Naruto followed Mito to another unoccupied room. Mito flipped through a few hand seals and pressed her hand at the door, and a sealing formula spread outwards from her hands.
Mito took a deep breath. "That will give us some privacy. As I mentioned before, I am Mito Uzumaki. I was the eldest child of my father Ashina Uzumaki, a clan head of the Uzumaki clan. After the early death of two of my younger brothers, the title of clan head was passed on to my youngest brother, Kaito. When I was twenty years old, my father betrothed me to the heir of the Senju clan, Hashirama Senju. He had made quite a name for himself by then, already becoming one of the strongest shinobi of the time. More than a decade after I married him, Hashirama formed an alliance with the Uchiha clan and their leader, Madara Uchiha, who was a childhood friend of his. As a result of this alliance, the Village Hidden in the Leaves was formed."
"Hashirama made it known that they would accept any and all clans to join the village irrespective of the past hatred, citing the alliance with the Uchiha as a prime example. Many clans flowed into Konoha, and it became the harbinger of a new era. Some clans feared our power and did not wish to join Konoha. The daimyos of the different lands took advantage of this fear. They imitated the Fire daimyo and formed their own hidden villages, attracting such clans. The five great ninja villages were hence formed, marking an end to the era of the warring clans. However, Madara left the village just five years after it was formed, as he was rejected for the position of Hokage following a fair voting process. More than a decade later, Madara returned to the village to challenge Hashirama. This time, he brought the Nine-Tailed fox with him, using it as his personal summons to gain the upper hand against Hashirama."
Naruto paled. "This Madara guy controlled the Nine-Tails?"
Mito nodded. "Yes, he used the powers of his Sharingan to ensnare it in an illusion and make it attack the village. Fortunately, Hashirama's wood-style jutsu was able to suppress it. He defeated Madara and was forced to kill him when he realized that Madara would never stop threatening the village. Following this, I volunteered to seal the Nine-Tails within myself using the sealing jutsu of my clan. Thus, I became the first jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails."
"Why didn't the Uzumaki clan join Konoha by this time?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Good question," Mito said with a hint of sadness. "The Uzumaki were not your traditional ninja village. They were not ruled by a daimyo and hardly ever accepted outside missions. They were more academically oriented and practiced ninjutsu only for self-defense. This is why Konoha became the first ninja village since Uzu was not truly considered as one."
"Wow..." Naruto found a newfound respect for his clan, who adhered to peace even in such turbulent times.
"My younger brother, Kaito, was a firm believer in the guiding principles of the Uzumaki and refused Hashirama's offer to join Kohoha. He believed that any village that depended on the feudal lords for income would always cause conflict. Although Hashirama told him that Uzumaki could be exempted from taking ninja missions in exchange for safeguarding the village with their seals, Kaito still refused the offer. He and his descendants would be content to live in Uzushiogakure and would keep out of the cycle of hatred that inevitably plagued the shinobi world."
Naruto nodded, fascinated by the history of his blood relatives.
"Kaito's vision of peace did not satisfy the other hidden villages, though. They feared the Uzumaki clan, as they had the greatest knowledge in one of the most feared shinobi arts: Fuinjutsu, otherwise known as sealing techniques. About half a century after the founding of Konoha, Uzushiogakure faced the consequences of this fear. They were attacked by a coalition of shinobi villages. Other than a few survivors who fled during the chaos, the rest of the Uzumaki clan was destroyed at that time. It was the destruction of Uzushiogakure that prompted Konoha to declare war for what was the first and hopefully the last time in its history. This was against Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri marking the beginning of the second shinobi war."
Mito paused, allowing Naruto time to absorb the information. "Kaito's granddaughter, Kushina, was brought to Konoha when I was eighty-three years old. You see, it was apparent that I would not live for much longer. Kushina had an especially strong chakra even among the Uzumaki clan, and she had inherited our rare bloodline - the chakra chains that you saw me use against Shukaku. Because of this, it was decided that she would succeed me as the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Uzu was destroyed two years after Kushina arrived in Konoha."
