The residual blinding light of their final, catastrophic assault slowly dissipated, leaving behind a silence so absolute it rang in the ears. The dark void of the subterranean mindscape felt stripped bare, cleansed of its suffocating tension.
Where Ashura Ōtsutsuki had stood, nothing physical remained. His lingering spirit had been completely obliterated, but his spectral host—the ethereal, translucent phantom of Ashura Ōtsutsuki—was slowly disintegrating into faint, shimmering particles. The phantom's eyes were blank, its form dissolving like ash caught in an unseen draft. Yet, as the spirit dissipated, the raw, ancient chakra that had fueled it did not vanish. It lingered, floating throughout the wide cavern in vibrant, emerald-green wisps of pure, unadulterated vitality.
Naruto and Kurama powered down simultaneously. The brilliant golden mantle surrounding Naruto flickered and vanished, leaving him in his standard clothes, though the distinct pigmentation of Sage Mode still painted the skin around his eyes. Beside him, the giant fox shrank back down into his physical mindscape form, his nine tails settling behind him.
Kurama lifted his snout, sniffing the cold air deeply. He let out a low hrumph. "I can't smell Ashura's stubborn presence anymore, but his chakra... it's lingering everywhere in this room."
Naruto closed his eyes for a second, his Sage sensory abilities picking up the vast ocean of energy hovering around them. "All that power," Naruto murmured, shaking his head with a bitter smile. "And Ashura used it all to chase after a broken dream and a dead Uchiha. You really were a fool, Ashura . You could have lived a happy life—even a peaceful afterlife with your family. But no, you had to run after an Uchiha, just like every other reincarnation before me."
Naruto turned to look up at the massive fox. "So, what should we do with all this chakra, Kurama? Technically, this wood and sage energy was stolen from the world's natural order anyway. Is it safe?"
"It was meant to be reclaimed from the start," Kurama replied smoothly, resting his massive chin on his crossed paws. "If Hashirama hadn't sealed me away and suppressed my nature, this energy would have naturally cycled through the world and met us long ago. You carry the Uzumaki bloodline and the perfected Sage Mode. It won't corrupt you, Naruto."
"Alright," Naruto said, rolling his shoulders. "So how do I do this? Do I just hold up my hands and wait for it to come to me?"
"Just walk into the center of it, sit down, and draw it in the exact same way you absorb natural energy for Sage Mode," Kurama instructed. "It's saturated with natural energy and Ōtsutsuki vitality. It will accept you effortlessly."
Naruto nodded. He stepped forward, his sandals making crisp splash-splash sounds against the shallow water beneath his feet. Small, even ripples expanded across the dark surface with every step. Reaching the dense center of the floating emerald wisps, he relaxed his posture, sat cross-legged on the water, and closed his eyes.
He took a slow, deep breath, opening his internal chakra pathways.
Within seconds, the room responded. The floating emerald particles began to swirl, drawn toward Naruto like iron filings to a powerful magnet. A soft, green-gold aura enveloped his body. As the ancient chakra poured through his coils, Naruto felt his flesh, bones, and pathways absorbing the dense vitality. His baseline strength wasn't just expanding; it was fundamentally restructuring itself.
Kurama watched from a short distance, his slitted eyes gleaming with quiet awe.
How much stronger are you going to get, kid? Kurama thought to himself, a faint smirk tugging at his fangs. You already possessed the prestigious physique of an Uzumaki Sage. Now, your body is absorbing the purest concentration of Senju vitality in history. By the time you reach your absolute physical prime... I doubt there will be a single threat left on this planet capable of making you sweat.
After several minutes, the green light faded completely. Every drop of A's lingering chakra had been completely integrated into Naruto's system.
Naruto stood up slowly. He looked down at his hands, opening and closing his fists tightly. He flexed his arms, feeling the subtle shift in his physique—his muscles were noticeably more defined, denser, and surging with a terrifying amount of passive physical force. It felt remarkably similar to the first time he had ever mastered Sage Mode or tapped into Kurama's chakra, except this wasn't an active transformation. This was simply his new, passive baseline.
Testing his new physical boundaries, Naruto took a solid stance, pulled his right fist back, and threw a casual, standard straight punch into the empty air—using the exact same minimal effort he would normally use to warm up.
WHOOSH!
A sharp, deafening atmospheric crack echoed through the mindscape. The pure kinetic displacement of his fist created a visible, localized vacuum tunnel that ripped across the water for fifty yards, blasting a trench straight through the room before the water collapsed back in on itself.
Naruto stared at his fist in mild shock, then looked at the swirling air current he had just casually created. "Man... I'm going to need to practice a lot more just to handle my normal strength now."
"Yeah, unless you want to accidentally snap someone's spine when you give them a hug," Kurama snickered dryly. "I suggest you practice suppressing your strength down to the absolute ground before you head back to the real world."
