"The paths in question were based on the six Buddhist paths of reincarnation. These are the paths a reborn soul can taken after they die, based on the accumulated karma of their past life. They are called Deva, Preta, Human, Animal, Naraka, and Asura. Preta and Naraka are considered the hellish paths while Deva and Asura and considered the more heavenly. Human and Animal are the more neutral ones."
"Sounds like this guy wasn't called a Sage for no reason." Naruto said.
Kushina nodded. "True, however that's not the complete reason." Everyone turned back to her. "The story says the Sage traveled extensively. Did it ever say exactly where he went?"
Tsunade thought it over, but drew a blank. "You mean to say he actually went to other realms?" Kushina nodded. "How?"
"Probably the same way I did; by use of Yggdrasil. It's a handy way to get from one world to another despite how hard it is to use. Anyway, what you don't know is that the six paths the Sage referred to were not only Buddhist paths, but the realms too. The Deva Path was Asgard, the Asura Path was Alfheim, the Human Path was Midgard, the Animal Path was Makai, the Naraka Path was Niflheim, and the Preta Path was Yggdrasil."
The others looked surprised but said nothing, allowing Kushina to continue informing them. "The Sage is but one of the few travelers to see all the realms and it is thanks to those like him denizens of the other worlds have knowledge of this as well. Of course, most of them like people here just think this is all made up, but it's not. I myself have only been to two, and that's still more than most people can go without dying first."
"What are these worlds like?" Moegi asked.
Kushina smiled. "I'll start from the top." She pointed to the top square in her dirt diagram. "This is Asgard, AKA Heaven, Olympus, Paradise, Deva Realm, and World of Will. This is where the kami live and all the souls they bless live with them there. From what I understand, there are four areas in Asgard. There's Vanir, where the earth gods live. Aesir, where the sky gods live. Valhalla, where blessed mortal warriors live after death. And Elysium, where blessed mortal civilians live after death. Valhalla and Elysium are what we consider Heaven. Generally speaking, a living mortal like us can only get to Asgard by either invitation or being related to a god, so I'm not exactly sure how the Sage got there."
She now pointed to the second square. "This is Alfheim, AKA Higher Earth, Asura Realm, Fantasia, and World of Mana. While this world is dominated by the humans, Alfheim is dominated by elves. There are multiple sentient creatures there too, collectively regarded as Asurians. You might still call them demons, but these are more of the 'good natured' demons you hear about. If you ever want me to take you there, you'll find it quite similar to this world. The division of the regions are even similar to this world."
"This next one if Midgard, the world you're already familiar with, so I'll skip that and move on to the next one." Kushina then pointed to the fourth square in her diagram. "This is Makai, AKA Lower Earth, Jotenheim, Muspellheim, Animal Realm, and World of Youki. This is the world where the Ayakashi, the 'bad natured' demons would live, though they aren't by nature evil. They just live more primitively than we do and tend to get in fights whenever they encounter someone from another world. Some of them are sentient and have their own cultures, but they're more along the lines of barbarians than what you'd consider truly civilized. All in all, it's mostly an untamed and mostly unmapped world. The dominant race, if I recall correctly, are giants and onis."
"Now the final world here," Kushina said pointing to the bottom square, "is Nilfheim, AKA the Underworld, Hades, Naraka Realm, and World of Reishi. This is where all dead souls originally go if not blessed by an Asgardian first. Most are brought there by Shinigami and then judged to determine where exactly they go. This realm from what I hear is divided into three areas. The first is Seireitei, where ordinary souls go if they can accept death and wait for the chance to be reincarnated. That's also where the Shinigami live. The second is Hueco Mundo, where nasty spirits go when they die and spend their time doing who knows what. The third is Hell, where Shinigami place the worst souls to be punished and tormented."
"The final Path so to speak is Yggdrasil, the Preta Realm, which is and isn't a realm at the same time. It's sort of the glue that holds all the other worlds together. One can enter it, but they cannot stay there for long. Doing so is deadly, for there are ghost-like natives who are quite territorial and vicious, which makes traversing Yggdrasil risky. Every time you enter Yggdrasil, there's a chance you will not exit alive."
"So this... Elfhem is where you've been?" Ayame asked.
"Alfheim, and yes. But please believe me, it wasn't something I wanted." Kushina answered, sounding saddened. "The day Naruto was born, the same day that Kyuubi attacked Konoha, a few Asurians found me and dragged me to Alfheim against my will. I was already weakened from giving birth and fighting against the Kyuubi, so I couldn't put up much of a fight."
"Why would they take you away?" Naruto asked.
"...Because I was born in Alfheim, but raised in Midgard." Kushina admitted, as if fearful of the response.
"Born in Alfheim? What exactly are you?" Hinata asked.
Kushina closed her eyes. From behind her, a tail grew along with a set of bat-like wings. She then opened her eyes. "I am called a succubus."
"Succubus? "Tsunade asked. "The demon that seduces men to have sex with them then kills them?"
"Not exactly. There probably have been unscrupulous ones that have acted like praying mantis's like that, but for the most part we aren't sexual predators." Kushina countered calmly. "The thing about my kind is our power gets out of control often, and only orgasms stabilize it."
"What are orgasms?" Moegi innocently asked.
"Is that part of a girl's time of month?" Naruto asked just as innocently.
Wide-eyed, Kushina shook her head. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain an orgasm to someone, let alone my own son, so I'll let Tsunade handle that." She then smiled deviously at Hinata. "Unless his girlfriend would like to do that?"
Hinata's blush invented a new shade of red before she fainted.
"And since you're a succubus, that makes Naruto an incubus?" Tsunade asked.
"Well, sort of. Naruto could have just as easily been a human like his father. It's mere chance that he took more after me in that extent."
"Who was my father Mom?" Naruto asked.
Kushina was confused. "You weren't told?" Naruto shook his head. "Your father was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."