Chapter 17

"But is this really okay? You're pregnant now, you should be eating more nutritious food. Ramen doesn't seem to have much nutrition," Minato said worriedly!

"It's fine, it's fine, once or twice is fine! Let's go quickly!" Saying this, she happily pulled Minato out the door!

Ichiraku Ramen is located in the center of Konoha. The shop isn't large, but the flow of people is not small. In the future, because of Uzumaki Naruto, even the Five Kage have visited this shop often; at that time, it could be called the most famous shop in Konoha!

Pushing open the shop door, the Minato couple walked in. At this time, Uncle Teuchi was still middle-aged. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he habitually shouted: "Welcome. Wait, when the guests walked in and he took a look, it was the Fourth Hokage couple. Uncle Teuchi was stunned for a moment and said:

"Hello, Fourth Hokage, no, Lord Minato, Lady Kushina, what would you like to eat?" Hearing Uncle Teuchi's words, Minato and Kushina's expressions remained normal, without a hint of surprise!

In Naruto's memories, he mentioned Ichiraku Ramen many times. Uncle Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were among the very few people who had been kind to Naruto since he was a child. With Naruto's personality of returning kindness for kindness, how could he possibly forget them! So they were lucky enough to become ordinary people among the individual reborn ones! But it was also because they were ordinary people that Nara Shikaku hadn't called them to the previous gathering of the reborn.

Hearing Uncle Teuchi's words, Iruka, who was eating ramen nearby, turned his head. Seeing Minato and Kushina, he quickly stood up and bowed, saying:

"Hello, Lord Fourth Hokage, Lady Kushina."

"Hello! We aren't disturbing you, are we?" Minato said, looking at Iruka with a smile.

Because they were still in the war phase and peace treaties between countries had not yet been signed, most ninjas were still on the front lines, so business at Ichiraku Ramen had not been good these days, and Iruka was the only customer.

Minato noticed that Iruka's expression was unusual. This person was a reborn one who had appeared at the Third Training Ground earlier.

Taking a glance at Iruka, Minato immediately realized. A ninja's memory is always astonishing, and Minato was the Fourth Hokage, so his memory naturally wouldn't be bad!

But because not everyone was present at the time, Nara Shikaku couldn't be bothered to introduce them one by one, only saying that they would confirm the number of all Konoha reborn ones later and then hand over the data and names to him. Therefore, Minato didn't know Iruka's name. After all, Iruka was only about 10 years old now, and it was impossible for Minato to know everyone in Konoha.

"No, it's nothing, we were just chatting," Iruka said, feeling somewhat nervous as he looked at the Fourth Hokage.

"May I ask, what is your name?" Minato asked politely.

There were many reborn ones who knew Naruto liked eating Ichiraku Ramen, but today was an important day for his own rebirth! Most people chose to stay at home to accompany their families.

Generally, on such an important day, no one would come to eat ramen except for family.

That left only those who came to commemorate Naruto! Seeing his age and his sorrowful expression, Minato vaguely guessed, but couldn't be certain.

"Reporting to Lord Hokage, my name is Umino Iruka," Iruka replied.

Actually, at this time, the Nine-Tails hadn't gone on a rampage, and Iruka's family was still alive. But today, after hearing the Fourth Hokage's words at the Third Training Ground! He learned that Naruto had sacrificed himself to save everyone. Iruka, who had always taken care of Naruto like a younger brother, found it hard to accept this news for a moment!

After the gathering ended, he left that place in a daze. Without realizing it, he walked to Ichiraku Ramen. Thinking of the scenes of eating ramen with Naruto in the past, Iruka felt very uncomfortable! He just stared blankly at the ramen shop. Uncle Teuchi happened to come out for some air, and seeing Iruka's state, he invited him inside.

The Minato couple looked at each other, and then the husband and wife bowed to Iruka together, thanking him:

"Thank you for always taking care of Naruto."

Minato and his wife naturally knew that during Naruto's most difficult times, fortunately, there was Iruka's encouragement and companionship! And Naruto himself was also very respectful toward Iruka.

Even when he got married, he had Iruka attend as Naruto's father's representative.

"No, no need to be polite, this, this is what I should have done."

