Undercurrents and Faint Light

The warm sensation of the baby in his arms, combined with the overflowing, destructive Nine-Tails chakra within his body that felt as if it could shatter the world at any moment, clearly conveyed the truth to Uchiha Ling.

He had succeeded. By using his own body as a prison, he had contained half of the world's most ferocious Tailed Beast, and in doing so, he had secured the first cornerstone of the future for the Naruto in his arms.

"Waaah..."

Naruto, seemingly uncomfortable from the previous shock, let out a soft, whimpering cry, his tiny face scrunching up.

Ling took a deep breath, attempting to extract the faint but vibrant power of the Sage Body within him. A gentle current of energy gathered at his fingertips, and with clumsy, tender movements, he pressed his finger against Naruto's forehead.

Something extraordinary happened.

The docile, life-filled essence of the Sage chakra was so soothing that Naruto instantly stopped his wailing. He opened his sky-blue eyes, looking at Ling with curiosity. His small mouth subconsciously curled into a subtle arc, and his tiny hand gripped Ling's finger tightly.

[Ding! Compatibility between Sage Body and Nine-Tails chakra increased. Bond with Uzumaki Naruto increased.]

The system prompt rang out.

Ling felt a sense of certainty. The Sage Body was not just a weapon for battle; it seemed to be remarkably effective in soothing Tailed Beasts and their jinchuriki.

Just then, the sound of several figures breaking through the air approached from the distance.

"Over there!"

"Lord Fourth! Lady Kushina!"

"And there are two children!"

Several Anbu ninjas wearing animal masks landed first. They scanned the surroundings cautiously, their gazes finally settling on the two children huddled together and the lifeless bodies of the Fourth Hokage and his wife nearby.

The scene before them left even these battle-hardened Anbu stunned. The deceased Hokage and his wife, the lingering aura of the violent chakra from the rampage, and two surviving children? They recognized one as the Fourth's son, Uzumaki Naruto. The other, judging by his attire, appeared to be an orphan from the Uchiha clan.

Immediately after, a figure draped in the Hokage's haori with white hair and beard descended—it was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had arrived upon hearing the news. As he looked at the bodies of Minato and Kushina, his face was instantly etched with sorrow and the weariness of age, as if he had aged another ten years in an instant.

"Minato... Kushina..." His voice was hoarse, heavy with a grief that was difficult to put into words.

His gaze then fell upon Ling and Naruto. When he realized that the massive, familiar, and sinister chakra within Ling—though sealed—was still faintly pulsing, his pupils contracted sharply.

"This child is an orphan of the Uchiha clan, Ling?" The Third was deeply shaken. "He has the Nine-Tails' chakra inside him?! How could this be..."

He stepped forward, crouching down, and tried his best to make his voice sound gentle. "Child, your name is Uchiha Ling, right? Can you tell Grandpa what happened here?"

Ling looked up, his face a mix of perfectly measured exhaustion, fear, and the dazed expression of a five-year-old (a performance he, as a transmigrator, had to maintain). He held Naruto tightly, his voice faint but clear:

"I... I saw a very big fox... I was scared, so I hid. When I came out, I ran over and saw little Naruto crying there... Then, then, it was very painful and hot... and then..." He spoke in broken sentences, perfectly molding himself into an innocent child who had been swept into the vortex and inexplicably turned into a jinchuriki.

He deliberately omitted the existence of the system and blurred the details of the active sealing process, attributing everything to "unexpected events" and "instinctive behavior."

The Third Hokage stared into Ling's eyes. In those black pupils, there was lingering fear and tension, but deep down, there was an unusual calmness. Was he just in shock? He reached out, gently pressing his hand against Ling's abdomen to feel carefully.

Without a doubt, it was the Eight Trigrams Seal! Although it seemed slightly different, the seal was stable and had indeed firmly locked half of the Nine-Tails inside this child. And inside Naruto, the other half was sealed.

Two Nine-Tails jinchuriki in one village, and both were such young children!

The Third's heart sank lower and lower. This meant double the risk, but perhaps it was also double the insurance? He looked at Naruto, who was clinging tightly to Ling, showing complete reliance on him while remaining somewhat distant from the Hokage himself, and his emotions grew complex.

"Good child, you did well to protect Naruto." The Third finally sighed, his tone softening significantly. "Don't worry, the village will take care of you from now on."

