Chapter 498: Crying is not something a real man does

A dazzling beam of golden light, like a meteor streaking in reverse, shot up into the sky from the wooden building in the backyard of the Hyuga Compound.

A terrifying pressure, like a tangible tsunami, instantly swept across a small half of Hidden Leaf Village.

Countless sleeping villagers and Ninja were startled awake, gazing in terror toward the direction where the golden light rose.

Young Naruto streaked across the night sky like a golden meteor, speeding toward a specific destination with a clear target in mind.

The home of Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto!

Meanwhile, at the front door of Seventh Hokage’s house, Kawaki was preparing to reach out and push the door open.

His face was devoid of any expression, his eyes cold and hollow.

The dark red bloodstains on his hands, not yet fully dried, appeared particularly glaring under the moonlight.

He had already followed the plan and taken care of Boruto.

Next, he needed to enter the house, find Seventh Hokage and his wife, and then use the power of the black eye to temporarily Seal them away.

Omnipotence was indeed powerful, but Eida was not Otsutsuki Shibai.

The Shinjutsu ’Omnipotence’ she used could not affect the blood relatives of the target, Otsutsuki, or Otsutsuki vessels when it came to altering cognition.

Therefore, Kawaki had to Seal Seventh Hokage and his wife before dealing with all the Otsutsuki in the Ninja World, preventing them from stopping him.

The content Kawaki requested Eida to change using Shinjutsu was: Kawaki is the biological son of Seventh Hokage and his wife. Boruto is the adopted son of Seventh Hokage and his wife. Boruto killed Seventh Hokage and his wife.

Of course, Omnipotence only altered the cognition of the people in the Ninja World, not the facts; Seventh Hokage and his wife still needed to be dealt with by Kawaki himself.

Therefore, once Boruto’s "corpse" was discovered, Kawaki would step forward and claim that he killed Boruto to "avenge his parents."

In the modified cognition of everyone, this was completely reasonable and just.

As long as he released Seventh Hokage and his wife from the Seal after dealing with all the Otsutsuki in the Ninja World, everything would be perfect.

By then, it wouldn’t matter to Kawaki whether Seventh Hokage killed him or whatever else happened.

He wanted to protect Seventh Hokage from harm; as for others, he didn’t care at all, not even Boruto, who called him brother.

The plan seemed perfect.

However, the moment Kawaki’s hand was about to touch the doorknob, his body suddenly froze.

A terrifying Aura had locked onto him. Just the Aura alone made the hair on his body stand on end, sending a chill down his spine!

Cold sweat broke out instantly.

The next second, before he could even turn around, he felt a sharp killing intent from behind that made his Soul tremble!

A giant hand condensed from golden Chakra, like the palm of a deity, came whistling from the distant night sky.

The giant hand was aimed directly at Kawaki, intending to crush him into dust with a single strike!

At the critical moment, Seventh Hokage’s front door was blasted open from the inside by a tremendous force, sending wood splinters flying.

A figure also shining with golden light stood in front of Kawaki—it was Seventh Hokage!

Recently, Seventh Hokage had not been working as hard as before, so he was in good condition. Thus, he reacted immediately and struck back fiercely.

He also extended a giant golden Chakra hand, colliding fiercely with the incoming giant hand.

Accompanied by a violent Chakra shockwave, the air wave rippled out from the center of the collision between the two giant hands.

The surrounding houses and trees shook violently as if swept by a hurricane, and the glass windows shattered one after another.

"Souma, what is the meaning of this?"

Seventh Hokage blocked this terrifying blow, but his eyes were filled with unbelievable confusion and heartache.

He did not understand why "himself" from another world would suddenly try to kill Kawaki.

Young Naruto’s figure descended from the sky, floating not far in front of Seventh Hokage.

The golden Chakra cloak on his body burned fiercely, his cape fluttering wildly behind him, and those red Six-Tomoe Rinnegan locked onto Kawaki, who was being protected behind Seventh Hokage.

"Where is Eida?"

He did not answer Seventh Hokage’s question, but instead asked directly for the name of one of the key figures in this matter.

That person who could use’Shinjutsu: Omnipotence’ and alter everyone’s cognition.

"Seventh Hokage, Kawaki attacked Boruto. My Shadow Clone has already gone to find Boruto."

"What?"

Seventh Hokage’s body stiffened abruptly; he widened his eyes and turned back to look at Kawaki behind him in disbelief.

Kawaki’s face was still devoid of any expression. He simply, calmly—or perhaps one could say coldly—met Seventh Hokage’s shocked, confused, and pained gaze, and slowly raised his left hand.

"He will turn into Momoshiki sooner or later."

Kawaki’s voice was devoid of any inflection, as if stating an established fact.

His right eye turned into a black eye, just like Isshiki’s.

As his words fell, black cubes instantly appeared on Seventh Hokage.

"I’m sorry, Seventh Hokage."

A trace of struggle flashed in Kawaki’s left eye, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

"However, I will resolve all of this."

He intended to use Daikokuten to temporarily Seal Seventh Hokage.

"You can only end your own life!"

Young Naruto’s voice was like the judgment of the Shinigami.

At the same time, a wooden sword wrapped in lightning attacked from the side, carrying an unrivaled Aura as it thrust directly at Kawaki’s neck.

Before the attack even arrived, the sharp killing intent and destructive Aura already made Kawaki’s skin feel a stinging pain.

This move was suddenly interrupted in mid-air; even Young Naruto did not see what attack had interrupted the wooden sword.

