The preparations were complete.
Back when Miyu had managed to acquire the Konoha hospital—thanks to technicalities that shouldn't have even been possible—one of the things she did was build an underground level. It was a basement designed to store important items, house critical patients during emergencies, and, above all, provide a space to perform surgeries or medical procedures without outside interference or obstruction.
It had been a week since Miyu mastered the Phantom Transformation Jutsu. She had already learned the technique, but there was a world of difference between merely knowing it and truly mastering it.
She had honed the skill using criminals and spies from other villages held in the Interrogation Department. After testing it on twelve rogue ninjas—resulting in four suffering brain damage, two left with intellectual disabilities, and the rest emerging unscathed—she was ready.
The subjects who suffered mental damage served to demonstrate the limits of what a body could withstand regarding the actions performed inside the mind; it proved that, depending on the technique used, one could strike the brain hard enough to cause permanent cognitive impairment.
This was because Miyu's goal wasn't to control the physical body but to enter the mind and thoughts—processes rooted in the brain itself.
The Hokage walked down the corridor leading to the basement.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama," said a nurse who was waiting for her.
"Good work. Is everything ready?" Miyu asked as she began to descend the stairs.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. The patient is in Room 3," the nurse explained, holding a stack of papers.
Nodding, Miyu continued on her way. A few seconds later, they reached the basement, immediately coming upon Room 1.
The room resembled a bunker and was covered in seals—a setup created through the combined efforts of the Sealing Department and the blue-haired woman herself.
It featured an ultra-resistant, bulletproof window. In the room, an Aburame could be seen gagged and strapped to a gurney, while hundreds of insects swarmed the entire space.
"Meito Aburame—an experiment involving his *kikaichu* went wrong; were it not for the quick actions of his comrades, the village would be facing a plague infestation right now. As it stands, his condition is critical," the nurse explained.
Continuing down the hallway, they reached Room 2; like the previous one, it was completely sealed. Inside, Tsunade and several medical staff could be seen performing surgery.
"It's the Daimyo's cousin; a brain tumor was detected, and they are currently in the middle of a critical operation to remove it," the Hokage's escort informed her.
A few steps later, they finally arrived at Room 3, where Hyuga Katsuki was waiting for her.
"What a fine bodyguard I have; I think I should have taken a bit longer just to see how long you could stand there doing nothing," Miyu teased slightly.
"This is routine work, Hokage-sama; I could stand here for days on end without any trouble," the bodyguard replied, accustomed to his boss's banter.
Putting the jokes aside, Miyu and the nurse entered the room. With a sequence of three hand signs, the door began to close, sealing the room off completely.
Inside, there was only a bed and Kushina herself, unconscious and showing no signs of waking up.
"Right, let's try to get this done as quickly as possible; the trio of brats starts the academy tomorrow, and I need to be there," Miyu complained, looking at the nurse. The nurse nodded, positioned herself behind the redhead, infused her hands with chakra, and placed them against the woman's temples.
"Lady Kushina's brain is fine," she reported. She immediately adjusted her stance and, using medical ninjutsu, began examining the rest of the patient's body. "Vital signs are stable; there are no complications that would require us to halt the procedure." With that said, she returned her hands to the woman's temples.
Miyu, who was already seated in front of the medical bed, nodded; she performed five hand signs and executed the jutsu. "Justu: Phantom Transformation!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed as her spirit left her body and, without wasting a moment, entered Kushina's body.
...
The moment Miyu opened her eyes, she saw a space bathed in a yellowish hue, as if she were walking through clouds.
In truth, this jutsu wasn't designed for mind invasion; yet, much like inventions such as Play-Doh, Coca-Cola, or bubble wrap, it was created for one purpose but ended up being used for another.
Without wasting another moment, she began to wander aimlessly through the space.
After a few minutes, Miyu spotted a neighborhood—a strange sight unlike anything she had ever seen before.
As she walked, she began to see people she had encountered at some point in her life, strolling about as if nothing were amiss.
Whenever they reached the edge of the neighborhood, they would simply vanish into smoke, only for a different person to appear in their place—again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I see," the blue-haired woman remarked simply, continuing along the path.
She was surrounded by people who looked entirely real, yet greeting them felt bizarre to Miyu; it was like being inside a simulated world.
After walking a short distance, she arrived at a building identical to the home Minato and Kushina shared in the real world.
The blue-haired woman stood at the door, knocked three times, and waited.
"Just a second," a voice called out that caught Miyu off guard; her suspicions were confirmed when the person who opened the door turned out to be none other than Minato himself.
The Hokage narrowed her eyes at the sight of a man who ought to have been dead.
"Oh, Miyu, what brings you here?" asked the man who appeared to be Minato.
"I've come to see Kushina," she said simply, trying to sound as polite as possible.
"I imagine you want to see her about the delivery; come on in," the blond man said, causing her to narrow her eyes once more.
The house was identical to the real one—the same furniture, the same hallways, and the same atmosphere from the days when the two of them still lived there.
Upon entering the living room, she saw Kushina trying to lull a small, blond baby to sleep.
