Tsunade immediately suspected this was Jiraiya's doing.
In terms of seniority in Konoha, Jiraiya certainly had the qualifications, didn't he? It must've been that idiot—unwilling to take the title of Hokage himself—who decided to dump the responsibility on her.
Even so, Tsunade's brows furrowed as she read on. Jiraiya's letter mentioned her great-uncle—Senju Tobirama.
According to the rumors, the Second Hokage was currently in a state of Edo Tensei—the Reanimation Jutsu.
Tsunade knew a little about the technique, though not in depth. In the entire history of Konoha, only Orochimaru had ever truly mastered the Impure World Reincarnation.
She picked up the letter she'd earlier tossed aside. The paper was slightly yellowed, the ink faint in places. Her eyes lingered on the last line—an address.
Tsunade leaned back, staring up at the wooden ceiling marked with age spots. The bright glow of the incandescent lamp above made her vision blur for a moment. Then, she exhaled softly and made a decision.
She would go meet Jiraiya.
Tsunade burned the letter, sealed away her medical equipment, and turned off the light. Then, with measured steps, she left the room.
Meanwhile, in an open training ground belonging to the Umbrella Organization, Shisui Uchiha stood at a distance, quietly watching a familiar figure.
Nearby were Sasuke, Lee, and several other fellow shinobi. Sasuke had recently begun to interact with the higher ranks of Umbrella, gradually understanding the hidden structure behind it.
When Shisui had appeared before him, Sasuke's eyes had trembled with emotion.
So, he wasn't the only Uchiha left after all.
The realization lifted a burden that had long weighed down his heart. For years, he had believed he bore the clan's revival alone. Now, knowing there were survivors, that pressure finally began to ease.
Sasuke later learned that during the Uchiha massacre, Naruto had managed to save a number of people—and even preserved the remains of their fallen clansmen, including his parents—through a special sealing method.
For this, Sasuke was deeply grateful. He didn't resent Naruto for not saving his parents—after all, Naruto had been so young at the time. Saving anyone at all under those circumstances was a miracle.
What's more, Naruto had told him there might be a way to revive his parents one day.
In this world, the boundary between life and death wasn't as absolute as people thought. If Orochimaru could summon the dead through Edo Tensei, then perhaps the cycle of reincarnation wasn't so immutable after all.
Now, in that same clearing, Naruto stood in silent concentration. He was ready.
He would release Kurama.
He had already left Konoha—there was no longer any need to hide. And with his current power, Naruto no longer depended entirely on the Nine-Tails' chakra to stand at the top of the shinobi world.
"Naruto, are you sure about this?"
Inside the seal's inner world, Kurama's deep voice carried a note of concern.
"Kurama, I made you a promise." Naruto smiled.
"It's not complete freedom yet, but I can at least release you from this seal's prison."
Normally, when a Tailed Beast was separated from its jinchūriki, the host died. But what Naruto was doing now wasn't separating Kurama—it was unbinding him from the seal's restraints.
Only by doing so could he fully synchronize with the Nine-Tails' power.
Besides, Kurama had learned to absorb natural energy on his own. In the language of a cultivation world, Kurama was practically a living Spirit-Gathering Array.
Within Naruto's mind, the spectral form of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, watched anxiously. His soul now resided inside Naruto, safe from being drawn back into the Pure Land.
"Don't worry, Dad," Naruto said confidently, patting his chest.
"With my current mastery of sealing techniques, I can do this without causing any harm."
Having merged his memories and consciousness with his other self, Naruto now felt a genuine closeness toward Minato—one that came naturally from blood and bond. Though calling him Dad had felt strange at first, it now carried warmth and pride.
Minato, however, was still trying to piece together how he'd ended up here. One moment, he had been locked in battle with the Shinigami, sealed within its stomach—and the next, he found himself freed, his consciousness residing within Naruto.
Naruto, through Minato, had also come to understand more about the Shinigami.
And given that neither of them had been consumed by its soul for all this time, perhaps the so-called "God of Death" wasn't as omnipotent as legend claimed. Maybe… there wasn't just one.
But such questions would have to wait.
Right now, Naruto was ready.
"Kurama, are you ready?"
"Ready."
Inside the vast mental landscape, Naruto extended his hand toward the massive paper seal that had long imprisoned the Nine-Tails.
Just as his fingers touched the talisman, a hand suddenly gripped his wrist.
It was the lingering consciousness Minato had left within the seal years ago.
"Naruto!"
Naruto wasn't the least bit surprised when the consciousness of Minato Namikaze appeared before him. In fact, he had already anticipated this.
Minato's presence was nothing more than a mass of residual chakra—a fragment of the Fourth Hokage's will.
Such a consciousness couldn't possibly know everything that had happened to Naruto over the years. After all, only those deeply attuned to chakra understood that while it could store memories, it wasn't a true soul. It couldn't perceive the outside world indefinitely. If it tried to, the chakra would eventually deplete, and the consciousness itself would fade away.
That was why, until this moment, Minato's chakra consciousness had remained dormant—awakening only when the seal was disturbed.
At first, Minato didn't understand what was happening. To him, it looked as though Kurama was trying to tempt Naruto into breaking the seal.
"Naruto, wait! You don't need to worry—everything's under control!"
The voice came from another side. A soul-like form of Minato—his true spirit, not just chakra—had appeared as well. For a brief moment, seeing two versions of Minato in the same space felt oddly surreal.
"Didn't I use the Reaper Death Seal back then...?" the chakra consciousness murmured, confusion still on his face.
But realization dawned soon after. "Well, if even I'm saying it's fine… then I guess I'll trust myself."
With a faint smile, the chakra clone of Minato dissolved into a beam of light, merging seamlessly into the soul form of the real Minato Namikaze.
For a moment, Minato stood silent, taking it all in. Then he turned to Naruto with a warm smile.
"Your mother left behind her chakra too." His voice softened. "You'll get to meet her soon. I'm sure she'll be amazed to see how much you've grown."
It was clear Minato had planned for this long ago. Back when he sealed Kurama inside Naruto, he had considered every possible scenario—even the ones that might never come to pass. He and Kushina Uzumaki had both embedded fragments of their chakra within the seal, each serving as a final safeguard.
Minato's chakra was the first to appear. If Kurama ever tried to break free, Kushina's chakra would automatically trigger next—to reseal him.
Inside the mindscape, Naruto's spiritual form began its work while his physical body outside mirrored the actions. Hands forming seals in practiced rhythm, he began the process of releasing Kurama's restraints.
In the original history, the key to the seal had been left with Gerotora, the scroll toad of Mount Myōboku. But Naruto's understanding of the Fūinjutsu—Sealing Techniques—had long surpassed that need.
With a few swift hand signs, the intricate seal around Kurama began to unravel. The pressure that had bound the Nine-Tails for so long started to fade away.
Kurama's massive form stirred as the space around him rippled. A surge of long-suppressed freedom rushed through him—
—only for it to be immediately crushed as several enormous, golden chakra chains erupted from the ground, piercing through his body and pinning him firmly against the wall of the seal space.
Kurama froze.
"…"
From behind the glowing chains, a woman with long, fiery red hair stepped forward, arms crossed and eyes blazing with triumph.
"Trying to trick my son again, are you? Not this time!" she declared.
Kushina Uzumaki smirked proudly at the immobilized Tailed Beast, then turned—and caught sight of someone watching her from the side.
Naruto blinked, muttering under his breath, "Yeah… that hot-headed attitude definitely confirms it. She's my mom, alright."
He couldn't help but laugh a little. The Naruto from his original timeline clearly inherited more than just her chakra—he got her temper too.
...
TN:
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