"Everyone, we need to have a serious talk."
In the Mirror World, Naruto stood in the void together with the four tailed beasts. As soon as he finished speaking, a massive data panel materialized in midair. The images within shifted rapidly, finally freezing on the scene of the Akatsuki members standing atop the fingertips of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
"First things first," Naruto said.
"The toads of Mount Myōboku have already revealed the truth about Asura's and Indra's chakra reincarnating endlessly and becoming entangled with each other. I want to hear your thoughts."
"We only just learned about this ourselves," Kurama said, glancing at Pain in the frozen image.
"Back then, I lent my power to Asura many times, but he never told me his chakra would reincarnate. Asura and Indra ultimately died together."
Mū lifted his head. "We didn't know about the brothers either. After the old man separated us, we never saw Asura again—and we certainly never saw Indra."
"We never met them."
"The news that the old man left this world was something Kurama told us."
Isobu and Chōmei spoke almost simultaneously. Naruto, however, shook his head and smiled.
"Why are you all being so serious?"
"And another thing—I find it strange that you're talking like humans. I asked for your opinion on Asura's chakra reincarnating within me, yet every one of you started explaining how you weren't close to Asura at all."
"Didn't we already link our chakra?"
"Hehehe~"
All four tailed beasts suddenly burst into laughter.
After a moment, Kurama lowered his massive head until it hovered above Naruto, grinning broadly.
"We're telling the truth. Besides, Asura really wasn't all that impressive. Back then, Indra suppressed him so badly he couldn't even lift his head. In the end, he actually knelt in front of me. If it weren't for the fact that the old man had designated him as the successor, I wouldn't have helped him at all."
"Hahahaha~"
The other three beasts started laughing again—this time even louder, with Mū laughing the hardest.
Kurama's expression darkened. He snapped his head up, baring his fangs.
"What are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing."
"We weren't laughing at you."
"Yeah, we were laughing at Asura. That kid really was embarrassing."
"Hahahahaha~"
Kurama's eyes bulged. His nine tails stood on end, crimson fur bristling violently.
"Do you all want—"
"Alright," Naruto cut in calmly.
"Let's get back to the important matters."
His gaze swept across the four tailed beasts.
"I trust you've already realized that I won't simply ignore Asura's chakra inside me."
"And after seeing so many generations of reincarnations through Mount Myōboku's memory stone, you've probably already guessed who carries Indra's chakra now, right?"
The four tailed beasts stiffened simultaneously.
A single name surfaced in all their minds.
Uchiha Sasuke.
"That old toad didn't seem to falsify the scenes it showed us," Kurama said thoughtfully.
"I personally experienced several of those battles."
"And the chakra of those two brothers really is strange. Every pair of reincarnations became friends, then turned on each other. If that's the case, your current relationship with Sasuke does make sense."
"But can chakra alone really cause something like that?"
"Of course it can," Naruto replied indifferently.
"They inherited the power of the Sage of Six Paths. That alone makes it plausible."
"But even if everything the old toad said is true, I won't trust them."
Kurama's eyes flickered. "Didn't you already agree to cooperate with them?"
"How could that be?" Naruto laughed softly.
"If I truly intended to cooperate, why wouldn't I even look at the senjutsu they offered?"
"They're powerful, sure—but so am I. Cooperation implies ulterior motives."
"Besides, they've been making small moves against me from the very beginning. If not for the huge gap in strength, I would've gone to Mount Myōboku myself long ago and copied their data puppets."
"So-called cooperation is nonsense. I went there purely for intelligence."
"Exactly!" Isobu rumbled.
"Earlier, Naruto asked Toad Tora. It left Jiraiya when Naruto was five years old. If they truly wanted to cooperate, why wait until now to give Naruto the key?"
Mū stared at Isobu in surprise. "You actually noticed that?"