Miyu realized that the baby was none other than Naruto. She recognized him instantly; after all, she had been the one to help raise and care for him alongside Hikari during his first few months, so it was only natural that she would know him.
"I see you're doing well," the blue-haired woman said, looking at the redhead.
"I couldn't be better," she replied with a smile, never taking her eyes off the baby in her arms.
"You look so happy," Miyu said, slowly approaching Kushina.
"I always wanted a child, and now I can finally make that dream come true," she answered.
The Hokage simply narrowed her eyes as she looked at the woman—someone who had spent a large part of her life trapped within a dream of her own making.
There was no sound from the outside; she didn't know if that was the default setting or if Kushina had designed it that way. The nurse had instructions to speak to the redhead's body every few minutes—just to see if Miyu could hear anything and to determine whether it was the Uzumaki woman who was ignoring them or if she truly couldn't hear a thing.
"It's good to see you fulfilling your dream," the blue-haired woman said, prompting a happy look from Kushina, "but it's a shame you stayed here and neglected your real son."
Miyu's words caused the temperature in the room to plummet to nearly zero degrees.
Minato, who had been cooking, froze in place. Naruto, too, went still as he tried to sleep in his mother's arms. Even the birds flying outside hung suspended in midair. And Kushina turned to look at her friend in disbelief. "What?" the redhead simply exclaimed.
"Incredible... to be at a point in time frozen as if time itself had stopped moving—it's incredible," the blue-haired girl said, gazing at the surroundings.
"You... you're real," Kushina whispered, her gaze somewhat distant.
"Locking yourself away in your perfect world, where nothing went wrong," Miyu scoffed, trying to smash a piece of furniture but failing; she simply ended up tipping it over.
"Shut up," the redhead said, her eyes hidden behind her hair.
"A world where the Kyuubi didn't break free," the Hokage remarked.
"Shut up," the Uzumaki said, her voice louder this time.
"A reality where Minato didn't sacrifice himself and didn't die," Miyu said.
"I SAID SHUT UP," Kushina screamed, springing to her feet; the house, the neighborhood, and the people vanished instantly, leaving the two of them alone. "WHY DID YOU COME HERE? TO DESTROY MY HAPPINESS?"
The redhead's hair flared up like the Kyuubi's nine tails as she clenched her fists tightly, her eyes burning red with rage.
"Exactly—that's why I'm here," Miyu declared. Kushina glared at her furiously, but before she could act, the blue-haired woman moved in, grabbed her by the collar, and hoisted her into the air.
"You look so good playing house—pretending a reality exists that never happened, running away from your problems, and refusing to accept what actually took place," Miyu roared, staring intensely at Kushina. "Believe it or not, the world keeps turning. Believe it or not, I became Hokage, Yami has already graduated from the Academy, and Mikoto is a recent widow who is still in mourning." "Hikari was born—an almost exact physical replica of you—and, above all, Naruto had to grow up without ever being able to speak to his mother."
Faced with the blue-haired woman's harsh words, the Uzumaki's fury began to fade, leaving behind only a woman with lifeless eyes and a shattered will.
Miyu let go of her, causing Kushina to slump to the ground, sitting there almost like a corpse.
"But... but Minato," the redhead began to weep, prompting the Hokage to let out a sigh.
"Minato died—that's a fact—but because the disaster was so sudden, I had no choice but to bring him back," Miyu explained, causing the Uzumaki's sobbing to stop abruptly as she looked at her friend.
"It wasn't a permanent resurrection; I used *Edo Tensei*, but it served to set things right," the blue-haired woman continued, recounting the events. "He was there for several days, dealing with the aftermath, and on his final day, he went to say goodbye to you, but because you were locked away in your fantasy world, you couldn't answer him."
At these words, Kushina burst into tears—not the tears she had held back before, but a complete emotional breakdown.
Trapped here in her fantasy world, she had never been able to mourn Minato's death, for in her mind, he was still alive. She had never had a moment to vent or release her emotions—until now.
Miyu simply looked at Kushina, who was a river of tears, and shook her head.
Having witnessed so much death and destruction in her life, she had become desensitized to such situations—like when wives or husbands came to her office to complain and weep over spouses killed in the line of duty.
Just another day for her.
After several minutes of finally letting it all out, Kushina began to wipe the tears from her face.
"I must look terrible right now," she remarked, her voice cracking.
"You always look terrible," Miyu replied, prompting a glare from the Uzumaki that made Miyu laugh. "Look, maybe you missed saying goodbye to Minato, or hearing Naruto's first words, or seeing him take his first steps... but I have to ask: are you willing to keep missing out on more important moments in your son's life?"
Miyu immediately held out her hand to help her up.
Kushina stared at the outstretched hand, biting her lip.
She thought about the blue-haired woman's words and about the future.
The day he graduated, his first C-rank mission, his first heartbreak, the time she'd have to comfort him after he killed someone for the first time, and the day he got married.
She thought of all the moments she would miss if she stayed here in her fantasies.
"Are you going to leave me hanging all day?" Miyu asked.
"I'd like to, but I think it's time I returned to reality," Kushina admitted, taking her friend's hand.