Artoria moved slowly across the clearing toward Hiruzen.
With every step that brought her closer, the ground beneath her began to crack. A murderous aura lay in her eyes, so heavy and cold that even the air on the clearing seemed to tremble.
The trees and bushes all around looked almost as though they wanted to bend themselves out of her path.
Hiruzen slowly straightened himself again.
It seems this can no longer be resolved with words.
His gaze darkened.
Damn… We cannot defeat this monster by normal means.
For one fleeting moment, his expression grew heavier.
It seems, Danzo… you will be the next Hokage after all.
Slowly, Hiruzen raised his hands.
He began to use his final weapon.
The first hand seals of the Shiki Fūjin took shape.
But the moment Artoria recognized them, a narrow smile crossed her lips.
She knows this technique?
Hiruzen's thoughts faltered.
But how? It was a secret technique of the Uzumaki. And we possess the original scrolls.
Then her voice rang calmly through the forest.
"Children should keep their hands off such things."
In the same instant, she stood before him.
So fast that even the ANBU could barely follow her movement.
Her slender hand gently wrapped around Hiruzen's throat—and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.
The ANBU reacted at once and rushed forward to free their Hokage.
But before they could come anywhere near her, another shockwave hurled them away as though they were little more than dust in the wind.
Then the system's voice sounded again in Artoria's mind.
Host, the system has heard your thoughts. Your plan to hold me accountable for the second punishment will never succeed. You are only a lesser goddess.
Artoria's eyes twitched.
Only once.
I will deal with you later.
Then she briefly turned her gaze to the side.
"Naruto," she said calmly, almost kindly. "Please come to me. We need to ask two sleepyheads how they imagined your future. And this old man here will have to answer for his actions."
Naruto immediately sprinted through the forest toward her.
But just before he reached her, he was suddenly pulled downward.
The earth beneath him split open.
With a single stomp against the ground, Artoria made the earth explode.
Naruto and an ANBU with only one eye and white hair were hurled out of the ground.
Artoria caught Naruto effortlessly with one arm before he could hit the ground, and in the same breath kicked the ANBU away with such force that he flew through the air like a broken doll.
Then she straightened up again.
"There," she said coldly. "Now we are undisturbed for the time being."
Hiruzen suddenly felt a violent pull on his soul.
In the next instant, he found himself standing in a sewer. Cold water lapped around his feet.
His gaze darted across the surroundings.
"Why… does it look here as though we are in a ruin?"
The walls were crisscrossed with deep cracks, and the light flickered weakly across the wet stone.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Not so fast," Artoria said calmly. "We need to go this way."
The sound of her voice alone made Hiruzen's stomach turn.
"Yes… I suppose so," he muttered and forced himself to take a step forward. Then he looked around again. "If I may ask… where are we?"
Artoria kept walking without turning around.
"Inside Naruto's seal," she said calmly. "We are going to ask the two guardians within this seal what they think of how their child has been treated."
Hiruzen's thoughts stumbled.
What?
Minato and Kushina left parts of themselves behind in the seal?
His heart beat faster.
And no one saw anything? No one noticed anything?
Sweat ran down his forehead without stopping.
Naruto walked close beside Artoria, clutching her cloak.
"Big Sister… who are the guardians?" he asked softly. "And where is this seal inside me anyway? I'm not even that big."
A gentle laugh escaped Artoria.
She placed a hand on his head and stroked through his blond hair.
"You will see in a moment, once we arrive."
This mismatched group continued on their way until they reached the great chamber where the sullen Nine-Tails lay.
The moment they entered the room, a mighty voice echoed through the darkness.
"You are not welcome here."
At the same time, a tremendous aura pressed toward them—raw, hostile, designed to drive intruders out of the seal.
But before it could take effect, an aura of Artoria's own rose up.
When it collided with that of the Nine-Tails, his eyes instantly widened.
And his voice… became noticeably smaller.
"W-welcome to my humble realm, noble lady."
"Good that you reconsidered," Artoria said calmly. "Otherwise, I would likely have had to use my hands to teach you some manners."
Her gaze remained fixed on Kurama.
"Perhaps I really should use more than just a spark of my power. I must be getting rusty."
When Kurama heard those words, he instinctively tried to make himself smaller.
This woman—no, this monster—was terrifying even by the standards of his father, the Sage of Six Paths. Even he, in his strongest days, had carried the Ten-Tails within himself.
Why am I so unlucky?
First Madara Uchiha with his cursed eyes…
Then that loving pair, Mito and her husband…
Then this brat's mother…
What did I do wrong?
I only wanted to sleep and be left in peace.
Artoria's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Kurama," she said calmly, "I am now going to open the seal. If you move so much as a single centimeter, I will erase you."
At once, Kurama tried to retreat behind the bars of the seal, hoping that on the other side he could put even a little more distance between himself and this being.
"I… I will do nothing, my lady," he said hurriedly.
Then his eyes widened further.
What? She wants to open the seal?
She cannot do that.
He let out a heavy breath.
But I cannot stop her.
Slowly, Artoria stepped up to the seal.
Then she placed her hand against its surface.
A golden light flowed from her hand and began to dissolve the seal. The lines flickered, resisted for a moment—and then crumbled beneath her light.
And in the middle of that golden radiance, two figures appeared.