Some time later, Kakashi returned to his tent alone.
Kushina, meanwhile, had taken the instruction manual for adjusting the Engraved Tsukuyomi parameters and was busy designing Naruto's test-server scenario.
Of course, she had no intention of scripting every possible development.
That would have been impossible.
Besides, forcing every event down a predetermined path would only reduce the world's freedom and make the illusion feel less real.
Limited Tsukuyomi, Infinite Tsukuyomi, and Engraved Tsukuyomi all shared one important characteristic: much like the real world, they possessed a certain degree of automatic correction.
Kushina only needed to establish major story nodes, almost like fixed points imposed by Heaven's Will.
She did not have to define every detail; left alone, the world would naturally steer itself toward those events.
There were currently two requirements she had to satisfy while setting the characters and scenarios.
First, the experience needed to help solve Naruto's attitude toward bullying.
Second, she had to create a storyline that would ensure Naruto never developed any inappropriate interest in the Tailed Beasts themselves.
And for the moment, the second problem had priority.
Only after solving the Tailed Beasts' concerns would Kurama and the others remain peacefully inside Naruto and cooperate instead of interfering while Kakashi's group dealt with the Will of Bullying.
Besides, as far as Kushina was concerned, accepting that Naruto might like men was already pushing the limits of what she could tolerate.
If he started liking small animals too, she really wouldn't survive it.
To solve the Tailed Beasts' problem, however, Kushina first needed to understand exactly what the problem was.
She had been one of the very first people to watch Limited Tsukuyomi firsthand, and some of the things she had seen inside were probably going to haunt her for the rest of her life.
Even so, for the sake of designing an effective countermeasure, Kushina still asked Kakashi for one of the Limited Tsukuyomi novels.
She had to admit, when she reached the line—
"You are no longer that promiscuous demon fox."
—she nearly lost control of her expression.
"Hm?"
Then Kushina's mischievous instincts suddenly kicked in.
"I've got it!"
She immediately spoke to the Nine-Tails inside her.
"Kurama, has Naruto actually started liking small animals yet?"
[According to the information from my other half, probably not.]
"Good!"
Kushina's eyes lit up.
"Then this idea will work perfectly right now!"
Naruto's personality had always been a lot like hers.
If they genuinely wanted to change him, gentle measures would never be enough.
They needed something drastic.
And since Engraved Tsukuyomi was only an illusion anyway, Kushina saw absolutely no reason to preserve her dignity, restraint, or moral limits while designing it.
…
The next morning.
After staying awake all night setting up the necessary story nodes, Kushina placed the equipment onto the little pushcart and waited for Kakashi to come collect it.
The moment Kakashi got his hands on the device, he went straight to Naruto.
He stopped outside the tent where Naruto was resting.
Then hesitated.
Should he simply put the equipment on Naruto and send him straight into Engraved Tsukuyomi?
That would be similar to how Sasuke had once used genjutsu to control Naruto while extracting Asura's chakra.
Or should Kakashi first come up with some excuse and let Naruto know what Engraved Tsukuyomi actually was?
"Kakashi-sensei, what are you standing here for?"
"Huh? What's that thing on the cart?"
Naruto's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Kakashi, who had been completely lost in thought, nearly jumped.
"Naruto?"
He turned around in surprise.
"You're awake this early?"
Kakashi glanced toward the horizon.
The sun had only just begun rising over the coastline.
Was this really Naruto?
Even Guy's tent nearby had only just opened.
Since when had Naruto become this diligent?
"Hehehe…"
Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Actually, I ate too many popsicles yesterday and got a stomachache in the middle of the night."
Then he immediately changed the subject.
"Anyway, Kakashi-sensei! Tell me already! What is that thing?
"You brought it here, so is it a present for me?"
"Ah…"
Kakashi paused.
Then nodded.
"Yeah. It's for you.
"And technically, you've already seen what it does."
He reached behind himself and pulled out the monitor that had been displaying Obito's adventures.
Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.
"I get to play something this awesome too?!"
"Yeah."
Kakashi handed the device over.
"And yours is private.
"Obito is a prisoner and a beta tester, so I have to monitor everything he does.
"Your version won't have anyone watching you. Once you're inside, you can do whatever you want.
"Complete privacy."
If Kakashi had said something like that to almost anyone else—even Konohamaru—it would have sounded suspiciously like protesting too much.
But Naruto believed him immediately.
"Wait, though…"
Naruto looked toward the others.
"I kinda want Konohamaru and Neji to watch too. Can I let them see?"
He was actually asking for an audience himself.
"Sure. Of course."
Whatever Naruto asked for, Kakashi agreed to.
"Here, I'll give you a control phrase.
"While you're inside, if you say—
'Taijutsu Secret Art: Super Fire Release: Genjutsu Slash: Great Shuriken Second-Stage Falling Technique!'
—the external display will temporarily shut off.
"Then if you say—
'Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet-Black Arrow Style Zero!'
—the display will turn back on."
Of course, Kakashi was lying.
No matter what Naruto said, the people outside could continue watching everything happening inside.
The fake privacy controls were only there so Naruto wouldn't feel restrained and start behaving unnaturally.
Naruto stared at him.
"Taijutsu Secret Art Super Fire… what?!
"That name is way too long! How am I supposed to remember that?!"
"There's no helping it."
Kakashi shrugged.
"If the phrase were too short, what if you accidentally said it without realizing?
"Once you enter, you won't be able to come back out immediately."
Naruto thought about it.
"…That makes sense.
"Fine!"
His desire to play with the new toy ultimately defeated his hatred of memorizing things.
"Kakashi-sensei, say them again. I'll try to remember."
Naruto suddenly looked incredibly serious.
Kakashi repeated both phrases.
Naruto closed his eyes in concentration.
"Well?"
Kakashi asked.
"Did you remember them?"
"Not a single word."
Naruto gave him an embarrassed grin.
"But it's fine. Give me a second, Kakashi-sensei."
He raised his hands and immediately formed a seal.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Countless Naruto clones burst into existence.
If memory capacity wasn't enough, just brute-force the numbers.
Everyone knew that a shadow clone's memories returned to the original once it disappeared.
So if every clone memorized the phrases at the same time and then dispelled together…
Eventually, one Naruto was bound to remember them properly.
And sure enough, after dismissing the army of clones, Naruto finally had both ridiculous technique names firmly memorized.
Then he rushed back into the tent, woke Konohamaru up, and proudly put on the device under the younger boy's intensely envious gaze.
The instant the equipment activated, the grin vanished from Naruto's face.
His expression became calm and blank.
He had already fallen under Engraved Tsukuyomi and entered the illusionary world.
"Finally…"
Kakashi very nearly muttered, He finally took the bait.
But in reality, this was only the beginning.
"Konohamaru, stay here and watch him for now. I need to go."
After giving the instruction, Kakashi immediately left.
There was more than one monitor connected to Naruto's session.
Konohamaru had one.
Kakashi had one.
Even Orochimaru had access to another.
And if Uchiha Hikari noticed Naruto had entered the server without permission, she could probably generate as many viewing screens as she wanted on her end too.
Inside Engraved Tsukuyomi, Naruto experienced exactly what Obito had before him.
He fell endlessly through absolute darkness.
Then—
The character creation screen appeared.