Seeing their astonishment, Mitsuki smiled.
"Don't let appearances fool you—we've got a formidable lineup here with two Hokage."
"Two Hokage?!" One of Dan Katō's ninjas gasped in shock.
Mitsuki: "The Fourth Hokage-sama and the Seventh Hokage-sama, you know~"
Even Orochimaru-sama's expression shifted.
"But now isn't the time for that," Mitsuki interjected. "Today's biggest issue is finding him an emergency blood source for transfusion and a highly compatible kidney transplant, right?"
Orochimaru looked at this youth—supposedly his future son—who could still calmly present this perspective under such circumstances...
"What's the solution?" he demanded bluntly.
"If compatibility allows, I can donate my kidney," Mitsuki said with a smile, his words shocking those who looked at him. "My parents—my future parents—stored numerous replacement organs for me in cultivation chambers, ready for use anytime. I can simply swap them out once I return."
"What?!"
"Organ... cultivation?!!"
Ninjas of this era hadn't mastered such technology yet. Hearing the boy's words, they found it almost fantastical.
Especially Orochimaru—his mind raced with calculations of how much organ replacement could potentially extend a ninja's vitality.
The results would surely be beyond imagination!
But the idea of a child donating organs...
It struck at the very core of their moral and ethical foundations.
Mitsuki, however, took a pragmatic view:
"We are ninja, after all. Even children going to war—getting injured or dying—isn't that just part of the job?"
"But..." The others still harbored reservations.
Yet, as he said, it was true. Within the ninja survival system, sending children into battle was itself a strange institution—one that should never be accepted, yet one everyone had grown accustomed to.
Moreover, Dan Katō was on the brink of death. If they could truly save him by condemning their own consciences...
At that moment, Tsunade hesitated.
She bit her lip, her pupils dilated yet her eyes seemed vacant. Rainwater streamed down her cheeks, making her look utterly distraught.
Beside her, Rin Nohara and Sakura Haruno were equally torn. After all, they were only twelve or thirteen years old and had never faced such a choice before.
What should they do?
Obito and Young Kakashi looked toward Minato-sensei.
Rin and Sakura turned their gaze toward Tsunade-sama.
Naruto kept his head down, lost in thought.
After a long, long time...
"Proceed with the compatibility test..."
Tsunade finally made her decision.
Mitsuki remained unchanged—showing no fear, no dread, as if he were merely some kind of living tool.
Just as he was about to approach Tsunade to undergo the compatibility test...
Naruto Uzumaki suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Do you even consider yourself human?!!" His voice rang with fury, not over the compatibility test or organ donation, but because he sensed a profound sense of selflessness in Mitsuki.
"You! Haku! And Kimimaro too! Why are you all like this?! Don't you know you're human beings! Not tools!!"
Seeing them like this made Naruto's heart ache. If asked why, he suspected that without Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Sakura, he might have become one of those emotionless, mission-only walking corpses too.
Mitsuki froze in place for nearly a minute, his ears filled only with the roar of the downpour and the hum of the Medical Ninjutsu. Beyond that, the world felt eerily silent.
"You truly are... but..."
Mitsuki hesitated.
"But other than that, there's no other way now, is there?"
That was undeniably true.
Naruto clenched his fists and muttered, "Damn it!"
["Well, it's not entirely hopeless."]
Naruto blinked and realized Kurama had pulled him into the depths of his subconscious.
Startled, Naruto registered Kurama's earlier claim that he had a solution.
"Kurama?! You have a way?! Really?!!"
The Nine-Tails immediately regretted speaking—this completely contradicted his fox nature of refusing to aid humans!
Damn that brat! Whenever he's upset, his subconscious tenant gets uncomfortable! Right!
That must be it! He certainly wasn't trying to help him!
Stared at intently by a pair of large, blue eyes filled with expectation, the Nine-Tails growled irritably, baring its fangs.
["The chakra of the Tailed Beast..."]
Naruto: "What?"
["I said the Tailed Beast's chakra can save him!"]
"Then why didn't you say so earlier, huh?!" Naruto exclaimed, overjoyed. "How do we use the Tailed Beast's chakra to save him? Tell me now!"
Nine-Tails: Hmph.
Is this how you beg someone? Huh?!!
["I don't feel like saying it now, humph."]
"Oh my god!!!" Naruto stamped his feet in frustration. "This isn't the time for your mood swings, you jerk!!"
["Hmph."]
Kurama scratched his ear.
["I'll do as I please."]
Naruto remembered that Kurama needed to be stroked in the right way.
Never burdened by idol-like pretensions like Sasuke, Naruto immediately launched into fawning flattery, twisting and turning as he showered the Nine-Tails with praise.
Please help me Nine-Tails You were personally chosen by the great Sage of the Six Paths to aid me~
The same tactics he'd use on Gamabunta were now deployed on the Nine-Tails.
"Big Boss Nine-Tails! Please help! Show them what you're made of!! Otherwise, how could the other Tailed Beasts possibly see you as their leader?!!"
Naruto was practically resorting to harem techniques and Sexy Technique.
