NIP Chapter 581 The Matter Ends
Chapter 581 The Matter Ends
The subsequent family reunion scene was almost identical to the reunion in the original work, except that this time, everyone's tears contained an added layer of unbelievable relief at having something lost and then regained.
At first, Naruto couldn't believe it at all. Then, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki began to explain, patiently and tenderly pouring out everything they knew, remembered, and could say, word by word.
She spoke one sentence after another, as if afraid that her son would disappear if she spoke too slowly.
They told him that he was their child, born on the night the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village, a child they were forced to separate from before they had a chance to see him properly, hold him properly, or call his name properly.
They told him that they loved him, that they had never stopped loving him, and that even after death, in the long, endless darkness, they always held him in their hearts, thought of him, and longed for him.
Naruto finally understood the situation.
The two people standing in front of him, the golden-haired Fourth Hokage and the beautiful red-haired woman, were his father and mother.
These were his father and mother, whose faces he could never quite picture. Naruto, who had always thought he was destined to never have the word "parents," suddenly burst into tears like a flood, unable to stop them.
He wasn't a crybaby; from a young age, he learned to swallow his grievances and loneliness, using silly smiles and mischief to cover up the wounds that no one could see.
But at this moment, he didn't want to hold back anymore, and he couldn't hold back any longer.
He threw himself into the arms of the red-haired woman and burst into tears, crying like a real child loved by his parents.
The two children embraced their resurrected parents, tears streaming down their faces, and kept trying to tell them something.
Zuo Yue watched this scene from a short distance away, feeling both heartache and relief.
Compared to this little Sasuke, I am really lucky—her parents did not die. Although she experienced the sadness of her parents almost dying, and she cried and was afraid, fortunately, the ending was good. Her parents were safe and sound and accompanied her throughout her childhood. They were there for her every time she needed them.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, who belonged to Naruto, were resurrected many years ago.
The missing piece of "family affection" in Naruto's heart has long been healed, gradually filled by the warmth of his parents who arrived long overdue.
Naruto thought to himself, "That's about all I've done."
Whether it was Sasuke's near defection, the resurrection of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, or the new powers gained by Naruto and Sasuke—with Danzo, that troublemaker, now dead, everything is resolved.
In the arena, Kushina Uzumaki held her son, who was now a teenager, tightly around the waist.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Naruto... It's all Mom and Dad's fault... for leaving you for so long..."
She didn't want to think too much. She didn't want to think about why she had come back to life when she was supposed to be dead, and she didn't want to think about those complicated, brain-taxing things that would pull her out of this moment of happiness.
All she wanted was to hold her son, hear his voice, feel his warmth, and give him back all the hugs she had missed over the years, one by one, without any regrets.
As long as she could have this son whom she thought she would never be able to watch grow up, Kushina Uzumaki didn't want to think about anything else.
But Minato Namikaze was different. After the initial excitement subsided and the initial joy gradually faded, his reason and emotion finally found their balance once again.
After some deliberation, the water gate opened.
"Naruto... I'm sorry."
His voice carried an added sense of responsibility that he, as Hokage and as a rational person, had to face.
"You don't seem surprised by our resurrection. Do you know what really happened?"
As soon as Minato Namikaze finished speaking, he was glared at by Kushina Uzumaki.
However, Naruto wiped the tears from his face and hastily wiped them with his sleeve, but his voice was filled with undisguised pride and excitement.
"Dad! You won't believe it! It was my future self who did it!"
"Oh, right! There's also Sasuke from another world... a beautiful older sister! Much nicer than Sasuke! She was especially kind to me! It's just a pity..."
Sasuke's body stiffened slightly while he was still in his mother's arms.
"What's the pity?" Kushina's voice floated down from above Naruto's head, filled with curiosity and interest, temporarily detached from her sadness.
"It's a pity she's already married..."
Naruto's gaze returned to the direction he had come from, his finger pointing directly to a spot at the edge of the open space.
"They're right there—"
However, Naruto's voice suddenly stopped; the place he was pointing to was now empty.
There were only a few trees swaying in the wind, only a patch of grass dyed golden red by the setting sun, only long, lonely shadows without a trace of human presence.
The sun has set.
Under the dark sky, Naruto and Satsuki had already left.
They quietly disappeared into the deepening twilight, leaving only Naruto's index finger still awkwardly outstretched in mid-air, unsure whether to retract it or continue pointing, and a gust of wind blowing from afar.