The moment the yin Nine Tails' fist touched his, Mo Ke felt it — not water and milk, but the click of a soul snapping whole.
The Scarlet Power that had still been new in his hands suddenly flowed like second nature. And with the exchange of memory, every old technique sharpened a half step on the spot.
Then the chime rang in his skull.
[Congratulations. Host rating advanced to A-. Settlement reward tier A. Please choose one reward.
Option 1: One pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, no potential cap — from Naruto
Option 2: Skill — "Split to Succeed." Summon imperfect semi-autonomous copies of yourself that continuously refresh to your current peak state and possess all of your abilities except emotion. Mind-linked with the host and cannot be cut by any power. Cannot use items beyond what their own abilities create. At A tier you may maintain two copies, with higher ratings increasing the cap to a maximum of three. Death of any copy or the host kills all — from Dota 2 hero Meepo
Option 3: Random Devil Fruit with side effects removed — from One Piece]
In the mindscape, the newly human-looking yin Mo Ke traded a glance with Mo Ke and blurted first, "Take the Mangekyo. Call it three years of back pay."
"Back pay my tail." Mo Ke flicked his forehead. "Mangekyo is trash for us. Five or six real fights and we'll be squinting at shadows. What will we do with a pair of glass eyeballs."
He leaned in. "Besides, we are going to fuse. You felt it too. With half a soul each we both stumble in control. When we become one again, I bet the Zanpakuto's spirit finally shows itself."
"Fusion is fine. I lead."
"Get lost. You are me and I am you. If we fuse, who cares about 'lead' anything."
The yin fox paused. "…I still feel like I lose."
"Oh. I know exactly what you did these three years." Mo Ke's smile was all teeth. "Sounded like you had a blast."
"Heh. What's mine is yours."
"Heh. Fair."
With their hearts aligned, both chose Option 2.
It fit like it had been forged for this exact second. With Meepo's split, yin and yang Mo Ke could merge back to one soul and then spawn two peak copies to sit quietly in Kushina and Naruto.
Yes, shared death was a clause, but a tailed beast fears the end least of all.
The result would be brutal. Two hosts, both guarded, both empowered. Their "foxes" would no longer be halves, but the Mo Ke who was Nine Tails, shinigami, master of all three colors of Haki, and keeper of the Scarlet Power. Seal a half a Nine Tails in Naruto and he could beat six-tomoe Rinnegan Sasuke. Seal a super Kage fox and maybe the Kaguya problem would resolve itself before Mo Ke even stepped outside.
"Is this too strong. Will the story collapse."
"Not our problem."
"True."
They high-fived like scoundrels. The Devil Fruit worth a hundred million berries drifted past, ignored again.
…
The discussion took a heartbeat.
To Naruto and Kushina it looked like this — fist bump, then the yin Nine Tails thinned and faded from the air.
Kushina's breath hitched. She checked the seal inside. The fox still lay there, only now its fur burned an indecent, handsome red. Relief exhaled. She called it twice and got silence, then shot Mo Ke a look.
"You… what did you do to that Mo Ke."
"No 'that.' Idiot Kushina, we're one." He said it with the ease of an old friend ribbing another. Fusion had washed away the seam. "Right now the fox in you is an empty shell without feelings. If you talk to it, I'll hear you."
So they had become one again. Kushina felt a small, unexpected loss. Three years in the cage had made that big fox her loudest confidant. But Mo Ke's grin was familiar as sunrise, only set in a human face. That calmed her.
"Dad, what were you saying. Where did that big fox go."
Naruto scrubbed his eyes dry with the back of his hand and tilted his face up from Mo Ke's chest.
"That big one is the Nine Tails," Kushina said, avoiding the word demon for the boy's sake, "the fox. He is… your godfather's other half. They just became one again."
"What. Even if you are my mom you cannot say that. He is my dad. My real dad. Who says he is my godfather."
Mo Ke gave Naruto a silent thumbs-up. Low emotional intelligence, who said that. This was an assist straight to the hoop.
Hearing the word mother from Naruto's mouth, Kushina forgot all titles. Tears filled again, warm and dizzy. Mo Ke nudged the boy forward. The newly sworn "manly man" hesitated, then saw the softness in Kushina's face even as she cried and could not help but step in and hug her, small head on her shoulder.
"I… do I really have a mom. The kids say I'm a stray with no mom. Why didn't you stay. Do you know how hard it has been."
Kushina's heart melted. She squeezed him like she could press him back into herself, like the ten months when he had been all heartbeat and warmth.
"Forgive me, Naruto. I wasn't a good mother. I wasn't with you. But now I won't leave. Not ever again. Even if you get married, I am moving in, dattebane."
As mother and son clung and traded verbal tics like vows, a very ill-timed voice cut in.
"Hey, idiot Kushina, careful. The kid is three. Squeeze any harder and you will crack him. Can you not see his face turning red, you musclehead."
Two heads turned slowly.
"Shut up, pervert Mo Ke, dattebane."
"Dad, you are the worst. Move, dattebayo."
Mo Ke lifted both hands, palms out, smiling like trouble. Then he closed his eyes for a beat, focused, and let the A-rank gift bloom.
Two ripples left him without fanfare, invisible to anyone but a master. One curled into the red fur coiled in Kushina's seal. The other slid through the gate where the boy's little Nine Tails form slept. The copies opened their eyes at the same instant — emotionless guardians spun from the peak of a world's chosen.
Mo Ke breathed out, feeling the soul's edges finally knit seamless. Deeper down, something stirred. A city of silent towers. Wind through empty steel lanes. Footsteps he had not heard since birth.
He would visit that world soon. He suspected a spirit waited there with his name.
For now he rapped his knuckles lightly on Naruto's head, gentle as a promise. "Training tonight. Real training. And ramen after."
Naruto's eyes lit. Kushina's blush returned. And far above the water of the mind, the Scarlet Power hummed, eager to be used.
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