After enjoying the lunch carefully prepared by his mother—a classic bento-style home meal consisting of fried pork cutlets, vegetable salad, and a mix of mashed potatoes and eggs—Kushina naturally started clearing the dishes, humming a cheerful tune as she turned to wash them at the sink.
Naruto gazed at his mother's busy, yet satisfied, back, and a pang of sadness arose in his heart.
Because the Edo Tensei body does not need to eat, the lavish meal on the table had been enjoyed solely by him and Kogane from start to finish.
Thinking back to the original plot... why did almost all the deceased summoned back by Edo Tensei show a sense of relief and release when they finally returned to the Pure Land?
Even though they had the chance to remain in the living world in this form, why did none of them show a strong desire to continue "living" using this body?
As Naruto researched the forbidden Ninjutsu of Edo Tensei, he gradually understood its key characteristics: the Soul summoned back is imprisoned within a "dead vessel" composed of dust and sacrificial materials.
Aside from being unable to be killed by conventional means—only restricted by releasing the jutsu or using a Seal—this body stripped away too many basic human experiences: the inability to taste food, the lack of fatigue, the inability to feel any form of warmth, and even pain became vague, making the presence of the five senses extremely faint.
A Soul staying long-term in such a cold, numb body, lacking real sensory input... logically, wouldn't it feel extreme discomfort, perhaps even agony?
Thinking of this, Naruto felt waves of pain in his heart.
However, since her appearance, all Kushina has shown is liveliness, cheerfulness, and boundless love for Naruto.
Naruto could barely detect any negative emotions stemming from the body... These discomforts and pains were carefully hidden by Kushina, solely to prevent Naruto from worrying.
Naruto could not accept his mother "living" in this world in such a distorted, incomplete state.
No matter how slim the hope, he had to try and find a way to improve her condition.
"Mom..." he called softly.
"Hmm? What is it, Naruto?" Kushina immediately turned her head, her face showing gentle concern.
"Did you not eat enough?
It's okay, Mom made a lot; I packed it all up and put it in the fridge.
You can just heat it up when you want to eat it.
But of course, freshly made food tastes the best!
What else do you want to eat?
As long as it doesn't contain alcohol, Mom will make it for you..."
Why make so much, filling the entire fridge?
The answer was simple: because Kushina did not know how long she could stay with her son like this; she wanted to prepare everything for him in advance, as much as possible...
"No, Mom, I'm already very full..." Naruto quickly shook his head.
He took a deep breath and voiced his idea, "Actually... I really want to... cook a meal for you too, to express my gratitude."
Hearing her son's thoughtful words, a huge wave of warmth surged in Kushina's heart, but it was immediately followed by a deeper sense of loss.
Cook a meal for her?
But in her current state... forget eating, she could not even smell the aroma of the food...
"No need for that~" Kushina immediately adopted a cheerful tone, trying to hide her inner sadness.
"It's only natural for parents to cook for their children; you don't need to specifically thank me."
"...It's because of the Edo Tensei body, right?" Naruto directly pointed out the concern his mother could not voice.
"But... I might... have a way for Mom to taste things."
"Huh? You really don't need to!" Kushina subconsciously waved her hand, speaking with the doting tone mothers reserve for their children.
"You're just a kid, how could you understand things like that..."
However, her words stopped abruptly.
Just a kid...?
Kushina froze.
In the depths of her consciousness, the last image of Naruto lingering in her memory was that of a newborn baby in swaddling clothes.
The lack of awareness over the past decade or so meant that she subconsciously still regarded the tall young man in front of her as a "little child" who needed her meticulous care.
The current Naruto was already the Konoha hero who could perfectly control the Nine-Tailed power and saved the Village during times of crisis...
Perhaps she should not look at him that way anymore...
This realization made the words she had intended to use to refuse impossible to say.
"The principle is actually very simple," Naruto tried to explain in a relaxed tone.
"This is a special Ninjutsu I created myself, which can transfer a special kind of 'Life Qi' onto other objects.
I was thinking, maybe it could..."
"What?! Transfer Life Qi to me?! Absolutely not! I absolutely will not agree!"
Before Naruto could finish, Kushina interrupted him, practically yelling, her voice raised by extreme shock and resistance!
Hearing that her son's method involved "transferring Life Qi," her first reaction was that Naruto intended to sacrifice his own life force to restore her senses!
If that was the price, she would rather return to the Pure Land immediately than allow such a thing to happen!
"No, Mom! You misunderstood!" Naruto quickly waved his hands, clarifying urgently.
"It's not the kind of Life Qi you're thinking of!
And it's not my own Life Qi!
This energy is specially converted from... my Chakra!
It's essentially an active substance that simulates the Origin of life.
If directly injected into a living person, it would not heal, but would instead cause mental breakdown!"
This was the solution Naruto came up with—utilizing the ability of Gold Experience.
This special Life Qi, driven by his spiritual energy and manifested, aside from the known effects of causing mental breakdown and accelerating the growth cycle of plants and animals, its most miraculous ability was naturally converting inorganic matter into living organic matter!
Since the Edo Tensei body is composed of "dead matter" like dust and sacrificial cells... then, theoretically, could he not simply convert these "dead matter" components of the body step-by-step into "living" organic tissue?
Naruto recalled some things he had done in the past.
He had injected this Life Qi into a Shadow Clone composed of Chakra.
The result was that the Shadow Clone, aside from lacking an independent Soul, had a body texture, temperature, and even microscopic structure that were virtually identical to a real living human body!
"Look, it's like this," Naruto said, deciding to demonstrate directly to his mother to alleviate her doubts.
Naruto casually picked up an unused spoon from the dining table and, under Kushina's puzzled gaze, gently covered the spoon with his palm.
The next moment, something that stunned Kushina occurred!
The lifeless metal spoon, bathed in the light emanating from Naruto's palm, began to slowly deform and soften as if it possessed life!
Its color gradually shifted from metallic silver-gray to a vibrant hue, and its form continuously twisted and reorganized...
"Croak."
A crisp croak rang out.
When the transformation was complete, what lay in Naruto's palm was no longer the spoon, but a lively little green frog with moist skin and vibrant eyes!
It even gently pushed against Naruto's finger with its hind leg, showcasing its vigorous vitality.
Kushina was completely stunned, her eyes wide as she stared incredulously at the living creature in her son's palm that seemed to have been created from thin air.
Her brain was momentarily unable to process this scene that completely defied common sense.
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