[Konoha, Year 60. Hokage Office]
Tsunade looked displeased.
"Old man, Jiraiya is certainly a fine disciple you trained!"
"Look at what he has taught Naruto in the future! The Three Prohibitions for a shinobi are complete mess!"
Hiruzen let out an awkward chuckle and remained silent.
Tsunade clicked her tongue, "Now I feel like leaving Naruto with Jiraiya might not be a good choiceā¦ No, I have to keep a close eye on him."
"If he dares to teach Naruto any of his businessā¦ don't blame me for making his life miserable!"
Having said that, Tsunade clenched both her fists.
Hiruzen watched her indignant expression and silently prayed for Jiraiya.
'From now on, may fortune favor you.'
---
On the screen, Kushina's voice grew increasingly labored, her eyes filled with tears, "Narutoā¦ from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardship. Be true to yourself. Have a dreamā¦ and have the confidence to make that dream come true!"
Her voice grew fainter and fainter. "There's so muchā¦ moreā¦ moreā¦ that I want to pass on to youā¦"
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I wish I could stay with you longer."
"Mom loves you!"
---
Konoha, training Ground.
"Mom!!"
Naruto couldn't even wait for his future self to respond before he broke down sobbing.
The grievances, loneliness, and longing that had been pent up for over a decade all came pouring out in that moment.
Sasuke stood to the side and turned his head away, while Sakura had already become a teary mess.
Kakashi closed his eyes, and Jiraiya stood rooted to the spot. Both of them were as still as statues.
Everywhere in the Shinobi World, countless people were moved by Kushina's maternal love.
Even those indifferent villagers who had once been so cold lowered their heads. The "Demon Fox" they had cursed for over a decade was, in fact, a child whose mother had given her life to protect him.
And on top of that, he was the Fourth Hokage's son.
Perhapsā¦ they really had been wrong?
---
Hokage Office.
Hiruzen watched the mother-son conversation unfolding across time and space on the screen, feeling somewhat emotional.
What had gotten into Orochimaru later on? He actually acted out of kindness and used Edo Tensei to let Naruto and Minato talk?
Was this still the same Orochimaru he knew? Wasn't this guy supposed to use that Jutsu to start the Fourth Great Ninja War?
But then againā¦ using Edo Tensei like this did seem like the right way to go about it.
He glanced at Tsunade, who was clearly stirred by what she saw, and let out a deep sigh.
---
Somewhere in an Underground Base.
Kabuto lowered his head. In the dim basement, his expression was impossible to seeāonly the heartwarming scene of Kushina and her son reflected in his glasses.
---
[Land of Wind, Sunagakure]
A boy with the kanji for "Love" engraved on his forehead looked at the screen with a disdainful expression.
"Tch."
But his tightly clenched hands betrayed his true feelings.
---
[Konoha, Year 83. Naruto's Home]
Naruto, now a father of two, still had red-rimmed eyes.
Boruto and Himawari gathered around him, looking up and asking: "Dadā¦ is that Grandma? She seems so gentle."
Himawari blinked her big eyes, "Did that bad guy in the black robes get punished in the end?"
Naruto looked at his two children and showed a relieved smile.
"Yeah, Grandma was a very gentle person. As for that bad guyā¦"
"In the end, he also came to understand what love truly is."
Boruto nodded, seemingly understanding yet not quite, while Himawari snuggled up to her father.
"Dad, Grandma must have loved you very much."
Naruto ruffled her hair.
"Yeahā¦ Dad knows."
---
[Konoha, Year 50. Hokage Office]
Kushina watched her son's responses on the Sky Screen, crying tears of both joy and sorrow.
"The future Narutoā¦ looks like he's grown into a fine shinobi."
She wiped away her tears, "So he still hasn't started dating Hinata by then? My adorable grandchildrenā¦ won't that mean I have to wait much, much longer to see them?"
She kept on rambling, but her tears wouldn't just stop.
Then suddenly she seemed to think of something.
Under Minato's puzzled gaze, Kushina's entire body erupted with fiery red chakra.
"Kushina?!"
Minato called out in surprise, not understanding what was happening.
But the next moment, he noticed that Kushina wasn't physically movingāshe had merely entered her consciousness space. A faint golden glow appeared on her body, traces of the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Minato paused for a moment, then smiled and shook his head. He could probably guess what Kushina wanted to do.
[Kushina's Consciousness Space]
Kushina stood in an open area. In midair floated a molten lava sphere, and a giant beast was bound to the sphere by iron chainsāeven each of its tails was firmly fastened to the lava sphere with wooden stakes.
Clearly, this giant beast was the Nine-Tails, sealed inside Kushina's body.
To be on the safe side, Kushina shot out several more golden chains from her body, binding the Nine-Tails even tighter.
"Kyubiā¦ I know you can see the screen too."
The Nine-Tails remained motionless despite being entangled. Its eyes were tightly shut, and it gave no response.
Seeing this, Kushina continued, "Tell me how a Jinchuriki can survive after having their Tailed Beast extracted. You're going to tell my son about it in the future anyway, aren't you?"
The Nine-Tails looked disdainful. And after a long while, it finally opened its eyes and spoke slowly, its voice echoing through the consciousness space: "ā¦Why should I?"
Kushina narrowed her eyes.
"Because I'm his mother, and because I don't want my son to grow up an orphan!"
The Nine-Tails sneered, "That's a matter of the future. Your son hasn't even been born yet, and you haven't died either."
"Besidesā¦ what does this have to do with me?"
Kushina tightened the Adamantine Sealing Chains a few notches.
"You guy, don't force me to slap you!"
Having held back for so long, the Nine-Tails finally erupted: "Who do you think you are?! Just a mere Jinchuriki!"
"I'm your landlord!" Kushina declared, completely unabashed. "You're living inside my body. Do you have any sense of self-awareness?!"
"Andā¦ if you dare let my son suffer, I'll drag you down with me before I die."
The Nine-Tails was so angry that it laughed upon hearing that, "You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I want to live inside your body?!"
"You bunch of bastards!!"
Even though its entire body was bound by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Nine-Tails shook the chains so violently that they clanged loudlyāit was clearly furious.
One beast and one human faced off against each other in the consciousness space for a long time.
After a while, seeing that Kushina was clearly getting worked up and the Nine-Tails seemed to have thought of something too, its anger gradually subsided.
"ā¦I can tell you the method. But on one condition."
Kushina's eyes lit up, "What condition?"
A complicated glimmer flashed through the Nine-Tails' eyes. "In the futureā¦ let me see that brat."
Kushina was momentarily stunned, not knowing the reason why the Nine-Tails was making this request, but she didn't think too much of it.
She would cross that bridge when she came to itāafter dealing with that mysterious masked man, at least.
"Deal!"
The golden chains slowly loosened, and the scene in the consciousness space quietly changed.
The Nine-Tails was no longer in its miserable, pinned-down state. Insteadāmuch like in the future Naruto's consciousness spaceāit was now confined behind a massive grille.
Clearly, Kushina had granted the Nine-Tails a measure of freedom.
One human and one tailed beast had reached an understanding.
[Real World]
Minato watched as his wife opened her eyes, a satisfied smile on her face, and couldn't help but ask: "It worked?"
Kushina nodded proudly.
"It worked!"
She looked up at the Sky Screen, a determined glint in her eyes.
"Minatoā¦ we are not going to die. We're going to watch Naruto grow up. We're going to see him get married. We're going to be there when our grandchildren are born!"
*****
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