"Hmph. So, Naruto... you think you can beat me now?"
Kurama stood tall, towering over Naruto with his blood-red eyes fixed on him.
He had long awaited this moment, but that didn't mean he'd acknowledge Naruto's power so easily.
"I came here today to defeat you, or earn your recognition. And I will succeed!" Naruto declared, thinking of Minato and Kushina. They were surely watching him now, full of hope and pride.
Before, Naruto might've thought that if he failed, he'd still have another chance, since Natsuro was around.
But now? There was no such thought.He had to succeed, this time.
"Hmph. Then show me what you've got, kid!" Kurama growled, sensing the determination in Naruto's voice. His lips curled into a slight smirk.
Naruto raised his hands and formed a hand seal."Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In the next moment, the entire seal space filled with dozens of Naruto clones.
"If this is all you've got, you're not beating me!" Kurama roared.
A single roar from Kurama sent a powerful shockwave toward them.
Naruto felt the force slam into him, just one roar was this powerful? No wonder everyone feared the Tailed Beasts.
He was shaken, but not deterred.
When the roar subsided, not a single clone had dispersed. Kurama was briefly surprised, then noticed the wind armor surrounding Naruto. He realized.... In that moment, Naruto had already activated another jutsu.
"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, and the clones echoed him, all charging at Kurama.
As they ran, each clone formed a chakra sphere in their hands.
"Rasen Multiple Sphere Barrage!"
Kurama scoffed and swung his massive nine tails, sweeping away several clones instantly.
But a few made it through, and slammed their Rasengans into Kurama's massive frame.
However, given Kurama's sheer size, the Rasengans barely pushed him back a few meters.
"Don't insult me! That weak little tickle of a jutsu won't cut it!" Kurama mocked. Then his nine tails gathered together as several blue and black chakra orbs began to coalesce above his head.
"That's… a Tailed Beast Bomb!" Minato and Kushina gasped, recognizing the terrifying power forming.
"Don't worry. It'll be fine," Natsuro said calmly. Rather than worry about Naruto being hit, he was more concerned about whether the seal space could even withstand the blast.
Still, it should be okay, this space was backed not just by Minato's seal, but also by the power of the Sage of Six Paths. Naruto was the reincarnation of Asura, after all. A single Tailed Beast Bomb shouldn't be enough to shatter that power.
Hearing that, Minato and Kushina relaxed, though Kushina's hand clenched tightly around Minato's sleeve.
Back in the battle, Naruto didn't panic.
No matter how powerful the Tailed Beast Bomb was, if it couldn't land a hit, it was meaningless.
He focused inward, sensing his body's state, and slowly smiled. As he'd hoped, his body was completely still inside.
Golden eye shadow and toad-like horizontal pupils appeared in his eyes, it was Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku!
Finally, the Tailed Beast Bomb fully condensed at Kurama's mouth. But then, it suddenly shrank.
Kurama opened his giant maw and swallowed it.
His cheeks puffed up immediately, swelling with stored energy.
Now it was Naruto's turn. With several clones still remaining, he charged toward Kurama once more.
Kurama didn't hesitate, and fired the blast.
A dark beam of energy exploded from his mouth, engulfing Naruto and all his clones.
At the last second, one clone grabbed Naruto and threw him toward the ceiling.
Half of the clones, along with Naruto, hit the roof of the seal space and began advancing again. The remaining clones, just as the beam reached them, released their chakra and dispersed, returning the energy to Naruto's body.
Kurama watched as the energy blast climbed toward Naruto, but curiously, the distance between them increased.
That's because, in Sage Mode, Naruto's overall abilities had skyrocketed, especially his speed.
As Naruto neared Kurama, he leapt from the ceiling, forming a massive energy sphere behind his back with one hand.
"That's…" Kurama stared in disbelief at the massive sphere forming in Naruto's hand.It wasn't quite a Tailed Beast Bomb, but the sheer power behind it was undeniable.
"Ultra Big Ball Rasengan!"
Naruto shouted, slamming it into Kurama with help from several clones.
Given Kurama's massive size and the limited space in the seal, there was no room to dodge.
Kurama raised his tails to shield himself, but the force of the attack still overwhelmed him.
"This power…" Kurama was stunned.
He couldn't hold on, Naruto's Ultra Big Ball Rasengan sent his massive body flying.
It was an unbelievable sight.
But Naruto wasn't done.
