Fate once again favored Uzumaki Naruto. He succeeded. At least for now, he no longer needed to scheme to snatch the Rinnegan.
Uzumaki Kushina was now truly "alive," no longer a cold Edo Tensei shell driven by a forbidden jutsu.
However, things in the world rarely go smoothly. Based on Edo Tensei, supplemented by the life energy infusion of Gold Experience, it ultimately failed to create a perfect resurrection miracle.
An undeniable limitation emerged—time.
Naruto quickly discovered that if he merely created a body without a Soul, like making a lifelike sculpture, the life energy contained within it could stably last for several years.
But once a real Soul inhabited and drove the body, the situation was entirely different. All instinctive activities that sustained the simulated life—heartbeat, breathing, nerve conduction, and even the slightest emotional fluctuations—continuously and rapidly consumed the initially injected life energy.
Roughly estimated, the cycle was about seven days. After seven days, Kushina would clearly feel her body's sensations slowly fade like an ebbing tide.
First, her sense of taste would become dull, then her sense of smell would fail to detect scents, her touch would gradually blur, and finally, even pain would quietly depart. The neural network supporting perception would be silently withdrawn, one by one, returning her to that body of dust, conscious yet trapped in a cage.
Fortunately, as long as Naruto was nearby, that unique life energy could be considered "unlimited refills."
He could once again use his ability to re-fill his mother's body with vitality, transforming her back into this flesh-and-blood Uzumaki Kushina, capable of crying and laughing. However, this discovery also thoroughly proved that relying on Edo Tensei plus Gold Experience to achieve large-scale, permanent resurrection was a dead end.
After clearly knowing that this process caused Naruto no actual damage or side effects, Kushina completely let go of her psychological burden, no longer being "polite," and frankly accepted the energy input from her son's jutsu, maintaining this hard-won, "pseudo-resurrection" state.
She silently apologized to Minato in the other world, but her strong maternal desire was irrepressible—she sincerely prayed that this Edo Tensei contract could last a little longer, just a little longer... at least, at least long enough for her to witness Naruto's wedding.
After all, her child had such a lovely fiancée who deeply loved him. She absolutely wanted to witness this crucial moment of happiness in his life.
And Naruto finally got his wish, personally cooking a meal for his mother, a dinner that deliberately avoided all tomato dishes.
However, as Kushina tasted her son's cooking, her mood underwent a subtle change. The initial emotion of being touched by her son's thoughtfulness was quickly replaced by the astonishing taste of the dishes, but what followed was not pure joy, but... disappointment?
Had her son's culinary skills already surpassed hers by so much? Then, wouldn't her desire to make up for her past absence by cooking for him instead become... a hindrance?
Acutely aware of his mother's low spirits, Naruto quickly comforted her. He said that taste wasn't the most important thing at all! Compared to his own cooking, of course, his mother's cooking was a hundred times better!
"Because in Mom's cooking, there's a unique feeling that makes me feel at ease, something that no matter how good the cooking is, it can't replace."
Naruto said mushy words he never had the chance to say before, but Kushina was very receptive to it.
Listening to her son's overly sensible and thoughtful words, Kushina's emotional dam, built up by the impending separation, was once again breached by the tide of reluctance. She hugged her son tightly, greedily breathing in his incredibly real warmth, finding it increasingly difficult to let go of the inevitable farewell in the future.
Days quietly flowed by in this hard-won peace and warmth for about two weeks. Naruto, with almost imperceptible greed, immersed himself in this precious daily life—the moments spent with his mother, and Satsuki's frequent visits, creating a happiness filled with everyday warmth.
Initially, Naruto harbored a hidden worry, concerned that spending too much time with his mother might make Satsuki jealous. However, reality unfolded much more harmoniously than he expected.
His mother, Kushina, goes without saying; in her eyes, Satsuki had a 99% chance of becoming her future daughter-in-law, and her genuine affection and acceptance naturally led to a close relationship between them.
As for Satsuki's feelings towards Kushina, besides the respect a Junior should show an elder, Naruto vaguely sensed that her strongest emotional fluctuation was a deep... gratitude?
Naruto didn't know that what he thought was just his mother visiting an old friend at the Uchiha Clan Compound was actually a serious confirmation of that half-joking "childhood engagement" agreement from back then.
Kushina also fully demonstrated her thoughtfulness as a mother. She knew that when a girl who deeply loved her son wanted to spend time with Naruto, she couldn't overly "monopolize" her son.