He waved his hand, signaling the Anbu behind him. "Carefully bury the Fourth and his wife. Take these two children to the village orphanage for now, increase the Anbu guard, and we will discuss everything once the situation stabilizes."

"Yes!"

An Anbu stepped forward, attempting to take Naruto from Ling's arms. However, the moment his hand reached out, Naruto seemed startled, immediately clutching Ling's clothes tightly. His mouth puckered, and seeing he was about to cry again, his small body tried to shrink further into Ling's embrace.

Ling instinctively held Naruto tighter and looked up at the Third, his eyes filled with a hint of pleading. "Hokage-ojisan... Naruto seems very scared. Can I keep holding him?"

The Third watched this scene, silent for a moment. He realized the rare reliance Naruto had on Ling, which might soothe Naruto and perhaps even stabilize the half of the Nine-Tails within Ling.

"Very well." The Third agreed. "You may look after Naruto for the time being. We will arrange for someone to see to your needs."

And so, Ling carried Naruto and, under the "escort" of a squad of Anbu, left the place that bore the weight of sacrifice and the initial tragedy.

Konoha had suffered heavy losses and was in ruins. Ling and Naruto were placed in a single room at a quiet orphanage on the edge of the village. Outside, Anbu stood guard twenty-four hours a day, ostensibly for their protection.

Ling was well aware that this surveillance was primarily aimed at the half of the Nine-Tails inside him. But he didn't care.

At night, moonlight spilled into the room through the window glass. Naruto had already fallen into a deep sleep beside Ling, his breathing steady, his small hand still gripping the edge of Ling's clothes.

Ling, however, did not sleep. He sat cross-legged on the bed, his consciousness sinking into his body.

It was a dark, dim realm with shallow water beneath his feet. Ahead stood a magnificent, ancient iron gate inscribed with the character for "Seal." Behind the gate, a pair of scarlet, giant eyes filled with hatred and violence stared at him through the gaps in the bars.

"Hmph! Uchiha brat!" A low, venomous roar echoed through the space. "How dare you seal this great one inside a lowly ant like you! When I get out, I will tear you to shreds!"

Ling stared back calmly, not a trace of fear on his face.

"Kurama," he called the Nine-Tails by its name, which made the giant beast behind the gate freeze in surprise. "Hatred and destruction won't change anything. You and I are now one. My existence might not be a bad thing for you."

"Arrogant!" The Nine-Tails erupted, its frantic chakra slamming against the seal. The iron gate creaked, but the seal remained unmoved.

Ling could feel his physical body in the outside world heating up, and wisps of crimson chakra uncontrollably tried to seep out. But with a thought, his nascent Sage Body naturally activated, and a peaceful yet powerful vitality forcibly suppressed the restless energy.

"See?" Ling's consciousness spoke within the sealed realm. "You can't touch me. Instead of raging in vain, you might as well watch quietly. I will show you a future completely different from what you know."

With that, he didn't wait for the Nine-Tails to roar again and quickly exited the seal space.

In the outside world, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling the subtle balance between the wild Nine-Tails chakra and his calm Sage Body. He knew this was only the beginning. Completely subduing the Nine-Tails and winning its acknowledgment would still require time and opportunity.

He turned his head to look at Naruto, who was sleeping like a little angel, his gaze turning firm.

"System, pull up my status interface."

A semi-transparent light screen appeared before his eyes:

[Host: Uchiha Ling]

[Age: 5 years old]

[Bloodline Inheritance: Uchiha Bloodline (Unawakened), Sage Body (Primary Level)]

[Chakra Nature: Fire, Wind, Yang (Sage Body enabled)]

[Tailed Beast: Nine-Tails Chakra Form (Growable, Fusion Rate 1%)]

[Special Status: Sealed (Half of the Nine-Tails), fully tethered to Uzumaki Naruto]

With a fusion rate of only 1%, the road ahead was long. But his starting point was already higher than anyone else's.

Outside the window, the reconstruction of Konoha was struggling to progress amidst the night. Inside the room, a dark star that would eventually descend to illuminate—or devour—the entire ninja world was quietly gathering its strength.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the walls, catching sight of those secret observers lurking in the shadows.

"The higher-ups of Konoha, Danzo, and all those other masterminds hiding behind the scenes..." A cold, cruel arc curled at the corners of Ling's mouth. "The game has only just begun."