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At this point, the Nine-Tails truly acknowledged Kushina's existence.
"Kurama, I know you'll agree to my request, right?" Kushina looked firmly at the Nine-Tails. This time, she directly called the Nine-Tails by its true name. Kurama!
"Sigh, I understand. I won't interfere with his growth," the Nine-Tails sighed, closing its eyes and lying on the ground, letting Naruto play on its head.
"Thank you, Kurama," Kushina's body began to emit a faint glow. Finally, it transformed into a beam of blue light and returned to the seal. Thus, in this space, only Shinji, Naruto, and the Nine-Tails remained. Minato Namikaze and Kushina's chakra remained within the seal, quietly waiting for the next time they could emerge.
"Kurama, I'm taking Naruto out now," Shinji walked into the cage and lifted Naruto off the Nine-Tails' head. Holding him in his arms, Naruto seemed to recognize Shinji's familiar feeling and directly reached out his hands for Shinji to hold him.
"Mmm," the Nine-Tails lay down, closing its eyes, seemingly indifferent to their departure.
"By the way, one more thing. The reason my power recovered so quickly is because someone released some chakra around Naruto. I absorbed most of this chakra," the Nine-Tails suddenly said.
"Chakra? I understand," Shinji turned his head to look at the Nine-Tails, a trace of contemplation appearing deep in his eyes. Then... the intention of the person releasing chakra near Naruto... what exactly was it? Shaking his head, Shinji held Naruto and walked towards the table's location.
...
...
"I hope... I can see Kushina again in the future," the lying Nine-Tails suddenly uttered this sentence.
"I will let you meet again."
"Why haven't you left yet!?" The Nine-Tails suddenly widened its eyes. It originally thought that after such a long silence, Naruto and Shinji must have already left. Unexpectedly, these two were still here???
"I'm still packing things up. Leaving now, leaving now," Shinji almost burst out laughing. Truly worthy of being called the most tsundere Nine-Tails. Clearly wanted Kushina to appear again very much. Fufufu.
"Hmph!!! Hurry up and leave!" The Nine-Tails felt its cheeks getting somewhat hot and could only turn its head away, attempting to hide this fact.
"Got it, got it. I'm leaving now, Nine-Tails," Shinji smiled slightly, holding Naruto. Then, with a snap of his fingers, Naruto and Shinji vanished from this space.
Opening its eyes, the Nine-Tails observed the surroundings. Looks like they really left this time. Still the same silent space. The appearance of those few people just now seemed like an illusion. But... a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of the Nine-Tails' mouth. Kushina... Long time no see.
The scene changed. Shinji reappeared outside. Naruto was still in the same spot, but differently. Due to entering and exiting this place for the first time, Naruto had already fallen asleep. However, the smile at the corner of his mouth still showed the happiness in Naruto's heart. Seeing Kushina, seeing Shinji, and also playing freely on the Nine-Tails' head for a while, today could be said to be the happiest day for Naruto since birth.
At this moment, the woman was still lying in the same position. Not far away, powerful auras were already approaching. Clearly, the leader was the advance ninja nearby, and further behind followed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō! Looks like he couldn't stay here long.
Shinji chuckled lightly but wanted to clearly see the reaction of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō upon seeing Naruto. Thus, Shinji controlled the Geo element, first sinking his own body into the ground. Shinji, enveloped by Geo element, wouldn't be discovered by Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others. So, he could also wait here for subsequent developments.
Just as he concealed himself, two ninjas arrived first. Judging by their attire, they were members of Root.
"Ding, her mission failed," one of the Root ninjas said coldly.
"Then she has no use value anymore. Just right for the current situation, saves us the trouble." Just as Shinji reacted. A chakra wave suddenly appeared from that Root ninja, directly attacking the impact wave formed by the Nine-Tails chakra. This way, at least others would think she was killed by the Nine-Tails, perfectly diverting suspicion from them.
"Actually... can only say worthy of Root?" Shinji sensed everything happening above. Since Shinji was currently underground, he could actually only perceive what was happening above through the Geo element, but couldn't see it. But the Root ninja's action just now had completely extinguished the woman's life force. This...
Just as Shinji fell silent, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō arrived. Behind them, members of Root and ANBU followed neatly, quickly sealing off the entire area.
"Lord Hokage, the Nine-Tails Demon Fox is just ahead," an ANBU squad leader discovered Naruto and immediately came before Hiruzen Sarutobi to report.
"Understood," Hiruzen Sarutobi walked forward a few steps, arriving right in front of Naruto. Naruto had already fallen asleep, and there was no feeling of Nine-Tails chakra on his body anymore.
"Why is he in this place today?" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and asked. Normally, Naruto even needed to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi just to leave his room. But this time, only after the Nine-Tails chakra appeared on Naruto did Hiruzen Sarutobi realize Naruto had already been taken out. Wasn't this just slapping his face?
"Lord Hokage, it was a shadow clone. A shadow clone was only dispelled after the Nine-Tails Demon Fox's aura erupted," the ANBU member had already sent people to inquire at Naruto's residence and was now reporting back.
"The ANBU members responsible for Naruto are fined one year's salary! Record one major demerit in the ANBU internal registry!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a grim face. Although it was difficult to see through a shadow clone if one really wanted to, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to set an example, otherwise, it would be even harder to manage in the future.