Facing the thanks from the Minato couple, Iruka replied, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"May we sit down and eat together?" Looking at the ramen on the table, Kushina asked!

"Yes, please sit," Iruka said.

Chapter 14: Relatives

Minato and Kushina both ordered the miso ramen that Naruto usually liked to eat!

As for Iruka, he was staring blankly at the ramen in his own bowl. Seeing him like this, Minato asked curiously:

"Have you encountered some problem?"

Seeing Minato asking him, Iruka thought for a moment and asked:

"Are those things you said at the Third Training Ground today true? Did Naruto really..."

Iruka's eyes dimmed and he didn't continue, but Minato understood his meaning and thought for a moment before saying:

"Yes, that Naruto from the future sacrificed himself for everyone."

Pausing, Minato continued:

"But do you know? Today my wife told me she is pregnant! She is pregnant again. From that moment on, I knew Naruto hadn't left; he just came back to life in another way! So we decided, just like before, to name this child Uzumaki Naruto. In the future, I hope you can supervise and take care of him just like before."

Minato said with a gentle smile, and Kushina beside him also followed with a happy smile.

"Really? You mean Naruto can also be reborn?"

Hearing Minato's words, Iruka showed an expression of wild joy, and then, as if remembering something, he quickly asked.

"No, the question of whether Naruto can be reborn cannot be determined yet. After all, Naruto sacrificed himself to resurrect everyone, even his own soul... But as long as one is alive, there is hope. After all, this ninjutsu was created by Mr. Orochimaru, and the Third Hokage has already sent people to look for it. I believe there will be news soon. Now we should look forward optimistically, shouldn't we?"

"That's true, as long as one is alive, there will always be a way."

Hearing the first half, Iruka was clearly disappointed, but hearing the second half, the original disappointment vanished, and he began to feel expectant, looking forward to the time when he could meet Naruto again.

"Alright, your two bowls of ramen are here."

Seeing that these two bowls of ramen were twice the size of Iruka's, and the meat was more than double, the Fourth and Kushina were clearly stunned. Uncle Teuchi smiled and said: "This is a gift to celebrate Naruto's rebirth in advance. Don't be polite with me, order more if it's not enough. It's my treat today." After saying this, he grinned.

Kushina and Minato looked at each other, somewhat helpless; this portion was a bit too much! But they still didn't want to let down Uncle Teuchi's good intentions and smiled:

"Then we won't be polite."

Watching Minato and Kushina, Uncle Teuchi showed a gratified expression.

After the meal, Iruka parted ways with the Minato couple, and each went home.

The next day, Minato planned to visit Uchiha Obito. Kushina thought for a while and finally decided to go with Minato!

On the way, Kushina seemed a bit restless. Knowing what Kushina was worried about, Minato thought for a moment and comforted her:

"Relax, nothing has happened yet, aren't we all doing well now! Naruto let us see the future so that we would change it, not to let these memories trouble us and affect us."

"I know, but I just can't let it go."

Minato looked at Kushina's persistence and didn't say anything more. He knew Kushina had always regarded Obito as her own child, even hoping that her future child would be like him, but what she didn't expect was that their family would be killed by the person they had favored in the future.

Minato also knew that things like this couldn't be explained in a word or two. The person who tied the bell must untie it; let Obito solve this matter himself!

After all, he was the one who caused it. At most, he would plead for mercy when he was beaten to the brink of death by Kushina, Minato thought unscrupulously!

After walking for about half an hour, they finally arrived at Obito's house. Because the Uchiha were on the edge of Konoha, it was quite far.

Minato stepped forward and knocked on the door. A sound of footsteps came from inside, and then the door opened. The person who opened the door poked their head out.

Only then did Minato realize that the one who opened the door was Rin. He hadn't expected this girl to come over so early. Seeing Minato and Kushina together, Rin was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and bowed:

"Good morning, Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee."

"Good morning, Rin, did you come to see Obito so early?"

Minato said. Seeing Rin's eyes were red and swollen, it seemed Rin hadn't rested well all night, and might have even cried.

"Yes, yes, I was a bit worried about Obito being alone, and since I had nothing to do at home, I came over early."