Taking a deep breath, he began preparing his final move.
A powerful surge of Sage Chakra gathered in his hand.
As he stood there, he recalled all his past experiences, memories surged through his mind.
Then he closed his eyes, thinking once again of Minato and Kushina.
This time… I must succeed.
When Naruto opened his eyes again, a sharp, screeching sound filled the air, a glowing white spiral blade had formed in his hand.
"Did I… do it?" he muttered as his eyes lit up.
The remaining clones dispersed, having spent the last of their chakra.
Naruto realized he had little chakra left, in the past, that wouldn't matter because he could always draw on Kurama's power.
But now, Kurama was his opponent. He wasn't going to lend Naruto chakra to beat himself.
Still… it didn't matter.
This was the final blow.
Naruto, clutching the spinning, crackling jutsu in his hand, charged at Kurama.
"Sage Art – Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Kurama, who had been thrown back, now lay on the ground. He looked up, and saw Naruto rushing toward him, Rasenshuriken in hand.
"That's… the jutsu Naruto's been training all this time? So he finally mastered it, huh…"Kurama could hear the screeching sound of the Rasenshuriken, and even he was awed by its power.
It was the power of Sage Jutsu.
So this kid, the one under his nose all this time, had grown this strong?
Power like this… maybe it was worth recognizing.
A smile crept across Kurama's fox face. Instead of dodging, he simply closed his eyes and accepted the coming blow.
But…
The pain never came.
Instead, the sound of the jutsu slowly faded away.
Kurama opened his eyes, and saw Naruto standing before him.
Naruto smiled and reached out his hand."I did it," he said.
"Hmph. Why didn't you finish it?" Kurama snorted.
"Because… I don't want to hurt you," Naruto replied gently. "You've helped me so much all this time. From now on, I want to keep working together."
"Hmph! I don't want to help you," Kurama huffed, then added with a low grumble, "But since you beat me, I guess you can use my power whenever you want."
With that, he flopped over and laid down.
Naruto, still holding his hand out, waited.
Kurama glanced at him, clicked his tongue, then reluctantly lifted a massive paw.
Finally, Naruto and Kurama's fists met, sealing their partnership with a fist bump.
...
Naruto's Inner World
At this moment, Minato and Kushina finally let out a long breath of relief.
Then, Minato looked visibly surprised. The power Naruto had just used… that was definitely Sage Mode. And yet—
Minato gave a wry smile. While he himself could use Sage Mode, he didn't possess anywhere near Naruto's massive chakra reserves. His Sage Mode would only last for an extremely short time.
For Minato, Sage Mode was something to be used only when facing an opponent whose defenses couldn't otherwise be broken, and even then, it had to be calculated to land a one-hit kill.
Then, Minato saw Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, and a wide smile appeared on his face. Of course he recognized it, it was a jutsu derived from the Rasengan, the technique he had created.
Naruto had completed a jutsu Minato himself wasn't finish during his short lifetime.
That alone filled Minato with immense pride and joy.
"You sure are worthy of being called the most unpredictable ninja…" Natsuro murmured.
He remembered Naruto saying his Rasenshuriken wasn't fully complete yet. And now, without any major preparation, Naruto had just used a perfect version of it like it was nothing.
"Natsuro, may I call you that?" Minato suddenly asked.
"Of course," Natsuro nodded. "I'm Naruto's friend, and also Jiraiya-sensei's student. Oh, and so is Naruto, by the way."
He smiled knowingly as he looked at Minato.
"Ahaha…" Minato scratched the back of his head, a bit awkward. After all, that technically made him and his son… fellow disciples. A little strange, to say the least.
Seeing Natsuro's amused expression, Minato realized he was probably teasing him on purpose, just to see his reaction.
But Minato didn't mind. Instead, he said:
"Natsuro, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, about what happened on the night of the Nine-Tails incident."
"Let me guess, someone wearing a spiral mask, wielding a Sharingan, called himself Madara Uchiha and controlled the Nine-Tails?" Natsuro said casually.
"You already know?!" Minato's eyes widened.
Natsuro nodded.
"Yeah, I've already encountered that masked man. And I can tell you for certain, he's not Madara."
"I see. So you've already met him…" Minato frowned slightly. "What's his goal?"
"At the moment, it seems they're trying to gather all nine Tailed Beasts. But what happens after that, we're still not sure," Natsuro said.
Minato fell silent.
