"Sasuke!"
Inside the Ninja Duel Tower, Naruto looked on with worry, his face full of concern for his trembling, silent friend. Then his eyes turned resentful, glaring at Uchiha Hikari.
It was this person's fault.
Not only had she crushed his beloved Sasuke instantly with genjutsu, she had then dragged them both here to look at some dusty records—leaving Sasuke in this pitiful state.
But… wait—?!
Hikari Uchiha's calm gaze shifted to Naruto. The crimson three-tomoe Sharingan silently turned into a Mangekyō Sharingan with three circular hooks.
[Eight-Thousand Spears]
Naruto's eyes went hazy for a moment, his legs wobbling, body suddenly weak.
No way… could it be because I've been playing around too late with Sasuke every night lately? I'm just… tired?
Naruto shook his head vigorously, shaking off the fatigue in his mind. He wanted to say something, but Sasuke, who had been silent all this time, turned around and looked at Naruto.
"Naruto… you go back first. I have something to discuss with her. I'll return later."
"Eh? But…" Naruto blinked in confusion. Still, he seemed to catch on—this was clan business, something between Sasuke and his kin. Scratching his head, he stepped aside.
"Fine, I'll wait for you here while looking at some scrolls."
"...Whatever."
Sasuke didn't care whether Naruto would actually read or just doodle on the scrolls. His mind was consumed by questions—questions only this mysterious clanswoman might answer.
Why was there Uchiha in Kirigakure? Why did she have a three-tomoe Sharingan when she was about the same age as him? Why did the people of the Uchiha clan here all look... disdainful of him?!
Sasuke was not a person who could keep things to himself. He said all the questions in his heart to Hikari, and his impatient look was even a bit coercive. He subconsciously put on the attitude of the second young master of the Uchiha clan.
"I know you have a lot of questions, but the matter of the Kirigakure Uchiha is a long story. It can't be summed up in just a few words." Hikari Uchiha casually took a few scrolls from the bookshelf. After signaling to an ANBU member on the side, she put them in Sasuke's hands.
"Here is the basic information about the Kirigakure Uchiha. You can first get a general idea. As for me... Is Fugaku that brat still in Konoha or has he gone to the front lines?"
Fugaku… that brat?
The strange way of addressing him made Sasuke clearly stunned, and then he was filled with anger.
Fugaku's position in his heart was quite special because he was not only his father and clan leader, but also Konoha's first Uchiha Hokage!
Therefore, Sasuke's long-standing wish, besides sticking with his Brother, Itachi Uchiha, and his best friend, Naruto, all day, was to get his father's approval and hear him say in person:
"As expected of my son."
Unfortunately, with Itachi Uchiha as the shining example, Sasuke had never been able to get such approval from his father. But it was precisely because of this that Fugaku's position in Sasuke's heart was especially high and majestic.
But a person like that was referred to as 'that brat' by Hikari?
How rude! This was the leader of the Uchiha clan and the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!
"You bastard, you rude person, you..."
"Forget it. Compared to that little guy Shisui, you're really far behind."
Looking at Sasuke—snarling, yet too afraid to actually strike her, reduced to impotent barking—Hikaru suddenly found it all rather dull.
He was supposed to be Indra's reincarnation, the heir to the Uchiha's greatest legacy. By all predictions, his chakra, his talent, his vessel should have surpassed every Uchiha before him.
Yet what she saw now, in this angry, puffed-up boy standing before her…
…was nothing more than a perfectly ordinary Uchiha.
The quality was still lacking—far inferior to what she had once witnessed in Kirigakure, or to the titans she had seen back in the Warring States Period.
Without any interest in further "training," Hikari stopped bothering to waste words on Sasuke. Her three-tomoe eyes shifted directly into Mangekyō.
In an instant, the stimulation of her ocular power forced Sasuke's eyes to flare—his Sharingan awakened under the pressure.
And at the same time, as the genjutsu scene unfolded within his mind, the exclusive brand of Eight-Thousand Spears imprinted itself upon him.
Seeing this, Naruto quickly stood up and wanted to say something—
—but a figure appeared before him, blocking his path.
"That's an Uchiha matter," the newcomer said softly. "You shouldn't interfere."
"Eh?!" Naruto blinked in shock. That red hair… that face—
"Mi—Mina-nee?! Aunt Mina?!"
"It's been a while, little Naruto."
