Meeting Kushina, Breaking the Seal

"Guess who I am, little Naruto?" A slightly playful, cute voice came from behind Naruto.

For some reason, the moment he heard that voice, Naruto's eyes uncontrollably welled up, and tears began streaming down his face.

"Is that you, Mom?" Naruto turned around and finally saw the mother he had longed for day and night.

Before him stood a beautiful woman with gorgeous red hair, brimming with vitality as powerful as the sun itself. A small hair clip rested on her bangs. She smiled at Naruto, her eyes faintly moist as well.

"Such a smart boy. You actually guessed it right. As expected of Uzumaki Kushina's child!"

At that point, Naruto could no longer hold back. He rushed forward and threw his arms around Uzumaki Kushina.

"Mom, I missed you so much. I really missed you, missed you so much!" Naruto's language center seemed to have malfunctioned. He had no idea what he could say to express how he felt at that moment.

"I missed you too, Naruto, my good boy!"

Kushina held Naruto gently. Where was the legendary fiery temper? It really had all been nothing but rumors.

Kushina was emotional too. The last time she had seen Naruto had been right after his birth, and then they had immediately faced separation in life and death. Though they had spent so little time together, she had etched his appearance deeply into her mind.

So many years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet Naruto still did not seem very old. He looked to be only six or seven.

"Let me get a good look at you, my child. How old are you this year?" Kushina carefully examined Naruto as she asked.

"I'm six. I just started at the Ninja Academy!" Naruto wiped away his tears and answered Kushina.

"Only six, and you're already this handsome. You're just as handsome as your father was!"

"At this rate, you'll definitely become an outstanding ninja in the future. At the very least, you'll be as strong as your father!"

"Um, were you calling me, Kushina?" Minato had not had the heart to interrupt the touching reunion, so he had remained silent. Only after Kushina mentioned him did he quietly speak up, making it known that he was there too.

"Oh! Minato, so you're here too! I missed you so much too!" Kushina instantly abandoned Naruto and ran toward Minato.

She leaped through the air toward him.

Minato carefully caught the pouncing Kushina, spun around with her in his arms a few times, and landed steadily.

Then he held Kushina tenderly and said, "I missed you too, my Kushina!"

The family of three had finally reunited. Yet as a spectator, Naruto felt like he should not have been there. He should have been under the car, watching just how sweet they were together!

He had been force-fed a huge helping of lovey-dovey nonsense, and it was from his own parents.

"Minato, Naruto doesn't seem very old. This is completely different from what I expected. I imagined Naruto would be in his teens by the time he came here. Did something happen?"

Naruto then explained why he and his father had come here. He had become friends with Kurama, and they wanted to break Kurama's seal. Minato wanted to ask for Kushina's opinion, which was why they had come.

He also told them about everything he had experienced in the village over the years, all of it, this and that!

After hearing Naruto's words, Kushina's anger instantly hit the maximum. Her Chakra flared wildly, and her fiery red hair rose into the air. Was this Uzumaki Kushina's enraged form? One look was enough to tell that she was not someone to mess with!

She cursed furiously, "Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! That old bastard, the Third Hokage, let my little Naruto suffer for so long! And that old dog Shimura Danzō too. It's been so long, yet he's still just as disgusting. Even when I was in the village before, he was never any good!"

"Sure enough, a dog will always eat shit! I want to rush back there and grind those two birds of a feather into the ground! I'll use my Adamantine Sealing Chains to show them what the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu is! Compared to them, the Nine-Tails suddenly looks much more pleasing!"

After hearing that, Minato cautiously asked, "So, Kushina, does that mean you're willing to support Naruto's idea? You agree to break the seal?"

Kushina smiled brightly. "Of course. Our child has his own ideas. As his parents, we naturally have to support him properly."

Kushina said to Naruto, "Naruto, I believe in you. It is precisely because you fully understand the Nine-Tails' pain that you were able to truly enter his heart. Tailed Beasts are living creatures with feelings too. I believe that the friendship between you will definitely allow you to become a perfect Jinchuriki and accomplish what I, your mother, was never able to do!"

Minato added from the side, "Since your mother has said so, then your father will definitely support what you do as well!"

"Go, Naruto. Go break the Nine-Tails' seal and rescue your friend from it. Your father and I will support you from behind!"

"Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom. I definitely won't let down the trust you have in me!" Naruto nodded heavily, making his promise to them.

The surrounding space gradually faded away, and the family of three returned to the sewer from before.

