Returning to the Village, Breaking the Seal, Eternal Sister!

"Naruto-kun, I'm going off to special training first~"

Sakura's voice was cloyingly sweet.

"Mm-hmm, go ahead."

After sending Pink Hair away, Naruto entered a meditative state.

At the same time, a White Zetsu Clone split off behind him.

"See if anything's happening in the Land of Waves."

After receiving the order, the Wood Clone sank into the ground.

He really could endure... but I hadn't done anything particularly notable either. It was normal for Pot Kage to hold back until now.

Naruto then refocused and directed all his attention inward.

Before long, he found a pale red mass of Chakra at his Baihui Acupoint.

He tried touching it with his own Chakra.

He found that he couldn't budge the pale red Chakra mass at all.

That makes sense. Even the original me couldn't awaken it until much later... In that case, Life Force, absorb!

As the Woods-Woods Fruit's absorption ability activated,

the pale red Chakra mass at his Baihui Acupoint was gradually consumed.

Boom—!!!

In the next instant, the nutrients from the pale red Chakra were absorbed into his body, and a tremendous sound erupted from within him.

At the same time, Naruto opened his eyes.

His appearance hadn't changed in the slightest.

But his sensory abilities had already far surpassed what they had been before.

This wasn't a Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki Clan.

Yet in terms of ability and rarity, it surpassed many Kekkei Genkai.

Both Mind's Eye of the Kagura and Adamantine Sealing Chains were secret techniques of the Uzumaki Clan.

Secret techniques naturally learned after awakening the power of one's bloodline.

They couldn't be taught to others.

Mind's Eye of the Kagura, in particular, was one of the Ninja World's finest sensory ninjutsu.

It was an ultra-wide-range enemy detection technique. Once the Mind's Eye was opened, any anomalies in Chakra within dozens of kilometers could be sensed.

Furthermore, it could sense known Chakra signatures and even pinpoint their exact locations.

It could precisely determine their numbers, physical features, and movement speeds.

In an instant, Naruto's world became different.

Especially after merging with the Woods-Woods Fruit's abilities.

Everything within dozens of kilometers, even the rustle of grass in the wind, fell within his perception.

He could sense those with Chakra.

He could also sense those without Chakra.

Even the Plants would tip him off.

In other words, if Naruto wanted to run, no one could ever find his exact location unless they possessed Flying Thunder God and sensory abilities of the same level.

Coupled with the plant affinity brought by Life Force...

Mind's Eye of the Kagura... not bad. A great skill for pursuing enemies.

Then next comes Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Naruto sensed the scorching Chakra in his back.

The pale red Chakra turned gold the instant it came into contact with the air.

The test subject is right before my eyes.

Buzz—

In the next instant, Naruto arrived in the Sealing Space.

"Kurama!"

After waiting for quite a while, Kurama finally opened his eyes, his face full of resentment.

"If you've got something to say, say it!"

"Do you know I was counting money?"

"If you've got nothing important, don't blame me for getting rough!"

Facing Kurama's resentful expression, Naruto gave him a charming smile.

"Kurama, can I ask you a favor?"

Kurama immediately pulled back his tails and shot him a wary glance.

"Say it first."

"Why are you so nervous? It's not like I'd hurt you."

"After all this time, do you still not trust me?"

Naruto lowered his head, looking somewhat sad as he turned away.

Kurama froze.

Was he going this hard right from the start?

It quietly approached Naruto from behind and cautiously peeked over.

"Are you crying?"

"Ah, that's just how I am. How about you beat me up to vent your anger?"

Kurama was genuinely panicking.

After all, Naruto had been working all these years to let it out.

At least... that was what Kurama believed.

"Did you... really say that?"

Naruto asked with a slight sob in his voice, sounding a little aggrieved.

"Heh heh, Tailed Beasts don't feel pain. Just don't go too far."

"Okay."

Naruto smiled. Kurama smiled too. Then Kurama froze, before finally letting out a furious roar.

Rumble—

Naruto closed his eyes. With a thought, the scorching Chakra in his back instantly erupted.

Nine Adamantine Sealing Chains shot out from behind him, instantly binding Kurama's massive body tightly.

With just the slightest exertion of force—

Crack—!!

"Ow~!"

Kurama's miserable scream echoed throughout the entire Sealing Space.

This familiar power... was it Kushina?!

Kurama instinctively felt a trace of fear.

Under the Adamantine Sealing Chains, even moving was difficult.

All the Chakra in its body was locked away.

It was already using all its strength just to remain standing.

No!

That wasn't right... these chains were even stronger than Kushina's!

Huh?

Why couldn't it sense any malice from these Adamantine Sealing Chains?

It wasn't Chakra left behind by Kushina?

Wait!

