Minato, you wouldn't want your wife...

"Where is this?"

Soul Space, inside Cell No. 1 and Cell No. 2 of the prison.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina wore identical expressions of confusion as they surveyed an environment that resembled the Konoha prison.

Could this be the place where the Death God imprisons souls? Minato wondered.

Unlike Minato, who had used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Kushina assumed this was the legendary Pure Land.

But why would the Pure Land look like a prison?

Good heavens, have I done too many bad things in my life?

No, that's not right!

I haven't even killed that many people; how could I be imprisoned upon arriving in the Pure Land?

Sent to Konoha as a child to be trained as the second jinchuriki, Kushina had never been deployed by Konoha even during the Great Ninja War. She rarely went on missions, let alone the battlefield, so she naturally had little opportunity to kill.

As a ninja, and a Konoha jonin at that!

Her K/D ratio was absolutely the lowest among all jonin!

It might even be lower than that of some genin!

Compared to other ninjas, she could be considered a saint!

If even she had to be locked up in a Pure Land prison, wouldn't other ninjas be facing torture and execution in the Pure Land?

"Is anyone there?!"

"Why am I being locked up?"

"Let me out!"

She tried shouting outward, but unfortunately, only silence answered her.

After shouting for over ten minutes, she slumped to the ground and murmured:

"Why is there still consciousness after death?"

"How long will I be kept here?"

"A year? A decade? A century? Or..."

"Why must I be subjected to such punishment?"

The greatest enemy of mankind is loneliness.

The thought of being locked up alone for ten, a hundred, or even a thousand years was unbearable to Kushina.

Minato...

Naruto...

Compared to Kushina, Minato was much calmer.

He sat cross-legged on the cold floor, his blue eyes flickering constantly.

The principle of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal is to make a contract with the Death God, offering one's own soul as a sacrifice...

After the Death God successfully devours the target's soul and fulfills the contract, one's own soul is also consumed by the Death God...

In the end, one's soul and the enemy's soul will hate and fight each other forever in the belly of the Death God, never to be reincarnated.

Thinking of this.

"Hate and fight each other forever..." He chewed on these words, looked around in confusion, and murmured: "Where... is the Nine-Tails?"

Suddenly, a thought struck him!

He reached his left hand toward his abdomen, and upon discovering something, his pupils constricted.

"It's actually still here..."

"Hate and fight each other forever..." After repeating the phrase, he realized something, stood up abruptly from the ground, and looked around vigilantly.

Clap, clap, clap.

A round of applause suddenly rang out.

"As expected of the Fourth Hokage. It seems you've already realized something?"

Watching the figure shrouded in mist appear out of thin air and walk slowly toward him, Minato narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharpening.

Could it be the masked man who attacked Konoha?

No, the voice and build are different.

I don't sense anything from him either...

With these thoughts, he spoke: "Who are you? What is this place? What is your objective?"

Three questions in a row.

The person who had arrived was, naturally, Sasuke, who had been observing the two of them from the shadows.

At this moment, Sasuke had already arrived outside the cell door and introduced himself simply: "This is my Soul Space. As for me, you may call me the Warden. I represent only myself, and I welcome the Fourth Hokage of Konoha to my domain."

His Soul Space...

The Warden...

Representing only himself...

Minato Namikaze's heart stirred. He grasped the key points in the other's words, attempting to analyze his current situation from them.

In other words, my soul has been imprisoned by the person before me. Based on current intelligence, I can judge that there is only one person, but I cannot rule out...

And to be able to snatch my soul from the Death God and imprison it, this Warden... is no simple figure!

Thinking this, he gestured toward the empty, few-square-meter cell and said, "This doesn't look like much of a welcome."

"Oh? It seems I was inconsiderate."

As he spoke, Sasuke snapped his fingers.

The original few-square-meter cell instantly transformed into a luxurious reception room spanning several dozen square meters.

Minato Namikaze raised an eyebrow slightly.

Is this an illusion or...

Seeming to guess what he was thinking, Sasuke smiled: "This is my Soul Space, and it is my world. Here, time, space, matter, and everything else change according to my will. Here, I am a god, so, Lord Hokage, you need not overthink it."

Having said this, he gestured toward the sofa inside the reception room: "Please, sit."

Capable of manipulating time, space, and matter?

A god?

Those who call themselves gods are either fools or madmen!

As for this person who called himself the Warden... Minato Namikaze could not make an accurate judgment based on the limited information at hand.

But since he was already here, he would make the best of it. He considered himself a dead man already, so naturally, he had nothing to fear.

He walked toward the spot Sasuke had indicated. On the way, he casually touched the furniture, seemingly testing the material, then sat down calmly and gestured toward the opposite sofa: "Warden, please."

This was a simple probe.

Sasuke took a deep look at the spot he had just touched, then walked straight through the cell door, entered the cell (reception room), sat down calmly in the seat opposite Minato, and crossed his legs with an air of ease.

Watching the other party's completely unguarded posture, Minato Namikaze's eyes flickered.

It seems he has absolute confidence, not fearing a sneak attack from me at all...

Seeing that Sasuke had no intention of speaking, seemingly waiting for something, Minato had no choice but to get straight to the point: "What is your objective?"

What people fear most is the unknown.

If he did not know the other's goal, he could not formulate a response.

"Let's not talk about that for now."

Sasuke naturally uncrossed and recrossed his legs, then said with a meaningful tone: "Aren't you going to show concern for something else first?"

Minato did not harbor the delusion that the other would easily reveal his purpose, so he could only follow the topic to probe further: "For example...?"

Sasuke smiled without a word.

Although shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see his true face, Minato Namikaze somehow felt he could perceive Sasuke's expression, and his thoughts began to race.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted!

Kushina!

"Ding-dong~" Noticing Minato's expression, Sasuke said with deep meaning: "It seems you have already guessed."

He did not actually possess mind-reading abilities, nor did he know if what he was referring to was the same thing Minato was thinking of, but that did not prevent him from maintaining an inscrutable demeanor.

This was merely a simple psychological game.

"What exactly have you done to Kushina?" Minato Namikaze's expression suddenly turned stern.

Fortunately, the two parties' references and thoughts had aligned.

Sasuke's smile widened. He snapped his fingers lightly, and the view of Cell No. 2 appeared.

"Kushina!" Minato Namikaze's pupils shrank!

In the image, Kushina was using her Adamantine Sealing Chains, bombarding the cell door incessantly while shouting, "Let me out!"

Yet, no matter how she struck, the cell door remained unmoved!

"What exactly have you done to Kushina?" Minato Namikaze turned his head abruptly, his expression fierce.

Sasuke curled his lips and said, "Minato, you wouldn't want your wife to..."

As the words fell.

Minato Namikaze suddenly appeared behind Sasuke, a three-pronged kunai pressed against his throat, his tone dark: "Release Kushina."

Heh! ...Sasuke once again crossed his legs with casual indifference, then snapped his fingers.

In the image, Kushina seemed to be struck by something; she stumbled, collapsed to the ground, and clutched her heaving chest in agony, gasping for air.

Minato's killing intent instantly solidified, and with a forceful slash of the kunai in his hand, it transformed into a sharp, chilling gleam!

"Clang!"

"Detected intense emotional fluctuation from Minato Namikaze. Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Yang Attribute!"

"Extract and fuse?"