Naruto's mind boggled at the mention of Mito's age. Even the old man, whom he considered ancient, was in his sixties. Mito was so much older than him!
Mito smiled, understanding Naruto's thoughts. "Yes, Kushina and I had quite the age gap, even though she is my youngest brother's granddaughter. Anyway, it had become a concern what would become of the Nine Tails after my passing. Tailed beasts do not die, they simply reform after a few years. Thus, the Nine-Tails would be free once more if I died with it sealed within me. It was hence decided to seal the Nine-Tails within Kushina."
Naruto nodded, wincing at the terrible fate of the young girl. He began to suspect who Kushina was to him.
"In a few years, Kushina was made the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails. I passed soon after that. A Jinchuuriki does not survive the extraction of a Tailed Beast, especially at my age. I am unsure of the specifics of her future, but I am told that she died during the attack of the Nine-Tails thirteen years ago."
Naruto frowned. Something didn't add up. "But the Nine-Tails was sealed within her, right? How could it attack the village then?"
Mito sighed. "I can only guess. I had hypothesized that the seal of the Nine-Tails may weaken during childbirth since it is a chakra-intensive activity for shinobi. The newborn gains chakra from their mother, after all. A woman's control over the chakra is also very poor at that time. I had anticipated this and set down detailed instructions and procedures to follow so that such a mishap wouldn't come to pass. I'm sure Hiruzen and the Fourth Hokage took every precaution to avoid that eventuality. When ninjas are prepared to face something, they rarely fail. Unless something unpredictable happened."
Naruto connected the dots. "So you're saying…" he said in a horrified whisper. "She died while giving birth to me?"
"No," Mito said firmly. "As I said, it's highly unlikely that something like that happened naturally. There are no coincidences. The information of her childbirth likely got leaked and someone attacked at that vulnerable moment."
"But still, if it wasn't for me…"
"Naruto," Mito said seriously. "If it wasn't you, it would be another baby. Childbirth is both the greatest joy and necessity for a parent. Never blame yourself for something like this. When I held the child in my arms, it was the most joyful moment in my life, and that's true for any parent."
"Okay…" Naruto trailed off, still upset over the fact that he had lost his mother at birth because of the Nine Tails. "So, you're my great grand-aunt?" He asked, finally realizing the family connection.
Mito smiled softly. "Yes, Naruto." She stepped forward and gave him a gentle hug. Naruto stiffened at the unfamiliar gesture but gradually relaxed into the embrace. Although Mito's hands were cold, Naruto felt a warmth inside him that he had never felt before.
"Th-thank you for telling me." Naruto sniffled, his hands furiously rubbing away the tears pricking his eyes. "Is there a reason why the Jinchuuriki are always from our clan? I don't have the chakra chain thingy, but I was made a jinchuuriki too."
Mito nodded. "Yes. Most of the Uzumaki have exceptionally strong chakra, sometimes even more so than our Senju cousins. I can see that you have inherited the strength of chakra. In fact, I believe your chakra may even be stronger than hers."
"Is the strong chakra also part of the bloodline limit?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. The members of our clan are descendants of the younger daughter of a great ancestor referred to as Ashura. The descendents of Ashura's elder son is the Senju, the clan to which my husband belonged."
Naruto perked up to the familiar name. "Oh yeah, that's Super Gramps Sage's son! So I'm descended from him, too?"
"Super Gramps Sage?" Mito asked with confusion.
"Um… I think his name is Hogoromo Otsutsuki or something," Naruto said, completely butchering the pronunciation. "He's called the Sage of the Six Paths?"
"How did you know the name of the Sage of the Six Paths?!" Mito exclaimed. "He lived a thousand years ago! Even the knowledge of the name of our ancestor Ashura, who is thought to be his son, is based on the fact that another famous Uzumaki was said to have been named after him!"
