Wang Mo's gaze lingered for a moment on the words "Victory Decided" on the screen. Then, after seeing that the winner wasn't his own game ID, a wave of frustration he could barely suppress surged through him.
He never would've guessed that the outcome of the match would hinge on one tiny skill. Even more unexpected was that what happened next would far exceed his imagination.
"Come on, man! How are you supposed to play White Mask if you don't upgrade his grab?" Wang Mo complained.
"As expected of Erlang Shen. You said you'd counter my Triple Madara, and you did. You'd better not accept my rematch, though. If I ban your Erlang Shen, you'll be screwed, won't you?" Wang Mo muttered to himself, watching his opponent, whose ID was "Head-Patting 4000+," spam head-patting emotes.
As he spoke, Wang Mo challenged his opponent to a rematch. To his surprise, the other player accepted instantly. Delighted, Wang Mo immediately banned White Mask, Reanimated First Hokage, and Old Third Hokage.
"Now I'll show you Kizaru's divine might!" With that, Wang Mo picked Reanimated Minato. After choosing Reanimated Second Hokage and Kizaru to round out his lineup, he started the game.
When he saw his opponent's lineup, Wang Mo smiled faintly. "Triple Madara, huh? This is getting interesting. Let me show you Lord Kizaru's strength!"
Just then, a strange smell drifted in from outside his room. "That's weird. Did Dad burn dinner again?" Wang Mo got up and headed for the door. He cracked open his bedroom door and took a look.
After spotting a faint flicker of firelight in the kitchen, Wang Mo quietly shut the door again. He thought of that mysterious head-patting guy and said, "There should still be time." Then he returned to his seat and resumed fighting him.
The seconds ticked by, and at last the final battle arrived: Kizaru versus Unsealed Madara.
Wang Mo studied the situation on-screen and calculated his odds. He still had both of his summons, Naruto's health was almost full, and his opponent's Unsealed Madara was down to half health and had no summons left. He figured victory was all but certain.
"Hmph. I'll show you Lord Kizaru's true power!" Wang Mo thought, his fingers moving even faster. He couldn't see how he could possibly lose.
Wang Mo moved deftly. After spotting his opponent's position, he jumped with a 2A and immediately hurled a Rasenshuriken back at him. His opponent didn't panic, simply staying put and using the Secret Scroll Uchiha Reflection.
Unsealed Madara let out a cry of "Uchiha Milkshake!" Then, suddenly, there was a deafening "Boom!" and everything before Wang Mo's eyes went blank.
"Did... I just deal real damage?" Wang Mo wondered, staring at the empty world around him. "So I lost that last round too?"
Thinking of the mysterious head-patting guy spamming head-patting emotes made Wang Mo angrier and angrier. He wished he could crawl through the internet connection and beat the guy up.
"Wait!" Wang Mo cried out in alarm. He lowered his head and stared at his faint, intangible hands, then looked over his equally insubstantial body. "Did I... die? Did Uchiha Reflection blow me up?"
Wang Mo fell silent for a moment. It didn't seem likely. Then he suddenly remembered the flash of firelight in the kitchen, and it all clicked. "Did the gas cylinder explode?" He thought of the stupid decision he'd made and found it ridiculous.
But then he thought of that mysterious head-patting guy again and fumed, "No way. I'm not letting that brat get off easy. What's so great about him? I've got to find a way to get to him." With that, he started looking around.
Suddenly, everything went blank before Wang Mo's eyes, followed by a wave of intense dizziness. When he regained consciousness, he found himself wrapped in a warm force. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a scene that was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.
Everything around him looked as if it had been lifted straight out of the world of Naruto. Before he could react, a familiar voice rang out. "I have to put up the barrier as soon as possible." The young man's voice, mixed with a commotion, reached Wang Mo's ears.
"Minato?" Wang Mo murmured. Then a roar rang out. "That's definitely the Nine-Tails. If I'm right, this must be the scene in Naruto where Minato seals the Nine-Tails."
What was going on? Had he crossed into another world? Reincarnated? Had he become Naruto? As he wondered, he looked around and spotted another baby in Minato's arms. Surely that was Naruto.
A dozen questions sprang into Wang Mo's mind. Weren't Minato and Kushina supposed to have only one child, Naruto? What was going on? Just as he was pondering this, a voice sounded beside him.
"The little one's awake. Sorry I woke you, Menma."
Wang Mo immediately turned toward the voice. The one who had spoken was Minato.
"Sorry, Menma. It'll be over soon. I can hold on a little longer, Minato." Kushina gave Wang Mo a weak, forced smile. Then dozens of enormous golden chains shot up from the ground and from behind Kushina, lashing toward the Nine-Tails. The beast was bound fast and couldn't move.
Minato looked at Kushina, who had collapsed to her knees, his face full of sorrow. "Kushina..." Before he could finish, a baby's loud wail rang out.
Kushina struggled to lift her head, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "I woke him up... I'm sorry... Naruto..." she said weakly, forcing herself to stay upright.
"Kushina..." Minato began, but she cut him off. "If I hold the Nine-Tails here... I'll die too... That way... we can delay the Nine-Tails' revival... for a little longer... I have to use what little chakra I have left to help you..." Kushina said slowly, struggling to keep herself upright.
