While Pakura was sinking deeper into self-doubt inside the hospital room, Hiroki had already followed the Third Hokage through layers of guarded corridors and arrived once more at the spiral-shaped tower.
The atmosphere inside was noticeably heavier than during his previous visit. Even the faint lavender fragrance meant to calm the mind could not conceal the thick scent of medicinal herbs and lingering illness.
Uzumaki Mito lay quietly on a tatami mat. The faint rosiness that had once colored her face was completely gone, replaced by a pale gray hue. Her skin was dry and shriveled, like paper that had lost all moisture, and her breathing was shallow and labored, each breath seeming to cost her great effort.
Uzumaki Kushina knelt beside her. The young girl's small body trembled uncontrollably as she clutched Mito's hand with both of hers. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she bit her lip hard, stubbornly refusing to cry out loud. Fear and helplessness were written plainly across her face.
When the door slid open and Kushina noticed Hiroki standing behind the Third Hokage, a faint spark of light appeared in her tear-filled eyes.
Almost unconsciously, she moved toward him, as if grasping at the last thread of safety she could find.
"Hiroki…" Her voice was barely more than a whisper, choked with sobs and tangled emotions she didn't know how to name.
Hiroki nodded to her and stepped forward, kneeling beside her at the same level.
He didn't offer any grand speeches or empty reassurances. Instead, he simply reached out and gently patted her back, easing the tension in her rigid shoulders.
At a time like this, what a child needed most was not words, but the presence of someone they could rely on.
"Don't be afraid," Hiroki said quietly. "I'm here."
His calm voice worked like a balm. Kushina's trembling eased slightly, even though the tears still clung to her lashes.
Watching the scene, a subtle trace of relief passed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's exhausted eyes.
Kushina's instinctive reliance on Hiroki, and Hiroki's natural response, were precisely the kind of bond he hoped would form. Only with such ties would Hiroki truly dedicate himself to Konoha and protect it in the years to come.
"…Time… is running out…"
On the tatami, Mito slowly opened her eyes, drawing on the last of her strength. Her gaze passed over everyone in the room before settling on Kushina and Hiroki.
"Sarutobi… take us… to that place…"
"Yes, Lady Mito," Hiruzen replied immediately.
He gave a brief signal to the ANBU standing behind him. Without hesitation or unnecessary words, two of them stepped forward and carefully lifted Mito, bed and all.
They did not use the main stairway. Instead, a hidden door was opened, revealing a secret passage that descended deep underground.
At the end of the passage lay a vast and empty stone chamber.
Unlike Tobirama's laboratory, this place contained no mechanical or technological elements. It felt ancient, solemn, almost primal.
The walls and floor were engraved with massive, intricate spiral sealing formulas unique to the Uzumaki clan. Tall stone pillars stood at measured intervals, their surfaces carved with dense sealing patterns.
At the center of the chamber stood an altar made from a special, unknown material.
Several elite Konoha ninja were already stationed around the chamber. As soon as Mito was brought in, they stepped forward to reinforce and stabilize the barrier surrounding the room.
Mito was placed on one side of the altar. Kushina was gently guided to lie down on the opposite side.
"Kushina…" Mito's voice was so faint it was almost lost to the air, yet she still managed to offer the red-haired girl a warm, reassuring smile. "Before hatred fills your heart… fill it with love… first…"
She tried to continue, but before she could finish, the sealing formula on her abdomen flickered violently. A burst of wild, malicious chakra surged for an instant before vanishing.
"There's no time!" Hiruzen shouted. "Begin!"
Mito gathered the last remnants of her strength and raised her hand. Several golden chains of pure chakra burst forth from her back. Their glow was dim and unsteady, as though they might fade at any moment.
The chains did not attack. Instead, they gently wrapped around Kushina's body, linking the two women together like living conduits.
"Seal…"
Mito's whisper was barely audible.
In response, an immense crimson torrent of chakra surged from Mito's body into Kushina's, flowing along the Adamantine Chains like a raging river.
Throughout the entire transfer, the Nine-Tails was never fully released. Everything occurred within the sealing formula itself.
Even so, standing beside the altar, Hiroki felt something deeply wrong.
A flood of unimaginably vast, chaotic chakra slammed directly into his System, like a dam bursting without warning.
He didn't even have time to react.
An overwhelming suction seized his consciousness, dragging it away before he could resist.
The world before his eyes shattered and twisted.
In the next instant, Hiroki was no longer in the underground chamber.
He stood in the middle of a boundless primeval forest. The air was fresh, the sky wide and clear, and everything appeared tranquil beyond reason.
Where… am I?
Was this someone's inner world?
Hiroki frowned slightly. Uzumaki Naruto's inner world was supposed to resemble a sewer. Even if Kushina's was different, it shouldn't look like this.
He couldn't immediately recall the details, but now was not the time to dig through his memory archives.
Because the tranquility shattered.
From the depths of the forest surged a torrent of hatred and malice so dense it felt almost physical. The pressure was overwhelming, cold enough to freeze the soul.
A violent gust forced Hiroki back several steps.
He gritted his teeth and looked up.
At the edge of the forest, pinned tightly against a massive spherical structure of rock by countless barbed chains, loomed a colossal fox, orange-red in color and as large as a mountain.
Its nine tails thrashed restlessly like enormous serpents, each movement stirring violent winds.
Then, slowly, a pair of enormous scarlet eyes opened.
They locked onto Hiroki.
The Nine-Tails.
The instant his consciousness fully entered the sealing space, the System inside Hiroki's mind erupted with a shrill alarm unlike anything he had ever heard.
His brain buzzed violently, as though countless broken televisions were blasting static inside his skull. The noise threatened to tear his thoughts apart.
A moment later, the firewall designed to counter Genjutsu activated.
Hiroki's mind gradually stabilized, though cold sweat ran down his back as he looked up at the restrained beast.
"Well, well," the Nine-Tails sneered, its massive muzzle curling into a malicious grin. "So you're Sawada Hiroki?"
A foul, suffocating breath rolled down from above.
"That little girl seems to think very highly of you," Kurama continued mockingly. "She actually believes you can tame me."
The fox's voice rose, thick with contempt and challenge.
"If that's the case—then let me see what you're made of!"
In the next instant, a crushing wave of pressure exploded outward.
An attack nearly identical to Orochimaru's mental assault slammed into Hiroki's firewall.
Thanks to his previous encounter with Orochimaru, the response was slow and strained, but it held. Hiroki clenched his teeth, forcing his thoughts to remain intact, and immediately attempted to check his System's connection.
Just as expected—
| Kurama — Open Signal: Strong |[Connected]