The seal space had become warped and surreal, stretching endlessly in every direction. Naruto looked at Kushina as she appeared before him—mother and son reflected in each other's eyes, separated by less than three steps.
Naruto let out a quiet sigh. He stepped forward and placed his hand into Kushina's palm.
"Mother, I—"
"Naruto~"
Kushina pulled him tightly into her arms, tears choking her voice. "My child…"
Naruto's body stiffened. The moment Kushina embraced him, an unfamiliar storm of emotions surged within him, almost bursting his heart apart—yet his gaze remained steady and resolute.
Beginning data acquisition…
Data collection complete.
Permission update in progress.
The mechanical notification echoed in his ears, and a kind of expectation he had never known before surfaced in Naruto's eyes.
Mirror World
Within the radiant void, the four tailed beasts sat in a circle, all of them gazing down at the vast, boundless map of the shinobi world beneath them.
After a moment, Mū turned to the side and spoke.
"Kurama, what should we do now? What that old toad said—"
"That old man never trusted the toads to begin with."
Kurama withdrew his gaze and said coldly, "Naruto doesn't trust them either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have released the seal, and he certainly wouldn't have told me everything that happened at Mount Myōboku."
Mū glanced at Isobu and Chōmei, who remained silent, then said in a deep voice, "I'm not asking you to believe the toad. I'm asking what you think about that prophecy—that Naruto will turn the shinobi world into scorched earth and then create a new world."
"You know our creator entrusted us with protecting this world. If Naruto truly destroys it—"
"Hmph. Mū, you've lived this long and you're still scared by a toad's words?"
Kurama sneered. "Don't forget—we may have been born after the old man pacified the world, but he explained very clearly how the Ten-Tails was sealed."
Mū froze. "You mean…?"
"Mū, don't you get it yet?" Isobu said calmly. "Before leaving, the old man said these three so-called sages wielded power no weaker than his or Hamura's. Yet when he and Hamura fought the Ten-Tails, not one of them showed up."
"Other than teaching him how to use natural energy, all they gave him was a single talisman—just like the Sage Talisman Naruto obtained."
"Exactly," Chōmei added, fluttering upward. "The old man also said he was certain they avoided the Ten-Tails' Infinite Tsukuyomi. That's why, when he reshaped the shinobi world, he didn't return the chakra the Ten-Tails had absorbed. Instead, he used Yin–Yang Release to create us to guard the world in his stead."
"Because we exist, the Three Great Sage Lands can only hide inside their secret realms, hoarding massive amounts of natural energy. If they were willing to give that up, Isobu wouldn't have needed to wait so long to revive."
Kurama sat upright. With a claw, he tore open space and dragged Jiraiya out, sneering.
"And let's talk about that prophecy. If the old toad really knew Naruto was the Child of Prophecy, why did he let this idiot run around the world searching for one?"
"I don't know what Naruto plans to do—but if he ever goes back to Mount Myōboku…"
Mū's eyes darted. He lowered his voice. "If I remember right, Kurama, you can only sense whether they bear hostility toward Naruto. You can't tell if they're lying."
"…That's true," Kurama replied calmly.
With a casual swipe of his claw, a translucent panel flashed and swallowed Jiraiya whole.
Isobu and Chōmei stared at Kurama in confusion.
Under normal circumstances, wouldn't Kurama have snapped at Mū to shut up?
Just as they were wondering—
Kurama moved.
Five of his nine tails lashed out violently toward Mū. Mū's eyes widened as his body twisted, five pale tails surging up to meet the attack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Isobu and Chōmei shut their eyes at the same time, unable to bear watching.
At the exact moment their eyes closed, Kurama's sixth tail moved.
Back in the Seal Space
"I eat well every day, though I don't force myself to eat things I dislike. I stay up late often, but it doesn't really affect my rest. I've made friends—though they were arranged for me—but they're trustworthy. I just don't know whether they'll become enemies in the future."
"In terms of training, aside from Father, no one was truly willing to teach me ninjutsu. But my progress was smoother than anyone else's. What they can do, I can do. What they can't do, I can still do."
"I never sank into despair. And now, in this world, your son fears no one but the Sage of Six Paths."
"As for the Three Shinobi Prohibitions—I don't lack money, I'm not interested in alcohol, and there's a girl as outstanding as my mother who seems to like me quite a bit."
"Mm~ I saw all of that!"
"My relationship with Father wasn't very good. When he left… he was crying."
"Heehee~ Your father was always like that. Back when he chased after me, I beat him until he cried too!"
"A few days ago, I used Mother's appearance to save another Uzumaki survivor—and taught her using your identity."
"Yes, yes—Naruto is teaching her very well!"
"Mother… do you have anything you want to say to me?"
"Hahaha! I'm just too happy—I don't even know what to say! Let me think… Oh! Your father was terrible at learning Flying Thunder God! Hahaha! And after he became Hokage, he was too embarrassed to ask the Uchiha for help—so I had to ask Mikoto to speak with Fugaku for him!"
"Father really was a bit… airheaded."
"Good thing you take after me, not him."
"…"
Kushina held Naruto's hand tightly, laughing as she spoke. She deliberately skirted around pain, reminiscing about happiness. Each joyful memory made her grip tremble.
Time passed quietly. Eventually, Kushina did almost all the talking. Naruto simply looked at her, listening without blinking.
After an unknown length of time, Kushina froze—and Naruto frowned.
"Mother, I need to pick someone up."
"Sasuke, right?"
Kushina smiled with narrowed eyes, her voice gentle. "I saw you promise him yesterday that you'd bring him over for an eye transplant. But try not to be too hard on him."
"That's not very fair, Mother."
Naruto laughed and shook his head. "When have I ever been hard on Sasuke? Without my guidance, he'd be nothing more than cannon fodder who knows only the Great Fireball Jutsu."