Kurama and Chōmei were equally startled. Especially Kurama—after Isobu's reminder, it suddenly recalled that the same year was when Naruto blew a crack into the seal with the Massive Rasengan Wheel.
"So what's your plan now?" Kurama asked intently.
"That toad said you'd soon obtain the method for cultivating senjutsu from elsewhere. What do you make of that?"
"What else could it mean?" Naruto replied calmly.
"Didn't that toad say it foresaw the Third Hokage using the Reaper Death Seal against Orochimaru?"
Naruto raised his hand and summoned another data panel, tapping on Orochimaru's icon.
"Because Orochimaru realized that his perfected Edo Tensei had become too accurate, high-quality sacrifices would result in summoned shinobi dangerously close to their original strength—greatly increasing the risk of losing control."
"Since Danzō's and Orochimaru's plan was only to disgrace the Third Hokage in front of the entire village, the First and Second Hokage he summoned for the Konoha Crush were made using ordinary genin captured in the Forest of Death."
"But Orochimaru would never expect the Third Hokage to use the Reaper Death Seal to die together with him."
"Once that technique is completed, I won't just be able to free my father and your other half, Kurama—I'll also be able to harvest the souls of three Hokage."
"And once I obtain Hashirama Senju's soul, I'll gain his senjutsu."
Kurama's expression sharpened. "Have you ever thought about why Hashirama could use senjutsu?"
"I don't need to," Naruto said lightly.
"I'll find out once I capture his soul."
"You already know, don't you?" Kurama leaned close, grinning.
"Asura inherited the Sage's Six Paths power and could use senjutsu. Hashirama was the previous incarnation of Asura's chakra—so his senjutsu must come from Asura."
Mū rolled his eyes. "If that's the case, Kurama, you should know how to use senjutsu too. You helped Asura so many times. But you've always said you can't use it."
"Hmph!" Kurama roared.
"If I knew senjutsu, I'd have told Naruto already!"
"Asura wasn't my jinchūriki—how would I know how his senjutsu worked? He only borrowed my chakra to fight Indra."
Isobu tilted its head. "You never asked him?"
"Why would I?" Kurama snorted arrogantly.
"And if senjutsu were that powerful, why would he need my help at all?"
"There are a few things I'm curious about," Naruto said, looking up at Kurama.
"If Asura wasn't your jinchūriki, how did he borrow your power?"
"And was Indra really that strong? Asura inherited the Sage's power, yet still needed help to fight his own brother."
"Well… the way Asura borrowed my power…"
Kurama hesitated, then glanced at the other beasts.
"You'll find out once you separate me from your body."
"As for Indra being strong—that was simply because Asura was incompetent."
"He inherited the old man's power, but couldn't control it properly at first. Without me and the people around him, Indra would've crushed him long ago."
"And he never shut up during battles. Indra was about to leave several times, only to be dragged back into fighting by Asura's endless rambling."
"Later, once Asura mastered his power, he stopped seeking my help. The last I heard, the brothers had annihilated each other."
"Do you think the Sage of Six Paths made the right choice?" Naruto asked quietly.
"That toad said he could have returned to this world—but instead, he stayed in the Pure Land, watching his sons' chakra reincarnations slaughter each other for a thousand years."
"What do you think he was thinking?"
The four tailed beasts fell silent. After a while, Isobu, Mū, and Chōmei all looked toward Kurama.
"You're suspecting the old man?" Kurama asked solemnly.
"I didn't know him," Naruto replied calmly.
"Of course I'd be suspicious—especially since his son's chakra attached itself to me the moment I was born."
"And by the way—if both of his sons' chakra can reincarnate and entangle fate itself, then someone as powerful as the Sage should be capable of the same."
"I don't trust that toad," Kurama said after a pause.
"And I don't know how to answer your question."
"But once we tailed beasts choose a human we believe in, we never betray them."
"I don't trust the toad either," Naruto said softly.
"And I don't trust the Sage, or Asura's chakra."
"To be precise—I don't trust anyone in the current world."
