"Kushina, are you ready?" Elric asked gently, his voice barely above a whisper as he addressed the girl sitting beside him on the wooden bench.
The red-haired girl had been staring blankly ahead, lost in her own thoughts about what was to come. At the sound of Elric's gentle voice cutting through her mental fog, she suddenly jolted back to reality. Her emerald eyes blinked rapidly as she shook her head, trying to dispel the anxious thoughts that had been swirling in her mind.
Slap! Slap!
She gave herself two firm slaps on both cheeks, the sharp sound echoing in the quiet corridor. The stinging sensation helped clear away the last remnants of her dazed state, bringing her focus back to the present moment.
"Yeah! I am born ready!" she declared with newfound determination, though her voice carried just the slightest tremor of nervousness.
A small chuckle escaped from Elric's mouth as he observed her dramatic method of self-motivation.
"You don't have to be so serious, you know," he said with a warm smile, trying to ease her tension. "It's not that dangerous. You just need to take a nap, and you'll be a jinchuriki before you know it."
Despite his reassuring words, Kushina's face remained somewhat gloomy, though her serious expression only served to make her look even more adorable in Elric's eyes. Unable to resist, he reached out and gently pinched her soft cheeks.
"Stop it!" she protested immediately, swatting his hand away with surprising speed. Her face flushed slightly with embarrassment and irritation. "I told you not to treat me like a child!"
"Then what do you want me to treat you as? My grandmother?" Elric replied with a mischievous grin, clearly enjoying her flustered reaction.
"You—! You—!" Kushina stammered, her face growing redder by the second. "Don't talk to me!"
While they continued their playful banter, the pair had been walking along a winding mountain path. Soon, they arrived in front of a large, imposing cave entrance carved into the rocky mountainside. The opening was massive, easily large enough for several people to walk through side by side, and ancient sealing symbols were etched into the stone around its perimeter.
Two guards who had been standing at attention in front of the cave quickly stepped forward upon noticing their approach. Both men wore the distinctive armor of Uzushiogakure and bowed respectfully.
"Young Patriarch," one of the guards announced formally, "everyone is already waiting inside."
"Alright then," Elric nodded, glancing at Kushina who had fallen silent again. "Let's go, Kushina. It seems we're running late."
The moment they crossed the threshold into the cave, Elric immediately felt an unusual sensation wash over him. His chakra felt heavy, as if it were being pressed down by an invisible weight. The suppression wasn't severe enough to affect him significantly given his considerable power, but he could tell that for a normal jonin-level ninja, the effect would be considerable—potentially reducing their chakra capacity by half or more.
He glanced at Kushina walking beside him and noticed that her face had gone slightly pale. Her breathing had become more labored, and she seemed to be struggling against the oppressive atmosphere of the cave.
This cave wasn't designed for humans at all. It was specifically created to contain and suppress creatures whose bodies are entirely made of chakra—like the Tailed Beasts.
The sealing chamber had been specially constructed by the Uzumaki clan's greatest fuinjutsu masters over many generations. Every stone, every carved symbol, every inch of the space was designed to contain and control massive amounts of chakra while preventing any possibility of escape.
As they walked deeper into the cave, Elric's mind wandered to recent events. It had already been almost three months since that incident.
All four of the major ninja villages had already redeemed their prisoners as agreed upon in their negotiations. Takigakure and Kumogakure had already delivered their payments in full, along with the Two-Tails and Five-Tails respectively, plus the substantial monetary compensation that had been demanded. The negotiation process had been lengthy, but ultimately successful for all parties involved.
The Water Country had also paid their required sum and retrieved their captured shinobi. However, their situation was more complicated—they still needed to capture the Three-Tails, which was currently roaming free in the wild. The process was taking considerable time, but Elric wasn't particularly worried about them defaulting on their agreement. They had too much to lose by breaking their word.
As for the poor Sand Village... well, Elric honestly didn't concern himself too much with their situation. They were, as he often thought of them, "poor ghosts" with little to offer beyond their desperate circumstances.
"Elric! Kushina! Why are you so late?" came a broken, hoarse voice from deeper within the chamber. "I've been waiting here for an entire hour, you know. My old bones can't stand around for too long anymore."
"Sorry, Gramps," Elric replied with an apologetic smile. "You know how Kushina can be—she was making some trouble."
"Who was making trouble?!" Kushina retorted indignantly, her earlier nervousness temporarily forgotten in favor of defending her reputation.
"Haha," the hoarse voice replied with what might have been amusement, though it was hard to tell given its gravelly quality. "I was also very energetic thirty, forty years ago. I could run around all day non-stop without getting tired."
Upon hearing this, Elric, Kushina, and everyone else standing around couldn't help but complain silently in their hearts: You old ghost! You were already more than 100 years old forty years ago!
The speaker was none other than Itsuki Uzumaki, the grandfather of Mito Uzumaki—and yes, that was indeed her actual grandfather, making him also the oldest living member of their entire clan.
This year marked his 149th birthday, which was remarkable even by Uzumaki standards. Members of the Uzumaki clan were known for their exceptional longevity if they managed to avoid dying in combat, but Itsuki was extraordinary even among his long-lived relatives.
His appearance told the story of his incredible age: his face was deeply lined with wrinkles earned over nearly a century and a half of life. He stood hunched over, supporting himself with a gnarled wooden crutch, his back bent at almost a ninety-degree angle. Yet despite his frail appearance, his skin maintained a healthy pale complexion, and several vibrant red strands could still be seen among his otherwise completely white hair—clear indicators that he still had many years left in his ancient body.