"Naruto, you're back? Huh, isn't this Kushina? It's been so long, but you still look exactly the same. You haven't changed at all!" Kurama was somewhat moved when he saw Kushina again after so long.

"Yes, Nine-Tails. I never expected that what I failed to do back then would be accomplished by my son. He truly is an amazing person!" Kushina said to the Nine-Tails.

"Indeed, Kushina. Your son is far more impressive than you were. As expected of the friend I have acknowledged!" Kurama did not refute Kushina's words.

Seeing the Nine-Tails' reaction, Kushina understood. She had never experienced this sort of attitude from him before. It seemed that the Nine-Tails truly had changed!

Naruto looked at Kurama and shouted, "Kurama, just wait. I'm letting you out right now!"

Naruto's body rose into the air once more. This time, when he reached the seal tag, Minato did not stop him. Naruto did not hesitate in the slightest. He touched the seal and gave it a hard pull. With a tearing sound, the seal was ripped open by Naruto's action.

Minato and Kushina exchanged a smile.

"Minato, it's our turn to perform. Let's show our son how capable his parents are!"

Minato and Kushina stood beside Naruto together, blue Chakra flames emerging from their hands.

Their hands rapidly formed Hand Seals, and the technique was quickly completed.

Aiming at Naruto's navel, they shouted in unison, "Eight Trigrams Seal, release!"

At Naruto's navel, the Eight Trigrams Seal began to unravel slowly, layer by layer like a series of spirals.

As the seal released ring by ring, the enormous red pillars gradually dissipated as well. They had succeeded!

All the shackles within Kurama's consciousness space vanished. Kurama had truly gained freedom in every sense of the word!

"Hahahahaha! I, Kurama, am finally free again!"

Kurama could feel his sealed power continuously returning. This feeling was simply wonderful beyond compare!

The sewer itself continuously sent out ripples under Kurama's powerful Chakra, reflecting the unrest in Minato and Kushina's hearts.

Watching the Nine-Tails unleash his aura without restraint, power surged from his body, far surpassing the Uzumaki Clan's vitality. Even Kushina felt ashamed by comparison.

Kushina and Minato prepared themselves for battle as well. If the Nine-Tails changed his mind, they would use every last bit of strength to protect Naruto.

But the Nine-Tails was worthy of being the Nine-Tails, the strongest Tailed Beast in the world! Or so the two of them believed, anyway.

Even with only half of him, he was already this powerful. They could not imagine how powerful a complete Nine-Tails would be!

Seeing the Nine-Tails release his power so wantonly, Kushina and Minato exchanged glances, feeling that the situation was becoming difficult to control.

The Nine-Tails was still a Tailed Beast by nature. Perhaps he was inherently cunning and had deceived their son.

"Get ready, Kushina. We may have to fight for our lives!"

"Yes. If I'd known, I wouldn't have agreed to Naruto's request so carelessly. That Nine-Tails is just too cunning. Even we were deceived by him!"

Could Naruto really control such immense power? The couple had their doubts. They were only worried that their child would not be able to withstand such power.

Seeing Kurama's behavior, Naruto said helplessly, "Kurama, fooling around and putting on an act is enough. Don't actually scare my dad and mom!"

The moment Kurama heard Naruto's words, he instantly became obedient. He quieted down at once, reining in his aura as he said to Naruto, "You really do understand me, kid. You saw through my lifelike acting at a glance!"

"I thought I acted out the feeling of just gaining freedom perfectly, along with that excitement. See? Didn't I fool Minato and Kushina? They sealed me up for so long, so what's wrong with fooling them once?"

Hearing Naruto and the Nine-Tails, Kushina and Minato finally relaxed with relief.

Just now, they had truly thought the Nine-Tails was about to go berserk. Even if they had to sacrifice all their Chakra, they would have protected Naruto.

"Dad, Mom, I told you already. Kurama and I really are friends, so you don't need to worry about Kurama hurting me." Naruto said to Uzumaki Kushina and Minato Namikaze.

At the same time, Naruto held out a fist toward Kurama. Kurama immediately understood and extended his own fist, lightly bumping it against Naruto's. From that moment on, the bond between them was officially forged!

Kushina looked at the Nine-Tails with gratitude and said, "Kurama, we were wrong about what happened before. We do not have much time left. I hope you can help us take good care of Naruto. From now on, you will be friends who can rely on each other. We can entrust Naruto to you without worry!"

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