Therefore, she would often consciously find reasons—either to visit Uchiha Mikoto for old times' sake and chat, or to organize things at home—cleverly creating time and space for Satsuki and Naruto to be alone.
Aside from the deep, unresolved guilt and lingering longing for her husband Minato, Kushina's immense regret at not being able to witness her child's growth before her death was being slowly mended in this miraculous "pseudo-resurrection" state, with her past hopes gradually becoming reality.
For Naruto, this period was also exceptionally peaceful. Konoha Village was still in its post-war recovery phase, and with the Third Hokage still recuperating in the hospital after being "educated" by his mother, the Village's Ninja mission system was temporarily semi-stagnant.
Naruto was happy to enjoy this leisure, calmly waiting. He guessed that perhaps one day, Jiraiya would suddenly appear, dragging him on a journey to find Tsunade and persuade her to return to the Village to succeed as the Fifth Hokage... The Third Hokage should choose to retire, right?
The daily rhythm became simple and fulfilling: accompanying his mother, spending time with Satsuki, and, approximately every three days, responding to Gaara's "summon." He would instantly arrive in Hidden Sand Village using the Flying Thunder God Technique, chat with Gaara, discuss their recent lives, and then, with Gaara's cautious yet incredibly persistent expectation, be kept for dinner.
Temari and Kankuro no longer feared their younger brother; however, their gazes towards Naruto held a newfound reverence.
And each time Naruto's sudden visit would inevitably cause a localized, battle-ready tension in Hidden Sand Village, as if facing a formidable enemy. However, aside from these harmless minor incidents, everything was calm, with no other major events worth particular attention occurring.
During breaks in his daily Cultivate, Naruto began to carry Kogane with him. Considering the lack of convenient tools like Poké Balls, he adopted the common method of this world—he signed a summoning contract with Zacian.
This not only solved the problem of carrying it but also filled the void left by his inability to summon Mount Myōboku's toads for battle.
When Sakura saw a small blue-furred dog suddenly appear by Naruto's side, and then learned they had signed a summoning contract, she was genuinely surprised. She thought Naruto was going to follow Kiba's path.
Naruto then suggested that Sakura and Kogane have a simple sparring match. Sakura was somewhat taken aback. Although she knew she was the weakest in Team 7, making her spar with a puppy... wasn't that a bit too disrespectful?
However, with just one encounter, the blue puppy seemingly casually bumped into her—the next second, Sakura's vision went black, and she completely lost consciousness.
Only then did Naruto realize that he seemed to have severely underestimated the value of the term "Divine Beast," let alone that this was a legendary existence revered as the "King of Swords." To more accurately assess Zacian's strength, he decided to have his Shadow Clone engage it in a serious battle.
The process was roughly as follows.
[Uzumaki Naruto's Shadow Clone issued a challenge!]
[Zacian's Attack increased!]
[Uzumaki Naruto used Rasengan!]
[But, it missed!]
[Zacian used Iron Head!]
[It's super effective!]
[Uzumaki Naruto's Shadow Clone disappeared!]
[Gained experience points!]
It seemed that actual combat was indeed an effective way to grow. Naruto could clearly feel that Kogane was getting stronger at an astonishing rate. Without the power of Nine-Tails Chakra, he would probably find it difficult to subdue this seemingly cute "puppy" in a short time.
Also, the prefix "small" would probably have to be removed very soon. Naruto had underestimated the growth rate of this creature.
In just two short weeks since its birth, Zacian had already grown to nearly half a person's height. Its once cute cub appearance had faded somewhat, replaced by an increasingly majestic demeanor, and this growth trend showed no signs of slowing down.
Watching Zacian grow so quickly, Kushina felt a little guilty. She thought it was her own fault—after all, she had given the "puppy" plenty of extra food in her free time. And Zacian wasn't picky, especially since Kushina's cooking was indeed quite good.
The small dog bed purchased earlier was clearly unusable now; it seemed a real bed would be needed to accommodate Zacian's growing body.
While Naruto was quietly waiting for the Third Hokage to be discharged from the hospital, or for Jiraiya to come and find him to go search for Tsunade, a strange thing caught his attention.
Naruto admitted that he had intentionally avoided contact with the villagers recently. And most of those who tried to bother him were timely stopped by Satsuki and Kushina. But, it couldn't be that such important news was kept completely secret from him because of that, could it?
One morning, Uzumaki Naruto looked towards the distant Hokage Rock as usual. His gaze suddenly froze—at some unknown point, construction had quietly begun there, carving out the statue of the Fifth Hokage, though he didn't know whose it was.
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