Minato Namikaze's residence.
"Whoa, you've got a ton of sealing barriers in here."
"What's wrong? Don't trust yourself? Or don't trust Kushina?"
It was rare for Kazuyama Gekkō to visit Minato's place, and this time, he'd been personally invited.
Pakura and the kid still hadn't returned—half the village was gone. No reason to bring them back just to lend a hand. Better to let them relax and enjoy life in Takigakure.
"You little punk, your mouth—if only you'd just shut up, the world would be a better place."
"I've kept Kushina's identity under wraps for years. Not many people knew. But after this incident, now the whole village knows."
"If we don't put on some kind of show, people won't feel safe."
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out his pipe to take a puff, Kushina's hair floated up, and her piercing gaze locked onto him.
Feeling the intense killing intent, he gave a light cough and quickly tucked the pipe away.
"Hahaha, busted! Smoking in front of a child, seriously?"
"If I were Minato, I'd have thrown you out already."
Kazuyama couldn't help but laugh at the old man's sheepish reaction.
The two locked eyes, neither willing to back down.
"Kazuyama, that's the situation. Still, I have to thank you. If you hadn't held back the enemies on the other side..."
"Who knows how bad things could've gotten."
Kazuyama Gekkō grinned at Minato's words of gratitude.
With exaggerated flair, he said, "Really? You're thanking me? Words don't pay bills, you know. I'm greedy—how about you reward me with a few hundred million ryo?"
"Pfft!"
Minato, in the middle of sipping tea, spat it all over Hiruzen's face. Even a few tea leaves stuck to him.
The old man's expression turned pitch black.
"You brat, don't think I don't know. You've been dragging Yamato around to build houses for people—charging 50,000 ryo a pop, huh?"
"Hmph! If I were still Hokage, I'd make you cough up every coin!"
"And you're seriously charging villagers right now?!"
Kazuyama didn't seem bothered.
Hey, both parties agreed, didn't they?
It's not his fault he happened to have a Wood Release user around. And without his chakra recovery pills, could Yamato have built that many houses?
Thinking about it, yeah, he was kind of a scumbag.
Yamato did all the work, Orochimaru supplied the drugs, and Kazuyama just laid back and raked in the cash. Damn, this money came easy.
"Well, so what if I'm exposed as a Jinchūriki?"
"I've been living in this village for years—if people know, they know."
"Anyway, I've got a kid now. Let them talk."
Kushina sat cradling her son, Naruto Uzumaki, her face glowing with affection. At this moment, it didn't matter if she was a Jinchūriki or a shinobi—she was, above all else, a mother.
Minato smiled as well, walking over to join his wife and child.
Kazuyama clicked his tongue, impressed.
"The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero from back in the day—so calm now. That's rare. Too rare."
"No need to overthink the Nine-Tails either. It's been sealed for years without any incidents."
"But, Kushina, I've got a thought. Don't know if I should say it."
Kazuyama sat upright, took a sip of tea, then slowly spoke as all three turned to him.
"From what I saw during the attack—did you manage to communicate with the Nine-Tails?"
"You've never tapped into its chakra all these years. Oh, wait—there was that one time. Minato and I helped suppress it."
"Back then, your condition clearly showed you were using its chakra."
That battle had made it obvious. At first, Kushina was fully conscious. If she'd lost control, she wouldn't have withdrawn her chakra out of fear of hurting Naruto when Uchiha Madara hurled the baby at her.
And that hesitation had opened the door to Genjutsu.
"Yes. When faced with those Sharingan, the Nine-Tails temporarily agreed to cooperate."
"I partially loosened the seal and borrowed some of its chakra."
The Uzumaki Clan's Fūinjutsu was famously powerful, especially the Adamantine Sealing Chains. With Kushina's strength, unless she chose to release the seal, the Nine-Tails had no way to escape or use its power.
"If you can borrow its power, maybe you can try to connect with it further."
"Look at Killer Bee from Kumogakure—he's in sync with the Eight-Tails. Rōshi and Han from Iwagakure too—they can use their Tailed Beast's power."
"The Nine-Tails is terrifying, sure. But those Sharingan? Also bad news."
"There's a saying—'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Kushina, why not give it a shot?"
Kazuyama stroked his chin as he analyzed the situation.
All three fell silent.
Kushina's thoughts were racing. Against such a powerful enemy, even she and the Nine-Tails had fallen under his control.
That sensation of being manipulated by Genjutsu—it was unbearable.
"But it's too risky. We're talking about the Nine-Tails."
"Kazuyama, you've fought it too. That power... if you lose control..."
Minato looked at his wife, clearly uneasy. He didn't want her to have any deeper contact with the Nine-Tails.
To him, the Nine-Tails had always represented destruction.
"Hey, stop worrying so much."
"You're practically part Uzumaki yourself—you know how insane their sealing jutsu is."
"Other than that one time, has Kushina ever failed to suppress the Nine-Tails?"
"Oh—wait, giving birth to Naruto counts as a second time."
"Relax. I've had more run-ins with Tailed Beasts than you. The One-Tail, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Eight-Tails... honestly, they're not as irrational as they're made out to be."
"Just take a deep breath. Open your heart. Like Lady Mito once said—reform them with love!"
By the time he got to the last line, Kazuyama couldn't hold it in anymore.
It wasn't that he lacked composure—he just felt so awkward saying that kind of thing.
Coming from him—someone with a pretty shady reputation—"reform them with love" sounded downright ridiculous.
Not to mention Chōmei, sealed inside him, was laughing his tail off.
"Kazuyama, what is wrong with you?!"
"Are you seriously trying to change that stinking fox with love?! Hahahaha!"
Chōmei's laughter echoed through his mind. Just as Kazuyama was about to snap back, a notification startled him.
[Ding! Detected that host's speech about using love to reform was fully overheard by the Nine-Tails, who is now cursing up a storm.]
[In the spirit of full transparency, the system will now convey the Nine-Tails' reaction. His exact words were approximately: …]