Orochimaru's words had been like kindling tossed onto dry brush—igniting sothing long buried inside Naruto.
His loss of control made sense now.
Evening had fallen. The park was nearly empty, just a few dim streetlights flickering to life as dusk settled over Konoha.
Ryosuke sat alone on a worn wooden bench, the hum of cicadas faint in the distance. The nearest lamplight cast a soft glow on his face.
He sat in silence, absorbing Naruto's words, letting them settle.
If Naruto had managed to control the Nine-Tails' power during that mission, they might've maintained a balanced four-on-one advantage against Orochimaru.
But the mont he lost control, everything changed.
The balance tipped.
The battlefield beca chaos—3 against 1, plus a rampaging jinchūriki. The pressure on Kakashi's squad must have been overwhelming.
"I know you can't really get involved in this," Naruto's voice echoed through the ntal link Ryosuke had opened. "You have Hinata, and a family. You've got people to protect. I understand."
There was a cold edge to his tone—mixed with bitterness, hurt, and just the faintest touch of detachnt.
"Ryosuke… tell , what should I do now?"
His voice cracked on the question.
Orochimaru's words. Sasuke's past. The crushing weight of unanswered truths. Everything Naruto had buried, everything he'd been too scared to face, was finally unraveling.
"Why was the Third Hokage ever kind to ?"
That was the first question that rose to the surface of his thoughts.
The mont he'd learned he was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto began to understand what that role ant—and what it should have ant to others.
If the goal had been control, why hadn't they raised him like a tool? Why let him grow up free-thinking, emotional, and unstable?
Why not mold him into a living weapon?
And if he, a re boy, could figure this out now… surely Sarutobi Hiruzen had thought of it long ago.
There could only be one answer.
"He had other plans for ," Naruto muttered.
"Just like Mizuki tried to use to get Sasuke's Sharingan… maybe the Sandai's kindness wasn't real, either. Maybe it was just a mask."
"Maybe all of it was fake."
Naruto's voice in Ryosuke's mind beca jagged and uneven, brimming with unstable fury.
He still lay quietly on the hospital bed, calm on the surface, but Ryosuke could feel the storm raging inside him.
"He wants to be like my father—a puppet. A jinchūriki he can control."
"Rin. Uesugi. Maybe even Kakashi-sensei… Were they all sent by the Sandai to keep tabs on ?"
"Liars. They're all liars."
His words were full of venom. Not fear. Not panic. Not even hatred.
Just a hollow kind of certainty—like he'd already crossed so invisible threshold.
"They all heard it—when Orochimaru told everything."
"Uesugi probably ran straight to the Sandai afterward. So tell , Ryosuke—what do you think he'll do next?"
"Maybe… maybe he'll kill . Replace with a new Nine-Tails jinchūriki—soone easier to control."
"If the truth about ever got out, it wouldn't just ruin his image. It would destroy the legend of the Will of Fire."
"He'd be finished."
Naruto's breath wavered.
And then… silence.
Ryosuke sat quietly, still listening.
A long pause passed.
Then Naruto's voice returned—much softer this ti.
"…I'm sorry."
"Ryosuke, I shouldn't have dumped all this on you. You have Hinata, your family—you shouldn't be involved in this ss. I… I'm sorry."
Ryosuke blinked, mildly surprised.
He hadn't responded earlier, and Naruto had misread his silence.
To Naruto, Ryosuke wasn't just a friend—he was the one real light in the artificial world he'd grown up in.
Ryosuke understood. And he spoke at last.
"No," he said gently. "I wasn't ignoring you. I was waiting for you to calm down. Your mind was too unstable just now."
"…Then what should I do?"
"Ask him."
"What? Ask who? …You an—Sarutobi Hiruzen?"
"Yes. Ask him."
There was a beat of stunned disbelief.
"…Are you serious?"
Ryosuke nodded, even though Naruto couldn't see him.
"Yes. I'm very serious."
Then his voice took on a different tone—firm, teacher-like.
"You always say I've taught you so much," Ryosuke said quietly, "but I've never really admitted to teaching you anything."
"But now, I'll say it. Just once."
Naruto stayed silent, listening.
"One lesson," Ryosuke continued. "The most important one."
"Stay calm."
His voice rang clearly across the ntal link.
"In this world, you'll see all kinds of truths—so cruel, so unbearable. You've started thinking deeply, Naruto. That's good. But your judgnt hasn't caught up yet."
"You're letting your thoughts pull you around by the nose."
"A person's life should be decided by themselves. You asked what to do. But if I give you that answer… will you always co to ?"
"Will you stop thinking for yourself? Will you let guide your life?"
"If so, then you'll just beco my puppet."
