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"Insoro clan?" The blond Jonin frowned. He'd never heard of them before.
"They were a secluded clan. Kept to themselves, never showed their faces in public. I only found out about them through confidential files from the Hokage."
"Sounds like this is gonna be a huge headache." The Jonin gave a wry smile. Anything that involved top-secret files was never simple.
Creak...
The door to the room opened.
"Hokage-sama!" The Chunin quickly stood up and greeted the person entering.
The old man who came in had a full head of white hair. Despite his age, his energy and presence were still sharp.
"Hokage-sama, what brings you here personally?" the blond Jonin asked. In Konoha, not everything needed the Hokage's direct involvement. This whole matter had already been assigned to him to investigate, yet the Hokage had come himself.
"If the Insoro clan is involved, I have to see for myself." The old man nodded. He was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"What's the story with this Insoro clan anyway?"
"You can leave us," Hiruzen said to the Chunin beside him.
"Yes, sir." The Chunin nodded and left, leaving just Hiruzen, the blond Jonin, and the baby in the room.
"Minato, the world is huge. Back in the day, the Senju and Uchiha weren't the only powerful clans out there," Hiruzen began.
"There was another clan—strong enough to rival both the Senju and Uchiha—even without any kekkei genkai."
"The Insoro clan?" Minato Namikaze was stunned. He hadn't known there was such a powerful group out there.
Hiruzen nodded.
"But they didn't like war or power struggles. They chose to live in seclusion, and very few people even knew they existed. These records were passed down generation by generation within the Senju and Uchiha clans. If I weren't the Hokage, I wouldn't know about them either."
"But if they were that powerful... how could they have been wiped out? And by who?" Minato glanced at the baby, clearly puzzled.
Hiruzen shook his head. "It's said the head of their clan was named Insoro Hen. He had the ability to see the future. He predicted the founding of Konoha, the alliance between the Uchiha and Senju, and even the legendary battle between Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage."
"Wait—he could predict the future?" Minato was shocked. The only one he knew who could do that was the Great Toad Sage from Mount Myoboku. And this Insoro Hen's predictions were so detailed and accurate?
"In any case… this incident still needs to be thoroughly investigated. But for now, this baby..." Hiruzen looked at the child, then seriously turned to Minato. "I'm leaving him in your care."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Minato froze.
"I want you to raise this baby," the Third Hokage said, his face completely serious.
"No way! Kushina and I just got married! She only recently found out she's pregnant! And now I'm supposed to bring home a baby?!"
"Haha, don't worry, she won't think it's your illegitimate kid. Besides, you should also start preparing to take over as the Fourth Hokage." Hiruzen patted Minato's shoulder and chuckled as he left the room, leaving Minato standing there in complete confusion.
"What a pain..." Minato muttered, rubbing his forehead as he picked up the baby.
With a helpless sigh, he carried the baby out of Konoha Hospital.
As Minato walked through the streets, the baby in his arms slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the handsome man holding him.
"What a mess. I just opened my eyes, already had a near-death experience, and now I've become Minato Namikaze's adopted kid." The baby thought to himself from Minato's arms.
Minato was stressed about him, and he was also stressed about Minato.
Actually, the baby had already woken up back when the Third and Minato were talking. When he heard the name "Insoro Hen," he became certain—this guy must've been a transmigrator too. There was no such clan as Insoro in the original Naruto storyline. No normal person could've founded a clan strong enough to rival the descendants of Indra and Asura.
Thankfully, he had studied abroad in Japan for three years, so he could understand Japanese just fine.
Insoro Hen must have known the Naruto plot inside and out—that's how he was able to thrive during the Warring States era.
That era wasn't even that long ago, really. Insoro Hen was his great-grandfather. This baby was the young master of the Insoro clan.
Sigh...
The baby let out a deep sigh in his heart.
Sensing a little movement in his arms, Minato looked down and smiled, reaching out to tease the baby gently.
Since he was in a baby's body now, he played along—grabbing Minato's finger and smiling. That smile made Minato like him even more.
"Once we get home, I'm sure Kushina will love you too," Minato said warmly.
"Of course she will. Who wouldn't fall for a cute baby?" the baby thought to himself.
Before long, Minato arrived at his house with the baby in his arms. Though they weren't officially married yet, he and Kushina had been living together for a while.
As soon as he opened the door, a familiar voice called out from inside, "You're back!"
"I'm back!" Minato called out too, just as he heard footsteps approaching the entrance.
Kushina came to greet him. Minato started taking off his shoes to step inside—and then their eyes met.
Her smile froze instantly.
Minato gave her an awkward grin. Yeah... that expression didn't look good.
"Minato..." Kushina still had a smile on her face as she looked at the baby in his arms—but something about that smile felt dangerous.
"Let me explain, Kushina..." Minato said, still grinning awkwardly.
"Mm... mm..." Just as Minato was about to start explaining, the baby let out a little coo and reached his tiny hands toward Kushina.
"....."