Checking the seal?
Kushina immediately cast a suspicious look his way. "Saiki, I seem to recall your Sealing Jutsu skills being pretty average!"
"Don't underestimate me, Sensei. My Sealing Jutsu might not match yours, but I have my ways of keeping that little fox inside you completely docile," Saiki replied confidently.
But it was obvious Kushina didn't buy it. She knew exactly what kind of terrifying monster the Nine-Tails was.
It usually took an entire Barrier Squad plus her own power to barely suppress it. She didn't believe Saiki could do it alone, no matter how talented he was.
"You haven't been gone that long, but your ego has certainly grown," Kushina said, her face still full of doubt.
Saiki didn't mind her skepticism. Instead, he joked, "As the saying goes, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and three days is enough to see a person in a new light!' We haven't seen each other in who knows how many 'autumns.' I'm much stronger now than I was before."
Saiki's words immediately shifted Kushina's focus.
Mentioning how long it had been since they last saw each other, Kushina glared at him fiercely. "Saiki, you brat! You come back and don't even bother to tell me? I thought you were still at the front lines! I've been worried sick about you guys these past few days!"
Seeing her adopting a stance that said explain yourself or get hit, Saiki felt a bit helpless.
"Uh, well, you see... there was a lot to handle right when we got back. We were pretty busy! I planned to come find you as soon as things settled down, but then so much happened over the last two days, and then you showed up at our door."
Kushina was still unsatisfied with his explanation. "Next time you come back, you come tell me immediately."
"Yes, absolutely next time," Saiki promised loudly.
Kushina nodded, finally satisfied. Then she asked, "By the way, how are things at the front? Did you run into any danger?"
"Uh, Sensei Kushina... have you really not heard anything about my heroic exploits at the front lines?"
"Did you actually do something?"
They stared at each other in mutual confusion. Saiki couldn't believe he had accomplished so much at the front, yet not a single word of it had reached Kushina's ears.
It made sense, though. Not only did Kushina rarely interact with outsiders due to her status, but no one would have told her anyway.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's information control was excellent. News of Saiki slaughtering his way across the battlefield and stopping the A-B Combo hadn't made a ripple in Konoha, while the Leaf's massive victory over the Cloud was common knowledge.
It simply meant that the unpredictable Saiki had been viewed with deep suspicion from the start. Coupled with the fact that his moniker, "Thunder Fang of the Leaf," sounded suspiciously like Sakumo Hatake's, turning Saiki into a public hero was politically disadvantageous for Hiruzen.
If Saiki gained massive popularity, controlling him would become incredibly difficult. And reminding people of the "White Fang" suicide incident—something the High Command preferred to keep buried—was definitely not on their agenda. It was only natural that news regarding Saiki was suppressed.
Understanding the politics behind it, Saiki merely smiled. Since he had already killed Hiruzen, there was no point in getting angry about it.
Besides, Saiki genuinely didn't care about his reputation in the village.
So, he just let out a hearty "Aha!" laugh.
"Sensei, I thought you already knew! Since you don't, let me tell you... I was incredible out there!"
He proceeded to recount his arrival on the first night, the ambush by A and Bee on the second night, and the final clash during the withdrawal. He enthusiastically exaggerated how he had decimated the Cloud ninja and fought the A-B brothers to a standstill.
Finally, showing absolutely no shame, Saiki offered a mutual compliment. "So, Sensei Kushina, you see how amazing I am? Now everyone knows that Kushina Uzumaki trained an incredibly powerful student!"
Because of the trauma of seeing her homeland destroyed when she was young, Kushina desperately craved validation after arriving in Konoha. That was why she had set her sights on becoming Hokage.
However, due to her status, Kushina couldn't leave the village to fight on the front lines, let alone earn merit and fame. As she grew older, the dream of becoming Hokage only drifted further away.
But hearing that Saiki had made a name for himself on the front lines as her student... Kushina's face displayed a complex mix of excitement, joy, and relief. She felt profound gratitude, as well as an immense pride in her student—even though she knew perfectly well that Saiki's excellence had very little to do with her teachings.
Finally, Kushina said, deeply moved, "Saiki, thank you! I never imagined you had become this amazing."