Minato gently set the two babies on the ground and stood up to form Hand Seals. Then he clapped his hands together. "Reaper Death Seal!"
A hazy shadow suddenly appeared behind Minato. It had a dagger clenched in its mouth and held a string of prayer beads in its hand. A soul was bound at the center of its body. It was the Death God.
An arm marked with runes suddenly shot out from Minato's stomach, stretching toward the Nine-Tails.
"Damn you, Fourth Hokage!" the Nine-Tails snarled, glaring at Minato.
But Minato acted as if he couldn't hear the Nine-Tails. He cried, "Seal!" and sealed half of the beast inside himself. Then he formed more Hand Seals. A flash of light appeared in his palm, and he placed it on Wang Mo's stomach.
Wang Mo was horrified. No, I don't want to become a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! It's bad enough that people will discriminate against me. I'll also be targeted by the Akatsuki, and I could die at any moment.
Wang Mo had thought that since he'd reincarnated, he would simply live out his life in the world of Naruto and maybe make up for some of the story's regrets.
Well, that plan was ruined. Now he was a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, just like Naruto. They were in the same boat.
Minato began forming Hand Seals again, sealing half of the Nine-Tails inside Wang Mo.
"Good. Now for Naruto. Sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto with the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style should do it. The Nine-Tails' chakra is too vast. It can't be sealed inside just one child," Minato murmured.
With that, Minato picked up Naruto and walked toward the altar for the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.
"An altar for the sealing ritual? You're planning to seal me again? And you sealed my other half inside that brat. Now you're going to seal me inside this one!" The Nine-Tails glared at Minato again and roared furiously.
Kushina kept coughing. Seeing her like this, Minato placed Naruto on the altar and hurried over, anxiously asking, "Kushina, are you all right?"
As Kushina grew weaker, the chains of Adamantine Sealing Chains slackened slightly. The Nine-Tails' pupils tightened. It raised an arm and thrust its long, sharp claws toward Naruto.
Wang Mo desperately wanted to warn Minato and Kushina, but he was still a baby. Right now, it seemed the only thing he could do was cry.
Fortunately, Minato and Kushina both reacted in time. Their pupils contracted as they threw themselves in front of Naruto before the Nine-Tails' claws could land.
A sharp claw pierced through Kushina and Minato as they shielded Naruto. They struggled to stop the Nine-Tails' claw from pushing forward and finally managed to halt it just before its tip touched Naruto. Blood from the Nine-Tails' claw dripped slowly onto Naruto.
"I told you... this was a father's duty... something I could do!" Minato said weakly, blood running from the corner of his mouth as he looked at Kushina, who had also been pierced by the Nine-Tails' claw in front of him.
"If that's the case, then a mother should do her duty too, shouldn't she?" Kushina glanced at Minato behind her, then turned her gaze to the two children in front of her.
Wang Mo didn't know why, but seeing this familiar scene brought tears to his eyes. He'd cried plenty while watching Naruto in his previous life. Now, even though he knew how it would all end, he still wept as he experienced it firsthand.
Minato looked at the two children, his gaze growing ever more resolute. He wiped some blood onto his palm and slowly began forming Hand Seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A toad appeared in front of him. Gerotora took one look at the scene and jumped in fright. "Ah! The Nine-Tails! What's going on, Fourth?"
"Gerotora, I'm entrusting you with the key to the seal. Then take it to my teacher, Jiraiya, and have him keep it safe," Minato replied.
A short while later, Gerotora's body stretched out into a scroll, then began to coil back up. Gerotora clasped his hands together and said, "I'll take the key, then. I'll be off." With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.
After Gerotora left, everything proceeded much as it had before. Minato and Kushina left some of their chakra inside Naruto and Menma so that it could help them when they learned to control the Nine-Tails' power.
After Kushina said the same things as before, she looked at her two children and wept, unable to bear parting with them. Then Minato formed Hand Seals and sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto.
The moment the Nine-Tails disappeared, Minato and Kushina collapsed to the ground, and the barrier around them began to fade.
Seeing the two of them inside the barrier, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, immediately rushed over with two other ninja.
Hiruzen noticed that Kushina still had a faint breath. He quickly lifted her up and anxiously called out, "Kushina, are you all right?"
Kushina slowly opened her eyes and looked toward Naruto and Menma. In a feeble voice, she said, "I'm entrusting my two children to you, Lord Third. The older one is Naruto Uzumaki, and the younger one is Menma Namikaze. Please let them grow up happily as the children of heroes..." With that, she ran out of strength and slowly closed her eyes.
Hiruzen felt miserable seeing this. He had watched from outside the barrier as Minato sealed the Nine-Tails. He knew that both children had the Nine-Tails sealed inside them. Was having two Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in Konoha a blessing or a curse?
Wang Mo had planned to stay by Naruto's side and grow up with him, so he wouldn't have to be alone like he had been before. Now he too was a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, just like Naruto. Thinking about how he would be restricted at every turn and watched every moment of his life, he felt thoroughly miserable.
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