Naruto did not plan to keep any secrets from the only family he had seen, so he glanced around nervously before removing the illusion concealing the Rinnegan. "I met him when I awakened these…" he trailed off, watching Mito's dumbfounded expression.
"Th-th-th-th-that's the Rinnegan!" Mito squeaked, stumbling back in shock and awe. She had heard stories of how the sage's eyes looked like. The ringed eye of the Rinnegan was its distinctive feature.
"Yeah," Naruto grinned, pleased at the reaction to his awesome bloodline. "I awakened it a few days ago!"
"How?!" Mito asked, still in disbelief. "That's not our clan's bloodline!"
"Well, it's complicated." Naruto scrunched his face as he tried to recall the details of his conversation with the sage. "So the Senju are the descendents of the younger son of the super gramps sage, and the Uchiha are the descendents of the elder son. The sage had the Rinnegan and a sort of powerful chakra called Six Paths Senjutsu. His elder son Indra inherited a less awesome version of the sage's eye powers, called the Mangekyou Sharingan. The younger son later awakened his power of bodily chakra, or the six paths sage power. The brothers never got along, so neither did their descendants."
Mito nodded, following the explanation so far. This coincided with some of the old legends or folk tales regarding the sage. However, there was a lot of hyperbole and fiction in those stories, so one never knew what the truth was.
"A few years ago, someone called Uchiha Shisui who had a powerful Mangekyou Sharingan was hunted by a dude named Danzo. He had already lost one eye to him and was trying to protect his other eye. He decided that the best thing to do was to give his super eye powers to someone else secretly. But he knew that not everyone can handle his Sharingan, as it sucks a whole lot of chakra. So for some reason, he decided that I would be the best choice for giving away his powers. So he sneaked into my place and transferred his eye chakra to me."
"I didn't know that the young Shimura had gone rogue," Mito remarked sadly as Naruto paused for a breath of air. "He was in charge of a separate ANBU division during the time of my death."
"Well, that got disbanded officially after the war, but he's doing plenty of messed up shit in the background." Naruto said, grimacing at Kabuto's memories. "The Third didn't know about a good chunk of what he was up to, so he tolerated Danzo since he thought he had the well-being of the village in mind."
"How are you more informed about this than the Hokage?" Mito asked, shocked at Naruto's knowledge.
"I'll come to that," Naruto promised, wincing at having to explain his soul-sucking powers. "I only came to know today."
"Please continue your narrative, Naruto. Sorry for the interruption. I was just shocked at everything that had happened."
Naruto nodded in understanding. "So, when Shisui gave me the special Uchiha chakra of the Mangekyou Sharingan, it combined with my own chakra, and created the chakra of the sage as a result."
Mito nodded, finally finding a sensible explanation. "You said something about having met the Sage?" Mito asked, going to the most perplexing part of the story.
"Yeah, his chakra is so strong that it remained after his death, and is watching over what's happening in the Shinobi world. When I awakened the Rinnegan, he appeared within my mind and spoke to me."
"What did he say?" Mito asked, scarcely believing what she was hearing.
"He explained how I got the Rinnegan, and told me a bit about its powers. He said I'll figure out most of it along the way. He taught me this," he said, casually forming a rod made of Yin chakra, "how to float, a bit on how to control gravity, and how to interpret what I see with the Rinnegan. He said that there's more to the story, but he doesn't want to burden me with more details at this time."
Mito watched the Yin release rod in fascination. "This is incredible. The Rinnegan is said to be the original bloodline limit and said to encompass all bloodlines. It is said to be the eye that enables the wielder to ascend above the karmic cycle of birth and death. To think it has appeared in this world after such a long time…"
"Pervy Sage said another student of his had the Rinnegan. He was an orphan from the hidden rain and was probably an Uzumaki based on his hair. That was a long time ago, though. That guy, Nagato, was killed a few years after Jiraiya trained him."
