the Uchiha clan,” she murmured.

“We just got back from there,” Mikoto said.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, while Mikoto gave a small smile.

“Let’s just say Minato was quick to make it clear to my clan that we’re getting married,” the Uchiha said, seemingly provoking Tsuna.

The blonde snorted.

“Well, that’s good either way,” Tsuna replied in the end.

“Come, come inside,” she said finally, and the two followed her into the house.

At that moment, Kushina appeared, holding a cake in her hands.

“Everyone’s here. Come on, come eat! I just made it!” she said cheerfully.

As they passed by the side of the house, Minato looked to the side and saw Nawaki, Tsunade’s brother, standing in the yard. His shirt fluttered slightly on the right side, where he had lost his arm. He was trying to form hand seals using only his left hand, but without success in completing them. With each failed attempt, his expression became more irritated.

Nawaki noticed their gaze and paused for a moment. The boy realized he was being watched, then quickly averted his eyes, embarrassed. He seemed unwilling to show his failure before them. Frustrated and ashamed, he turned around and began to walk away without saying anything.

“He’s trying to perform jutsus again,” Tsuna murmured upon noticing Minato’s gaze toward her uncle.

“It must be very hard for a ninja to no longer be able to perform jutsus…” Mikoto, beside him, also noticed and commented.

None of the other two girls responded immediately. The atmosphere grew a little heavy.

“Duy wasn’t specialized in ninjutsu, was he? Yet, he’s an excellent ninja. You saw how we fought together,” Minato finally said.

No one disagreed as he seemed to ponder it.

“Maybe he can learn to adapt in another way…”

He knew there was another possibility: the creation of a prosthetic arm for Nawaki using Mokuton, especially since he was a member of the Senju clan. However, Minato had no idea how to build something like that. Maybe someone with advanced medical knowledge could help using his grandfather’s cells.

They moved forward, seeing Tsunade along with two other members of the Uzumaki clan. One was a man in his forties, who had been with Minato at the Hokage’s building, and another beside him, also middle-aged. They were talking to Tsunade. The two men seemed to frown while the woman looked bored listening to them, drinking in front of her.

Tsuna lowered her head in embarrassment at seeing her mother in that state. When they noticed the newcomers’ presence, they were immediately acknowledged. Tsunade narrowed her eyes upon seeing them.

“Ah, you’re here… And you too, damn brat!” she said, referring to Minato.

“It’s no wonder he’s a student of that pervert…” she murmured softly, recalling Jiraiya’s reputation. To her, Minato had become quite the womanizer, and now, her daughter was in his hands.

“I see… This is the Yellow Flash. He managed to defeat and even severely injure the Raikage, so young… Very talented,” one of the Uzumakis murmured, scratching his beard as he analyzed them.

He approached Minato to greet him.

“Hello, Minato Namikaze,” he said. “I’m Mu Uzumaki, and this is Renjiro Uzumaki. We were receiving some praise from the Hokage at the village building a few days ago, if you remember…” he added.

“Yes, he mentioned that you helped a lot during the war and were instrumental in repelling Kiri’s attacks,” Minato replied.

“Not much different from you, who fought on two fronts. I’m still impressed that the village has someone so talented and so young… Perhaps a future Hokage,” the man murmured, still studying him. For him and his clan, it was crucial to keep an eye on the village’s political future. After all, he wanted the alliance and friendship between Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools to continue.

Minato simply gave a friendly smile, neither confirming nor denying.

“Anyway, can we see the scrolls, Tsunade?” he said, turning to the woman beside him, who, after taking another sip of her drink, replied.

“Certainly…” she murmured.

She gave Minato one last look, placing two fingers between her eyes and then pointing at him, as if warning him that she was watching him the whole time. Shortly after, she left together with the Uzumakis toward the clan’s storage. It seemed they were dealing with something important.

Minato stayed to eat some of Kushina’s cake along with the others, but soon said he needed to take care of something else. He got up and teleported away.

He didn’t leave the Senju clan. He just went to another part of it, finding Nawaki training by a small lake within the clan. The sound of bamboo striking as it filled with water echoed from time to time through the place.

As soon as Minato appeared, Nawaki quickly looked at him and grabbed a kunai.

“Who…?!” he exclaimed, stopping as soon as he saw who it was.

“Minato…” he murmured, a little surprised by his presence. He felt a bit embarrassed—after all, he had been saved by this guy when he was about to die but hadn’t even spoken to him, making him feel a little guilty about it.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” Minato asked, approaching alone.

“What can I say?” the young Senju ninja murmured in a slightly somber tone. “I’m just a cripple now,” he said in the end.

“Maybe you are now…” Minato didn’t offer comforting words, making Nawaki raise an eyebrow. “But what matters is that you’re alive. You survived after everything,” he said.