"But you're my friend," Naruto blurted out. "You're the only one I trust, Ryosuke. If you're telling this now, it ans you care. You're a good person. I know you are."
Ryosuke chuckled.
"'Good person'? That's a childish way to see the world."
"It reminds of how I used to watch plays as a kid… asking the adults if the character on stage was a 'good guy' or a 'bad guy.'"
He leaned back on the bench, looking up at the night sky.
"…It's not that simple."
If Naruto ever found out the things Ryosuke had done—the things he chose to do—like coldly manipulating his fellow villager Shinji a year ago…
Or that ti he nearly died taking the Fourth Raikage down with him…
He might not see Ryosuke as such a "good person" anymore.
"I know..."
Ryosuke's soft interruption allowed Naruto, who had been holding his breath under the weight of the mont, to exhale at last.
"But from my point of view, Ryosuke... you are a good person."
"From your perspective, huh?" Ryosuke smiled faintly, accepting the words without denying them. "Then, maybe from Sarutobi Hiruzen's perspective, he isn't such a bad person either."
Naruto blinked, stunned.
"I'm not here to make judgnts for you," Ryosuke continued, voice steady. "After all, I'm not the Third Hokage. I don't know what he's thinking."
He leaned forward slightly, tone sharpening. "But if I were Hiruzen, and I knew my puppet plans had been discovered... I wouldn't hesitate to keep you unconscious. I'd monitor you constantly. Maybe even strip the Nine-Tails out of you the mont I sensed danger."
Naruto froze.
"But that's not what he's done, is it?" Ryosuke said. "You're awake. You're conscious. You're just being monitored... like you always were."
He raised a hand, ticking off each possibility. "There are three likely scenarios. One, Hiruzen is hiding your identity for a reason, and he isn't as sinister as you think. Two, he believes he can still control you—or hasn't found a better jinchūriki. And three... he trusts you, Naruto."
Naruto opened his mouth to respond but Ryosuke raised a finger.
"Just like you trust to be a good person. Maybe he believes that once you calm down, you'll see Orochimaru's words for what they are: poison. Lies. Manipulation."
The silence between them deepened.
"You don't have to agree with any of this. I'm just offering possibilities. But in the end, the only thing that matters is your own judgnt."
Naruto's fists clenched. "But... why? Why hide it? Why seal the Nine-Tails in ? If my father really was the Fourth Hokage... was he just a puppet for the Third to use?"
"I can't answer that," Ryosuke said simply. "I told you, I'm not Hiruzen. I don't know what went on in his heart."
He stood up from the bench, brushing dust from his sleeves.
"It's getting late. I promised Hinata I'd be ho on ti."
Naruto's throat tightened. "Wait—Ryosuke, there's still so much—"
"Then ask him yourself," Ryosuke cut in, turning back with a serious gaze. "You don't have the luxury of hiding anymore. You don't have the chance to play detective in secret. So if you want answers, ask the person who owes them to you."
Naruto swallowed hard, the weight of that statent pressing down on him.
"This is your life, Naruto," Ryosuke said, voice softer now. "You have to face it head-on. But… as your friend... if sothing ever happens to you, I'll do everything in my power to help you escape this village. And if... you die, without knowing, I swear I'll avenge you. That's a promise."
With that, he turned and walked away.
As the distance between them grew, the spiritual link faded into silence.
Naruto lay back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling.
Ryosuke was right.
He always was.
He didn't have the answers. And maybe neither did the Third. But if there was any hope of clarity, it lay in confronting the person who had kept the truth hidden for so long.
Still, questions gnawed at him.
If Hiruzen truly wanted to protect him, why let the village know he was a jinchūriki? Why keep his parentage a secret? And if Minato really was his father, a so-called commoner turned Hokage... was that story even real?
He lay there until dawn.
When the sun finally rose, painting the room in pale gold, Naruto was still awake. He'd spent the whole night turning Ryosuke's words over and over in his mind. Yet no matter how much he analyzed, no clear answer ca to him.
But one thing had changed.
He was ready to face the truth now.
Swoosh—
The door creaked open. A nurse peeked in, trembling, and hurriedly placed a breakfast tray on the table before scurrying away like he'd infected the air.
Naruto said nothing. He was used to it.
He ate in silence, washed up, and dressed.
Then, walking to the window, he spoke calmly.
"Please inform him... I want to see the Third Hokage."
There was a pause.
And then, as if stepping out from thin air, a figure in an animal mask appeared on the windowsill.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," the masked ANBU said. "Hokage-sama has ordered not to be disturbed. He's... very busy right now."
Naruto didn't blink.
"He said he will explain everything... when the ti is right."
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