Unable to suppress her longing for her son, Kushina—under the guise of her sister "Uzumaki Mina"—had visited the Uchiha compound several times before. Now she smiled gently at him, cupping his cheeks in her hands, rubbing them fondly.
Naruto's expression twisted bitterly. He wanted desperately to look back at Sasuke's situation, but at the same time, his heart swelled with joy at Kushina's sudden appearance.
According to Fugaku, "Uzumaki Mina" was truly his one and only living blood relative in this world. Here in this strange and unfamiliar place, the appearance of such a close family member left Naruto overwhelmed with excitement.
"Naruto's grown so much! You're turning into a handsome young man!"
"Ahhh! Don't pinch my face, Aunt Mina!"
"What? You won't let your aunt pinch you? Let me tell you—kids are supposed to let their elders pinch them! Especially when we're this close, you know?!"
"No, no, I didn't mean that, I just—ahhh…!"
Naruto's face squished and stretched like dough between Kushina's hands.
Meanwhile, inside the seal space—
The pitch-black chamber, like a dark night, lay silent. Kushina stepped lightly over the stagnant waters, her eyes fixed on the cage ahead—so familiar to her that it brought back countless memories.
The sealing jutsu for sealing Tailed Beasts were all different, but the mental and spiritual space connecting the Jinchūriki and the Tailed Beast was largely the same.
As if sensing her gaze, the creature within the cage stirred. Though it felt no chakra, it opened its eyes. Violent, vertical pupils locked onto her—and instantly constricted in disbelief.
"This is impossible. You should already be dead, Kushina!"
The Nine-Tails, who had been resting with its head on its forepaws, snapped awake at once. It rose up, body arched, a low snarl rumbling from its throat toward its former jinchūriki.
When a tailed beast is ripped from its host, death is certain—everyone knew this.
What's more, when it had last been sealed, that couple had taken a fatal claw strike straight through their bodies.
With wounds like that, not even Uzumaki Mito, the first jinchūriki, could have survived.
So why…
That kind of wound… not even Kushina could have survived. Not even Mito, the first jinchūriki of their clan, could have lived through that.
So why—?
"No… You are Kushina. But your chakra… your aura…"
The Nine-Tails arched higher, fragments of memory flashing through its mind—recalling that night, the night of its sealing, when another shadow had appeared…
"It's been a long time, Nine-Tails."
Through the seal, Kushina Uzumaki snorted and greeted the Nine-Tails.
The two were old acquaintances. She had used the Nine-Tails' chakra many times during the Third Shinobi World War, but that didn't mean that their relationship was good.
Between a jinchūriki and their tailed beast, there was rarely such a thing as "good relations." Even Uzumaki Mito, the very first jinchūriki, had been no exception. After all, jinchūriki forcibly sealed the beasts, stealing their freedom in order to exploit their power.
The Nine-Tails ignored her words. Instead, its sharp eyes swept up and down, scrutinizing her carefully. Finally, with a cold laugh, it spoke:
"So it's true—you've thrown in with that man's faction. You're not even human anymore, Kushina!"
The Nine-Tails had quite a lot of contact with him. After all, the perceptions of the Jinchūriki and the Tailed Beast were shared. Therefore, the Nine-Tails had already met Yuki Yoru during the Third Shinobi World War.
That man's strange power, completely distinct from chakra, had left a deep impression on the beast. And on the night of the Nine-Tails' disaster, Yoru's mark had burned itself into its memory forever.
Because on that night—
not only had it been sealed,
but it had also felt the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths!
Most shocking of all, that man had actually stopped the Sage's power!
"Thanks to you, I suppose."
Kushina let out another soft hum and plopped down cross-legged upon the shallow water, ripples spreading outward from her weight. "I have something to discuss with you."
"Discuss…?" The Nine-Tails reacted as if it had just heard the most absurd joke in the world. A booming laugh shook the cage.
"Hahahaha! Discuss something? You, Uzumaki Kushina, want to discuss something with me?"
Its pupils dilated, feral rage twisting its face. With a violent scrape, its massive orange claws dug into the bars of the seal, rattling them as it roared:
"RRRROAR! If not for this seal, I'd tear you apart this instant! Rip you to shreds and devour you whole! And you dare talk about 'discussing' things with me?!"
"You don't have a choice, Nine-Tails."
Kushina met its glare seriously, her tone calm.