"Another Uzumaki with the Rinnegan?" Mito asked in disbelief. "How did that happen?"
"He doesn't know how. He said Nagato died to Hanzo the salamander, and it was very painful to think about him."
Mito nodded. This probably happened after her death, or she would have heard about it otherwise.
"Can you tell me what you see through your eyes?" she asked curiously.
"I see the chakra inside everyone, and what kind of affinity they have. I can also see what they look like normally. It's like I see the chakra on top of normal vision. I can see the eight inner gates and a person's chakra network. I can see pretty far, too, depending on the amount of chakra a person has. For example, I could see Gaara from the other end of the village because of how much chakra he has. I can see the barrier jutsu surrounding the village. If I create a shadow clone, I can see what the clone sees as well. Kind of like a shared vision. The Rinnegan is super helpful in understanding how jutsu works, but it's not broken like the Sharingan which can copy a jutsu just like that…"
That's quite an impressive range of visual abilities." Mito remarked. The Rinnegan's abilities seemed to be centered around chakra.
"I can also see souls," Naruto said hesitantly. "I didn't fully realize what it was till I saw you, granny…"
Mito's eyes widened in surprise. "Could you please explain that, Naruto?"
"I can see a ghostly outline around you, and I can see some white threadlike thing sewing that outline to the body," Naruto said hesitantly.
Mito grimaced at the abnormal state of existence she was reduced to.
Naruto continued. "I could see the sky turn black above the stadium, and a weird purple rip opening above it. I saw your souls getting dragged inside that barrier."
"That's incredible." Mito was awestruck once more. 'The Rinnegan is truly in a higher realm. To think it can see the gateway to the pure world!'
Naruto hesitated. "Earlier, one of Orochimaru's spies called Kabuto had kidnapped Sakura to threaten me. He wanted to answer a few questions of his. During the exam, I used both water and earth styles. I couldn't use any elemental jutsu before. I guessed that he wanted to know how I learned all that in a month. He didn't give me much time and started to squeeze her throat. He then hit her with the medical chakra slightly above the death gate, at the cardiac nexus. That stimulated a pseudo-death state by inducing extreme bradycardia, but I thought she was really gonna die!"
Mito was slightly disoriented at the abrupt jargon from Naruto, who usually used very informal speech. "You're quite knowledgeable about medical ninjutsu." she praised, being reminded of her granddaughter.
"Yeah, that's a side effect." Naruto grimaced.
"Side-effect? Of what?"
"When I thought that Kabuto had killed Sakura, I kind of lost control. I pulled Kabuto towards me with gravity manipulation, and," Naruto shivered involuntarily, "I sucked his soul out of him and absorbed it using a technique called Ningendō."
Mito was floored by the revelation. Her expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief. "You absorbed a soul?" she repeated, appalled. She couldn't wrap her head around the implications of such a thing. Although she had applied a soul seal on herself, it was another matter to manipulate someone else's soul. It wasn't something she would have thought possible without the intervention of the Shinigami. For a human to wield such power… would it be fair to call someone like that a human? Her husband was called a god, but even he couldn't do something as profound as extracting and absorbing a soul. This ability touched on the very essence of life and death, a domain traditionally reserved for mythical entities.
"Naruto, that's... unheard of. Absorbing a soul is beyond what even the most forbidden jutsu are thought capable of." Seeing Naruto's discomfort, she softened her tone, realizing the gravity of the burden he carried. "This is a very serious matter," she continued, her voice more composed but still showing concern. "We need to understand how this happened. We have to comprehend the implications of what this means. What are the side effects that you mentioned?"
"I know everything that Kabuto knew in his life. He was a medical ninja, that's where my knowledge of medical ninjutsu came from. It has not blended in completely yet, and I don't know how much it will integrate with me, but if I try to recall medical ninjutsu, I can remember everything he knew. But I can't use it even remotely well since my chakra control is so bad."
