Uzumaki Mito had been a true princess of the Uzumaki Clan at its peak.
In both strength and mastery of sealing techniques, she far surpassed the later Uzumaki Kushina.
And yet, even she had never been able to sit down and speak calmly with the Nine-Tails.
Anyone locked in a cage like that for decades would eventually go mad.
So what exactly happened in the future?
"That monster… can it really coexist peacefully with a human?" Uchiha Sasuke stared at the screen, watching man and beast converse like equals. It completely overturned everything he thought he knew.
"Does that mean he can fight a Nine-Tails without even borrowing its power?" Hatake Kakashi murmured, analyzing Naruto's words carefully.
"Yeah. That works for me. Otherwise my careful disguise would've been exposed."
Naruto agreed with a grin.
"Hmph. By the way, did you look in a mirror after you changed?" the Nine-Tails teased.
"What do you mean?" Naruto blinked.
The people watching had already realized it.
Naruto's mask was the exact same one Minato had worn on missions twenty years ago. Even the outfit resembled Namikaze Minato's style.
"Take this!"
The wild Nine-Tails of twelve years ago could no longer suppress its fury. It roared and lashed out.
Its enormous claw came crashing down.
Naruto caught it with one hand.
One hand.
"What is this power?" the Nine-Tails growled in disbelief.
They had already seen the beast's destructive strength. A single swipe could level an entire building. Even Konoha's reinforced walls had collapsed instantly under its assault.
And now someone had stopped it barehanded?
Even Tsunade's monstrous strength punches couldn't accomplish that.
What kind of monster was future Naruto?
Was this even reasonable?
In that instant, Naruto's eyes turned a vivid orange-red.
Most people didn't recognize it.
Jiraiya did.
"Sage Mode."
Not just any Sage Mode. It was the one from Mount Myoboku. The aura was unmistakable to him.
He had trained in it himself.
He knew how difficult it was to master.
Even after learning it, he had never reached perfection.
Entering Sage Mode took him time and preparation. He needed assistance. In the middle of battle, it was inconvenient and risky.
He had spent years searching for a way to shorten that activation time.
And here Naruto was, entering Sage Mode instantly.
No exaggerated toad-like features. Just a subtle shift in his pupils.
Perfect Sage Mode.
"That brat actually has talent for senjutsu?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin.
It had to be his future self who brought Naruto to Mount Myoboku.
But the difficulty of Sage Mode was enormous. Among the few who had learned it, even the Fourth Hokage had only just begun grasping it before his death. He had not reached combat proficiency.
If Minato had been able to activate Sage Mode instantly like Naruto, he might have killed Uchiha Kenji on the spot.
Sage Mode dramatically enhanced speed, strength, reflexes, and ninjutsu power.
Minato's Rasengan in normal form couldn't finish him.
In Sage Mode?
That would have been another story.
"Looks like Naruto inherited that talent from Minato," Jiraiya said with satisfaction.
A son inheriting his father's gift. It made sense.
"That's Sage Mode…" Tsunade recognized it immediately as well.
She couldn't use it herself, but she came from a lineage that could.
Her grandfather, the God of Shinobi, had mastered Sage Mode at a level far beyond most. His came from Shikkotsu Forest, through Katsuyu. It differed from Mount Myoboku's style, yet there were shared principles.
"That kid…"
Even Tsunade had to admit, Naruto kept surprising her.
Among the three Legendary Sannin, only Jiraiya had mastered senjutsu, even if she considered it incomplete.
Still, that incomplete Sage Mode had placed him slightly above the other two in raw combat ability.
Part of that was because she focused on medical ninjutsu and Orochimaru devoted himself to research.
But once Jiraiya activated Sage Mode, his dominance was undeniable.
Was this the weight of a future savior?
Not only had Naruto formed a bond with the Nine-Tails, something even her grandmother couldn't achieve, he could also enter perfect Sage Mode instantly.
Under Sage Mode, Naruto charged into battle against the Nine-Tails.
Minato and Kushina, standing to the side, stared at him. A startling guess was forming in their minds.
"Minato… that child…" Kushina almost said it aloud.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique."
Naruto couldn't draw on the Nine-Tails' power in this moment.
But in Sage Mode alone, he was already at least Super Kage Level.
A swarm of shadow clones rushed forward.
Together, they flipped the mountain-sized Nine-Tails onto its back.
The sheer force was terrifying.
The Nine-Tails had never imagined a mere human could reach this level with physical strength alone.
"You… you've made me furious!"
A massive Tailed Beast Bomb began forming instantly.
"Damn."
Naruto's hand instinctively moved to form a Rasengan.
Then he froze.
That would expose him.
The partially formed Rasengan dissipated.
"That was close."
It happened in an instant, but Minato had seen it.
His suspicion solidified.
So it really was what he thought.
"Looks like I'll have to help you," the Nine-Tails inside Naruto spoke.
Everyone suddenly noticed something else.
The sealing space inside Naruto looked completely different from what they had seen before.
In the earlier footage of White Robe Sasuke, Sasuke had invaded Naruto's inner world and found the Nine-Tails locked behind massive gates.
That was the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.
Now those gates were gone.
"Did they reconcile? Is that why the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style isn't needed anymore?" Kakashi whispered.
Suddenly, another hand reached in to help form the Rasengan.
The sight made many viewers' eyes sting.
They had seen something like this before.
In Roran, within the ancient city, Naruto and Minato had once joined forces seamlessly to defeat Mukade with a Rasengan.
Afterward, their memories had been sealed.
But Kaede Kitahara's diary had revealed that hidden moment.
Now they watched father and son side by side once again.
"This jutsu suits the Seventh Hokage's vast Chakra perfectly," Minato said gently. "You should have no trouble mastering it."
"As Hokage, I can't just stand by," he added.
It was clear Minato had guessed something.
He was offering Naruto a way to act without exposing himself.
Naruto understood.
He poured Chakra into the Rasengan.
The palm-sized sphere expanded rapidly, growing enormous, transforming into a Wind Release Rasenshuriken.
"So you infused Wind Release into the Rasengan…"
Minato watched the evolved technique with quiet pride.
"You've become an outstanding Hokage. Even better than I was."
The Wind Release Rasenshuriken collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb midair.
The explosion didn't devastate the battlefield.
It deflected the Tailed Beast Bomb entirely.
Everyone watching was speechless.
They had already witnessed how terrifying a Tailed Beast Bomb was. It could erase everything in its path and create a catastrophic explosion.
Yet Naruto's Wind Release Rasenshuriken knocked it aside.
To fight the Nine-Tails, the Third Hokage and numerous Jonin and Chunin had struggled desperately, barely managing to push it back with the Adamantine Staff.
Minato and Kushina had sacrificed their lives just to seal it.
And now, the Seventh Hokage from the future was practically soloing the Nine-Tails.
Only now did they grasp the magnitude of his power.
Was this what it meant to be the future savior?
The instant the Tailed Beast Bomb was deflected, Naruto dispelled the Rasenshuriken.
He appeared before the Nine-Tails in a blur and placed a hand on its massive body.
"Go to sleep for a while, my friend."
The Nine-Tails, ready to brace for another devastating strike, froze in shock as Naruto suddenly stood before its face.
"What did you just say?"
"I'm sorry… Kurama," Naruto said softly.
Facing the version of the Nine-Tails consumed by hatred in the past, the Seventh Hokage held nothing but regret.