"Hehe, it's no big deal."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it from Minato, Naruto smiled faintly and waved his palm, which was roughly wrapped in gauze.
Anger welled up in Minato's eyes, but he suppressed it immediately. Looking at Naruto and his sister in the living room, he said, "Tell me again everything that happened to you since your mother and I left."
He was angry at the retainer of the Hyuga clan because, from the information he got from Kakashi, the only one who could have hurt Naruto was him.
Worry leads to confusion.
In fact, even if the Hyuga retainer had lied to him, Kakashi would not. And judging from the injuries on Naruto's palms, it didn't look like he was injured by that man. After all, he was a Hyuga Chunin who specialized in taijutsu. If he had hurt Naruto, the injury would not look like this.
"Chiharu, you speak." Seeing Naruto's evasive look, Minato turned to Chiharu.
Chiharu glanced at Naruto beside her, and then told Minato everything that had happened that day.
After hearing this, Minato's eyes flickered with a strange look. The worries in his heart finally surfaced.
Minato walked in front of Naruto and stared into his eyes. Deep in those blue eyes, there was a hint of confusion.
He wanted to comfort Naruto, but before he could open his mouth, Naruto hurriedly said, "Dad, can you tell me how to become as strong as you!"
Minato was startled.
"Today I learned from Brother Kakashi that Dad is the most powerful ninja in the ninja world!"
Kakashi had also reported to Minato what Naruto had said earlier that day, because he had noticed the unnatural look in Naruto's expression before he left.
After a slight hesitation, Minato could probably guess why Naruto was asking him this. The whole issue stemmed from his decision to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body. Because of this, Naruto's practice of controlling chakra was countless times more difficult than that of others. Otherwise, with Naruto's talent, he would definitely be further along.
But Minato couldn't tell him about the Nine-Tails yet.
So, when Minato saw the confusion in Naruto's eyes, he felt a little guilty.
He calmed himself down and said, "Naruto, first of all, you have to remember that there is no strongest ninja in this world, and dad is still far from it."
Indeed, with Minato's current strength, he was probably the strongest among the five major ninja villages. But he never thought that there was such a thing as the strongest in the world. The world is so vast that it is beyond human imagination. Whether you are an ordinary person or a ninja, you must have a heart full of awe.
"As for how to become like me?"
Minato murmured, then placed his palm on Naruto's head and whispered, "Everyone in this world is a unique individual. You don't have to become like anyone. Naruto is Naruto, not a copy of anyone!"
"Dad, I don't understand what you mean."
Naruto said blankly, and Chiharu beside him also had a confused look on her face.
They were still children, and the principles that Minato wanted to convey seemed simple, but at their age, it was indeed a little difficult to understand.
Minato smiled and said, "To put it simply, I believe that Naruto will become an excellent ninja one day and surpass his father!"
Minato's words contained a sense of hope and unshakable conviction. He believed that Naruto would become the savior predicted by the Great Toad Sage, which is why he took the risk of splitting the Nine-Tails in two and giving him this power.
"Surpass dad?"
An expression of deep shock suddenly appeared on Naruto's face. After his eyes flickered a few times, his expression became somewhat self-deprecating.
"How? I can't even do the most basic training right now."
He pursed his lips tightly. Through Kakashi's stories, what Minato had done as the Hokage seemed like a legend. But Naruto didn't think that he had the ability to become the protagonist in that legendary story.
"If you really think like that, then everything is over."
Minato saw that it was impossible to persuade Naruto with ordinary methods, so he changed his approach, staring into his eyes as he spoke.
Upon hearing this, Naruto couldn't help but slowly clench his fists. Obviously, he was quite unwilling, but Naruto now lacked confidence in himself.
"The strength of a ninja does not depend on how many powerful jutsu he has mastered, but on his heart."
"No matter what kind of difficulties you face, you must have the perseverance and spirit to never give up. Only with these can you become a powerful ninja. Otherwise, no matter how powerful you are, you will be eliminated by this world."
Naruto still couldn't fully understand what Minato meant, but his unwillingness caused him to suddenly raise his eyes. Looking at Minato, he said, "Dad, is it really okay if I don't give up?"
"Not giving up may not guarantee success, but if you give up, you won't have any chance at all," Minato replied.
"Then I will never give up. After all, I am the son of the Fourth Hokage!"
Naruto said firmly. His character was exactly the same as Kushina's—the spirit of never giving up no matter what. But what happened recently made him feel his own weakness. This isn't shameful, though, because only by recognizing your own inner weakness can you become truly strong.
"Brother, you're so cool! You'll definitely become an excellent ninja!"
Chiharu ran to Naruto with her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly.
"Heh-heh."
Naruto's mood changed quickly, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.
Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief and then said to Naruto, "Let me see your injured hand."
"Oh."
Naruto responded, holding his hand out in front of Minato.
Minato began to untie the roughly wrapped gauze. His palm was only scraped, and the amount of bleeding was not heavy.
"Dad, I'm fine. It really doesn't hurt at all."
Naruto said, as Minato finished removing the gauze.
"Really..."
Minato thought to himself, noticing that the wound on Naruto's palm had almost healed, with only shallow marks visible now.
Even Naruto himself and Chiharu were surprised by this.
"Well, what do you know?" Minato mused inwardly. The Nine-Tails' chakra caused great obstacles for Naruto when he was trying to learn to control his own chakra. However, when Naruto, as the host, was injured, the Nine-Tails' chakra would immediately repair his injuries.
Minato's own body had been transformed by the Nine-Tails' chakra, and his recovery ability was amazing. Not only did Naruto have the Nine-Tails sealed in his body, but he also inherited the Uzumaki clan's powerful physique and vitality.
So far, it was unknown whether the power of the Nine-Tails in Naruto's body was a blessing or a curse.