Mito struggled to keep her composure as she realized what this technique does. It is an incredible information-gathering tool, but as Naruto absorbs more souls, it could be possible that his personality may shift and begin to identify more with some of the absorbed souls. It was a dangerous technique.
"This may be dangerous for you as well. Please refrain from using this justu in the future." Mito advised.
"I don't plan to." Naruto shuddered. "I have a feeling I'll have a lot of nightmares from what Kabuto has experienced and what he has done. He was manipulated by Danzo since he joined as a ROOT agent from the orphanage. Danzo set things up so that he killed the orphanage matron, whom he thought of as his own mother. Orochimaru took advantage of this and got Kabuto to do his dirty work as a double agent. He helped the snake freak conduct some sick and twisted experiments on humans." Naruto felt sick as he recalled the twisted experiments.
Mito's visage darkened. "We will deal with Danzo. And that snake may still be alive. If he gave that seal to others…."
"Yeah, Kabuto had a feeling that the seal was for something like that. There's a dangerous crystal release user called Guran and a Kaguya clan member with the dead bone pulse bloodline called Kimimaro who has the cursed seal. Kimimaro is on the verge of death, though. Then there's the sound four, who were his bodyguards. They were the ones that made the barrier around the Hokage earlier."
Mito frowned thoughtfully. "Those four are dead. The two others that you mentioned could be a problem."
"Well, one good thing that came out of all this is that I know all of his hideouts, I think. At least those that Orochimaru knew. I know where these two are supposed to be."
"Once the invasion is over, we will inform Hiruzen and make it our first priority to take them down." Mito nodded, relieved that they now had so much intel on the enemy.
"So, did you know the Third when he was like, really young?" Naruto asked curiously.
Mito laughed. "I had visited his family when he was born along with my husband. My husband and his brother had trained him, and I watched him grow up and become the Hokage."
"Wow…" That certainly gave Naruto some perspective.
"Have you ever met Tsunade, Naruto? My granddaughter?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I only know her from Kabuto's intel. She's apparently into gambling and drinking these days." He winced as he saw Mito's expression.
"What… happened to her? She was depressed after she lost Nawaki and Dan, but I thought she would pull herself out of it. I remember her shutting herself up in her room during the second war after she lost Dan. I used to talk to her at length daily, hoping to break her out of her shell. I don't know if she ever recovered, as I died shortly after that. It seems like she never did."
"Apparently, she developed a fear of blood during the second shinobi war," Naruto said, relying on Kabuto's intel once more.
"She… never told me about that," Mito said sadly. "She probably didn't want to worry me. So that's why she was forced to retire as a Shinobi…"
"We'll get her back! Stuff happens, she can't just hide away because of that! We'll go and talk to her. We can ask pervy sage to come along, too!" Naruto declared.
Mito smiled. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm unsure how long I should linger in this world. As it is, I am cheating death. I do not wish to be a restless spirit wandering this world in a borrowed body." When she saw Naruto's crestfallen expression, she relented a little. "But I will try to stay for a bit longer, at least until the issue with Orochimaru is resolved and Tsunade is saved from the pits of self-loathing."
Naruto cheered up a little. Getting rid of Orochimaru is bound to take some time, anyway.
"So, granny Mito, could you tell me more about your family? You told me about my side, but I wanted to know more about you, too."
Mito smiled sadly. "Well, it's not a very happy story. A few years after Hashirama and I were married, we welcomed our first child. Unfortunately, she was killed at the tender age of three by assassins who had snuck into the clan compound. Hashirama and I were away on a mission, and the assassins had killed her caretaker and the guards to get to her."
"B-but she was a baby!" Naruto was horrified.
