"Hmph! Kushina, I came out with good intentions to try and talk some sense into you."
"Don't push your luck!"
The Nine-Tails was bitter inside. Last time that evil Uchiha ambushed him, if he hadn't reacted quickly, he might have actually fallen for the trap. Just thinking about being controlled by that wicked Sharingan made him furious. As the most powerful of the nine tailed beasts, he wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. Too embarrassing for a fox.
"Hmph, you call that advice?"
"My Naruto is gifted. So what if he doesn't have red hair? Blond looks better!"
"Don't forget, his father is the Fourth Hokage!"
Kushina's temper had softened a bit recently, but at her core she was still the same fiery red pepper—set her off, and she exploded. The damn Nine-Tails had to start by mocking her son's hair? Did he really think she couldn't cut him down anymore?
"Hmph. Just a little yellow-haired brat."
"I sought this conversation for your own good."
"You saw the enemy last time. Neither that evil Uchiha nor the Rinnegan are foes you can handle."
"And this lord here has no desire to suffer poison again."
Kushina thought back to the enemies they had faced. The Nine-Tails wasn't wrong—the enemy's power had been overwhelming, strong enough that even he might not have been able to win. Even when the two strongest fighters in the village struck together, the enemy had escaped unharmed.
When Kushina fell silent, the Nine-Tails spoke again, its voice carrying a dark, persuasive weight.
"So, Kushina, for your future, your son's future, your blond-haired husband's future..."
"I think we should work together."
"Your strength alone isn't enough, but if you add mine to it—then even against the Sharingan or the Rinnegan, we'd still have a chance."
"What do you say? Will you give me a chance—and yourself one too?"
The Nine-Tails' words stirred something inside her. She wasn't who she used to be. Now, she had people she wanted to protect. Power—she needed it! Even with Minato and her comrades in the village, she still felt it wasn't enough.
Just then, Minato Namikaze returned home.
"Hey, Kushina! You've burned the pot dry!"
"What's with all this smoke?!"
"Kushina! Oh no—Naruto!"
The moment he stepped inside, he saw the house filled with smoke. Thankfully Naruto was far enough away, or else he'd have been choking.
"Oh no! My fish!"
Kushina snapped back to reality. Seeing the fish she'd worked so hard to cook reduced to charcoal, her temper flared instantly.
Before the Nine-Tails could react, dozens of chains sprang into existence around him.
"Damn it, Kushina! You burned the food yourself—why are you blaming me?"
The Nine-Tails was beside himself. He hadn't done a thing, yet the chains multiplied, wrapping him tighter and tighter. For a moment, he wanted to explode, to unleash his rage and show Kushina exactly who he was.
"Hmph! Why wouldn't I blame you?"
"If you hadn't been distracting me with all that nonsense, would I have burned it?"
"These chains are your punishment!"
The Adamantine Sealing Chains bound the Nine-Tails like a rice dumpling. Kushina ignored him after that. With the kitchen ruined and lunch gone, she and Minato Namikaze decided they'd have to crash a meal at Kazuyama Gekkō's house.
Why his house? Because they were close.
...
"So, Kushina, you really burned down the kitchen?"
"Ahahaha, that's rich! When it comes to cooking, you're unbeatable, Kushina."
At the table, Kazuyama Gekkō laughed until he was out of breath. Burning down a kitchen—that was something he'd never experienced.
Kushina shot him a deadly glare, but for some reason, the Nine-Tails' earlier words came back to her mind, and her mood grew heavy.
"What's wrong, Kushina? Feeling unwell?"
Pakura smacked Kazuyama Gekkō in punishment. The ninjutsu she used on him dealt particularly sharp pain when directed at her own man, making him suck in a sharp breath.
"Nothing... just thinking about something."
Minato Namikaze also noticed her unease and quickly took her hand, offering comfort with his touch.
Kazuyama Gekkō's eyes flashed with sharp light. Suddenly, he felt he understood what was troubling Kushina.
Jinchūriki understood Jinchūriki best.
"Chōmei, what do you think that Nine-Tails bastard said to Kushina?"
"How should I know? That stinking fox has the foulest temper. But Kushina's an Uzumaki—her sealing techniques probably make him choke down ten pots of bitterness every day."
Kazuyama Gekkō took a swig of sake. He didn't think the matter was so simple.
He thought back to the night of the Nine-Tails' attack. Kushina had suddenly gone into Tailed Beast Transformation. All these years, she'd only ever suppressed the Nine-Tails—she had never once trained in controlling Tailed Beast power. For her to suddenly manifest a partial transformation was far too difficult.
Yet that night, she had directly used the Nine-Tails' chakra. He couldn't believe the beast hadn't had a hand in it.
He glanced at Minato, who returned his gaze. The two shared a knowing look and nodded together.
After lunch, Minato Namikaze and Kazuyama Gekkō stood at the same time.
"Pakura, stay here with the kids. We have business to handle."
Kazuyama Gekkō placed his hand on Minato and Kushina's shoulders. In the next instant, all three vanished.
Pakura frowned at the sight. With her experience, she knew something serious must have happened. Normally, neither Kazuyama Gekkō nor Minato Namikaze would take Kushina along when dealing with such matters.
...
Sensing something unusual, Kazuyama Gekkō used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take the three of them outside the village, arriving at a plain nearby.
Standing on a slope, he turned to Kushina and asked bluntly:
"Kushina, tell me. Did the Nine-Tails say something to you?"
"Otherwise, why would you be like this?"
Minato Namikaze stayed quiet, but his eyes were filled with worry. That alone made it clear he'd noticed something too.
Kushina let out a soft sigh.
"Minato, Gekkō, you both know my situation. That night, I communicated with the Nine-Tails."
"That's why things happened the way they did..."
Minato Namikaze nodded. He had known all along, though to outsiders he had claimed Kushina had simply lost control.
But he knew the truth. Even on the day of childbirth, when the seal weakened, Kushina had been carrying the medicine Kazuyama Gekkō had given her. That medicine could repair the body. With it, suppressing the Nine-Tails should have been the easiest thing in the world for her.