Chapter 623: Naruto's Inner World
"???" Three question marks appeared above Ino's head as she continued to suppress the Ten-Tails. What is going on now?
She had already drained nearly thirty percent of the Ten-Tails' chakra—a being composed of six and a half Tailed Beasts. If calculated separately, that was the equivalent of two entire Tailed Beasts siphoned away by her Rainbow Light Fishing Rod. Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's Rainbow Light Fish-basket was now visibly nearing its limit!
The haul was massive; Tailed Beast chakra couldn't normally be extracted so wantonly.
But a bizarre phenomenon was occurring. A shinobi would feel exhausted after losing thirty percent of their chakra. While a Tailed Beast's constitution was different, it shouldn't be getting more spirited as it was drained.
The reality was: the more chakra Ino drained, the more chakra the Ten-Tails seemed to have.
Where is all this chakra coming from? Ino was completely baffled.
The Ten-Tails' eyes were filled with nothing but savagery, cruelty, and mania. Its gaze was fixed on her, as if it wanted to tear her limb from limb.
Uchiha Madara, facing the combined assault of Izuna and the Fourth Raikage, clearly wasn't using his full strength. In fact, he was maintaining a one-handed seal. To say nothing suspicious was going on... only a fool would believe that.
Ino had tried to attack him, but Madara was intent on avoiding a direct confrontation. If she went after Madara, the Ten-Tails would inevitably break free. If she focused on sealing the Ten-Tails, Madara would intervene.
In a battle of this caliber, Izuna, Sasori, and the Fourth Raikage were, unfortunately, like the Second Hokage in the original timeline's Fourth Shinobi World War—their impact was minimal.
As tendrils of chakra continued to materialize from thin air and flow into the beast, the Ten-Tails' power surged. It was getting to the point where even Ino's Gracious Deity Gates were struggling to hold it down.
"Its resistance is growing stronger. Does anyone have any idea what's happening?" she asked the "people" on her side.
Sasori was the first to shake his head. "If you wanted me to turn this thing into a puppet, perhaps I could find the answer. But right now? I have no idea."
Izuna also shook his head. He knew of the nine Tailed Beasts, from One-Tails to Nine-Tails, but this was his first time seeing the Ten-Tails.
The Fourth Raikage—covered in wounds, a bloody mess, a level 60 fighter in a level 90 battle—gasped for air as he glanced over.
It was only because his body had been forged through decades of extreme training that he was durable. A normal shinobi in this fight would have been reduced to ash long ago.
"I can't understand it. I don't know!" he answered gruffly.
In the air, in the rivers, in the earth—everywhere she looked, Ino could see fine streams of red chakra being absorbed by the Ten-Tails.
She had been in Kumogakure for nearly a full day. Extracting chakra was exhausting work, and a light sweat had beaded on her forehead. The Ten-Tails' change was inexplicable. She quickly used her sensory abilities to connect back to the village.
"Dad, what's happening in Konoha?"
Inoichi asked about her first. "How are things on your end?"
Ino sighed. "I don't know what's going on. This Ten-Tails suddenly went berserk. It doesn't seem to be my fault. I can barely hold it down. Did something happen in the village?"
Inoichi gathered his thoughts and gave her a concise summary: Tobi had ambushed Naruto. Naruto was now in a coma with a blissful expression on his face. The Nine-Tails was out of control, and Minato and the others were desperately trying to save him.
Damn it! Ino was speechless. She had hidden the Yin-Nine-Tails in the First Sphere Dimension, but the Yang-Nine-Tails, despite being under heavy protection, was the one that ended up in trouble.
Naruto's willpower is truly pathetic. He got trapped by a 'toy' Tsukuyomi that Obito cooked up? Has life been too easy for him since graduation?
Just from Inoichi's brief explanation, she understood the principle.
The "item" was just a genjutsu space utilizing the principles of Tsukuyomi. Ino herself could achieve a similar effect.
She had gone through hell and back to time-travel. If Obito could open a gateway to a parallel world with a simple toy, he could have crushed her with one finger.
The truth was, Obito wasn't that strong.
Itachi had his "Finite Tsukuyomi." The God Tree had the "Infinite Tsukuyomi." The one Obito designed could only be called a "Limited Tsukuyomi."
Ino suddenly saw Madara's entire plan. His target had always been the Nine-Tails.
No wonder the Ten-Tails' resistance had spiked. She had to admit, the Nine-Tails' chakra was just that massive. "He who has the Nine-Tails, has the world." This was all the Sage of Six Paths' fault for his "equal" division! One Nine-Tails was equal to the other eight Tailed Beasts combined, and he called that sharing?
"Can't you just wake him up? Have Iruka and the others shout in his ear, tell him to wake up! If that doesn't work, stab him a few times! Hurry, I really can't hold out much longer!" When it came to matters of willpower and intelligence, Ino had no good solutions. She hurriedly cut the sensory link.
At that same moment, Minato was also calling for Inoichi.
Inoichi immediately handed his "human communication hub" duties to Fu Yamanaka. With sensory-nin from Suna, Kiri, and Kumo joining Konoha's network, the data load was immense. Only the stubborn Iwa-nin remained independent. Even so, the Yamanaka clan was being pushed to its limits just to maintain communication.
Inoichi found Minato. As expected, Minato wanted him to use the Mind-Body Switch Technique to enter Naruto's inner world and wake him.
Minato truly did not want to resort to extracting the Tailed Beast unless it was the absolute last resort.
"I'm counting on you, Inoichi."
The Mind-Body Switch and the subsequent mind-reading were typically used on enemies. No one wanted their deepest secrets exposed. For a shinobi with many secrets, the Yamanaka's jutsu was intolerable.
But Minato was out of options.
Inoichi didn't hesitate. He immediately used his jutsu and entered Naruto's spiritual world.
From the perspective of an observer, he saw what Naruto was currently thinking and dreaming.
In this genjutsu space, Naruto had a happy, perfect family. Except, he wasn't "Naruto." He had become a young, female ninja named "Naruko Uzumaki."
She was young, beautiful, cheerful, and blessed with extraordinary talent. She could master any ninjutsu with a single look and any taijutsu with a single attempt. Combined with her powerful family background, this "Naruko" was the perfect child every parent dreamed of.
She was first in her class at the Academy, became a Chūnin six months after graduation, and a Jōnin two years after that. She actively participated in village administration. At her 17th birthday party, the other four Great Shinobi Villages all sent representatives with gifts. The celebration was massive. She even took Konohamaru as her apprentice.
Inoichi pursed his lips. This life... it looks a little familiar.
Naruto never said it, but he must be incredibly envious of my daughter. So envious, he was willing to give up his own gender for it...
In this dream world: Ino was mediocre, Sasuke was a total playboy, Tenten was dirt poor, and Sakura seemed to harbor feelings for "Naruko" that went beyond friendship. "Naruko," however, was stumped on how to respond to this, or to anything related to marriage. Such concepts were beyond the limits of "her" imagination.
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