"Such things happened frequently during that time," Mito said bitterly. "We couldn't identify which clan the assassins belonged to, as Hashirama had killed them instantly when he discovered them and they wore no identification announcing their affiliation. Tobirama suspected the Uchiha, who were the go-to suspects if anything went wrong in the clan. I am unsure. Anyway, for a few years, we decided not to have children until it was safe to do so. A year after Konoha was formed, our second child was born. We named him Hayahiko. Hayahiko later had two children, Tsunade and Nawaki. As I mentioned before, Nawaki died before becoming a teenager."
Naruto grimaced at Mito's story and felt bad that he had pried.
Mito decided to change the topic and address the last item she wanted to talk to Naruto about. "Have you made contact with the Nine Tails, Naruto?"
Naruto shook his head. "Pervy sage wanted me to do that, so he taught me the summoning jutsu and wanted me to use the Ninte Tails' chakra to summon it. But I couldn't get it to work. Then he had the bright idea of throwing me down a cliff to force the Nine-Tails to save me. That didn't work either, because my Rinnegan awakened at that time and I flew out of the ravine using its powers."
"He did what?!" Naruto felt a strong pressure being emitted from Mito. Reddish chakra was visible around her and her eyes appeared to be reddening. As Naruto stepped back in alarm, Mito quickly composed herself and cut off the scary chakra flow. She took a few deep breaths and looked at Naruto apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I lost control for a moment. I will have a talk with Jiraiya." Her voice was positively shaking with rage, so Naruto assumed that the talk would not be a very pleasant one. Oh well, you reap what you sow!
"Let me help you with your first meeting with the Nine Tails. The fox positively hates me, but reasoning with it isn't really an option." Mito shook her head.
"The sage requested me to be gentle with him. He said that his name is Kurama, actually…" Naruto recalled.
At this point, Mito was mostly beyond the point of being surprised at Naruto's ridiculous experiences. "There are Uzumaki legends that the sage is the first jinchuuriki. Our sealing formula for sealing the Nine Tails was based on a design passed down in our clan that was attributed to the sage. But I didn't know that he was the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails!"
"He said he was the Jinchuuriki of the Ten-Tails, and he created the tailed beasts from its chakra. The Ten-Tails was a great monster during his time. He didn't go into any details about that, though. He mentioned it because I have the Nine-Tails within me."
Mito nodded slowly as he processed that information. The concept of a Ten-Tails was mind-boggling and terrifying. The sage was truly a god if he could contain such a monster.
"So… how are we doing this?" Naruto asked.
"I need to access your sealing formula, which is located in your stomach. Could you please raise your shirt so as to expose it?"
"Sure!" Naruto rolled up his shirt to expose his belly. Now that he looked at it carefully, he could see what she was talking about. The Rinnegan showed him an extremely complicated and intricate sealing formula around his stomach. He channeled some chakra to his navel and watched in fascination as it flowed through the seal.
Mito placed her palm above the seal. "We will enter your consciousness shortly. Close your eyes and regulate your breathing." She said as she slowly trickled her chakra into the seal. Naruto did as instructed.
A moment later, Naruto had his eyes open. He was standing on water, and he seemed to be in a dimly lit tunnel. Mito was standing beside him. His eyes revealed that the water he was seeing was actually chakra. He himself was now made almost entirely of chakra, and the same was the case for Mito.
"This is similar to back when I met with Super Gramps Sage," Naruto recalled. "But I wasn't in a tunnel back then."
"This is a representation of your chakra circulatory system, to be exact," Mito explained. "The seal enables you to access the Nine Tails' chakra by linking its chakra to your system." Her head suddenly snapped right, startled. "It seems we are not alone." She said, smiling. "Hello, Kushina."
As Naruto's gaze followed Mito's, he noticed two figures approaching down the tunnel. The first one was a woman with long red hair like Mito, and the second one was a man with blond hair like him. From the way Mito called out to her, he realized that they were his mother and the Fourth Hokage.
"M…mom?!"
"Hello, Naruto." Kushina's voice was warm, her eyes glistening with tears of joy. She and the man beside her bowed deeply to Mito. "Lady Mito," Kushina said with respect. The man next to her also mirrored her gesture with reverence.