He knew, anyone collecting all nine Tailed Beasts couldn't have innocent intentions. It would definitely plunge the shinobi world into chaos.
And unfortunately, in his current state, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Alright, don't worry so much. As long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen," Natsuro said. "Go on, spend some time with Naruto and say your goodbyes. I'll leave you to it."
Minato and Kushina nodded again, expressing their heartfelt thanks before he exited the spiritual space.
In the real world, Natsuro opened his eyes.
Naruto's battle with Kurama had gone even more smoothly than expected. The tight, confined environment hadn't suited Kurama's enormous body at all.
Still, that worked in Naruto's favor.
Natsuro looked over and saw tears streaming from the corners of Naruto's closed eyes.
He immediately understood: Minato and Kushina's chakra must've run out. Their time had ended.
Natsuro sighed. That couple had died far too tragically.
Kushina was already physically weakened from childbirth that night, yet still held back the Nine-Tails by force, exhausting her body beyond saving. Even if they had somehow resealed the Nine-Tails, it was uncertain whether she would've survived.
If it had been Natsuro there, he might've tried anyway. But Minato probably didn't realize it was even possible.
And with Kushina gone, Minato would never have chosen to live on alone.
Even during the Fourth Shinobi War, where resurrection was technically possible, Minato had no desire to return, because Kushina was gone.
Now Natsuro found himself thinking about something else. He vaguely remembered there being a time-travel mission to Rōran in the original world, an event where someone traveled back and met Minato.
Did that mission not exist in this world?
Or maybe… Natsuro just hadn't been involved?
He rubbed his temples. It was hard to figure out. Maybe, in this world, the Rōran mission never even occurred.
Just then, Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
There was a hint of lingering sorrow, but also joy.
Joy that he had finally met his parents, and learned that they truly loved him.
That alone made Naruto feel warm inside.
"Thank you, Natsuro," Naruto said sincerely when he saw him.
"No need. Want to rest for a bit?" Natsuro asked.
Next up was the real test, mastering the Nine-Tails' power.
"No need. I think… I can do it right away!" Naruto declared.
He closed his eyes again, reaching out to Kurama in his mind.
Soon, golden chakra began to shine from his body.
Golden markings formed on his face, with six vertical whisker lines, not the usual three.A golden chakra cloak enveloped him, complete with black tomoe on the collar.
Underneath that golden cloak was a black chakra bodysuit, with two golden rings glowing on his abdomen.
When Naruto opened his eyes again, they were a deep crimson red, with slitted pupils just like Kurama's.
"He actually succeeded on the first try?" Natsuro stunned.
He had thought even if Naruto reconciled with Kurama, it would still take some practice to master the form. But clearly not.
This was different from Kurama Chakra Mode.
That earlier mode was used without Kurama's cooperation, so controlling it had always been tough.
But in Kurama Mode, with Kurama's full support, there was no such difficulty.
"So… this is our power?" Naruto said, lifting his golden-glowing palm.
On his palm and the back of his hand were black circular markings, connected by a straight black line.
"Hmph," Kurama's voice echoed in his ear, clearly annoyed at Naruto doubting his power.
"So… did I really beat Kurama?" Naruto asked, still amazed. The power felt unreal.
"No need to doubt it," Natsuro replied. "This is a power only a jinchūriki can use. Without you, Kurama can't manifest it either."
Naruto blinked in realization. Kurama stayed silent, because Natsuro was right.
As long as the Tailed Beast cooperated, any jinchūriki could become stronger than the beast itself.
"Alright, let's continue. Try using Sage Mode, have Kurama help you absorb nature energy," Natsuro said.
"Huh? Can this mode be combined with Sage Mode?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Why not try and find out?" Natsuro grinned.
Naruto nodded and consulted Kurama.
Kurama, curious to see if Naruto could go further, didn't resist.
And absorbing nature energy? Easy. Every Tailed Beast had that ability.
Soon, Naruto could feel natural energy flowing into him, far more than he could absorb on his own.He was stunned.
And quickly, he began fusing that nature energy with his own chakra.
To his amazement, it worked!
When Naruto opened his eyes again, they had changed: The horizontal pupils of Sage Mode and the vertical pupils of Kurama Mode had fused together, forming a cross-shaped eye.
That day, Naruto evolved from a Sage with a five-minute time limit,into someone capable of entering Kurama Sage Mode, a new level of overwhelming power.
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