Why was the Nine-Tails inside Naruto?!
Wait!
Kushina suddenly realized the biggest mistake in her memories.
She was the second Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails!
But where was the Nine-Tails?!
Where had the Nine-Tails inside her gone?!
Most of the Warring States Period ninjas hired by the gambling den owner were ordinary ninjas hiding in town to make a living. Many of them did not even have a proper clan behind them. When they saw the vicious fox suddenly appear around Naruto Uzumaki, they did not turn and run, but they grew far more cautious and no longer dared to attack recklessly.
Hashirama Senju said, "Now this makes me unhappy! Am I only allowed to lose money? I'm not allowed to win even once?!"
That bet just now was the only time he had won after gambling for so long!
If the gambling den planned to refuse to pay…
God of Shinobi: now you've really made me lose my temper!
With a clap of his hands, Wood Release gave him exactly what he wanted.
In an instant, branches burst through the floor of the gambling den and bound all the hired ninjas nearby in sturdy Wood Release.
Gambling den owner: "…"
Where did that silly fat sheep from earlier go?!
So he was a ravenous wolf all along?! Although he did not really understand the difference in strength between ninjas, in that instant, the pressure that man gave off was in no way inferior to that fox everyone called a natural disaster!
After all, in front of Hashirama Senju, even the Nine-Tails could only have its head pinned down.
The gambling den owner could only accept his defeat. Naruto had been gambling to redeem Hashirama Senju and Fugaku Uchiha, but in the end, the one who actually made money was the God of Shinobi, who had built his fortune from a single copper coin he picked up?!
As a result, Hashirama Senju looked ready to declare that from now on, he would acknowledge no one but Naruto. Anyone who had a problem with Naruto was showing him the greatest possible disrespect.
Madara Uchiha and Tobirama Senju could not even bear to look at that foolishly adorable expression of his.
Even Izuna Uchiha, standing nearby, felt too embarrassed to tell him that compared to Naruto's maxed-out luck, Hashirama Senju's debuff actually seemed stronger.
If Tobirama had not had the foresight to make him interfere, they would definitely have lost the final round.
After everyone calmed down, they left the gambling den and returned to the reception room they had rented at the inn.
Kushina Uzumaki was nothing like her usual cheerful self. Her silence made Naruto extremely worried. He glanced at Minato Namikaze several times, but each time, Minato only gave him a gentle smile to reassure him.
Hashirama Senju, having been redeemed, had returned to full strength and was even in the mood to ask Madara whether fighting the two juniors had been satisfying.
Madara replied, "Other than you, no one can give me a truly satisfying battle."
Hearing that, Hashirama Senju, who had just won money, became eager again. He looked like he wanted another deep exchange of mind and body with Madara.
Fugaku Uchiha sat down beside Sasuke. As someone who had always upheld the dignity of both a father and clan head in front of his son, he felt as though he had lost every shred of pride he had carried across both lifetimes.
The Uchiha and the Senju really were incompatible.
Speaking of which, because he had spent last night asking Minato Namikaze to explain everything that had happened in detail, he had not yet had a proper talk with Sasuke.
After learning that this child had gone through so much before awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Fugaku Uchiha could only sigh in his heart.
And the Sasuke from the main world, the one Minato had spoken of, made his heart ache even more.
As a father, Fugaku Uchiha knew better than anyone how attached Sasuke had been to Itachi, and how Itachi had repeatedly protected Sasuke even if it meant defying the orders of his father and Clan Head, as well as violating his own principles.
For that Sasuke to kill Itachi with his own hands must have been as cruel as making Itachi kill his own parents.
Fugaku Uchiha let out a long sigh, making Sasuke instinctively sit up straight, just like he had as a child, afraid of his father's indifference.
"I'm sorry for making you go through all of that. You've grown into someone far more outstanding than I imagined, Sasuke."
Sasuke Uchiha had not expected to receive such a sincere apology from his father.
He nearly lost control of his emotions. He felt that words like these should have been said somewhere with no one else around. Now, all he could do was lower his head to hold himself together and barely force out an "Mm."
The praise he had desperately worked for as a child had finally come.
But now that he had received it, his feelings were tangled together, and the pure joy he would have felt as a child was no longer there.
Adult Obito said, "Captain, I…"
"Although I've seen what you experienced back then, and learned the truth from Minato," Fugaku Uchiha said after a pause, "whether as the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan or as Fugaku Uchiha, a ninja of Konoha, I cannot forgive your actions. That is all. There is no need to say more."
Obito Uchiha's mood sank rapidly. The injuries Kushina Uzumaki had beaten onto his face still looked somewhat comical.
"I'll do everything I can to make amends."
Obito Uchiha spoke in a low voice. While fighting Madara Uchiha earlier, standing side by side with Kakashi had made him, who had already given up, want to seek a chance at redemption after all.
Even if he knew it was impossible, he would no longer back down from moving toward his dream of becoming Hokage, just like when he was a child. The Fourth Shinobi World War had not truly begun yet. He could still be saved.
