Blue-purple hair and orange-yellow eyes. Her elegant looks mixed with a quiet, gentle attitude made Kushina and Mikoto stare in surprise. They had never seen Konan before.
Wow, this girl is so pretty! Kushina turned to Nono and asked curiously, "Is she one of the kids from your home?"
Nono nodded. "Yeah. Her name is Konan. She just arrived at the Orphanage a little while ago."
"Hi there! My name's Uzumaki Kushina, and this is Uchiha Mikoto." Kushina spoke to Konan with a kind, friendly voice. She wanted the girl to feel welcome.
"Hello, my name is Konan." The girl offered a small, polite smile as she greeted them.
"And I'm Yakushi Nono." Nono gave Mikoto a small nod and a smile. "This is actually the first time Sister Mikoto and I have met in person."
"Hello." Mikoto kept a warm smile on her face and nodded back.
"Since we ran into each other, why don't we all go shopping together? Do you need to get anything specific?" Kushina asked.
"Let's do that. I was just taking Konan to buy some new clothes." Nono looked down at the girl standing next to her.
"I've got you covered!" Kushina patted her own arm, looking full of energy. "I'm the one who picks out most of Minato's clothes!"
"Minato..." When Konan heard that name, her eyes seemed to light up. She looked at Kushina with a lot of hope and interest.
Kushina grinned, unable to hide how proud she felt. "The Hero of Konoha! We've been friends since we were kids, and we're actually dating right now—"
The moment those words left Kushina's mouth, the light in Konan's eyes died out. The smile on her face slowly disappeared until it was gone.
"Wait, what happened?" Even someone as blunt as Kushina could tell something was wrong, and Mikoto, who was much more observant, noticed it instantly.
The two women looked at Nono, wanting an explanation. Nono turned her head away, feeling a bit guilty, but Kushina grabbed her cheeks and pulled her back to face them.
"What is up with this kid?"
"It's nothing, really. Kids just look up to heroes, and Minato is very famous right now." Nono tried to act calm and smile, but it didn't make Kushina or Mikoto any less suspicious.
Kushina leaned in toward Konan. "Do you know Minato?"
Konan looked at Kushina with a nervous expression. She didn't know what she should say. She had just arrived in Konoha and was naturally quiet. She felt very insecure and didn't want to cause any trouble for Minato.
"Okay, Kushina, stop scaring the poor girl." Mikoto reached out and gently pulled Kushina's hand away. She looked at Konan kindly. "Minato was the one who brought you to the village, wasn't he?"
Seeing how gentle Mikoto was being, Konan gave a small, timid nod.
Kushina's eyes went wide as she looked at Nono again.
Nono quickly started apologizing. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to keep it a secret. Minato has done so much for the Orphanage that I just—"
"It's fine, I'm not mad at you." They were best friends, so Kushina wasn't going to get angry with Nono over this. "Did Minato tell you to hide this from me?"
"Well..." Nono looked over at Mikoto nervously and lowered her voice to a whisper. "He said he's dating both of you at once and promised he wouldn't go after other girls, so he thought..."
"Oh." Kushina and Mikoto looked at each other. They both shared a very awkward, stiff smile.
"I mean, it's not exactly a secret anymore, but it's still a little weird to talk about out loud." Mikoto laughed softly to break the tension. She looked back at Konan. "Minato has been sending his Shadow Clones to the Land of Rain for a while now to find something. You must be the person he was looking for."
Konan nodded weakly.
"Then I won't ask anything else." Mikoto understood the situation immediately. She didn't know exactly what Minato was working on, but he told her he was trying to save the world. If that was the case, it had to be very important.
Kushina was a bit confused by Mikoto's reaction, but she decided not to push it. However, this made Nono feel very anxious.
They were just going to let it go? Just like that? At least get a little upset! I'm not trying to take him away from you; I just want to be part of the group. Give me a chance to jump in!
"Kushina, aren't you even a little bit mad?" Nono asked cautiously.
"Mad?" Kushina started laughing and waved her hand dismissively. "How could I stay mad at him? If there was really something going on, Minato would have told me himself. After all—haha!"
Kushina stopped talking and looked at Mikoto with a very strange, knowing smile. Mikoto just smiled back awkwardly. Minato was indeed very honest about those kinds of things.
Nono stayed quiet, thinking deeply. Based on what Kushina said, if she wanted to join them, she would have to deal with Minato directly first.
While Nono was lost in her thoughts, things were different at the Hidden Cloud Village.
Minato was currently meeting with the two Jinchuriki of Kumogakure. The host of the Eight-Tails was Blue B, the sworn brother of the Third Raikage. The host of the Two-Tails was a woman in her middle years.
Because Minato had beaten the Third Raikage in battle, Blue B looked at him with a lot of anger. However, because the Raikage had given him direct orders, he didn't do anything aggressive.
The group walked to an area outside the village. Minato didn't want to waste any time talking. He balled his hand into a fist and created a Chakra Link with Blue B. He used his power to force his way into the mental space where the Eight-Tails was sealed.
The moment he entered that dark space, a giant bull-like head moved close to him.
"You smell like the Chakra of Isobu and Saiken. I can also smell a bit of the Nine-Tails on you." The voice of the Eight-Tails was so deep and heavy that it made Minato's ears ring.
"They're my friends." Minato held up his fist and smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Minato Namikaze, and I'm here to let you out of that cage."
The Eight-Tails bumped its fist against Minato's. It couldn't feel any bad intentions coming from him. Through the link, it also saw how Minato had helped the Three-Tails and Six-Tails.
Unlike later years when the beast would become close friends with Killer Bee, it didn't have much of a bond with Blue B yet. Because of that, it agreed to Minato's plan right away.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Gyuki. Let's stop talking and just do it!"
"Got it!"
In the real world, Minato suddenly slammed his palm against Blue B's stomach. Since he hadn't found the secret scrolls of the Uzumaki Clan yet, this seal looked very weak to him. He used raw power to shatter the lock instantly.
Then, Minato pulled his hand back quickly. A massive amount of energy exploded out of Blue B's body and shot into the sky.
Gyuki's giant body, which was as big as a mountain, landed behind Minato with a massive thud. The beast looked up at the sky and let out a deafening roar.
The sound was incredible. Because it had been trapped for such a long time, Gyuki was full of excitement. The roar was so loud that ninjas from all over the Hidden Cloud Village started running toward them.
However, once they saw the Third Raikage standing there with Minato, they all stopped. they stayed far away, too afraid to get any closer to the giant monster.
Blue B felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He stumbled back, but the Third Raikage caught him before he could fall.
"B, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Brother. It... it actually left some Chakra behind for me." Blue B looked up at the massive creature that was finally free from the seal. He had a strange look on his face, feeling something he couldn't quite explain.
The Eight-Tails was finally free. And in a way, he was free too.
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