The main reason it didn't work...was that he had no clue what kind of female fox would appear more adorable and alluring in Kurama's eyes!!
After a long while, Nine-Tails finally relented, satisfied by the flattery:
["Sigh, fine."]
["Stick out your fist."]
Watching the massive fist extend from the cage, Naruto grinned, baring his teeth, and eagerly bumped his own small fist against it.
Back in the real world, Naruto's blue pupils suddenly transformed into crimson beast eyes!
Minato Namikaze saw an orange-red chakra erupt from Naruto's body.
"Naruto!"
"What is this..." Tsunade and the others were startled. As the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki, she had some understanding of the Nine-Tails.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?!"
"What?!" The two Konoha ninjas beside Tsunade froze. "The... Nine-Tails?!!"
Orochimaru's pupils contracted as he stared at Naruto Uzumaki in disbelief.
Dressed in a fox-patterned coat, Naruto Uzumaki approached Dan Katō and knelt beside him. Slowly, the orange-red chakra began flowing toward Dan Katō.
Tsunade: "You—!"
["Watch closely, little girl!"]
That! That gruff voice... the Nine-Tails?!!
The crowd was still reeling in disbelief...
Rin Nohara, who had been treating Dan Katō, suddenly spoke. Her voice was just as deep and rough as Naruto's—or rather, the Nine-Tails'—now.
["Heh heh, you couldn't hold back, could you, Kurama?"]
The moment Rin Nohara spoke, Obito and the others instantly realized it wasn't Rin speaking—it was the Three-Tails!!
"Nine... Nine-Tails?!"
The Konoha ninjas froze in shock. They had no idea why this young girl's voice had suddenly transformed into that of a mature male, only instinctively repeating the name she had uttered—Kurama?!
"This Kurama refers to...?"
["The Nine-Tails' name. By the way, I'm Isobu."]
"Isobu?!"
Where did this new name come from?
["Shut up! Three-Tails! You're the chattiest one, aren't you?!"]
Three... Three-Tails?!
The two Konoha ninjas stuttered in their speech.
"Did we... did we hear that wrong?"
"Just now... were two Tailed Beasts talking?"
Tsunade was too shocked to speak.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
The nine people before him, from the future—two Uchiha with Sharingan, two Tailed Beast hosts?!
What kind of team composition was this?!!
Startled by the Nine-Tails and Three-Tails incident, everyone else's attention shifted to Naruto and Rin.
But Tsunade, who had been focusing on Dan Katō, noticed...
Dan's wounds were healing at a visible speed!!
Orochimaru: "Tailed Beast chakra can help humans heal wounds rapidly?"
["It's harder for us, but the Nine-Tails can do it at will."]
The Three-Tails wasn't bothered by the Nine-Tails calling him talkative earlier; in fact, he seemed eager to expose his secrets.
["This crybaby always gets special treatment from the Rikudō Old Man. His chakra is several times greater than ours. Actually, I shouldn't be so subtle—his chakra is over ten times greater than ours, maybe even dozens of times greater."]
Crybaby...
A crybaby whose chakra was dozens of times greater than the other Tailed Beasts...
Once again, no one dared look the Nine-Tails in the eye.
["Three-Tails! Are you looking for a fight?!!"]
He was furious.
But the Three-Tails ignored him and instead turned his gaze to Obito Uchiha.
["That little Uchiha, you wouldn't let this little girl get bullied, would you?"]
The "little girl" the Three-Tails referred to was, of course, Rin Nohara.
Obito shook his head furiously! Of course not!
Anyone who dared bully Rin or Kakashi would have to face him to the death!
["Haha, look—Uchiha's Sharingan is just as useful as theirs~*]
The implication was clear: If you want to fight me, you'd better think twice before laying a finger on this girl in front of a Uchiha with a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Ugh...
Who knew the Three-Tails was this kind of Three-Tails?
Kakashi felt a strange kinship with these sharp-tongued individuals.
Obito: "....."
Sasuke: "..."
It was maddening! But they couldn't do anything about it, which made it even worse.
Anyway, with the Nine-Tails' chakra assistance, they watched as Dan Katō's condition slowly improved, his shattered internal organs healing at an unimaginable speed.
This left Tsunade, Rin, and Sakura—who had been desperately trying to keep Dan alive—stunned into silence.
After healing Dan to about thirty or forty percent, the Nine-Tails stopped.
Once his life was saved, it wasn't their problem anymore. Hiring a Tailed Beast for this kind of job was expensive!
Fortunately, Tsunade and Katsuyu could easily handle the rest.
With Dan saved, their mission was complete, and their bodies gradually became transparent again.
Orochimaru had seen this scene before.
"They really do just hit and run," he remarked, making a rare joke.
Tsunade, unsure how to thank them, looked vaguely at Naruto and the others.
"Um..."
Naruto grinned at her. "Grandma, remember to tell Shizune and Nawaki not to give up on their Hokage dreams!"
That was their final message. The next moment, they had already returned to their own world.
Before them stood Dan Katō and Nawaki, reincarnated through Edo Tensei...