"Hahaha~ If Mikoto knew all this, she'd find it hilarious!"
Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, laughing without a shred of elegance. After a while, she pulled Naruto up, her voice tinged with sadness.
"I wonder if I'll be able to take everything I've seen here with me to that world."
"Why go to that world at all?"
As he spoke, Naruto sent a thread of consciousness into the Mirror World. He took Kushina by the hand and led her before Kurama.
"Before long, Father and Mother will both return."
As the words fell, Kurama's previously lifeless body suddenly stirred. He glanced at the drastically changed seal space, then lowered his gaze, bracing himself on one claw as he grinned.
"Kushina. Long time no see!"
Naruto's consciousness withdrew from the seal.
When he came back to himself, he saw his entire body shrouded in golden, flame-like chakra. Using Ice Release, he formed a two-meter-tall mirror in front of him.
Reflected within it, he looked just like Naruto in the original canon—cloaked in a radiant golden mantle.
Black magatama patterns adorned his collar and neck. Black lines traced across his body, and six dark markings appeared on each cheek. Power surged endlessly within him, seemingly inexhaustible.
Naruto knew it was an illusion caused by Kurama's immense chakra. In truth, even Kurama's chakra was finite—just as in the Fourth Shinobi World War, when Kurama had once stopped supplying chakra and later borrowed from his other half.
"This kind of chakra really does make people overestimate themselves."
"Hehehe! Feel my overwhelming power now?"
Naruto chuckled. He voluntarily severed the connection with Kurama, then formed the reversed seal.
Sasuke's projected phantom appeared at once.
"I've been trying to contact you for half an hour!"
Sasuke glared at Naruto, his tone sharp.
"Yeah. Where are you now?" Naruto asked calmly, smiling.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Didn't you tell me to wait under the waterfall at the Naka River?"
"Oh."
Naruto nodded, cut the connection—and vanished.
Shun!
In the next instant, he stood atop a reef directly in front of Sasuke.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke's shoulder, where three black magatama were sealed within complex formulae, and smiled faintly.
Late last night, Sasuke had used the Izanagi prewritten into his left eye to rewrite reality, erasing Orochimaru's Heaven Curse Mark entirely. After confirming there were no lingering risks, he immediately created a Shadow Clone to fabricate a fake curse mark on his shoulder—complete with a copied Evil Sealing Method from Kakashi.
"Can we go now?" Sasuke said irritably. "I still need to see Kakashi later."
He knew exactly what Naruto was smiling about.
"No problem."
Naruto stepped forward, grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, and in a flash—
They were standing inside Sasuke's laboratory in the Land of Snow.
Poof!
Naruto created a Shadow Clone to send Sasuke back after the surgery.
"Wait."
Sasuke suddenly stopped him, hesitating. "I want to conduct some cloning experiments… in the underground cultivation chamber."
Naruto paused at the doorway. Turning back, he looked at Sasuke with clear approval.
"So you've finally decided to clone the Uchiha?"
Sasuke's expression flickered, then he shook his head dejectedly. "Forget it. I didn't say anything."
"Why give up?" Naruto asked in surprise. "I can provide you with three-tomoe Sharingan samples. With current cloning tech, as long as you have enough material, you could become the new Uchiha clan head in three years."
"That kind of Uchiha would be meaningless."
Sasuke shook his head, then changed the subject. "Can you tell me where Konoha hid my parents? I went to the Uchiha cemetery—every grave there was empty."
"You're mistaken about that."
Naruto sighed regretfully. "Konoha didn't take your parents' bodies. Their bodies were—"
"Were what?"
Sasuke stared at him, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. He even suspected the Sharingan Naruto had cloned came from his parents.
Naruto hesitated. Kushina's voice echoed in his mind, urging him to be gentler—to wait.
Naruto answered her silently: Now or later makes no difference.
"Your parents' bodies were burned by Uchiha Itachi."
Naruto stepped out the door.
"…Burned?"
Sasuke stood frozen in shock.
Mount Myōboku
The founders of the Three Great Sage Lands still sat upon their thrones. The stone pillar Naruto had occupied remained in the center of the hall.
"Gamamaru… will he really come back?" Katsuyu's antennae swayed uneasily.
"Why the rush, Katsuyu?" the White Snake Sage said smugly, puffing smoke. She glanced at the Great Toad Sage, who seemed asleep. "When has this guy ever lost after making a move? Last time, he barely spoke to those two brothers, and they turned around and solved the problem themselves."
"But what if those two do reappear?" she added.
"He won't give them that chance."
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened his eyes. "In my dreams, I saw the God Tree revive—but I did not see those two return."
"That doesn't make sense," the White Snake Sage exhaled. "They originated from the God Tree, and one of them even claimed ownership of it. If the God Tree revives, that one should appear."
The Great Toad Sage's eyes shifted.
"Prophecy will not be wrong. In the future world, we will exist. As long as we pay the corresponding price, we will still stand at the apex of the world."
Mirror World
"Mother… you really don't want to see Jiraiya?"
"And what would that change?" Kushina replied softly. "I already saw how he views Konoha and you. In his heart, Konoha still comes before himself—before anyone."
Naruto closed Jiraiya's data panel, then opened Kakashi's memories. Kushina watched only briefly before closing it herself. She then selected Danzō and entered the battlefield.
"Why did she pick Danzō first?" Kurama asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't she settle accounts with the Third Hokage first?"
"The Third never touched the Fourth's or her body," Isobu said quietly. "Did you forget? Danzō gave Minato's hair to Orochimaru for Edo Tensei experiments."
Kurama narrowed his eyes and glanced at Naruto. He gave Isobu a mysterious smile.
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