Chapter 2 002 Uzumaki Naruto
"It's all your fault, you old geezer!"
Kushina stared at Kizaru, walking towards him step by step.
Each step she took brought with it an inexplicable pressure.
The golden-haired young phantom, who must have been Minato, had a blue, constantly spinning energy orb appear in his hand, and he too stared at Kizaru with an unfriendly gaze.
Kizaru felt a little guilty.
This... it really seemed to be his fault for accidentally tearing off that strange seal.
However... Kizaru pointed at the soul with only half a head remaining not far away,
"Are you sure you don't want to check on your son's soul first, to see if it can be salvaged, instead of fighting me?"
"Nine-Tailed ate him until only half his head was left, how can he be saved?"
Kushina continued to walk towards Kizaru, step by step.
"His soul power is just that tiny wisp, like a firefly's light, what's there to save?"
Minato also showed no intention of stopping.
"I think I can still be saved~" A voice, extremely weak, came, as if the owner had used all his strength.
Kushina and Minato turned their heads sharply.
"Naruto~"
They covered the distance in a few hurried steps, reaching Uzumaki Naruto's side.
"How do you feel?"
Kushina's face was filled with anxiety, yet she received no response.
Kizaru looked at the soul with only half a head remaining. So this little guy's name was Naruto?
He was truly miserable!
"His soul power is gradually dissipating, and his consciousness has already scattered. What do we do?"
Kushina examined him carefully, her face full of anxiety.
"There's a way..."
Minato was incredibly serious.
"What way? Tell me quickly~"
"Deposit this wisp of Naruto's spiritual consciousness into another soul, and nourish it with that soul's power. Perhaps Naruto can be revived~"
"Then deposit Naruto in me!"
Kushina didn't hesitate.
"Neither of us can do it." Minato's face held a hint of helplessness, "Both you and I are deceased; our souls are no longer in this world. We are merely constructs of Chakra, similar to clones. This technique requires a true soul."
"A true soul?"
Kushina murmured, then thought of a certain fellow.
She turned her head sharply, her fiery red hair standing on end, her bright large eyes wide open, and her brown pupils emitting a strong white light, like an enraged red chili pepper~
"You, come here!"
There was no emotion in Kushina's words.
Minato also looked at Kizaru's soul with ill intent.
Kizaru was stunned. These two couldn't possibly be treating him like a pushover, could they?
"Yasakani no Magatama"
Kizaru's soul flew into the air, his hands forming a posture that seemed very strange to Minato and Kushina.
Bright yellow light shone across the sky.
Not good!
Minato and Kushina were both experienced in battle.
They immediately closed their eyes and simultaneously activated their Observation Haki!
However, it was already too late.
They felt the yellow light bullets raining down like raindrops, their speed simply despair-inducing.
Even Minato, known as the "Yellow Flash," couldn't avoid them~
In the Nine-Tailed's sealing space, he hadn't prepared a Flying Thunder God mark!
Both their faces turned ugly~
This was a master whose strength was not inferior to theirs. With their remaining Chakra, it would be difficult to force this guy to let Naruto's remnant soul reside in him!
The yellow light bullets, centered around Kizaru, continuously shot towards Kushina and Minato like dense raindrops, yet... not a single one hit the unmoving Minato and Kushina.
Yasakani no Magatama... lived up to its name!
Even more unexpected and unforeseen was that one of the light bullets, by some stroke of bad luck, actually hit the sealing talisman that Minato had just repaired!
Roar!
Nine-Tailed roared furiously.
It blew open the gate of the sealing cage with a single breath.
A huge fox head emerged from the gate.
Kizaru stared at the Nine-Tailed fox in a daze, somewhat doubting reality.
It's fake, right?
His Yasakani no Magatama could be controlled to land wherever he wished, how could such an unexpected situation occur?
Minato also looked at Kizaru with a conflicted expression, then at the ferocious Nine-Tailed.
This... his newly repaired seal was actually broken again by this guy~
Was this fate?
Roar!
Nine-Tailed opened its gaping maw and bit at Kizaru's soul.
All humans deserve to die!
???
Didn't I release you? And you're biting me!
This stupid fox!
"Not good!"
"My time is running out."
Minato's face changed drastically.
"I don't have much time left either."
"Is this fate?"
Kushina looked at the little Naruto, whose soul power was still dissipating, her pretty face full of despair.
Kizaru's soul dodged left and right, also firing light bullets from time to time.
However, having lost his body and being only a soul, Kizaru found that his Devil Fruit ability had inexplicably dropped a notch, his Observation Hakiwas pitifully weak, and his Armament Haki was completely gone.
Perhaps a large part of his power remained in his physical body~
It must be so.
Kizaru gradually felt his strength failing.
If this continued, he might actually be swallowed soul-first by this Nine-Tailed beast that could speak human language.
If not for losing my physical body... how could I be so pathetic!
I hate it~
Kizaru, becoming increasingly disheveled, kept dodging. The forced use of his Devil Fruit ability severely depleted his stamina. Suddenly, he saw the two desperate man and woman again.
A choice lay before Kizaru.
"I agree to let your son's remnant soul reside in my soul, but you two help me drag this fox back into that cage!"
Kushina and Minato, who had been plunged into despair, suddenly looked up.
"We don't have much time, hurry up!"
"Okay!"
"Yata Mirror"
Kizaru once again used the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit, following the path of light, and arrived before Naruto's remnant soul.
He grabbed Naruto's soul and placed it within his own soul.
"What do I do next!"
Kizaru appeared near Minato.
Meanwhile, Kushina had once again released those virtual metal chains, wrapping them around Nine-Tailed's body.
"Leave it to me!"
Minato quickly formed several hand seals, "Soul Fusion — Link!"
A mysterious power acted upon Kizaru's body, and his soul felt a tremor... This feeling... was indescribably wonderful.
A weak soul was clearly added to his left shoulder, sharing his soul power.
Before Kizaru could savor the feeling, Minato's figure completely vanished.
Was this what he meant by "time's up"?
At the same time, Kushina also disappeared.
While Minato was depositing Naruto's remnant soul into that old man's soul, Kushina controlled the chains to pull Nine-Tailed back into the cage and closed the gate.
She was about to call Minato to reinforce the seal again, but she vanished along with Minato.
They had no time left at all.
Kizaru's face changed drastically at this sight.
If this gate wasn't sealed, this fox would run out again.
But those two talked about "sealing" or whatever... he didn't know how!
However... if it couldn't be sealed, how about welding it shut?
In his urgency, Kizaru didn't care if it was useful or not.
He pressed all his remaining Glint-Glint Fruitpower into the groove where the sealing talisman had originally been.
Clang~
Nine-Tailed's claws struck the cage, a crisp sound echoed, but the cage door was undamaged and did not open!
It worked!
At this moment, fragments of a young boy's unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.
"Uzumaki Naruto, huh? From now on, I'll be Uzumaki Naruto!"
...