Baryon Mode could actually restore Naruto's ability to fight Otsutsuki Kaguya.
There was no denying how powerful it was.
However…
"But the price must be enormous."
Seventh Hokage Naruto fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"Hmph. Obviously."
Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Kurama finally admitted the truth.
"This power uses your life as fuel, doesn't it?" Seventh Hokage Naruto's voice grew heavy. "Then I'll never use it."
"Idiot. What's the point of getting sentimental now? It's not like I'll stay dead. I'm a Tailed Beast, remember? Even if I die, I'll eventually be reborn somewhere in the Shinobi World. Maybe inside little Himawari, for example."
Kurama spoke with his usual haughty tone and tapped Seventh Hokage Naruto on the head with one enormous claw.
"Shouldn't you be worried about something else right now? With your current strength, you're practically invincible throughout the entire Shinobi World. Yet in the future, the two of us are forced to use Baryon Mode. That means we'll be facing something terrifying, an enemy neither of us can defeat together. Have you thought about what you're going to do?
"I'm warning you now, Baryon Mode doesn't last long. You'd better pray that you win before it runs out. Otherwise, just watch. The entire world will be plunged into catastrophe."
Seventh Hokage Naruto fell silent again.
He had already considered that terrifying possibility.
If he won, everything would be fine.
But if even he lost, it wasn't difficult to imagine what kind of disaster would descend upon the Shinobi World.
"You've gotten too careless over the years," Kurama complained.
Kurama had grown complacent as well, but he was a Tailed Beast. He couldn't exactly train like Uzumaki Naruto could.
"Ever since the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, you've let yourself go too much. Even the battle against Otsutsuki Toneri happened years ago. Get serious. Anyone you can't handle is probably from the Otsutsuki Clan out among the stars.
"You're the final hope of the Shinobi World. If you lose too, I'm as good as dead."
"I once heard the Sage of Six Paths explain that the Otsutsuki Clan plants God Trees on different planets. Those trees absorb all the natural energy of the planet and eventually transform it into a Chakra Fruit. The Chakra Fruit that should have formed in the Shinobi World was divided by the Old Man into the nine of us Tailed Beasts. If members of the Otsutsuki Clan arrive here, they'll inevitably try to gather all the scattered Chakra again. When that happens, I won't escape death either."
Kurama clearly understood his own position.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, nearly every faction involved had tried to capture him.
First came Nagato's Akatsuki Organization, followed by Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, and even Otsutsuki Kaguya.
Their goals differed, but Kurama had always been part of the plan.
Under those circumstances, he had no choice.
He could only support Uzumaki Naruto with everything he had.
Otherwise, he would eventually be captured, refined into a Chakra Fruit, and devoured.
That was probably why his future self had chosen to fight to the death.
Baryon Mode was a suicidal technique. Once used, death was inevitable.
But being eaten was worse.
He would rather die in battle and drag the enemy down with him.
When the final moment came, Kurama absolutely had the courage to risk everything.
"Looks like I really have grown too complacent."
Seventh Hokage Naruto's expression hardened.
The existence of Baryon Mode was enough for him to guess that a horrifying battle awaited him in the future.
He might even die in it.
He remembered the diary mentioning that Naruto had died and the role of protagonist had passed from Uzumaki Naruto to Uzumaki Boruto.
Could it have been connected to this battle?
Perhaps he had burned away everything he had and died in the fight, while Kurama was later reborn inside little Himawari.
The future awaiting them was clearly grim.
Could he really entrust everything to Boruto and Hima and feel at ease?
He didn't know.
But he wasn't like Jiraiya.
After learning of an established future, Jiraiya had chosen to trust the wisdom of the next generation. He had traveled the world searching for the Child of Prophecy, with Nagato, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Naruto all becoming possible candidates.
Naruto wasn't the type to place his faith entirely in those who came after him.
Given the choice, he would shoulder the responsibility of resisting the aliens himself rather than place all hope in his son and daughter.
Besides, these weren't ordinary enemies.
There was a very real possibility that they were powerful beings at the Six Paths Level.
Even though Kaede Kitahara's diary claimed his future son would become incredibly powerful and possess astonishing potential, Naruto couldn't place complete trust in that.
The only person he could truly rely on was himself.
Well… perhaps Sasuke too.
Naruto believed that if Sasuke were given the choice, he would make the same decision.