But in the next second, the Adamantine Sealing Chains vanished.

Looking down, Kurama saw Naruto waving at it. "I'm leaving, Kurama. Take your time counting money."

Buzz—

Naruto's consciousness returned to reality.

Inside the Sealing Space, Kurama stood stunned for several seconds.

Then it let out an earth-shaking roar.

Fortunately, Naruto had cut off his connection with Kurama in time.

Good, good. As expected of Adamantine Sealing Chains. I hadn't even used any force, and Kurama was already obediently pinned down.

When dealing with Tailed Beasts in the future, I won't even need to make a move. I can bind them all.

Besides that... if I remember correctly, even a giant Buddha can be sealed by Adamantine Sealing Chains.

By the same logic... Susanoo doesn't seem impossible to bind either.

Naruto was extremely satisfied with the Adamantine Sealing Chains within him.

This move had directly become an interception system.

Infantry-tank coordination, paired with Mind's Eye of the Kagura for precision strikes, paired with Adamantine Sealing Chains for precise interception.

Meanwhile,

after Kurama returned to its body in the Real World, it was still cursing under its breath.

"Asshole!"

"Just you wait!"

Haku stood beside it with his head lowered, somewhat confused.

From his perspective, Lord Kurama, who called himself the Nine-Tails, had closed his eyes for a while before suddenly becoming furious.

It was rather baffling, though Haku vaguely felt it had something to do with that other lord.

"Bring me the money!"

"Yes!"

Haku hurriedly carried over another box of money.

Only after seeing the money scattered all over the floor did Kurama finally beam with delight.

One month later.

The bridge was completed.

Tazuna's eye for opportunity was still as sharp as ever.

He directly named the bridge Naruto Bridge.

Naruto didn't refuse either. That old bastard was shrewd, placing his bet this early. It would be perfectly reasonable for him to ride Naruto's coattails in the future.

"Let's head back."

They had come by water.

They would return across the bridge.

The bridge connecting the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire was complete.

With transportation made convenient, trade would follow.

Naruto didn't need to deal with that for now.

Let the bullets fly first.

While the bullets were flying, let the target do some unpaid work first.

The return trip was swift.

They returned to Konoha in just one day.

Early in the morning.

Konoha's two gate guardians, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, had arrived at their posts early.

"Yo, Kakashi!"

Kakashi stayed behind to speak with them, while Team Seven disbanded on the spot.

Uchiha Sasuke chose to return to the Uchiha Clan Compound first.

He hadn't been back for a month. It was probably covered in dust by now.

Sakura also wanted to go home first.

Naruto, meanwhile, went to the dango shop.

After discovering that Anko wasn't there, he headed straight home.

They had completed a C-Rank Mission, so the other teams had surely gone out to do missions as well.

With the Chunin Exams approaching, they had probably all left the village by now.

"Let's go home and sleep."

Thinking about it, the Chunin Exams weren't that far away.

"First, let's see how the flowers are doing."

On the way, Naruto used the Mayfly Technique to sneak toward the Supply Storage Point.

Before long, he entered the storage point.

"You can stop pretending if you're awake."

"You... when did you find out?"

Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Izumi opened their eyes at the same time, their faces full of disbelief.

"I only bluffed once, and you confessed everything. What could I do?" Naruto spread his hands helplessly.

Then, with a thought, the flowers binding Mikoto and Izumi slowly receded.

"You performed well. I'm not that fond of explaining things either."

"Tsukuyomi."

Then, beneath Izumi and Mikoto's shocked gazes.

Naruto's azure eyes transformed into the pattern of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Take your time understanding things in the Tsukuyomi World."

"Flowers must have the awareness of being flowers."

"You won't need to worry about food, clothing, or shelter here. Think it over carefully. If you perform well, perhaps I'll let you meet Sasuke."

After saying that, Naruto placed the two of them on the bed.

Countless vines guarded this place. Even if Uchiha Mikoto could activate Susanoo, she would never be able to break through this confinement.

Because the instant Naruto appeared, he had reinforced the barrier here with the Chakra of Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Glancing at the sleeping Mikoto and Izumi, he reached out and pressed his hands to their foreheads, extracting the Uchiha Nutrients they needed to provide him every month.

"Home."

Mayfly Technique.

He would give the two of them some time. If they still could not accept their fate as flowers by his next visit, Naruto could only keep them asleep forever.

After returning home, Naruto found Mitarashi Anko, who was not at the sweets shop.

The moment he entered, he heard rustling sounds.

When he went into the kitchen, he saw Anko stuffing her little mouth full.

Her eyes widened, and she nearly choked on the Glutinous Rice Balls.

"Naruto~!"

This damned suffocating feeling.

At noon, the Konoha 12 returned as well.