With his advanced age had come an unparalleled mastery of sealing techniques. Itsuki was widely regarded as the most proficient fuinjutsu master in the entire Uzumaki clan, possibly in the entire world. His knowledge of sealing arts was encyclopedic, accumulated over more than a century of study and practice.
He had been specially summoned here today for one specific purpose: to perform the sealing ritual that would bind the Five-Tails into Kushina's body and make her a jinchuriki.
Itsuki's ancient eyes turned toward the corner of the chamber where a massive figure lay in peaceful slumber. "Son Goku, wake up!" he called out in a voice loud enough to rouse the sleeping monkey from his rest.
The Four-Tailed Beast—no, the Five-Tails, Son Goku—slowly opened his enormous eyes. Each eye was larger than a human head, glowing with an inner fire that spoke of immense power barely contained.
"Is it already time?" Son Goku asked in a deep, rumbling voice that seemed to emanate from the very stones around them. "It's so boring being stuck in here all the time."
"Yes, you can go outside through Kushina now," Elric replied, then looked back at Kushina, who had instinctively hidden behind him upon seeing the massive Tailed Beast. "Kushina, meet your new partner and friend. I hope you two will get along well."
"Nice to meet you, little girl," Son Goku said, his voice surprisingly gentle despite its overwhelming power. "My name is Son Goku."
Kushina had started to step out from behind Elric timidly, but the moment she heard the words "little girl," all of her nervousness seemed to vanish instantly, replaced by righteous indignation.
"Don't call me 'little girl'!" she shouted loudly, her voice echoing off the chamber walls. "My name is Kushina Uzumaki!"
"Haha, okay then, Kushina," Son Goku replied with what might have been amusement. "We'll be friends from now on."
If any shinobi from Iwagakure had witnessed this scene, they might have dropped their jaws in shock. The mighty Tailed Beast—the very synonym of disaster and destruction—was now talking with a young girl like a loving uncle. It would have made them question whether the world had gone crazy, or if they themselves had lost their minds.
One of the most miserable groups in the entire Naruto world, Elric often reflected, were undoubtedly the nine Tailed Beasts. These ancient creatures had once lived peacefully, minding their own business and disturbing no one. Then suddenly, groups of humans had appeared and decided to use them as living weapons, trapping them in dark prisons where they couldn't see or hear anything, treating them as nothing more than chakra batteries.
Anyone subjected to such treatment would naturally go insane with rage and resentment.
To Elric, their violent outbursts and hatred toward humanity were entirely justified and understandable. He naturally didn't want to subject them to the same cruel treatment that had driven them to such desperate measures, but he also needed their power for his plans. After much consideration, he had decided to try a different approach—negotiation rather than force.
The key to his success had been mixing carefully chosen truths with small, strategic lies. He had told them about how they were created, what their original mission had been, and how that purpose had been passed down to them from the Sage of Six Paths himself. When he had correctly named all nine Tailed Beasts and demonstrated knowledge of their true origins, they had suddenly become much more willing to listen and cooperate.
"Let's begin," Itsuki spoke in his broken, ancient voice, moving slowly but purposefully toward the center of the chamber.
"Are you ready, Son Goku?" the old master asked.
"Yes," the Tailed Beast replied solemnly.
"And you, Kushina?"
"Yes," she answered, though her voice carried a slight tremor of nervousness.
"Then let us start," Itsuki said, positioning himself in front of Kushina.
The ancient sealing master raised his hands and began performing an intricate series of hand seals. His movements were slow but precise, each gesture flowing into the next with the practiced ease of someone who had performed similar rituals countless times over his long life. As he worked, complex sealing formulas began to appear on Kushina's belly, glowing with a soft blue light as they took shape.
Within minutes, the seal had formed into an incredibly complex pattern—circles within circles, interconnected lines and symbols that hurt to look at directly, all working together to create a prison and a bond that could contain and channel the power of a Tailed Beast.
"Son Goku, begin entering your chakra into her," Itsuki instructed.
The massive beast nodded and began the process. At first, only a small stream of his chakra flowed toward Kushina, but soon it became faster and more intense. The air in the chamber grew thick with power as the Five-Tails' immense chakra was gradually drawn into the seal on the girl's belly.
Within minutes, the entire form of Son Goku had disappeared, his massive body dissolving into pure chakra that was absorbed completely into Kushina's small frame.
The moment the process was complete, Kushina's eyes rolled back and she collapsed, unconscious from the overwhelming experience. Elric moved quickly, catching her limp form before she could hit the stone floor.
"Is it finished?" he asked the old master, concern evident in his voice.
"Yes," Itsuki replied with satisfaction, though his voice sounded even more tired than before. "Let her rest for a while so she can adapt her chakra to Son Goku's. She should wake up in five or six hours."
"Alright then," Elric nodded gratefully. "I won't bother you anymore, old man. Get some good rest—you'll have to perform this ritual again sometime soon."
"How can a young guy like you have to rely on these old bones?" Itsuki muttered as he began shuffling toward the cave exit, leaning heavily on his crutch. "I'll work myself to death sooner or later."
He continued muttering complaints under his breath as he left the chamber, though there was no real anger in his words—just the habitual grumbling of someone who had lived far too long and seen far too much.
Elric carefully lifted Kushina's unconscious form and carried her out of the cave. The ritual had been a complete success, but now came the real test—how well she would adapt to sharing her body with one of the most powerful creatures in existence.
After bringing her back to her house and ensuring she was comfortable, Elric finally allowed himself a moment to reflect on what they had accomplished. Kushina Uzumaki was now a jinchuriki, bonded with the Five-Tails Son Goku.