"Through Naruto's vision, you should already be aware of what's happening outside. Someone is gathering the tailed beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails. And as for Yuki Yoru—he might not crave the beasts themselves, but he is very interested in your souls."
"You don't want to end up like the Three-Tails or Four-Tails, do you? Revived as nothing more than mindless chakra husks, stripped of memory and reduced to beasts without thought?"
In this chakra-saturated world, when a tailed beast dies, it eventually reforms elsewhere. Normally, their memories can be carried over into the new body, provided enough chakra sustains the transfer.
But if one were slain by Yoru's method…
Not only memory, but even the soul itself would be obliterated. Nothing would remain to be reborn.
"…You're threatening me?!"
"This is a warning," Kushina corrected, her voice steady. "A reminder. After all, we've shared decades together."
The Nine-Tails' body flared with crimson chakra flames. It nearly snapped back in fury—yet it stopped.
Its gaze locked onto hers. It knew her well, knew how serious she was.
After several long minutes of silence, the beast finally eased back a few steps. The flames around its body dimmed slightly.
"…What do you want?"
"There are two things."
Seeing that the Nine-Tails was being sensible, Kushina Uzumaki smiled and held up two fingers:
"As long as you can help me accomplish these two things, I won't bother you, and I will even protect you from being taken away by that evil guy."
"First… Naruto's chakra control problem."
"I know you resent me and Minato… but Naruto is innocent."
Kushina's voice was steady, though her eyes flashed with restrained anger.
"From the moment he was born, he's been constantly influenced—interfered with—by your chakra. Even with the Uzumaki bloodline, his chakra control has been utterly atrocious. If not for Fugaku's help not long ago, Naruto still wouldn't even be able to manage his chakra properly."
As she spoke, Kushina shot the Nine-Tails a sharp glare.
Naruto was not like her. Back then, her seal had been placed personally by Lady Mito herself—an absolute, flawless sealing technique. Not only had it prevented her from suffering the Nine-Tails' influence, but it had even allowed her to safely draw on its chakra when needed.
But Naruto… was different.
That night had been a crisis. To ensure the beast was fully sealed, Minato had used the Eight Trigrams Seal in tandem with the Reaper Death Seal, binding the Nine-Tails at the cost of his own life.
Though brilliant, the seal was not perfect. Compared to Mito's work, it was weaker—leaving the beast's chakra constantly seeping into Naruto, altering him. It was why whisker-like marks scarred his face, a constant reminder of the fox within.
Had she not asked Fugaku to use his Mangekyō to suppress and adjust the balance, Naruto wouldn't have been able to train properly at all. Forget mastering ninjutsu and taijutsu—he wouldn't even have managed tree-walking or water-walking.
"I'm not asking you to cooperate with Naruto," Kushina said firmly. "I'm only asking that you stop interfering with his chakra. Let him reclaim the talent he should've had from the very start. That's my first condition."
"…Tch."
The Nine-Tails instinctively wanted to scoff, to spit venom in reply. But staring into Kushina's eyes, seeing the iron certainty there, it let the words die in its throat. With a snort, it turned its head away in silence.
Seeing this, Kushina's expression softened, a faint smile tugging at her lips. But it faded quickly, replaced by something far more solemn.
"The second matter."
Drawing in a long breath, she closed her eyes. The Nine-Tails tilted its head, puzzled, as Kushina unleashed her Kagura Mind's Eye, feeling the currents of chakra in every direction.
After a long time, Kushina opened her eyes in disappointment. Only then did she look at the Nine-Tails and ask tentatively.
"…Inside Naruto, have you ever sensed another chakra?"
"…What do you mean?" the beast rumbled, momentarily taken aback.
"So, you haven't."
Kushina gave a small nod, her suspicions confirmed.
Of course. Asura's chakra was the handiwork of the Sage of Six Paths himself. The Nine-Tails might be powerful, but compared to the Sage, it was still far, far too weak.
Which left only one possibility.
If the Nine-Tails couldn't sense Asura's chakra at all… then perhaps it had already fused seamlessly with Naruto's own being.
If that was the case—if she were to use Eight-Thousand Spears's brand upon him—then Naruto…
A shadow of dread crossed Kushina's eyes. She pressed it down after a long moment, forcing herself calm as she turned her gaze back toward the bars of the seal.
No—more precisely, she stared straight at the seal itself.