"Lord Hokage, there is a corpse here. After identity verification, it was found to be the nanny responsible for the Nine-Tails Demon Fox's daily life. The wounds contain the scent of Nine-Tails Demon Fox chakra. Combined with the scene, it should be that she was backlashed by the Nine-Tails Demon Fox's chakra when attempting to kill it," another ANBU member responsible for inspection reported his findings.
"Hiruzen! What's going on? Why is the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki in this place!" Danzō was delighted to see this scene. As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi made a mistake regarding the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, then he would be in the best position to take over. This way, arranging all this wouldn't be in vain. Thinking of this, a smile couldn't help but appear at the corners of Danzō's mouth. Yes, this entire incident was orchestrated by Danzō from behind the scenes.
Whether it was the chakra used to activate the Nine-Tails, or this clearly controlled woman, or those ANBU members distracted by the shadow clone. All of this was the result meticulously planned by Danzō from behind. After Root approached Naruto's location multiple times, Danzō had already grasped all the small and large details of ANBU. From when the guards changed shifts, to the family affairs of Naruto's nanny, and finally the candidate to control this nanny and the candidate for the shadow clone.
All of this was what Danzō had been planning during this time. As long as the plan succeeded, Hiruzen Sarutobi, having failed in guard duty, would inevitably have to hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki!
"Is this your plan, Danzō?" Shinji, hiding underground, muttered to himself. After a series of thoughts, Shinji had roughly reconstructed the incident.
"Take her body back. Aoba Yamashiro..."
"Reporting to Lord Hokage, Clan Head Yamashiro is still at the front lines," Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, a member of the Yamashiro clan spoke up.
"Aoba isn't here... In that case, your Yamashiro clan is responsible for digging out the corpse's memories! I want to see what exactly happened!" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. The result he most wanted now was that these things had other hidden circumstances, not that this nanny truly did it. Otherwise, he would be in some trouble. Having flaws repeatedly regarding the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was not a good thing.
"I understand. We'll take it back now," After receiving the order, the Yamashiro clan members quickly took their clansman and carried the woman's corpse away.
"Lord Danzō?" In Root, a ninja suddenly whispered in Danzō's ear.
"It's fine. Continue investigating," Danzō stopped the Root ninja's words. Although the Yamashiro clan could retrieve memories from the dead, Danzō wasn't worried at all. For this matter, he had let a member of the Kurama clan from his Root take action. The Kurama clan excelled at using genjutsu and possessed a Kekkei Genkai related to genjutsu, rivaling the Uchiha clan. Although they had declined now, erasing previous memories and concealing some memories with genjutsu was still very simple.
"Hiruzen! I told you before, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki definitely won't have anything good happen in your hands. Better hand him over to me! I can turn him into our Konoha's strongest power!" Danzō said aggressively. He really didn't understand why his good buddy Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't hand Naruto over to him. As long as he was handed over, Konoha would possess the strongest nuclear weapon externally.
"Danzō! You shut up! He definitely cannot be given to you! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said righteously. Then he waved his hand grandly, left a few people here, and then went back. He needed to go to the Yamashiro clan's residence, the place rumored to be able to extract memories even from the dead. (PS: The Yamashiro clan refers to Aoba Yamashiro later, the person who performed memory reading on Kisame.)
Soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had left. Shinji also returned directly to the All-Purpose Shop with a thought. At this time, Karin, Deidara, and Itachi had already returned. The Nine-Tails' chakra just now was too evil; Itachi recognized it as the Nine-Tails' chakra immediately. Thus, he brought Karin and Deidara back to the All-Purpose Shop at the first opportunity. Although Karin really wanted to go find Shinji, Itachi, knowing Shinji possessed space-time ninjutsu, wasn't worried about him at all.
"Lord Shinji, you're finally back," Karin had been sitting at the tea table. The moment she saw Shinji, she immediately went over and hugged him.
"It's alright, Karin. You weren't harmed, right?" Shinji returned to his tea table and asked calmly.
"No. When the Nine-Tails' aura first appeared, I brought them back," Itachi stood up and said.
"Thank you for your trouble, Itachi," Shinji smiled slightly. He was very assured when Itachi handled things.
"No problem."
...
...
Inside the Yamashiro clan's residence. This was a very small clan. Rather than a clan, it was actually a small group with less than 10 ninja in total. Besides the Yamashiro clan head, Aoba Yamashiro, taking two Jōnin to the front lines, only one Chūnin and several Genin remained. Danzō didn't follow. He was preparing a follow-up plan. Besides, he himself knew what scene Hiruzen Sarutobi would see next. So, he didn't go either.
[Shixie: I'm not sure about this family, I only know Aoba.]
"Lord Hokage, preparations are ready," Sato Yamashiro, the only Jōnin from the Yamashiro clan in the village, had already prepared for the Mind Reading Technique.
"Alright. Let's go take a look," Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and walked in first. This was a room similar to an autopsy room. At this moment, the woman's corpse was already placed on the operating table, and her head was covered by a device with various wires. Soon, as the Chūnin from the Yamashiro clan came over, Sato Yamashiro and they together began forming hand seals towards the corpse.
"Ninpō! Dokushinjutsu (Ninja Art: Mind Reading Technique)!" Following the Yamashiro clan's casting, the device also began to make sounds. Streaks of blue chakra flowed along the Yamashiro clan members' palms towards the brain of the woman's corpse. Subsequently, the device covering her head also began to sizzle, and images began projecting onto the wall. Images like a black and white movie began to appear.
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