His gaze settled on Kurama, and he smiled.
"But I trust you."
All four tailed beasts smiled.
"Then what will you do about Uchiha Sasuke?" Isobu asked.
"He doesn't even know the truth about his clan's massacre. If he finds out he's Indra's reincarnation, that'll be interesting."
"I don't believe Asura's chakra will influence me," Naruto said confidently.
"And I don't think I'll end up like the previous reincarnations."
"Do I look like Asura to you?"
"You don't," Kurama said, flipping through the data panel and pulling up Sasuke's image.
"But that Uchiha kid looks exactly like Indra."
"I think I understand the Sage's thinking a little," Naruto said, closing the panel.
"You said it yourself—the Sage didn't care about humans. He cared about the world."
"He chose Asura because he saw potential for the world to improve. But after leaving the shinobi world, he realized he was wrong."
"His choice didn't make the world better—it planted the seeds of today's disaster."
"I think he allowed his sons' chakra to reincarnate repeatedly to observe their failures—and search for another possibility."
Mū flicked his tail. "You're saying the old man used his own sons as experiments?"
"What's the point of that?" Chōmei asked, hovering.
"Did he hope their reincarnations might reconcile?"
"Impossible," Kurama scoffed.
"Living Indra never acknowledged Asura. If the reincarnations reconciled, then a thousand years of conflict would be a joke."
"Uh… I think Chōmei might have a point," Isobu said carefully.
"Asura's chakra is on Naruto now. He knows the truth. With his Mirror World… reconciliation actually seems very possible."
Kurama's eyes narrowed—then suddenly his ears twitched. He turned to Naruto and grinned.
"I agree. If you turn that kid into a world subordinate, then the fate of Asura and Indra ends right there."
Naruto smiled faintly. "Does that really count as reconciliation?"
"Of course!" Kurama said seriously.
"It's the perfect solution. You probably planned this long ago—I just don't understand why you haven't acted yet."
"And Kakashi," Kurama added.
"When he used genjutsu on you during training, why didn't you pull him in as well?"
The other beasts looked at Naruto expectantly.
"The timing isn't right yet," Naruto replied.
With a thought, the data panel shifted to text.
"Look—these notes under World Subordinate Authority."
"Hmm? Only a Level Nine World Lord can grant defensive mechanisms at the level of spiritual will."
Kurama nodded. "I see."
"One more thing," Naruto added.
"During this trip to Mount Myōboku, I asked why the Great Toad Sage didn't find it strange that Jiraiya willingly summoned the toads."
"It said that was Jiraiya's own choice—something about destiny."
"What does that imply?" Naruto asked.
The beasts exchanged glances. Mū answered first.
"It means they don't know why Jiraiya made that choice."
"Exactly," Naruto said gravely.
"They haven't discovered the secret of the Mirror World."
"So from now on, I think it's best that we discuss everything here."
Sealing Space
Kushina pressed her fist against Naruto's. Her other arm extended outward, golden chains occasionally flickering into existence from her palm.
"Mom, isn't the Adamantine Sealing Chains passed down to women, not men?"
"Who told you that?" Kushina laughed.
"Any Uzumaki who knows this technique seals it into the next generation with chakra before dying."
"As long as your chakra reaches the threshold, you'll naturally be able to use it."
"Then what about me—"
"You don't need all that trouble," Kushina said warmly.
"Minato sealed my chakra inside you so I could meet you. The original plan was to help you through danger and then leave the technique to you."
"I didn't expect you to reconcile with the tailed beasts—but this is even better."
"Teaching you fuinjutsu myself makes me feel like a successful mother."
"Why didn't you try to communicate with Kurama back then?" Naruto asked.
"There was no way," Kushina replied flatly.
"From the moment I became a jinchūriki, it kept yelling about eating me."
"So I severed the mental link. Besides, I didn't need to—when I needed its power, I just nailed one of its tails."
"…"
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