Fugaku Uchiha did not even respond, and Obito Uchiha felt no resentment. It was only natural.
Once, he had carried the Uchiha fan on his back and wholeheartedly wanted to become the first Uchiha Hokage, yet he had become the greatest sinner of both Konoha and the Uchiha.
At the same time, Adult Kakashi also made up his mind to accompany Obito on his path of atonement.
Just then, Minato Namikaze suddenly spoke.
"As for making amends…"
He patted Adult Obito Uchiha on the shoulder. "Obito has already done most of it for you. The rest is up to you."
"Huh?"
Both Young Obito and Adult Obito were stunned.
Young Obito said, "Me?"
Adult Obito looked shocked, not knowing what had happened.
He looked at Kushina-nee, who had inexplicably appeared in this world, and somehow felt that what Minato-sensei had said might have something to do with that as well.
Kushina sat down beside Naruto. She had been silent the entire time, but that did not mean she had no questions to ask.
At this moment, compared to her own memories, and even compared to what Minato Namikaze had said, she trusted chakra more.
The Nine-Tails' chakra would not be mistaken. Tailed Beasts were incomparably powerful and feared by all living beings, but Kushina had spent almost half her life accompanied by the Nine-Tails. She knew that Tailed Beasts were different from humans. They disdained schemes and disdained lying.
After pulling Naruto to her side, she had already used her own chakra to contact the Nine-Tails directly inside Naruto's body.
["Kushina…"]
Still inside the golden cage, the Nine-Tails yawned.
Naruto, who had suddenly been pulled into the depths of his own mind, was startled. After a moment, he realized that because his mom had entered, he had come in as well.
"Long time no see, Nine-Tails."
["Hmph."]
The Nine-Tails snorted coldly, apparently unwilling to deal with her.
Kushina did not mind. Instead, she thanked him for saving Naruto just now.
["It's not like I went out of my way to save him! I was just too bored and came out for a little air! How much longer are you bastard humans planning to keep me locked up in this tiny, broken-down place?!"]
Naruto soothed Kurama, then quietly told Kushina Uzumaki, "Mom, Mom, the Nine-Tails actually has a name. He likes it better when people call him by his name, dattebayo!"
"Huh?" Kushina looked at the red fox in front of her in surprise. "That's not what I imagined. You're unexpectedly tsundere now."
["Who are you calling a tsundere?! Don't make me tell your son about all the embarrassing things you did when you were a kid!!"]
The Nine-Tails had an expression that said, are you scared now? And he really did manage to bluff Konoha's Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.
Naruto stood in the middle, happily watching the fun and laughing so hard he could hardly stop.
Kushina laughed with him for a while, then her expression grew serious.
"You know why I came to find you, don't you? Kurama."
["Hmph. Looks like you don't trust that brat Minato Namikaze as much as you say."]
"No, I trust Minato."
After a pause, Kushina said, "I just want to know the truth more directly."
["…"]
The Nine-Tails fell silent for a moment.
Naruto was a little confused by what his mom had said.
What truth?
A moment later, the Nine-Tails spoke.
["As for the reason, asking Minato Namikaze would be more useful than asking me. To be honest, I don't know why you're alive, or why Konoha is so different in your memories."]
Through chakra, the Nine-Tails had already looked through the memories of this Kushina Uzumaki before him.
It was an entirely different world from the one he and Naruto Uzumaki had experienced.
But the Nine-Tails was certain that the Kushina Uzumaki before him was indeed the woman he had once killed.
In other words, she was Kushina Uzumaki from the mission scroll world. She was the mother of his current Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki.
The Nine-Tails separated a small strand of chakra from himself.
["This contains how I ended up inside Naruto Uzumaki's body over these past twelve or thirteen years, as well as my memories from the time I've spent inside him."]
The Nine-Tails lowered his eyelids in an eerily human way.
["If you want to know what kind of life he truly lived all these years, then watch."]
"Hey! Kurama!"
Perhaps all children living away from home were the same, only reporting the good news to parents they had not seen in a long time and hiding the bad.
Naruto instinctively resisted letting his mom know about the things that had happened when he was little.
But at a time like this, the Nine-Tails was unexpectedly stubborn.
Of course, Kushina was even more so.
She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself.
Then she accepted the small strand of chakra the Nine-Tails handed over, along with the perspective of a Tailed Beast as it watched its Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki.
…
Countdown to the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero's collapse into tears.
Obito: I'm going to die.
Third Hokage: Sigh…
Danzō: Heh.
Konoha: It's getting cold. Should I go bankrupt?
Mizuki: Does anyone still remember me in Konoha Prison?
Minato: … trembling.
Question: Does Kushina no longer have the Nine-Tails inside her?
Answer: Kushina does not have the Nine-Tails inside her. She only has a little residual Nine-Tails chakra. The real Nine-Tails was split in half, one half went to Minato, and the other half went to Naruto.