"It's been too long, Kushina." Mito's smile was gentle. "And who is this with you?" Is it your husband?"
"What?! That's the fourth Hokage!" Naruto blurted out. That couldn't possibly be his father, could it?
"You're both right. I am Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. I am Kushina's husband, and your father, Naruto."
Naruto felt like someone punched his gut. He felt weak on his knees as he gazed at the man who had just claimed to be his father. The man who might be singularly responsible for making his life a living hell. Even the tears that had started to flow as he saw his mother seemed to have frozen in his cheeks.
Minato watched as Naruto struggled with his emotions. He could see a lot of emotions in his son's face, but surprisingly there was no hatred.
"Why?" Naruto whispered after a long pause.
Minato sighed. "I could have stopped the Nine Tails by sealing it wholly within myself. As I was about to die anyway, the physical consequences would not have mattered. However, that would have made you powerless to fight the impending evil, Naruto. I didn't know at that time that you would awaken the Rinnegan. That was the only power I could entrust you with as a father to fight the enemy."
"Enemy?" Naruto asked faintly, slowly recovering from the shock.
"On the night of your birth, we were attacked by a Shinobi whom we believed to be Madara Uchiha."
"That's impossible," Mito said automatically. "Unless he is a reanimated shinobi like me. Tobirama was quite thorough in disposing of Madara's body. He ensured that every cell of his body was burnt to ashes and sealed away the ashes in a different dimension for good measure. It would have been quite difficult to retrieve even his genetic sample for resurrecting him." Naruto was flabbergasted at Mito's unbelievable description of the lengths the Second Hokage went to. Even Kushina had her brows arched up in disbelief.
Minato frowned thoughtfully. "He slipped through our barriers undetected, extracted the Nine Tails without much effort, and controlled it with his Sharingan. He also has a strange space-time jutsu that allows him to slip through objects and teleport at will. It was very tricky to land a hit on him, although I managed it eventually." Minato explained.
"The last power you described was not something Madara had in his lifetime," Mito informed them. "And if you had truly fought a reanimated Madara, the village would not have survived. I do not mean to discredit you by any means, Fourth Hokage, but only my husband could stop him. Even Tobirama or myself would die quite quickly if we fought against him."
Minato reconsidered. Madara Uchiha had indeed been thought of as a monster. If he did not possess the intangibility ability in his life, then he was likely an imposter. But then, who among the Uchiha had the power to control the Nine Tails? The man's appearance did not match up to any Uchiha he knew. Perhaps it could be a Uchiha that might have gone missing during one of the great wars.
"Probably an imposter, then. But I don't think anyone within the Uchiha clan had the ability to control a tailed beast at that time, nor did they have a reason to. He was a foe with immense power and a dangerous ideology."
"I can't see how Madara could have survived. Hashirama was quite sure that he was not fooled… Either way, the opponent you described seems quite dangerous."
"So... is that why you sealed the Nine-Tails within me?" Naruto asked.
Minato nodded. "This was the main reason from my perspective as a father. As the Hokage, I am also forced to think of the balance of power between the nations. If Konoha loses the Nine-Tails, the hidden stone and lightning will seize that opportunity to destroy us. A war-torn world is a hellish place to grow up in. I did not have options when it came to choosing a Jinchuuriki, as it has to be done at a young age. How could I ask others when my own child, who was acclimated to the Nine Tails' chakra by growing inside Kushina's womb, was not chosen?" He said bitterly. Beside him, he could feel Kushina's displeasure. But it was directed at this accursed world of shinobi rather than at him.
Naruto breathed deeply as he processed that information. Objectively, he knew that his father was fully in the right. Unlike Gaara's father who simply wanted a weapon, his father wanted to equip him to defend himself. Although it was the greatest burden, it was also his greatest asset. This also ensured that he would be protected by the village at all costs. He just had to put aside the unnecessary doubts and misgivings he was having due to exposing himself to the pasts of Gaara and Kabuto.
