Namikaze legend

Chapter 60: Judgement Day

"You did that, Tobi?" asked Toka disappointedly, but her husband didn't seem to care.

"It was for the protection of Konoha...nothing else" said Tobirama proudly, and Minato decided to intervene before things got out of hand.

"I chose Naruto for this force at the age of 8, rather he volunteered for it if I kept Itachi out of this war. You have to understand, Naruto has a gift of inspiring people in impossible situations and he was a powerful boy. Konoha was against 3 great villages, their forces outnumbered us at least twice. I had to send Naruto to war..." said Minato pleadingly, as Tobirama agreed with him.

However disappointment was clearly visible in his mother's eyes...

"That's when things changed. He lost all contact with us for the next 7 years, I just met him right now after all these years. In that time frame, he became best friends with a boy called Armin..." said Minato truthfully,

"I've heard him speaking that name..." said Toka quickly, and Tobirama didn't like the direction in which this was going...

"Armin became his family. He was not just a friend, but I dare say he replaced Itachi. Naruto admired Armin, and when Naruto loves someone he loves them from all his heart. However this love turned into his greatest weakness..." said Minato sadly,

"A common trait among the Uchiha's. Minato, the way your son is acting...he will self destroy himself within a short period. I've seen this countless times, your son is a live example of Madara Uchiha. That man was a lot similar to Naruto, but when Izuna died he went mad and lost all interest in the world. He didn't even care if he lived or died, the only thing he cared about was destroying Konoha...but my brother stopped him" explained Tobirama briefly,

"What happened to Armin?" asked Toka hesitantly,

"He died during a special ops operation in Iwa, they were behind enemy lines in Iwa trying to capture Shuri Castle. The enemy ambushed them and Armin sacrificed himself to save Naruto..." said Minato sadly,

"And it awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, didn't it?" asked Tobirama seriously,

"Yes, you've got to understand. Naruto went through hell in the past 7 years, he had his first kills when he was 8 and it was not pretty. Everyday was a fight to survive, but he was happy because he had his best friend by his side. He was made a company commander at the age of 13, and his first battle was against 4,000 Iwa shinobi. He led his comrades to victory as his commander died suddenly, despite the odds he emerged victorious. At shuri castle, he killed 300 Anbu forces and defeated the Four and Five Tails..." explained Minato briefly,

Tobirama was a little amazed by such feats, so the boy was indeed a good soldier of Konoha. While Toka was pleased on hearing about her grandson's bravery...

"He's a nice boy..." said Toka happily,

"When Armin died, Naruto went through the Curse of Hatred. He lost faith in everything, and all the pain and suffering that he had endured all these years came flooding back to him. He has done lot of terrible things, Naruto has killed thousands for Konoha. Armin is just a way through which he tries to explain his pain, but he does not let anyone in...it's his childhood habit" said Minato with a low chuckle,

"Minato it is protocol to retire Anbu after 3 years of service. Your son has been a Blacklight for 7 years, and carried the burden of leadership. From what you've told me, he has endured a lot. He was not fit for Blackops in the first place..." concluded Tobirama,

"Yeah..."

"But at the same time, I understand why you sent him. It was unavoidable and so is the current situation...we need to make him understand" replied Tobirama