When Makoto saw Naruto down below transforming his entire clone army into him, dark lines appeared on his forehead.
That idiot really was the sort of menace who could force even the rigid Second Hokage to vehemently support intellectual property rights.
Makoto felt it was about time he started copyrighting his own face.
Otherwise, if Naruto's Reverse Harem Jutsu was permanently modeled after him, it would be going way too far.
Originally, Makoto would have gone down there and personally blown up all those Shadow Clones, but since Kushina was already handling it for him, he decided to stay in the sky and enjoy the show.
The enraged Kushina erupted into her own golden Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Her speed skyrocketed, and she smashed a devastating right hook straight into Naruto's face, sending him flying across the dunes.
Naruto's original body was knocked senseless.
He had forgotten one crucial detail.
His Transformation Jutsu had changed all the clones' appearances, yes—but only his real body was still glowing like a golden beacon from the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
In other words, in the middle of a massive decoy army, he had practically painted a glowing bullseye on himself for Kushina to target.
But Naruto wasn't stunned because he couldn't understand how she had seen through him. Rather—
"Kurama, why can she use Nine-Tails Chakra Mode too?!" Naruto scrambled to his feet, created another pile of Shadow Clones for cover, hid among them, and frantically interrogated the giant fox.
[Because...]
To be fair, Yang Kurama really hadn't expected his other half to have already reconciled with Kushina and actively lent her its power.
He didn't prepared a plausible lie for this question at all, and for a moment, the beast was left speechless.
"I get it now! Back when that bad woman entered my mental space, she tied you up, Kurama—that was when she stole your chakra, right?!" Naruto's eyes widened.
"You told me before that Kinkaku and Ginkaku from the Hidden Cloud were able to use your power after gnawing on your stomach lining. And that red-haired Akatsuki guy from before also managed to use your power by building an engine to absorb it! So the way she is now must be because she stole it back then!"
Before Kurama could even think of an excuse, Naruto had already deduced one for himself, wearing the proud expression of a master detective.
[Yeah. Yeah, exactly! Naruto, you brat really are a genius. You figured out the truth without even needing me to remind you!] Kurama froze for a split second, then immediately stamped his seal of approval on the ridiculous theory.
In reality, the exact moment Kushina had appeared earlier, Yang Kurama had already sensed his Yin counterpart.
After that brief exchange, when Kushina's golden punch connected with Naruto's jaw, Yang Kurama and Yin Kurama were able to directly link their consciousness.
The Yang Nine-Tails inside Naruto immediately demanded to know how his other half could have so little Tailed-Beast dignity as to willingly reconcile with Uzumaki Kushina, the terrifying woman who had once "bullied" them.
The Yin Nine-Tails inside Kushina was full of disdain.
Its response was simple: 'Weren't you reconciled too, you hypocrite?! And besides, how exactly had it reconciled?'
After being freed from the Shinigami's stomach and released from the Fourth Hokage's seal, it had arrived back in the living world.
And what did it see? Not only was Kushina, its former terrifying Jinchūriki, there, but nearby stood Makoto, a monster who brutalized Ōtsutsuki for fun, there was the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, both highly capable of sucking it dry and there was Senju Hashirama, who could walk up at any time, pat it on the head, and casually declare, 'Your power is too great.'
There wasn't a single normal person around!
How exactly was it supposed to resist?!
It was like an innocent little girl who had fallen right into a goblin nest—what choice did it have except to "reconcile"?!
After explaining that horrifying context, Yin Kurama turned around and questioned Yang Kurama in return.
Fine, it had given in because of those circumstances.
But why had Yang Kurama surrendered to some idiot blonde brat?!
And he still had the nerve to question it? Yang was the more embarrassing one by far!
Yang Kurama didn't bother explaining much.
It simply relayed the Great Toad Sage's prophecy to Yin Kurama.
In an instant, Yin Kurama's glowing red eyes became crystal clear.
No wonder.
