Chapter 171: It's Time for Tsunade and Jiraiya to Come Back!
Night. Deep as ink.
The lights in Konoha Village had long since gone out, leaving only the cold moonlight spilling across the ground.
Inside Naruto's small apartment, all was quiet. He was curled up under his blanket, breathing evenly, seemingly lost in a sweet dream.
However, deep within his subconscious, a place no one noticed, dark currents were churning.
[…It hurts to be abandoned, doesn't it?]
[Minato abandoned you once for Kushina; he can abandon you a second time.]
[You don't weigh enough in their hearts…]
[They will leave you soon… just like before…]
Malice quietly eroded the boy's clear heart. The Yang Nine-Tails chakra sealed within him was stirring uneasily, whispering temptations to Naruto, amplifying the insecurity and loneliness that had accumulated deep in his heart for so long.
Beside Naruto, the gentle expressions of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki suddenly hardened. They keenly sensed the abnormal fluctuation of chakra within Naruto.
"The Nine-Tails…" Minato whispered, a serious look flashing in his eyes. He gently placed his hand on Naruto's sweat-drenched forehead, slowly infusing his chakra.
At the same time, the other half of the Nine-Tails sealed within him—the Yin Nine-Tails chakra—also quietly flowed towards Naruto's mental world.
Kushina gripped Naruto's small hand tightly, her face beneath her red hair filled with concern and anger. Without hesitation, she followed Minato, sinking her consciousness into Naruto's mindscape.
Naruto's Mindscape.
It was dim and oppressive here. A massive cage, covered in rust, radiated an aura of ominous resentment. Inside the cage, the colossal Yang Nine-Tails roared madly at a small figure. Its crimson beast eyes were full of violence, hatred, and a trace of… imperceptible loneliness.
Naruto stood alone on the cold floor, his small body trembling slightly under the Nine-Tails' roar. He looked so helpless, as if he would be swallowed by this boundless malice in the next second.
Just then, a golden figure suddenly appeared in front of little Naruto. It was Minato Namikaze.
"That's enough." Minato's voice was calm but carried an undeniable power, blocking the Yang Nine-Tails' ferocity.
Almost at the same moment—"Minato! Naruto!" Kushina's figure appeared beside Minato, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Her long red hair floated gently in the mindscape, dispelling the chill.
"Dad… Mom…"
Little Naruto, who had been cowering in fear, stiffened the moment he saw Minato and Kushina. He blinked in disbelief, tears blurring his vision.
Is this a dream? Or an illusion created by the Nine-Tails? He reached out a small hand, wanting to touch them, but then timidly pulled it back.
Seeing Minato and Kushina, the Yang Nine-Tails' scarlet pupils contracted sharply, its berserk rage threatening to burn down the entire mindscape. "You again! Minato Namikaze! Kushina Uzumaki! You two—"
It recognized these two, of course! They were the ones who had split it in half and imprisoned it in this sunless place!
Before the Yang Nine-Tails could finish roaring, another distinct yet equally powerful Nine-Tails chakra clearly manifested from behind Minato.
"Yo! My other half, how have you been?" A voice laced with mockery and leisure rang out. The Yin Nine-Tails waved its nine massive tails, leisurely observing the flustered Yang Nine-Tails in the cage. "Oh, look at you. You don't seem to be doing too well."
The Yang Nine-Tails roared, "Bastard! How could you—" It could clearly sense that this was its other half. But that aura… it blended perfectly with Minato, lacking the pure violence and desire for destruction, replaced by a… calmness and peace it couldn't understand?
"Mocking myself feels… subtle," the Yin Nine-Tails mused.
"How could you be released? And with this man—"
The Yin Nine-Tails chuckled. "Well~ This guy," it glanced at Minato beside it, "and I have reached a sort of reconciliation. Want to try it too?"
Little Naruto stared blankly at the scene before him.
I'm… not alone anymore.
My mom and dad are right here beside me. Facing this with me!
"Don't you dare bully my little Naruto! You stinking fox! You want to taste the chains again, don't you!!" Kushina put her hands on her hips, glaring at the Yang Nine-Tails, her motherly love exploding.
Minato spoke gently, "Nine-Tails, we aren't enemies. At least, not me and your other half."
Looking at the still-furious Yang Nine-Tails in the cage, its deafening roar no longer seemed so terrifying to Naruto. Instead… beneath that endless anger, Naruto seemed to catch a glimpse of… a loneliness similar to his own past?
It's been locked up here all this time… it must be suffering too, right? Just like me, treated as a monster by the village, rejected, isolated… and trapped in this cage called a Jinchuriki… that feeling…
Naruto took a deep breath, his chest filling with a strange courage. Part of it came from the security his parents provided. The other part came from an impulse he couldn't quite explain himself.
He looked up, staring directly into the giant, burning beast eyes in the cage. His childish voice rang out with unusual clarity in this mental space.
"Someday—I'm going to erase that hatred in your heart!"
"Not as a Jinchuriki, but as my… friend!"
"I'm going to… free you from this endless cage!"
The boy's declaration, clear and pure, echoed in the sea of the mind.
The Yang Nine-Tails' roar seemed to pause for a moment.
And Naruto's consciousness began to fade. He fell into a deep sleep, a satisfied smile on his lips.
…
Morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on Naruto's peaceful sleeping face. Minato had stayed up all night, guarding him. He looked at the imperceptible anomaly on Naruto's chest, frowned slightly, but then relaxed. Some things couldn't be rushed.
He stood up gently and tucked Naruto in.
Outside, Kakashi was already waiting.
"Sensei." Kakashi's voice held its usual laziness, but his eyes were exceptionally solemn.
Minato nodded, his expression serious. "Kakashi, there's something I need you to do."
"Find Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya."
"Tell them I've returned."
"I need their help! Konoha needs their help!"
"I hope they will come back to save this rotting Konoha. I need their strength to change everything here together!!!"
"And, judging from the Nine-Tails incident… the inheritor of Madara Uchiha's will, or perhaps Madara himself—"
"Might truly exist in some form, maybe even resurrected."
"This world needs their protection too."
"I understand."
"Also," Minato added, "starting today, the training of Team 7 will be handled jointly by you and me."
Kakashi paused slightly, then relaxed. "Yes, Sensei."