Chatting with Kushina was enjoyable, something Naruto hadn't felt in many years.
He had long since grown used to loneliness and the absence of family around him. As for Uzumaki Ashina and the Nine-Tails, they felt more like the old man next door and a drinking buddy who talked about everything. They could never truly replace the existence of family.
Even so, Naruto still couldn't regard Kushina as a mother. Instead, she felt more like an older sister to him.
Jumping down from the tree trunk, Naruto looked toward Kakashi and Namikaze Minato. The corners of his mouth rose slightly as he looked forward to seeing Minato's expression after speaking with Kakashi.
As if she had guessed what Naruto was thinking, Kushina quickly said, "I'll do my best to persuade Minato. Becoming Hokage and protecting Konoha was his dream, so his ideas and mine may be different."
"By the way, how's your relationship with Kurama?"
Hearing this, Naruto immediately condensed a ball of chakra. A phantom of the Nine-Tails appeared above it and viciously said to Kushina, "Naruto is the old man's little brother now! His attitude toward the old man is way better than yours ever was!"
Seeing this scene, Kushina froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Naruto, it looks like you and the Nine-Tails get along pretty differently. Back when we were together, the Nine-Tails was way more vicious than this. It practically wanted to devour my will."
Naruto simply smiled without explaining much.
In his opinion, there wasn't much difference between the malice of the villagers and the malice of the Nine-Tails.
Not long after, Naruto and Kushina returned to the open clearing where the ritual had been performed. Namikaze Minato also turned around at that moment, and the two figures with similar appearances looked directly at one another.
After a brief silence, Namikaze Minato spoke first.
"Naruto, I already know most of what happened. You handled the Uchiha matter very well, but leaving the village was still too extreme."
"As the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, I have an obligation to eliminate traitors to Konoha Ninja Village."
As soon as he finished speaking, a Flying Thunder God kunai appeared in Namikaze Minato's hand. With a casual flick, he vanished and reappeared atop a nearby treetop, his gaze sharp and serious.
Seeing that the two were about to fight, Kushina frowned and quickly shouted, "Our family just reunited, and now you're already fighting? Is this so-called Hokage responsibility more important than your family?"
Namikaze Minato replied without changing expression, "Kushina, you wanted to become Hokage even more than I did back then."
Kushina was just about to explode in anger when Kakashi beside her stopped her. He didn't explain much and simply stared at Naruto and Minato in the distance as he calmly said:
"Kushina-sama, it's better not to stop this battle. Both Minato-sensei and Naruto are leaders of villages now. This fight is more a clash of ideals than anything else."
Hearing this, Kushina gradually calmed down.
She knew very well that neither Minato nor Naruto were impulsive people.
Under the moonlit forest, Naruto and Namikaze Minato each held their weapons as they clashed repeatedly at speeds almost impossible for the naked eye to follow. Crisp metallic sounds echoed through the forest like bursts of thunder.
The next moment, Namikaze Minato disappeared from his spot and instantly appeared behind Naruto using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Naruto didn't even bother turning around. A chakra-condensed fist automatically moved to defend him while he spun around and hurled a Rasengan backward.
Namikaze Minato barely managed to avoid it.
After opening the distance between them again, admiration appeared in Minato's eyes.
Just as he was about to touch the ground and launch another counterattack, the earth suddenly transformed into countless sharp spikes. At the same time, razor-sharp wind blades swept through the air like a deadly breeze, slicing apart the massive boulder behind him.
Namikaze Minato's expression changed as he stared seriously at Naruto before immediately clasping his hands together and entering Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
The boost from Nine-Tails Mode drastically increased Namikaze Minato's speed and strength. At the same time, because of the characteristics of the Reanimation body, the mode could be maintained for an extremely long period of time.
Boom!
The two collided once again.
After realizing sneak attacks were useless, the battle turned into a clash of Rasengans. The rapidly spinning masses of chakra resembled miniature black holes, devouring the surrounding air while shining brighter than the moonlight itself.
After the two spiraling chakra spheres collided violently, the chakra arm behind Naruto suddenly hurled out a Rasenshuriken.
Unable to dodge in time, Namikaze Minato was struck directly by Naruto's Rasenshuriken. His body shattered inch by inch before finally taking more than ten seconds to fully reform.
Namikaze Minato relaxed slightly before speaking to Naruto.
"It seems I lost this contest. Not only did you master Sage Mode, but your synchronization with Kurama is even better than mine. You're fully capable of bearing all the power of the Nine-Tails."
Naruto calmly replied, "Actually, there was no need to test my strength. I've already reached an understanding with Kurama."
Namikaze Minato lightly shook his head.
"You don't understand the true terror of the Nine-Tails. A complete Nine-Tails is a genuine monster. It's the strongest tailed beast, one that required the combined efforts of an entire village to seal."
Naruto snorted coldly.
"You don't need to worry about Kurama's matters. Tailed beasts are far more straightforward than humans."
"You're right..." Namikaze Minato nodded before continuing, "But I still believe leaving Konoha was the wrong decision. If you thought Konoha had problems, you could've changed it after becoming Hokage."
The familiar tone made Naruto smile faintly.
"The chakra clone you left inside me said the exact same thing. But in the end, I still convinced him."
"He even taught me how to counter the Flying Thunder God Technique. Otherwise, our battle just now would've lasted a very long time."
Namikaze Minato frowned thoughtfully for a moment before chuckling softly.
"Still, you would've won no matter what. Before using Reanimation, you already placed command seals inside Kushina and me. You never intended to lose."
"For some necessary precautions, I had to obtain the other half of Kurama."
Naruto stared directly into Namikaze Minato's eyes.
"As for what you said about reforming Konoha, Jiraiya and Tsunade are already trying to do exactly that. The problem is that the results haven't been very good, and the biggest obstacle still hasn't been removed."
When saying the word "obstacle," Naruto deliberately emphasized his tone.
"What obstacle are you talking about?" Namikaze Minato quickly reacted. "You mean Jiraiya-sensei and the others plan to deal with the Third Hokage? That's impossible. They would never attack the Third Hokage."
"They may not attack the Third Hokage themselves, but Orochimaru definitely might."
"Just yesterday during the Chunin Exam, I encountered Orochimaru. He seems to have colluded with certain ninjas inside Konoha and plans to launch the Konoha Crush. I'm very curious who exactly this plan is targeting."
"The target is the Third Hokage..."
Namikaze Minato's expression changed drastically, and he could no longer remain calm.
"Want to stop Orochimaru? Neither Kakashi nor I will allow you to interfere."
After pausing briefly, Naruto continued:
"Right now, you'd better think about something even more important."
"How exactly are you going to calm Kushina down?"
Namikaze Minato froze for a moment.
That really was a problem that urgently needed solving.
An angry Kushina was absolutely terrifying.
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