No wonder Yang Kurama had surrendered.
If Yin refused to submit over there, what awaited it was severe physical torment.
But Yang Kurama? What awaited him over here was psychological, soul-crushing torment!
Tailed beasts were essentially like characters in an anime or novel.
You could kill them, but you could not humiliate them. If an anime character got killed, they could be revived later.
But if a character was deeply humiliated, then even turning back time or reversing causality wouldn't wash away the stain.
Tailed beasts operated on the exact same logic.
[Kushina, let's make a deal. Let me take control for a second so I can break that brat's balls.]
After learning of the Toad Sage's horrifying prophecy, Yin Kurama immediately began egging Kushina on in order to protect its own collective innocence.
But, the way it phrased the request was far too direct.
Kushina, who had been violently punching Naruto's Shadow Clones apart one after another, actually froze mid-swing when she heard that echoing in her mind.
"Nine-Tails... what exactly did you just say?" Kushina wondered if she had misheard the giant demon fox.
Naruto being a bit perverted could still be easily explained away with, he spent way too much time around Jiraiya and Kakashi.
But how come a Tailed Beast started spouting such unhinged nonsense too?
[I am actually doing this for Naruto's own good! Just look at the state he is in—this exhausted expression, these heavy dark circles! How long has he been masturbating continuously?! And he even made his Shadow Clones do it for him too! That means he is already severely addicted! This is incredibly bad for his developing body! Woman, don't you people in your village keep cats and dogs?! Don't you know neutering them is scientifically good for them?!]
The more Yin Kurama passionately argued its case, the more fervent it became, to the point that Kushina started to grow highly suspicious.
"Nine-Tails, did you learn something from the other half of yourself?" Kushina stopped attacking entirely, sank her consciousness into her seal, and directly confronted Yin Kurama with a sharp, accusatory question.
One hand was already raised—if Yin Kurama dared not tell the truth, she was fully prepared to manifest her Adamantine Sealing Chains for a little disciplinary bondage play.
[...]
Because of everything happening here, Yin Kurama had just been called an idiot by Yang Kurama.
There really was a bit of an intelligence gap between the two of them.
After all, Yin Kurama had been sealed alongside the Fourth Hokage for over a decade, and in the stomach of the Reaper, time was frozen.
There had been almost no subjective awareness or mental growth at all.
[You guessed right. The other half of me just told me that when your son was taken to Mount Myōboku while unconscious, the old toad gave a terrifying prophecy.]
Yin Kurama decided to just tell the truth.
Because on second thought, there was no reason for it alone to be panicking over this.
Wouldn't Kushina be equally anxious once she heard this prophecy?
That logically made them staunch allies, didn't it? So why the hell should it keep hiding the truth?
"The old toad? You mean the Great Toad Sage? What prophecy did he give this time? It's related to Naruto, right?" Kushina was genuinely curious.
She still held quite a lot of respect for the Great Toad Sage's legendary prophecies.
[The old toad said Naruto would reconcile with the Nine-Tails...]
"That part really did come true! The prophecy has already been fulfilled, hasn't it? I didn't expect my little Naruto to make peace with the other half of you so quickly." A proud, motherly smile appeared on Kushina's face.
[I wasn't finished. After that... they would become husband and wife.]
"?"
"Nine-Tails, finish your sentence properly, would you? You have been sealed in the Shinobi World this long already, and you still talk without a proper subject. Who is becoming husband and wife with whom?" Kushina seemed to have a very bad feeling and asked carefully.
[Who do you think?! Why do you think my other half is so terrified?! Why do you think the exact moment I heard it, I wanted you to immediately break that brat's balls?!]
"...Then what is Sasuke supposed to do?"
[?]
This time it was the Nine-Tails' turn to be completely baffled.
It had assumed Kushina would be horrified and shocked that her son was apparently destined to marry a giant furry demon beast.
Instead, the very first thing Kushina thought about was what Uchiha Sasuke was supposed to do!