Leaving the deepest layer of the seal space behind, Naruto returned to the primary chamber near the unsealed iron gates, where the chakra projections of Minato and Kushina were waiting.
Minato was pacing back and forth with his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin, while Kushina was nervously biting her lip, her hands clasped tightly together.
"I hope he's alright," Kushina muttered anxiously, her red hair fluttering with her agitation. "Why couldn't we go in there with him? My poor baby..."
"We can't fight all of his battles for him, Kushina, even if it hurts us to watch," Minato said gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Naruto has fought every single one of his battles alone up until now. This was just another hurdle on his road. He's stronger than either of us."
"I know that!" Kushina huffed, her eyes tearing up slightly. "I know, but I still fear for him! For his whole life he was alone! Now that he finally has his parents here to guide him, we can't even stand beside him for one fight?!"
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore, Mom," a warm voice interrupted.
Both Minato and Kushina whipped around. Naruto was standing near the open seal gate alongside Kurama's massive form, giving them a broad, cheeky grin and a wave. "I'm back."
Before Minato could even open his mouth, Kushina blurred forward, completely disregarding her spiritual state as she grabbed Naruto by his shoulders, fussing over him like a frantic mother bird. She held his face, turning his head left and right, checking his arms, and squeezing his chest.
"Let me look at you! Are you alright?!" she demanded, her voice a mix of frantic worry and relief. "Is there any scratch on you? Are you feeling okay? And..." She paused, blinking as her hands pressed against his chest and shoulders. She squinted suspiciously. "...Why are you noticeably more muscular than you were ten minutes ago?!"
Minato stepped up, gently placing a hand on Kushina's arm to pull her back slightly. "Alright, Kushina, let the boy breathe." Minato then turned his sharp blue eyes onto Naruto, a raised eyebrow betraying his immense curiosity. "Though I have to admit, son... I'd also like to know why your baseline chakra signature suddenly feels exponentially more powerful than it did before you stepped through those gates."
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, sitting down on the water in a casual cross-legged stance as he launched into an explanation. He detailed everything—Ashura's spirit lurking in the deeper layer of the seal, the ancient feud, Ashura's fanatical obsession with the Uchiha, how Ashura had subconsciously suppressed the original Naruto's potential, and finally, how Naruto and Kurama had obliterated the ancient spirit and absorbed the leftover Senju chakra.
Kushina listened with her mouth slightly agape, her cheeks flushing with a mixture of disbelief and pure rage. "Our own ancestor did something like that to you?! He crippled your childhood potential just so you'd be nice to an Uchiha?! He didn't care about the Uzumaki or the Senju at all—he only cared about his brother's line!"
She threw her hands up in absolute outrage, before suddenly turning her head to glare sharply at Minato. Her eyes narrowed into deadly crimson slits.
Minato blinked, taking a cautious step back. "K-Kushina? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Minato, dear," Kushina said, her voice dripping with an eerie, dangerously sweet tone that made even Kurama tilt his head in amusement. "I would like to ask you something very serious."
"Y-Yes, sweetie?"
"Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you were completely faithful to me during our marriage? Or even before we got married?"
Minato's jaw practically hit the watery floor. He held his hands up defensively, sweating profusely. "I am one hundred percent sure! I swear on my title as Hokage, I was completely faithful to you before, during, and always, Kushina! Why on earth would you suddenly ask me something like that?!"
"Oh, nothing!" Kushina crossed her arms, raising her chin with a huff. "Just the way Naruto was talking earlier about how ridiculous it would be if Sasuke were his half-brother! It made me think about Itachi Uchiha! You and Mikoto were very close friends back in the day, weren't you?!"
Minato shook his head so fast his yellow hair became a blur. "No! No, no, no, absolute not! Mikoto was a wonderful friend, but I never slept with her! We never had a romantic relationship of any kind, Kushina, I promise you!"
Kushina tapped her chin thoughtfully, though her eyes were still narrowed in mock suspicion. "Then how on earth do you explain Itachi's absolute genius? I'm sure that level of talent didn't come from Fugaku!"
Minato let out a long, exhausted sigh of relief, wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Kushina... I'm pretty sure Itachi got his talent from Mikoto herself. She was an elite ANBU officer, remember? She was your primary rival back then!"
Kushina paused, huffing softly as she considered it. "Hmm... well, yeah, I guess you're right about that."
Naruto chuckled softly at his parents' banter before pushing himself up off the floor. "Alright, you two can keep chit-chatting up here. I need to wake up in the real world and explain everything to the Toads."
In the physical world, night had fallen over Mount Myōboku. The sky was a deep indigo, painted with brilliant stars, and a pale crescent moon hung high above the giant toad oil statues.
Naruto's eyes snapped open. He sat up from his meditation cushion, taking a deep breath of the crisp night air. As he stretched his arms above his head, his joints gave off a series of loud, satisfying cracks.
