Chapter 41. Kushina Uzumaki
Consciousness returned to me along with a dull, persistent pain in my forehead—as if someone had driven a red-hot nail into my skull and forgotten to remove it. I automatically reached my fingers toward the bridge of my nose, rubbing the sore spot, and at that same moment, a familiar wave of healing energy coursed over my skin. The pain receded, giving way to a flood of thoughts.
The main issue wasn't the physical discomfort, but the avalanche of knowledge that had literally been crammed into my mind.
Information. I should probably start with that.
My request for travel between worlds had been granted too easily. Now I understood why. Uncontrolled wanderers were of no use to anyone. But "agents" who would occasionally intervene in the fates of others—that was a different matter. So, in the future, I (and those connected to me) would have work. "Light cavalry" work, so to speak. Work unworthy of the attention of the true heavyweights of the multiverse.
What was this connection? A system. They simply took what I already had and refined it. They left all my "perks" and added something new—a group chat for "unfortunates." The essence was simple: I could send an invitation to a being I knew something about. It had to fit the vague criterion of "unhappy." If the invitation was accepted, my team and I had to help resolve the invitee's situation. In return, the newcomer would receive one of the abilities or traits of any of us. And each of us would receive one of the newcomer's traits or abilities. The chance to obtain a fragment of power from another world... This outweighed any potential drawbacks. It offered hope.
There was also a second portion of information that made my blood run cold. Lona's memories. It turned out they weren't so simple. I had simply been "helped" initially not to go completely insane from the foreign experience, and now, as the assimilation would complete, they would become fully mine. This was terrifying. There were thousands of times more of them than the memories of my past life. I had already come to terms with being Lona Faldin, but the thought of a complete merger made me shudder inwardly.
And finally, the last question: where was I?
I was in a strange, silent void. According to the information hammered into my head, this was a transit point, a neutral zone between worlds. A portal to my home hung there as well—it glowed with a dull gray light, signaling that time there was frozen. And I had been detained here for a simple but agonizing task: to choose the first participant.
"And who should I choose?" I sighed, mentally going through my inventory for the umpteenth time. A couple of staves, some useful materials... It was enough for a tricky situation, but I needed a balance of risk and benefit. The problem was different. I knew dozens of tragic fates from anime and games, but my imagination wasn't enough. Who would be the perfect candidate? Who could I definitely help?
My thoughts involuntarily returned to one of the first anime of my past life—partly out of nostalgia, partly because of its universal utility. Naruto. There, tragic characters were a dime a dozen. But since we would have to work together, a tragic background wasn't the only important thing; sound morals were crucial too. And the person had to be... pleasant to deal with.
After long, agonizing deliberation, a decision formed.
"I'm sending an invitation to Kushina Uzumaki," I said quietly but clearly into the silent void.
Through the peaceful, sun-drenched streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a cheerful, red-haired girl walked unhurriedly. A smile never left her face. She had a wonderful, loving husband who led the village. Beneath her heart, she carried a child whose arrival was expected any day now. Those around her greeted her with respectful nods, and her housewife-killer friends, many of whom were also expecting, always found topics for long conversations.
Life was almost perfect.
Suddenly, right in the middle of the street, she staggered, clutching her temples. The world darkened. Before her eyes, fragmentary yet terribly clear images flashed by at breakneck speed. There she was, strolling just like this... and then everything began to spiral into the abyss. Childbirth. Attack. Death. And then—the long, lonely, suffering-filled life of her son...
"Kai!" The experienced kunoichi instinctively released chakra, trying to dispel the genjutsu. But the information had already seared itself into her brain, and before her eyes, ignoring all attempts to erase it, hung a semi-transparent panel:
[You have been chosen as a participant in the Community of Unfortunate Souls and given a chance to change your future. Are you ready to join? YES / NO]
This was absurd. She, a damn Jinchūriki and a fuinjutsu master, couldn't be captured by an illusion so easily. Unless... unless it wasn't the work of a Mangekyō Sharingan belonging to an Uchiha.
Passersby were already starting to glance at her oddly. Kushina exhaled forcefully, willing the trembling in her hands to subside. First, she headed to the one she trusted most in the world. To Minato.
No one usually barged so easily into the Hokage's office. But his wife had privileges. Now she was sitting on a soft sofa, and her husband, having set aside all paperwork and dismissed the Anbu, listened with a stony face. His expression changed: disbelief gave way to deep, grim concentration, and a flicker of pride momentarily flashed in his eyes—according to the vision, their son would grow into a great shinobi. But everything else evoked only chilling horror.
They talked until evening, weighing every word, every possibility. And finally, they made a decision.
Minato stood in full combat readiness. The room was marked everywhere with "Flying Thunder God" seals. Every muscle in his body was tense like a bowstring. He was prepared for anything.
Kushina looked at him, saw in his eyes that same unwavering resolve that had won her heart, and mentally pressed "YES."
The notification of the invitation's acceptance flashed before my eyes almost instantly. And the next moment, I was standing in the middle of a spacious, unfamiliar office, and the tip of a kunai was pressed with chilling coldness against the skin of my throat.
The weapon was held by a tall blond man. His gaze, usually calm and kind, was now sharper than his own blade.
"Who are you?" His voice sounded deceptively even, but that evenness held a deadly threat.
"Can we... maybe put the weapon away first?" I tried to take a step back, but the blade pressed harder. A hot line appeared on my neck, and I felt a thin trickle of blood run down my skin.
"Understood," I whispered, and this time the fear was genuine. You didn't need to be a genius to understand who stood before me. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. A man capable of killing me faster than I could blink.
"I'm Lona Faldin. I'm here to help," I blurted out, and the pressure on my neck eased slightly.
"Was it you who cast the genjutsu on me?" a female voice came from behind me.
"Genjutsu?" I cautiously turned my head as much as the blade at my throat allowed. "I don't possess chakra. You, as the invitee, were shown what I know about your situation. And now I'm supposed to help you avoid it so you can join."
"Join? Where?" The blade pressed again, deepening the cut. Painful, but not fatal. For now.
"It's... complicated to explain. Please, let's sit down and discuss everything calmly. Believe me, my coming here isn't a bad thing. Not for either of you, nor for the Village Hidden in the Leaves," my voice held a genuine plea. Inside, I was frantically preparing a shield spell. Just in case.
But the next moment, the grip loosened, and the kunai disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief and ran my palm over my neck. The skin under my fingers healed, leaving only a slight tingling.
"Alright. We'll hear you out," Minato declared, his gaze still not losing its vigilance.
"Thank you," I nodded awkwardly. I absolutely hated feeling like a cornered mouse, and the atmosphere in the room still reeked of a harsh interrogation.
"Maybe over a cup of tea? This will be a long conversation. And I really only came to help prevent the catastrophe during the childbirth."
"Minato, I'll talk to her myself," stepped forward Kushina.
"Kushina," the man looked at her, and his gaze clearly showed disagreement.
"Everything's fine. As she said—she has no chakra. And you know I'm strong."
"This isn't up for discussion. I won't leave you alone in this situation," his tone left no room for argument. He created a shadow clone, ordering it with a nod to handle the paperwork, while he himself grabbed my hand.
The world around me wavered, crumpled into a tube, and straightened out again. We were standing in a cozy kitchen.
"Sit. And talk," Minato ordered, pointing to a chair.
I sat down, looking at their tense faces, and realized one simple thing. The main difficulty wouldn't be saving Kushina from death at all.
The difficulty would be earning their trust.