Chapter 441: Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Activated
Naruto's eyes snapped open, bleeding into a feral, slitted crimson. The iron-clad will he had maintained began to fracture under the crushing weight of pure, unadulterated malice.
His body was gradually swallowed by a bubbling, corrosive red chakra. His skin began to sear and peel, the burning sensation driving his sanity right to the jagged edge of the abyss.
"Hahaha! What is wrong, brat?"
The Nine-Tails lounged against the damp floor of the seal, its massive chin resting on its paws. A cruel, mocking glint danced in its giant crimson eyes as it watched the boy thrash and struggle.
"Is this all you have got?" the beast taunted, its deep voice vibrating through the flooded chamber. "If you cannot even handle this much hatred, what is all this big talk about changing the world?"
"Shut... up..."
Naruto locked his jaw, his teeth grinding together as he desperately fought to claw back control of his own body.
But the hatred was simply too immense. It was a suffocating ocean of despair.
Just as Naruto felt his footing slip, his consciousness preparing to sink into the dark, bottomless depths, a sharp, metallic clinking echoed through the void.
From the absolute depths of Naruto's spiritual world, several blindingly bright golden chains erupted out of thin air.
Adamantine Sealing Chains.
The golden links shot forward like lightning, instantly wrapping around the Nine-Tails' massive limbs and torso, slamming the colossal beast firmly into the ground.
The Nine-Tails' vertical pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"This chakra is..."
At that exact moment, a gentle yet fiercely steady voice rang right beside Naruto's ear.
"Naruto."
In this suffocating, blood-red world built entirely of hatred, a sudden flash of dazzling, vibrant red hair appeared.
Naruto froze.
The suffocating pressure vanished. His rapidly collapsing consciousness cleared by more than half in an instant. He stood there, panting heavily, staring blankly at the figure standing a few paces ahead with her back turned to him.
She had long, beautiful red hair and wore a simple white loungewear dress. She exuded a warm, radiant aura that washed over him, making him feel an overwhelming, inexplicable sense of safety.
The woman slowly turned around.
A soft, gentle smile graced her lips, though heavy tears already gathered at the corners of her eyes.
"Naruto, you have grown up."
"You are..." Naruto blinked, his brain struggling to process the sudden shift. He pointed a trembling finger at her. "Are you the Nine-Tails' true form? Did you turn into a woman to trick me?!"
A thick, cross-shaped vein immediately bulged on the woman's forehead. Her warm aura vanished, replaced by a terrifying demonic visage.
"You stupid son!" She brought her fist down on his head. "Who says their own mom is a fox spirit!"
Hearing those words, Naruto stood entirely frozen in place. He ignored the stinging pain on his scalp.
"Mom... Mother?"
Kushina could no longer hold back. The tough facade broke, and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around Naruto and pulling him into a desperate, bone-crushing embrace.
"I am sorry, Naruto." She buried her face in his messy blonde hair. "I am so sorry..."
"For letting you suffer so much alone."
Feeling the absolute, obvious warmth of that embrace, the dam inside Naruto broke. He instantly burst into tears, crying out loud like the child he had never been allowed to be.
"I have always... always wanted to see you..."
Naruto buried his face deep into Kushina's shoulder, his hands gripping her white dress as he sobbed uncontrollably.
In the distance, the Nine-Tails, heavily bound by the glowing chains, watched this scene unfold. The great beast curled its lip in disgust, though its violent struggling ceased entirely.
"What an insufferable mother-son duo."
After a long time, the heavy sobs echoing in the spiritual space finally subsided. The mother and son slowly pulled back, their emotions stabilizing.
"Mom, how are you here?" Naruto wiped his swollen eyes with the back of his sleeve, looking up at her with intense curiosity.
"This is the residual chakra your father and I left behind, specifically sealed away to give you a hand when you finally tried to control the Nine-Tails' power."
Kushina reached out, her thumb gently wiping away a stray tear from Naruto's whisker-marked cheek. Her eyes softened with boundless affection.
"Naruto, tell Mom, how have you been all these years?" she asked softly. "Did that old man, the Third, take good care of you?"
At the mention of that name, Naruto's bright expression dimmed slightly. He looked down for a fraction of a second, but quickly forced his signature wide smile back onto his face.
"Actually... it was pretty rough at first."
Naruto scratched the back of his head and began to recount his childhood. He spoke of the empty apartment. He talked about drinking expired milk because he had no money for fresh food, about being chased and pelted with stones by angry villagers, and about the harsh whispers calling him a 'Demon Fox'. He mentioned the long afternoons sitting on the academy swing alone, watching the other children get picked up by their parents, having absolutely no friends to speak of.
Kushina listened quietly.
But as Naruto spoke, the tender gentleness on her face completely vanished.
In its place rose a terrifying, suffocating killing intent that made the very air in the seal grow heavy.
Her long red hair began to billow wildly around her, defying gravity without a single breeze in the room.
"That... old! Monkey!!"
Kushina ground her teeth together, the sharp cracking of her knuckles echoing like firecrackers.
"What did he and Minato promise back then?!" Her voice trembled with absolute fury. "He looked us in the eye and swore he would treat you as the descendant of a hero! He said he would take good care of you!"
"Expired milk?! Demon Fox?!"
"Bastard!!"
"Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!" Kushina roared, her eyes practically glowing with maternal rage. "If I were still alive, I would definitely pluck out every single one of that old geezer's beard hairs! Then I would stuff them right up his nostrils!!"
Naruto looked at his enraged mother and instinctively shrunk his neck, taking a tiny step back.
Sure enough. Mom is so scary.
"But..." Naruto's tone suddenly shifted, lifting the heavy atmosphere. A look of pure, unadulterated admiration lit up his blue eyes. "Later, I met my teacher."
"Teacher?" Kushina blinked, her floating hair settling down slightly as she was taken aback.
"Yeah! Teacher Uchiha Akira!" Naruto said, his voice buzzing with excitement.
"Teacher is the clan leader of the Uchiha Clan. But not only did he take me as his disciple, he also taught me ninjutsu and took me out to train." Naruto puffed out his chest proudly. "He even kicked the old man Third out of office and helped me teach those who bullied me a brutal lesson."
"Now, I live at Teacher's house and even have a Senior Disciple Sister. Everyone there is very nice to me! I eat hot meals every day!"
Hearing this, the burning anger on Kushina's face finally faded, replaced by deep shock.
"Uchiha... Akira?" Kushina murmured the name to herself, testing the syllables.
She never expected this. She never imagined that the one who finally stepped out of the shadows to save her drowning son would actually be someone from the proud, isolated Uchiha Clan.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage, the man who constantly preached about the 'Will of Fire', had happily let Naruto rot in a living hell.
How utterly ironic.
"Phew..." Kushina let out a long, shaky breath, her gaze becoming incredibly complex, yet filled with an overwhelming, boundless gratitude.
"Although most people from the Uchiha Clan have rather eccentric personalities..." she muttered softly, "I will remember this Uchiha Akira."
"If I can ever see him, I must thank him properly in person."
Kushina stepped forward and firmly patted Naruto's shoulder. "Since you have such an amazing teacher, you absolutely cannot let him down!"
"Of course!" Naruto slammed his fist into his palm, his blue eyes burning with fierce determination.
"Alright!" Kushina spun around, her gaze locking onto the massive, chained fox lying in the distance. Her eyes instantly sharpened into the gaze of a veteran kunoichi.
"Reminiscing is over."
"Next, it is time for business!" Kushina declared, her chakra flaring. "Naruto! Let us go together! Let us take this big fox's chakra!"
Naruto practically vibrated with fighting spirit.
"Kurama! Here I come!"
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thick clouds of white smoke erupted across the watery floor. Hundreds of Naruto clones appeared in an instant, filling the massive cavern. In the hands of every single clone, a swirling sphere of highly condensed chakra began to form, rapidly expanding in size.
"Sage Art: Massive Rasengan Barrage!!"
Kushina was not to be outdone.
The Adamantine Sealing Chains erupting from her back shot forward like golden spears, wrapping tighter around the beast, firmly suppressing the Nine-Tails' limbs, torso, and all nine of its thrashing tails.
"You bandit mother and son!!" the Nine-Tails roared furiously, its fangs bared, but its massive body was completely unable to move an inch under the crushing weight of Kushina's chains.
"Save the chatter!" Naruto yelled.
"Hand it over!"
Naruto's original body dashed right past the barrage of clones, rushing directly in front of the Nine-Tails' massive snout. He thrust both of his hands violently into the dense, bubbling mass of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
With Kushina's chains forcefully suppressing the beast's malice, the originally heavy, corrosive chakra now became entirely submissive.
Pure, blindingly golden chakra was continuously pulled out of the Nine-Tails' massive form, flowing directly into Naruto's body like a rushing river.
"Is this... the Nine-Tails' power?"
Naruto gasped. He felt as if he were standing directly inside a small sun.
It was incredibly warm, and bursting with an ocean of boundless power.
As the pure chakra infused into his very cells, Naruto's outward appearance began to undergo a world-shaking transformation.
His original clothes were rapidly consumed and replaced by a blazing, golden chakra cloak. Deep black tomoe manifested around his collar, burning into the golden fabric. The complex sealing jutsu formula on his stomach unraveled, turning into sharp black lines that spread symmetrically across his entire body, arms, and face.
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—Activated.
"It is a success!"
Kushina looked at Naruto, who was now radiating a brilliant, divine golden light. Her eyes were full of absolute relief and pride.
But as she smiled, her physical form began to waver, her edges becoming transparent.
Her residual chakra was finally exhausted.
Naruto immediately noticed the shift. Panic flashed in his eyes, and he hurriedly reached out a glowing hand to grab her.
"Don't cry, Naruto."
Kushina smiled warmly, gently shaking her head as her hand phased right through his.
"Seeing you grown up... Mom no longer has any regrets."
She looked at his face, trying to memorize every detail in her final seconds.
"In the future, listen to your teacher."
"Eat well."
"Become an incredible ninja."
"And..."
Kushina's figure completely dissipated into motes of glowing light, leaving only a faint, loving whisper that drifted softly with the wind of the seal.
"Mom loves you."
Naruto stood perfectly still, maintaining his reaching posture. The brilliant golden light of his new form illuminated the fresh tear stains streaking down his cheeks.
But he did not cry out again.
He just lowered his hand, clenched his fist, and nodded vigorously.
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