"Humph! Kushina, I came out with good intentions to try to persuade you."
"Don't push your luck!"
The Nine-Tails felt bitter inside. Last time, that evil Uchiha ambushed him—if he hadn't reacted fast enough, he might really have fallen into the trap.
Just thinking about having his mind controlled by that evil Sharingan made him furious. As the strongest existence among the nine tailed beasts, he absolutely could not allow something like that to happen.
That would be way too humiliating for a fox.
"Humph, you call that persuading me?"
"My Naruto is extraordinarily talented—what if he doesn't have red hair? Blonde hair looks even better!"
"Don't forget, his dad is the Fourth Hokage!"
Kushina's temper had improved a bit lately, but her nature was still the same—she was still that red-hot chili pepper who exploded at the slightest spark.
That damn Nine-Tails dared to mock her son's hair the moment he showed up. Did he really think Kushina couldn't swing a blade anymore?
"Humph, just a little blond brat."
"I came to talk to you this time for your own good."
"You saw the last enemy too. Whether it was that evil Uchiha or the Rinnegan, neither of them is something you can handle."
"And I don't want to be poisoned again either."
Kushina also recalled the enemy they had encountered before. Just as the Nine-Tails said, the opponent's strength was terrifying—so strong that even if the Nine-Tails stepped in, it wasn't certain he could win.
Back then, even when the two strongest people in the village joined forces, the opponent still managed to retreat unscathed.
Seeing that Kushina had fallen silent, the Nine-Tails spoke again, his voice seeming to carry a hint of bewitchment.
"So, Kushina, for your future, for your son's future, for the future of your blond kid."
"I think we should cooperate."
"Your strength alone isn't enough to face them, but if you add my strength, then even if the opponent has the Sharingan or the Rinnegan, we won't be without a chance."
"How about it? Give me a chance—and give yourself one too?"
The Nine-Tails' words stirred Kushina's heart a little. After all, she wasn't the same person she used to be anymore. She had people she wanted to protect.
Power—she needed it.
Even though she had Minato behind her, and her companions in the village, she still felt it wasn't enough.
Just then, Minato Namikaze returned home.
"Hey, Kushina, the pot's burning dry!"
"There's so much smoke!"
"Kushina—hey, Naruto!"
But what did he see the moment he stepped inside?
The whole house was filled with smoke. Thank goodness Naruto was far away, or he would have been choked badly.
"Oh no! My fish!"
Kushina snapped back to her senses.
Seeing that the fish she had worked so hard to cook had turned into a pile of black charcoal, she lashed out without a second thought.
Before the Nine-Tails could even react, dozens of chains suddenly appeared around him.
"Damn it! Kushina! You burned your own cooking—why are you blaming me?!"
The Nine-Tails felt utterly wronged. He hadn't done anything at all, yet the chains multiplied several times over and wrapped tightly around his body.
For a moment, the Nine-Tails wanted to go berserk immediately, cause a huge ruckus, and let Kushina know exactly who he, the Nine-Tails, really was!
"Humph! Why shouldn't I blame you!"
"If you hadn't said all that nonsense to me, would I have burned it?!"
"These chains are your retribution!"
The Adamantine Sealing Chains tied the Nine-Tails up like a rice dumpling. After that, Kushina stopped paying him any attention.
The kitchen was burned, lunch was ruined, and after discussing it, Minato Namikaze and Kushina decided to go to Gekko Chizan's place to mooch a meal.
Why his house? Because they were close, of course.
...
"So, Kushina, you really burned down the kitchen?"
"Hahahaha, impressive, impressive. When it comes to cooking, it really has to be you, Kushina."
At the dining table, Gekko Chizan laughed so hard he was almost out of breath. After all, he'd never experienced something like burning down a kitchen before.
Kushina shot Gekko Chizan a vicious glare, but for some reason, she suddenly thought of what the Nine-Tails had said earlier.
Her mood immediately grew heavy.
"What's wrong, Kushina? Feeling unwell?"
Pakura struck Gekko Chizan from the side. Using a self-created ninjutsu on her own man had extremely impressive damage.
The pain made Gekko Chizan suck in a sharp breath.
"No... I just thought of some things."
Minato Namikaze also noticed that something was off with Kushina and quickly held her hand, comforting her in this way.
Meanwhile, a glint of sharp insight flashed in Gekko Chizan's eyes. He suddenly felt that he knew why Kushina was like this.
A Jinchūriki understands another Jinchūriki best.
"Chōmei, what do you think that bastard Nine-Tails said to Kushina?"
"How would I know? That stinking fox has such a foul temper. But Kushina is from the Uzumaki clan—her sealing techniques are probably enough to make him careful."
Gekko Chizan took a sip of wine. He felt that this matter wasn't so simple.
Thinking back to the Night of the Nine-Tails, Kushina had suddenly erupted into a tailed beast transformation. You had to know that all these years, Kushina had only ever suppressed the Nine-Tails—she had never practiced tailed beast transformation at all.
Suddenly turning half-tailed like that should have been extremely difficult for her.
Yet that night, she was able to directly use the Nine-Tails' chakra. To say the Nine-Tails hadn't been secretly pushing things along—he didn't believe it.
He then glanced at Minato, and Minato Namikaze looked back at him.
After exchanging a look, the two nodded in tacit understanding.
After lunch, Minato Namikaze and Gekko Chizan stood up at the same time.
"Pakura, watch the kids at home. We've got something to take care of."
Gekko Chizan raised his hand and placed it directly on the shoulders of Minato and Kushina. In the next second, all three vanished at the same time.
Seeing this, Pakura frowned slightly.
With her experience, she knew very well that something must have happened.
After all, under normal circumstances, whether it was Gekko Chizan or Minato Namikaze, if they had business to handle, they would never bring Kushina along.
...
Because Gekko Chizan had sensed something was wrong, this Flying Thunder God directly took the two of them out of the village, arriving at a plain near the village.
Standing on a hillside, he looked at Kushina and got straight to the point.
"Kushina, tell us. Did the Nine-Tails say something to you?"
"Otherwise, why are you like this?"
Minato Namikaze didn't speak, but his eyes were full of worry. From this alone, it was clear that this blond guy had noticed something too.
Kushina sighed softly.
"Minato, Chizan, you both know my condition. That night, I communicated with the Nine-Tails."
"That's why what happened back then occurred..."
Minato Namikaze nodded. He had actually known this for a long time. Although to the outside world it was said that Kushina had gone berserk, he knew very well that even on the day of childbirth, when the seal weakened, Kushina still had the medicine Gekko Chizan gave her in hand—a medicine that could repair the body. With that medicine, suppressing the Nine-Tails would have been easy for Kushina.