Tenten was the first to come back.

When she saw Naruto, whom she had not seen for a month, her eyes reddened.

"Little Brother, were you hurt?"

She circled Naruto once. Only after seeing that he was safe and sound, and had even grown a little taller, did she smile.

She pulled Naruto into her arms. "Honestly, you're already so grown up, yet you still make your sister worry."

"Remember, you absolutely cannot let anything happen to you. One thousand three hundred ryo... even if I sold you now, you still couldn't pay me back. Hmph~"

After they cuddled for a while, Hinata returned.

This girl was easier to coax. After a couple of basic attacks, she transformed into the Steam Princess.

Kurenai, on the other hand, appeared very calm.

But the instant she saw the rosy-faced Anko walk out, her eye twitched, and she cast Naruto a resentful glance.

Well then, another big sister who wanted to seize the future.

Ino was the last to return.

As she pushed open the door, she could still hear Ino-Shika-Cho complaining.

"Honestly, why does Asuma-sensei always drop the ball?"

"He let the Thief get away again... The mission failed. This sucks... Let's eat meat first."

"What a pain... Fine, Choji has a point. Let's fill our stomachs first and think about the mission this afternoon."

The moment she entered, she saw Naruto smiling softly.

"Darling~"

Ino leaped into Naruto's arms.

All her bad feelings vanished.

Suddenly, she remembered what she had said last month.

"Darling, I'll give you a gift tonight~"

Smooch—

The following days were somewhat uneventful.

Every day, they grinded C-Rank Missions.

With Naruto around, Team Seven's mission success rate was close to one hundred percent.

They reached first place in just half a month.

After that, they dominated the rankings continuously.

During that time, the only thing that surprised Naruto was... the speed at which Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Izumi accepted things left him dumbfounded.

The holding area had changed drastically.

Naruto did not even know why things had turned out this way.

However, as time passed, it seemed that the outcome was always the same.

Uchiha Izumi had completely given up.

Uchiha Mikoto still worried about Uchiha Sasuke.

But not as deeply as Naruto had imagined.

Perhaps Filial Son had broken her heart too thoroughly.

In the blink of an eye, it was late May in Year 60 of Konoha.

Only one month remained until the Chunin Exams.

Naruto entered the Sealing Space.

"Hmph! Don't think a few meals are enough to make me forgive you!"

"Ahem, Kurama, let's not talk about that first."

"No! Do you think it'll just pass that easily?"

The tsundere Nine-Tails was still easy to coax.

"Then what should we do?"

"I recently discovered another major project. If it succeeds, there'll be plenty of money!"

Kurama's long ears immediately perked up.

"Don't tell me you're going to—"

"I'm going to undo the seal."

Kurama's pupils suddenly contracted.

His voice also deepened.

"Why?"

"Don't you hate that they... sealed me inside you?"

"Do you want the truth or a lie?"

"Stop joking. I'm serious."

Naruto smiled and waved his hand as he walked to the sealed gate. Looking at the seal on it, he turned and smiled.

"At first, I hated it quite a bit. But later, I realized it seemed pretty good this way."

Without saying anything sentimental, Kurama gave a tsundere snort.

The matter was dropped.

"Then, I'm going to open the seal."

"My two bargain-bin parents left behind Chakra. I plan to let them, like you, live in the Ninja World in another form..."

"Oh, right, Mom should still remember the Land of Whirlpools Ruins. Then we can release my bargain-bin dad from the Death God's stomach, along with your other half."

Honestly, it was a bit of a tongue twister.

Kurama's eyes widened. "My Yin Half-Body? You have a way to bring it back?"

"I do. I don't even need Snake Aunt's help."

"This world has always had rituals, and there are countless ghosts and gods... I'm rather curious too. I want to know whether ghosts and gods have a world of their own, just like the Pure Land guarded by the Filial Son of the Six Paths."

Hearing that, Kurama frowned.

Even after thinking for a long time, he could not make sense of it.

"Your focus is always so bizarre."

Naruto chuckled and placed his hand on the Sealing Paper.

"Then, I'm tearing open the seal."

Rip—

When the seal had been torn open by about one-third.

A voice suddenly rang out in the Sealing Space.

"Naruto, you can't tear open the seal."

Slap—

A gentle voice, warm as the sun, sounded behind Naruto.

At the same time, a hand rested on his shoulder.

When he turned around, he saw a man wearing the Hokage Divine Robe.

He had Golden Long Hair, and a gentle smile on his handsome face.

The first thought that came to Naruto's mind upon seeing him was strange. Though it was also related to this old father of his.

Eternal Sister was not the protagonist from his memories.

Tower of Lost—Queen of Roran.

Naruto, even if my future does not have you, I will always remember you!