“But at what cost, Minato Namikaze? I was supposed to lead the clan now. Look at me… My ninja career is over,” he said bitterly.

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way,” Minato countered. “You know there are many other ways to fight besides forming jutsus.”

“Speak for yourself,” the boy murmured, annoyed.

Minato realized he was already tired of that conversation.

“Well then, it’s a good thing I’m here,” Minato gave a smile and touched his shoulder as he got close enough to Nawaki.

Before Nawaki could react, they vanished from there. When they reappeared, they were in another part of the village.

“What are you doing?” Nawaki murmured, dissatisfied, looking around and seeing that they were in a rather destroyed field.

There were signs of repairs, but it was still possible to notice the damage. The ground was uneven, and the vegetation had been damaged.

“They’ve fixed the ground a bit, but there’s still a lot to repair. You can see it from the vegetation… Don’t you see how it’s destroyed?” Minato said, without directly answering Nawaki’s question.

“What is this? I don’t understand…” Still dissatisfied, Nawaki murmured.

“This was a fight that happened. Maybe you haven’t heard about it, but the whole village knew. It was a fight without jutsus… Only taijutsu,” he explained, making Nawaki raise an eyebrow for the first time, curious.

“Tell me, Nawaki… Wouldn’t you like to fight like that? Not everyone needs to use jutsus…” Minato asked, watching the young Senju’s silence.

Nawaki listened, then shrugged.

“I doubt I could fight that way,” he said, discouraged.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to try, does it? Or do you just want to sit around feeling sorry for yourself? We could try practicing together. Maybe your lineage can be useful in other ways. Your sister and your niece are extremely strong. By distributing chakra through their bodies, they can shatter stones and giant rocks with a single punch. I’ve always thought you focused only on jutsus, but maybe you can adapt to other ways of fighting,” Minato said seriously.

He couldn’t bear to see a friend and comrade in such a state. He could even visualize a future where Nawaki committed suicide, consumed by shame and the inability to continue as a ninja after losing his arm.

After all, Minato had heard some things around the village. People were saying that the great Senju clan had fallen to the point of having a crippled heir. He also remembered the case of Sakumo Hatake in the original timeline, who took his own life because he couldn’t bear the pressure and public judgment. Why would Nawaki be any different?

Minato had thought about this even more when he saw his friend’s state earlier, noticing him with his head down while the girls talked. The pain and frustration were written all over his face.

“So… What do you suggest, kid?” In the end, Nawaki asked, trying to maintain a tough tone, but letting a hint of curiosity and hope slip through.

“Hold on,” Minato said before touching Nawaki’s shoulder once again and disappearing with the older boy.

They reappeared somewhere else, near the training grounds, and Minato started walking through the streets of Konoha. Nawaki had no choice but to follow him as they moved through the village streets. Minato didn’t have a Hiraishin seal near where he planned to go, so they went on foot until they reached a rather large house.

It was where Duy now lived with his wife and son. With the salary and rewards he had received from the village—especially for having developed a new technique that would be added to the “Thousand Jutsus” scroll—he had managed to improve his family’s living conditions.

Upon entering the yard, they saw little Guy training, carrying a huge rock on his back.

“Hey… Isn’t that a bit much?” Nawaki murmured, surprised.

Minato shrugged and approached.

“Guy, where’s your father?” Minato asked.

That broke the boy’s concentration. When he looked at Minato, he missed his step and fell to the ground with the rock.

“Ow, ow, ow…” he groaned softly, but quickly got up and put on a determined smile.

“Mr. Minato, how are you?” he exclaimed excitedly.

“I’m fine. I wanted to see your father,” Minato replied.

“That’s amazing! Dad hasn’t recovered yet, but… You look so well, Mr. Minato! You’re really incredible!” the boy said enthusiastically, quickly leading them inside the house.

There, they were greeted by Duy’s wife, who welcomed them kindly. They followed her to the room where Duy was resting. The man was still suffering from the side effects of having used the Sixth Gate during a battle.

He was lying on the bed, with some bandages around his body, as he had fractured bones during the intense fight. Besides that, Minato’s “Armament Haki” had caused severe internal damage to their opponent, forcing Duy to push past his limits to win.

“Minato…” Duy murmured, trying to sit up, but failing. “I see that the power of youth still burns brightly in you!” he said, trying to keep his good humor despite his weakened state.

“You’ll be fine. I came here to talk to you about something,” Minato said, pulling up a chair and sitting beside the bed.

“And what would that be, Minato?” Duy asked, curious.

“You see this one beside me? This is Nawaki Senju. I would like you to accept him as your apprentice… And teach him the Eight Gates,” Minato said directly, ending his sentence with firmness.