Discarding the broken wooden sword in his hand, Young Naruto thought for a moment and realized what the attack had been.

Kawaki did not have the energy to maintain Daikokuten and immediately fled to a nearby rooftop.

It was Seventh Hokage who had intercepted Young Naruto just now.

Seventh Hokage’s eyes had turned into the toad-like eyes of Sage Mode; it was he who had used Frog Kumite to interrupt Young Naruto’s attack.

Frog Kumite is a taijutsu from Mount Myoboku’s Sage Mode, which can mobilize Natural Energy to use invisible hands to attack the opponent.

"Wait, I want to clarify what exactly is going on first."

Seventh Hokage stood in front of Young Naruto.

"Kawaki and Boruto are brothers; how could he do something like this?"

Kawaki was his student, and Boruto was his son; Seventh Hokage found it hard to believe that such a thing could happen.

Young Naruto looked at Seventh Hokage with dissatisfaction.

"You have become weak."

In Seventh Hokage’s ears, Young Naruto’s words were very harsh.

"Where has the Uzumaki Naruto gone—the one who, when faced with Uchiha Sasuke’s defection, would loudly declare, ’Even if I have to break your arms and legs, I will bring you back to Hidden Leaf Village’?"

Young Naruto paused, his crimson eyes staring intensely at Seventh Hokage as he asked:

This questioning was not only a criticism of Seventh Hokage’s current behavior, but also an interrogation of his "original intention."

The Uzumaki Naruto of the past, in order to bring back a best friend who had strayed from the path, could disregard everything, risk his life, and use any necessary means, all just to pull the other person back to the right path and protect important bonds.

But now, faced with "family" who might have killed his own son and committed an unforgivable crime, Seventh Hokage was hesitating.

Because peace had lasted too long, because laws were developing, and because he was the Hokage...

Because he did not want to believe that Kawaki, who was like a brother to Boruto, would kill Boruto.

Seventh Hokage fell silent. Looking at the face before him that resembled his own youth so much, he thought of many things.

"You’re right..."

Kawaki, who was considering whether to leave, had his left hand grabbed by a hand and was then slammed to the ground.

Seventh Hokage’s Shadow Clone stood behind him with a serious expression, pinned him down, and then pressed him down with a knee.

"I did not intend to cover for Kawaki. As Kawaki’s teacher, it is my responsibility for not teaching him well. If something has happened to Boruto, I will make him spend the rest of his life in prison repenting for Boruto."

"Alright Kawaki, tell me where Boruto is."

Seventh Hokage’s Shadow Clone applied a little pressure, and Kawaki felt a moment of suffocation, then the Shadow Clone loosened slightly to give him a chance to speak.

But Kawaki refused to say anything; Boruto had been gutted by him, so there was no way he could survive.

Even if it meant trading his own life for Momoshiki’s, it would be worth it!

Seventh Hokage’s mouth twitched; he wanted to force a smile, because he always smiled.

He had grown up in loneliness and was accustomed to using smiles to make himself appear stronger.

But this time, snot and tears flowed down.

His son... the apprentice he had personally brought home and carefully taught... had been killed...

This reality, cruel to the extreme, was like a dull knife, cutting back and forth on his heart.

He... was streaming with tears and snot.

This Seventh Hokage, who had experienced countless life-and-death trials, pacified the Fourth Great Ninja War, and was regarded by countless people as a hero and a pillar of support, was now crying bitterly without any regard for his image.

Tears mixed with snot slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the cold ground.

Self-reproach had swallowed him up.

Clearly... clearly I had become the Hokage... clearly I had the strength to protect the Village...

Clearly Otsutsuki Isshiki was already dead... clearly I was already one of the strongest people in the Ninja World...

Why! Why! Why! Why! Why! Why! Why!

Uzumaki Naruto, why can’t you even protect your own son!

Why didn’t you even teach your own student well!

Why didn’t you spend time properly with your family before?

Why didn’t you make time to teach your son more?

Why! Why! Why!

...

"Naruto..."

In the Sealing Space, the Nine-Tailed walked behind Seventh Hokage with a dark expression; he did not know how to console Naruto.

After all, that was the pain of losing a child...

As a being who had watched Naruto grow up, he knew how important family was to Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto, you have more than one son! If you stay depressed now, what will happen to your wife and daughter? Besides, maybe your son can still be saved!"

A high-pitched voice rang out, and a small tanuki nudged Naruto’s thigh. That was the Chakra that Shukaku had left inside Naruto.

"Although it’s not really appropriate to say this at a time like this, Naruto, you need to pull yourself together."

A small red monkey climbed onto Seventh Hokage’s shoulder, its four octopus-tentacle-like tails swaying. Then came the Seven-Tails, Three-Tails, Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails...

The Nine-Tailed lowered its eyes, and finally, its body slowly shrank and walked in front of Seventh Hokage.

"Naruto... if you want to cry, then cry. I won’t make fun of you. For so many years, you have been holding back your emotions; it must be exhausting, right!"

You lost your parents when you were just born, and now in middle age, you have lost your son... How cruel this fate is!

The night wind seemed to carry a hint of sorrow, gently blowing against Seventh Hokage’s trembling shoulders.

Hinata wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand and walked to her husband’s side. Before she could force herself to speak while suppressing her emotions.

A weak but slightly teasing voice came from the rooftop behind Young Naruto.

"Dad... crying is not something a real man does!"

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