"Ah, Naruto-boy! You're finally awake," Fukasaku said, hopping off a nearby stone alongside Shima.
The surrounding clearing was filled with several prominent members of the Toad Elder council. Sitting at the very center was Gamamaru, the Great Toad Sage, his massive, ancient eyes blinking slowly down at the young shinobi.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you," Fukasaku added, gesturing politely toward the giant toad. "This is Lord Gamamaru, the Supreme Elder of our clan."
Naruto bowed his head respectfully. "It's nice to meet you, Lord Gamamaru."
"Ah... nice to meet you too, Naruto-boy," Gamamaru replied, his voice slow and echoing with the weight of centuries. "The atmosphere around you... it has shifted quite remarkably."
Naruto sat down with the elders, accepting a hot bowl of toad-style soup that Shima handed him. As he ate, he explained his progress—how his father and mother's residual chakra had helped him stabilize his mindscape, how he had formed a complete, uninhibited bond with Nine-Tails, and how they had successfully unsealed the Nine-Tails' chakra completely.
Fukasaku listened intently, his eyes wide. "So... Minato and Kushina's chakra signatures are still preserved within the seal?"
"Yeah, not technically alive in the physical sense," Naruto clarified, taking a bite of his food. "It's just their lingering chakra, but with Nine-Tails help, we managed to stabilize and extend their lifespan inside my mindscape by a huge margin. I can talk to them whenever I want now."
Shima shook her head in wonder. "That chakra shroud you manifested earlier was truly fascinating, Naruto-chan. I have seen many Jinchūriki in my long life, but I have never seen one produce a brilliant golden shroud like that. Even Killer Bee of the Hidden Cloud, who fully mastered the Eight-Tails, never manifested anything resembling a golden form."
"It's probably a combination of things," Naruto reasoned, swallowing his food. "Nine-Tails chakra is unique, but combining his energy with perfected Sage Mode transformed the shroud entirely. I'm tapping into his power without transforming into the full physical fox."
"Well," Fukasaku smiled warmly, clapping his webbed hands together. "Let us not overcomplicate it tonight! We should celebrate! Naruto-kun has accomplished what no shinobi in history ever has—mastering both the legendary Sage Mode and the full power of the Nine-Tails simultaneously!"
The elders cheered softly, enjoying a quiet late-night feast together. Before turning in for the night, Naruto mentioned to Fukasaku that he would need to spend the early morning hours doing physical control training to adjust to his massive baseline strength increase.
The next morning, as the sun began to rise over the misty peaks of Mount Myōboku, Naruto stood near the edge of a tall stone pillar, looking out at the golden horizon.
Suddenly, a massive rush of memories, physical feedback, and sensory data hit his brain all at once—the return of a Shadow Clone's memory.
The clone he had dispatched to the Land of Lightning had successfully intercepted Matatabi, the Two-Tails, and her Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii. The clone had managed to save her from the Akatsuki ambush, securing her safety and establishing a peaceful line of communication between their Tailed Beasts.
Naruto placed his hands on his hips, taking a deep breath of the morning air as he communicated mentally with Kurama.
Well, looks like another threat is taken care of, Naruto thought, a confident grin touching his lips. Yugito and Matatabi are safe.
Good, Kurama replied in his mind, sounding thoroughly pleased. That's now two of my siblings secured away from those Akatsuki bastards.
Moments later, a second flood of memories washed over Naruto's consciousness—this time from the Shadow Clone he had sent alongside Karin to the ruined landscape of Uzukagure.
Closing his eyes, Naruto focused his spiritual connection to the seal, reaching out to his mother's chakra projection inside his mindscape.
"Hey, Mom?" Naruto called out internally. "My clone is at the ruins of Uzukagure right now with Karin. Is there a specific place where the Uzumaki clan used to store their most valuable artifacts or secret sealing scrolls?"
Inside the mindscape, Kushina paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she recalled her childhood memories of her destroyed homeland.
"Hmm... let me think," Kushina replied softly. "If there's anything left that survived the destruction, you should definitely check the massive central vortex lake inside the city ruins. The water there is extremely deep, and there were submerged underground vaults built beneath the lake bed. Otherwise, check the highest mountain peaks surrounding the village—those were the only two places protected by high-level barrier seals that common ninja couldn't break."
Naruto opened his eyes in the real world, his blue eyes gleaming with determination as he looked toward the rising sun.
Got it, Naruto thought to himself. I'll send a message to my clone to check the submerged vaults first. And once I finish fine-tuning this new physical strength with Fukasaku today... I'm heading to Uzukagure to see it for myself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you'd like to support my work and read extra chapters before they're released publicly, I've officially started my Patreon!
At Patreon.com/Godofwhatif
By joining, you'll get:
• Early access to upcoming chapters.
• Extra chapters exclusive to Patreon.
• A chance to support the story and help me continue writing consistently.
If that sounds interesting, I'd love to have you there. Thank you all for your continued support!