He would trust himself, silently shoulder the responsibility alone, and refuse to hand the future over to Sarada, no matter how talented Kaede Kitahara claimed she would become.
"Sasuke, you'd probably make the same choice as me. We can't place all our hopes on the children," Uzumaki Naruto said. "I've made up my mind. From now on, I'll spend half of every day training. But how am I supposed to break through? Kurama, you know I haven't spent all these years doing nothing. I've tried to train, but I've never found a good method. After the Sage of Six Paths reclaimed the Yang Power, I couldn't find any way to return to the Six Paths Level. Besides, the Yang Power I received back then was probably only half-complete anyway.
"Sasuke and I possessed the Yang Power and Yin Power separately. Neither of us had the complete power. Reaching that level is far too difficult.
"Kurama, do you have any ideas? You stayed beside the Sage of Six Paths for so long. Didn't you ever hear him mention anything related to this?"
"How would I know about that?" Kurama thought for a moment. "But I think I heard the Old Man mention something about reaching the Six Paths Level before. The simplest method is becoming the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails. That's what the Old Man did, right? Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara did it too."
"But there isn't a Ten-Tails anymore."
Seventh Hokage Naruto rejected the suggestion immediately.
It didn't sound remotely practical.
"What am I supposed to do, copy the Akatsuki Organization and capture all nine Tailed Beasts? The entire Shinobi World would erupt into chaos."
"You don't necessarily have to capture them. You could have everyone give you a portion of their Chakra… Wait, no. There's no vessel."
Kurama suddenly remembered that the Ten-Tails' body had fallen apart.
That was how the Tailed Beasts had escaped and regained their freedom in the first place.
Without the body, there was no way to recreate it.
"The Gedo Statue…"
Seventh Hokage Naruto remembered that the Gedo Statue had been the Ten-Tails' empty shell.
But it had already disintegrated.
What could he possibly do now?
"Besides, becoming the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails is too dangerous. Obito tried it before and almost died." Uzumaki Naruto shook his head.
At first glance, it almost seemed like anyone could do it.
The Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, and Otsutsuki Kaguya had all become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails one after another.
In reality, however, the process was unbelievably dangerous.
Those people also shared one defining trait.
They all possessed exceptionally powerful dojutsu.
The Sage of Six Paths, Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Madara had the Rinnegan.
Otsutsuki Kaguya didn't possess the Rinnegan, but her advanced Byakugan was no weaker.
Uzumaki Naruto possessed no such ability.
If the Ten-Tails emerged and went out of control, he would have no way to suppress or control it.
Unless the one attempting it was Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke possessed a mutated Tomoe Rinnegan and extraordinarily powerful ocular power.
Perhaps he could become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails.
It really was one possible path.
"Becoming the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails won't work for me. Is there any other way?" Seventh Hokage Naruto asked.
"No. At least, I don't remember the Old Man saying much about it." Kurama racked his brain. "There might have been another method. Gather every type of Chakra and combine them into one… What was it called again? Kekkei Mora?"
Kurama searched through his memories and finally recalled a possible path.
"That's basically impossible," Seventh Hokage Naruto said.
Gathering all seven Chakra natures and fusing them into a single whole was unimaginably difficult.
"Even if it's difficult, you have to do it. You don't have another choice, Naruto. If you can't become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, then this is the only path left. Otherwise, you might as well leave the future to your son Boruto. Judging from Kaede Kitahara's words, he'll accomplish great things."
Kurama glanced at Seventh Hokage Naruto and deliberately provoked him.
"I'm not giving up that easily."
Seventh Hokage Naruto rejected the suggestion at once.
His future son might serve as a final safeguard, but Naruto would never place all his hopes on Boruto.
[Momorama Is Here! Boruto, Your Cheat Has Arrived!]
At that moment, a new video appeared in the diary.
Its title left everyone staring in confusion.
Momorama?
What was that?
They remembered Kaede Kitahara mentioning Momorama in the diary before, but no one knew what it actually was.
And why was this Momorama supposedly Uzumaki Boruto's cheat?
No one understood.
All they could do was hurriedly open the video.
The footage began on a snowy night.
A full moon hung high in the sky, shining above a castle built deep within the cliffs of an icy mountain.
Two figures clashed fiercely inside.
They moved so quickly that they resembled twin beams of light colliding through the air.
Soon, one of the figures came into view.
It was none other than a grown, middle-aged Sasuke.