Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

Soon, the eunuch brought the news.

"Minato Namikaze, the Emperor said that if you want to see him alone, you'll have to show more sincerity."

The eunuch's words made Minato Namikaze's heart tighten, but at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief.

The fact that they were able to make a request was already a stroke of good luck for Minato.

Making a request means there's still hope, and the other party hasn't refused.

As for wanting extra sincerity?

This is something that Minato Namikaze is having a bit of a headache about.

His "sincerity" was earned through the sacrifices of others.

Ai.

Terumi Mei.

Even if he wanted to show extra sincerity, hadn't his wife Kushina and his disciple Rin already been captured by the imperial court?

He is now completely alone, a lone star destined for misfortune.

What sincerity can he possibly offer?

Even his so-called martial arts secrets, which could wipe out the rebel forces, were merely an excuse to get close to the emperor.

The only secret he knew was that Hashirama-senpai was still alive.

In the end, will he also betray Hashirama, the only person who has always supported him and is his spiritual pillar?

No! Absolutely not!

There are things one should do, and things one should not do.

Hashirama faked his death to escape, but his goal was more important; he was truly acting for the sake of all living beings.

Even if he fails, as long as Hashirama-senpai is still alive, there is still hope for the martial arts world.

So, did he just give up like that?

The words the eunuch brought were both a glimmer of hope and an ultimatum.

If he can't show sincerity, it means that everything he said before was a lie, and he might be captured and killed on the spot.

After all, his reason was that he possessed secrets of the martial arts world. Since he had secrets, revealing even a little bit would be considered a sign of sincerity.

At that moment, Minato Namikaze suddenly remembered a street singer he had seen at the palace gate before he was escorted to the capital and taken to the palace.

Although the street singer's face was covered, Minato Namikaze recognized him from his exposed skin; he was definitely of the same kind as A.

Then, Minato remembered that after he met Ai, Ai had told him that he had a sworn brother who was playful and loved music.

When he was escorting goods, he would often go out and sing for money by himself.

A's entire family was wiped out, and Minato thought that A's younger brother would also suffer the same fate.

But upon closer reflection, if Ai's younger brother could sneak out to play while carrying out such an important mission as escorting goods, could he have also been playing alone in another place during the massacre of his entire family and escaped the calamity?

Looking back now, the masked singer outside the palace must have been Ai's younger brother.

He must have learned of his brother's tragic death and guessed why he died, which is why he came to the palace to see him off.

At that time, Ai Didi sang "The wind is howling, the Yi River is cold, the hero goes forth and never returns," a song that had been circulating in the martial arts world for a long time.

It is said that a thousand years ago, there was a righteous man and a musician who wanted to assassinate the emperor. They parted ways by the Yi River, and the musician sang this song.

The righteous assassination attempt failed, but the musician, carrying out his friend's dying wish, also attempted an assassination.

No one knows the exact outcome.

But Hashirama-senpai had told him the sequel to the story, saying that the musician was blinded by the evil emperor before he was allowed to play for him.

Having lost his sight, the musician had no idea that there was a rehearsal during his performance. He suddenly launched an assassination attempt, killing only a minor eunuch.

Then he was taken away and executed.

It is said that the musicians were killed during rehearsals without the emperor's knowledge, and the eunuchs, to avoid being held accountable for hiring an assassin, tacitly suppressed the matter.

As for how Hashirama knew that?

Because the ancestors of Senju, the Six Paths Monks who castrated themselves to enter the palace to spread Buddhism, were present at the time and recorded the event.

Thinking about this, Minato Namikaze knew what his sincerity was.

He picked up the incense in the room, gritted his teeth, and leaned closer.

The smoke stung his eyes, but Minato Namikaze forced his eyelids open with his hands to achieve his goal.

Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, Minato blinded himself with the smoke.

"Someone, tell the emperor that as a mere mortal, I do not believe I am worthy to see His Majesty's true face, so I have blinded myself to show my utmost sincerity."

Minato shouted into the distance.

At the same time, he adapted to the darkness as much as possible.

The musician from ancient times who was blinded by smoke took some time to recover. During that time, he was able to familiarize himself with the environment without light, which helped him hone his assassination skills.

The only pity is that he succeeded in the assassination, but he assassinated the wrong person; the target never came.

Shuimen can now learn from his mistake and wait until he is certain that the visitor is the emperor before taking action.

The problem is that he doesn't have much time to adapt to his identity as a blind man.

Fortunately, when he sparred with Hashirama before, sometimes they would deliberately fight blindfolded or with their hands bound for entertainment.

I do have a little bit of experience.

When attacking, simply aim at the source of the sound.

"...Lord Minato is really...sincere."

The eunuch was startled to see the water gate that had been blinded by smoke.

The eunuch wasn't frightened by Minato's appearance, but rather by the fact that Minato's act of blinding himself was, in the eunuch's eyes, a self-inflicted wound.

Unless Minato Namikaze was originally a die-hard loyalist of the Emperor and extremely admired him, it would be impossible for him to commit such self-harm in order to see the Emperor.

Having paid such a high price, what Minato Namikaze wanted to obtain must have been of immense value.

In this situation, anyone with a sound mind would never take Minato Namikaze to the Emperor.

The eunuch decided to test the waters.

"Lord Minato, I have good news for you. Your wife, who was sent to the palace, did not die, nor was she subjected to the humiliation of being surrounded by 100,000 soldiers. The Emperor was merciful and arranged a secluded courtyard for her. It seems she is about to give birth today. Lord Minato will finally have an heir."

If you abandon your allegiance to the light this time, meet the emperor, and gain his approval, then it's not impossible for your family to be reunited and share wealth and prosperity.

The eunuch revealed some information to Minato Namikaze while observing his expression, hoping to glean some clues.

"What? Your Majesty, I thank you!"

Minato Namikaze was overjoyed upon hearing this.

This surprise is not feigned, nor does it need to be.

Knowing that Kushina was safe and that he himself had an heir, he was completely at ease, and had no more worries about assassinating the emperor.

"But Lord Minato, you must understand that if His Majesty the Emperor is not satisfied this time, your newborn child—if it's a boy, it might soon become our colleague; if it's a girl…"

The eunuch interrupted Shuimen's joy with a cruel remark that brought him back to reality.

"what?"

Naruto, who was excited about his upcoming appearance, froze in mid-air.

What does that mean?

Not long after Obito went down there, he became a eunuch.

Why do I feel like I'm destined to be a eunuch right from birth?

Has the curse from the previous Tsukuyomi world not been lifted yet?