Rin said hesitantly, and as she spoke, she stepped aside to let Minato and Kushina in. Then she followed them in with her head lowered!

Obito's room was a single unit. After entering, Minato found Obito lying on the bed, already awake, but his spirit was somewhat dazed; clearly, he hadn't slept well yesterday either. And the house was cleaned spotlessly; clearly, this was Rin's credit.

Seeing them like this, Minato had already guessed that Obito had told Rin everything!

And Rin should just be unable to accept for a moment that Obito would become an enemy of the ninja world for her sake.

But it could be seen that she was still very concerned about Obito; otherwise, she wouldn't have come over so early this morning to take care of him!

Minato was very reassured about Rin. With her taking care of Obito, Obito should recover soon. Seeing Minato enter, Obito wanted to sit up, but because his current body was already exhausted, he couldn't support this action. After trying a few times, he could only give up helplessly and looked at Minato with an apologetic gaze.

Rin had been following Minato with her head lowered, but after discovering Obito's action, she quickly came over to help Obito sit up. Fearing he would be uncomfortable, she even specially took two pillows for his back to lean on, but throughout the process, she didn't say a word to Obito.

"Thank you, Rin."

Obito said weakly, but Rin didn't appreciate it, instead turning her head to the side, refusing to speak to Obito. Obito smiled awkwardly.

At this time, Obito finally noticed Kushina, who had been standing behind Minato without speaking. Seeing Kushina walk over, Obito's face changed.

He quickly looked at Minato-sensei and Rin with a pleading gaze, hoping they could help him speak, so he could live a few more years and contribute a few more years to the ninja world.

Minato looked at Obito with a "you're on your own" gaze, then lowered his head. It was shameful; as a teacher, he actually had to watch his own disciple suffer, and even face death, in front of him, yet he was powerless. All he could do was lower his head and pray. On the other side, Rin didn't look at Obito's side at all.

Watching Kushina get closer and closer to him, this Otsutsuki-Six Paths-Uchiha-Masked Man-Obito, who once made the ninja world tremble with fear and suppressed the ninja world with his own power, had his face turn pale continuously at this moment.

Cold sweat kept pouring out. He hadn't been this scared even when facing Otsutsuki Kaguya back then. As expected of Konoha's Bloody Habanero, she could scare people to death without even making a move.

Obito's face was pale, and he was at a loss for what to do! What should I do now? Who can save me? Waiting online, very urgent, if it's too late, I'll be dead! Obito roared in his heart!

It is said that life and death can best stimulate a person's potential, and Obito fully demonstrated that this sentence was correct. Forced into a dead end, Obito's mind was exceptionally clear! He instantly had an idea.

Only to see Obito lower his head, his eyes empty, his face sorrowful, expressing his weak state to the fullest. Then he said softly in a trembling voice: "Long time no see, Kushina-nee, sorry to let you see such a weak state."

As expected of someone with many years of BOSS experience, in a crisis, he could always think of a method. Pretend to be weak first, and stir up her sympathy first!

But this trick didn't seem to work on Kushina. Watching Kushina continue to walk over with an expressionless face! And getting closer and closer, Obito went from panic to fear, and finally sighed in relief and said softly:

"Sorry, Kushina-nee, I didn't expect myself to become like that either. At first, I just wanted to protect Konoha well and become Hokage. But I don't know when it started, I changed! It's said I was being used, but I truly became the kind of person I once hated the most! Maybe saying this now is useless, but I still feel I'll be more comfortable saying it out." Saying this, he actually knelt on the bed with great perseverance, his eyes full of tears.

"I'm very sorry, Kushina-nee, Minato-sensei, I'm really sorry, besides this, I don't know what to say!"

Kushina finally walked to Obito's side, only to see Kushina say nothing.

She went up and gave him a punch directly to the head, but this punch clearly didn't use force; otherwise, Obito's current physical condition wouldn't have been able to take it.

"You idiot, where did you learn this! You don't learn proper things, but learn from others to destroy the world? Are you stupid? When you encounter things, you don't discuss with us, but drill into a dead end by yourself!"

Kushina scolded Obito continuously. Obito knelt in front of Kushina with his head lowered, tears streaming from his eyes. ===== CHAPTER 19 =====