After all that boasting, Saiki thought Kushina might be slightly suspicious, but seeing her practically moved to tears made him incredibly happy. "Sensei Kushina, what kind of relationship do we have? You can't go out freely, so as your student, making sure the world knows your name is the least I can do."
Hearing this, Kushina's eyes grew slightly moist. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and looked earnestly at Saiki. "Saiki, I am so proud of you."
At this moment, the atmosphere in the room was overwhelmingly sentimental. It was making Saiki feel a bit out of his element.
Unlike most people who crave fame, status, and power, the "salted fish" Saiki didn't care about those things at all. Therefore, he truly struggled to understand the depth of Kushina's current emotion.
It wasn't that he was particularly noble, nor did he possess the transcendent detachment of a true Sage. He was more like a wild beast; following his survival instincts, he only desired overwhelming power, beautiful women, and a long life.
So, once Kushina had been sufficiently moved, he casually dropped a line: "Sensei Kushina, after hearing all that, you surely don't doubt I have the power to suppress a Tailed Beast, do you?"
Saiki's complete lack of tact nearly gave Kushina an aneurysm. However, this time, she didn't doubt him.
After all, Saiki couldn't possibly brag about something like this. Kushina knew Saiki wasn't one to spin tall tales, and the vivid, visceral details of his account weren't something you could just invent on the spot.
She didn't doubt him, but given her fiery temper, she wasn't about to speak nicely to him after being irritated. "Saiki, you brat, don't get too full of yourself! You need to learn some humility, understand?!"
Watching the furious Kushina, her striking red hair floating around her head again, Saiki's thoughts began to wander. "Beautiful women look amazing even when they're angry! Come to think of it, Tsunade, Tsume, and Kushina are all very strong-willed types. Do I have some kind of specific fetish? No, Sister Nono'u is the incredibly gentle type. It's definitely not a 'me' problem."
While his mind was racing with nonsense, Saiki verbally responded with complete sincerity, "Of course, I know that! Sensei Kushina."
After delivering a stern lecture regarding Saiki's lazy yet infuriating personality, Kushina finally stopped.
Watching Saiki smile through her entire scolding, Kushina paused for a moment before asking, "Saiki, do you really have a way to suppress that thing inside me?"
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails was simply too powerful. Even the mighty Eight Trigrams Seal couldn't completely contain it; a small amount of its chakra constantly leaked out.
While this leaked chakra couldn't do much, it was enough for the Nine-Tails to sense the outside world and monitor Kushina's emotions. During moments of emotional instability, it would attempt to break out, trying to drag Kushina into darkness.
Of course, the Nine-Tails had heard the entire conversation between Saiki and Kushina. Regarding Saiki's boasting, the Nine-Tails was thoroughly dismissive.
However, it would soon learn exactly what "powerful" meant.
"Yes, I have a way. My chakra is very unique; it's highly effective at suppressing Tailed Beasts. That's why I was able to easily counter the Eight-Tails," Saiki nodded.
The chakra of the Uzumaki clan was already unique, which was why they made excellent Jinchuriki vessels. They had even developed the "Adamantine Sealing Chains," a Bloodline Limit sealing technique specifically designed to combat Tailed Beasts. Therefore, Kushina found Saiki's claim entirely plausible.
"So, what do we need to do?" Kushina asked.
After a moment's thought, Saiki replied, "Well, Sensei, you'll need to let me take a look at the seal on your body first."
Because his power was unique, and combined with his existing knowledge, Saiki could potentially construct a powerful seal specifically tailored to contain a Tailed Beast, using his own energy as the foundation.
However, regarding the Eight Trigrams Seal currently containing the Nine-Tails, Saiki had only studied some basic theories; he had never seen the complete, fully formed jutsu. He definitely didn't want to mess around with it until he understood it completely.
Hearing that he needed to see the Tailed Beast seal, Kushina's small face instantly flushed red. The sealing formula for a Tailed Beast was typically inscribed on the abdomen.
More accurately, it was placed exactly at the Dantian. In the ninja chakra pathway system, this area—specifically the Gate of View and the Gate of Wonder—was where a massive convergence of chakra points occurred.
But the area just below a woman's navel wasn't exactly something you casually showed to others.