"I understand, Dad." He said quietly. He could detect no lie in his father's tone. "I guess that's what it means to be Hokage. To treat the entire village as your family…"
"Naruto…" Kushina took a step forward towards her son after allowing her husband to explain his actions. "I know it hurts, but as Lady Mito once told me, the only way to overcome it is to fill your heart with an emotion stronger than the hatred directed at you. Fill your heart with love." She opened her arms wide, smiling at Naruto. Naruto didn't hesitate and launched himself to his mother's arms.
"Group hug!" Kushina announced and yanked Minato into the embrace. She looked hopefully at Mito, who joined them with an amused smile.
"Thank you," Naruto said tearily, overwhelmed with emotion. For the first time in his life, he had a family.
"We don't have long, Naruto," Minato said apologetically. "The chakra we could infuse into the seal is weak. It will fade in a few minutes. I had planned it so that I would appear if the seal was in need of repair, and Kushina would appear if you wanted to suppress the Nine Tails. But it was meant to be a one-time thing. We chose to appear now as Lady Mito would be able to take care of both of these things."
"What? No!" Naruto exclaimed in dismay. "You have to stay longer! You have to!"
Desperately, Naruto looked at his parents' chakra. He could see it becoming less prominent with time. He observed how their chakra vibrated at slightly different frequencies, and how each had a slightly different mix of yin and yang chakra. He observed the density of their chakra and their distinct elemental affinities. The purity and concentration of chakra were also different. Almost unconsciously, he imitated his chakra to match his father's, who was fading at a faster rate.
"Please, Naruto, try to understand. This is something beyond our control." Kushina said, trying to console her son. Minato and Mito, however, observed Naruto with wonder.
"Let me try something." Naruto extended his palm. Minato quickly replicated his gesture without question. Naruto willed his chakra to flow into his father, and it obeyed. His chakra, now completely identical to his father's, flowed and reinforced Minato's form. Kushina's mouth dropped in wonder as Minato's chakra levels shot up.
"Your turn, Mom!" Naruto exclaimed as he finished transferring his chakra to Minato. Minato looked at his palms in wonder. He could last a few months more with the amount of chakra Naruto just transferred.
"How are you doing this?" Kushina asked, stunned. She too extended her palm, and Naruto began to transfer chakra that was identical to hers.
"It's possible for people with high proficiency in medical ninjutsu. That's how they treat chakra exhaustion." Naruto grinned widely. "My chakra control is too poor to do that, but the Rinnegan is very good at changing the nature of chakra like this. I just learned to imitate your chakra by watching it."
"It truly is the parent of all bloodline limits," Minato said with wonder. "You will become an incredible shonobi, Naruto." He said with pride.
"Thanks, Dad." Naruto grinned, blushing slightly at the praise from the village hero. That hero was his father! And he could talk to him whenever he wanted now! "You guys can use that chakra for a few months. I can recharge you as many times as you want."
"I'm so glad!" Kushina hugged Naruto, tears streaming from her face. "You gave me a chance to be a proper mother. Thank you, Naruto! Thank you!" She sobbed. Naruto awkwardly patted her back, fighting back his own tears.
"Initially, we planned to assist Lady Mito and help you control the Nine Tails. But now, we can take our time."
Mito nodded. "As a battle is still being waged, it would be unwise to linger here too long. Let us first go and meet the Nine-Tails, or Kurama as he is named."
The three of them nodded, and they silently followed Mito's lead. Soon, they reached an enormous chamber that was split in the middle with a huge iron gate. A large piece of paper with the kanji for 'Seal' was placed on top of the huge iron gate.
"Um… hello. Kurama?" Naruto called meekly, unsure of what to expect.
"So…" a deep guttural voice that resonated with the room came from within the cage. "I finally meet my third sentry at long last." Two gigantic eyes, glowing red, opened in front of them.