Kushina

A moment later, Naruto opened his eyes and looked toward a spot deep within the cage that he had just pinpointed.

"Found it."

The corner of Naruto's mouth curled up slightly. Then he withdrew his gaze and looked back at the Nine-Tails.

"Kurama."

Naruto said the name casually, as though he were calling an old neighbor he had known for years.

"I'll come back for you later."

With that, Naruto's consciousness form vanished without warning before the Nine-Tails, like smoke scattered by a gust of wind.

Not even a ripple was left on the waterlogged ground.

The cage fell into a brief, deathly silence.

Then came a violent reaction like a volcanic eruption.

The name Kurama was like a key, precisely thrust into a deeply buried corner of the Nine-Tails' memories.

It was the name the Sage of Six Paths had given him. It symbolized a time when he had been treated as an independent life with dignity—a name he had thought no one in this world would ever know again.

"Kurama?"

The Nine-Tails lunged at the cage bars, his massive claws slamming against them with an ear-splitting metallic crash.

The entire cage shook violently. The inscriptions on the sealing talismans began flashing rapidly, but his huge claws still thrust recklessly through the gaps between the bars, nails scraping against metal with a piercing screech.

"How do you know that name, brat?"

"Come back here! Why do you know that name?"

"Answer me, Naruto Uzumaki..."

The Nine-Tails' roar echoed endlessly through the long sewer, but the only response was the hollow echo reflected back by the walls.

Elsewhere, Naruto's consciousness form passed through layer after layer of mental barriers, as though diving deeper and deeper into an ocean of consciousness.

The Sealing Space where the Nine-Tails resided grew farther and farther away, and the violent, chilling aura of Chakra was gradually replaced by an entirely different atmosphere.

It was a warm, reassuring feeling.

Golden light like rippling water slowly brushed over Naruto's consciousness.

The tunnel's cold, damp sensation quietly faded away, as if he had slowly crossed an invisible boundary and entered a completely different space.

The ground and walls of this space emitted a soft Golden Radiance. They had no tangible material, as if they were built from pure light and warmth.

The Golden Radiance beneath Naruto's feet rippled gently with his steps, as though he were walking upon the reflection of a calm lake.

Then Naruto saw a woman with Red-Hair standing amid the golden light, her hands folded over her lower abdomen as she smiled at him.

Her long hair was a vivid, warm crimson, like autumn maple leaves or sunset clouds dyed red by the setting sun.

She wore a simple house dress. Her features were gentle, and the corners of her eyes curved slightly, brimming with endless warmth and tenderness.

This was not the polite smile of a stranger. It was the smile of a mother who had waited a very, very long time before finally seeing her child.

There was joy in that smile, heartbreak, guilt, and a love weathered by time and long prepared.

Naruto looked at her, and for some inexplicable reason, his heart skipped a beat.

Of course, Naruto knew who she was.

Kushina Uzumaki, the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, wife of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, a powerful kunoichi from Whirlpool Country, and "his" mother.

But knowing that was one thing; truly standing before her was another.

Something within Naruto, something that belonged to him, quietly stirred. The bond of blood that had been forcibly severed in infancy reconnected across twelve years of time at this moment.

Looking at Kushina's smile, a form of address surfaced automatically in Naruto's subconscious.

But the word turned in Naruto's throat, then was forcibly changed into her full name by the awkward embarrassment of a thirty-year-old adult.

"You're... Kushina Uzu?"

The next instant, a red afterimage rushed straight at him.

Fast.

So fast that Naruto had no time to react at all.

Bang...

The next instant, a fist landed squarely above Naruto's forehead.

The sound was dull yet crisp, like a wooden mallet striking a ripe watermelon.

Naruto's consciousness form was sent flying two meters back by that punch. He flipped through the air before landing.

A huge, red, shiny bump rose on his forehead at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It hurt.

It really hurt.

This was clearly a world of consciousness, but for some reason, the pain of that punch rivaled the time in his previous life when he fell from a cliff and broke his ribs.

Naruto clutched his forehead and crouched on the ground, practically steaming all over.

"What did you call me?"

Kushina Uzumaki's voice suddenly rose several octaves.

She stood where Naruto had been moments ago, her fist still held in its punching stance.

Kushina narrowed her eyes. The smile remained on her lips, but it now looked more chilling than the Nine-Tails' roar.

Her dark crimson hair behind her seemed to be activated by some invisible aura, abruptly rising upward like nine ferocious red octopus tentacles writhing through the air. It spread out behind her, blocking much of the golden light and casting an oppressive shadow.

A tangible crimson Chakra burst from her body. That pressure made Naruto feel, for an instant, as if he were seeing the furious Nine-Tails behind the cage bars.

No, this was even scarier than the Nine-Tails!

At least the Nine-Tails was separated from him by bars. This lady was right in front of him, less than two meters away, and her fist could deliver a second precise strike at any moment.

Cold sweat beaded on Naruto's forehead. Looking at the Red-Hair demoness in her complete form, his throat bobbed involuntarily as he swallowed.

"M-Mom!"

Naruto reacted quickly, terrified that being even one word too slow would earn him another round of iron fists.

Whoosh!

In an instant, sunlight shone everywhere, spring flowers bloomed, and the golden space became warm and bright again.

All that wildly flailing Red-Hair behind Kushina fell back down, hanging smoothly and obediently behind her. Her eyes returned to gentle crescents, as if the Red-Hair demoness who had just punched someone flying two meters had never existed.

The smile that had made Naruto's hair stand on end became the softest smile of a mother. She gently clasped her hands before her and tilted her head as she looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, you've grown up."

Kushina carefully examined Naruto from head to toe.

That face, golden hair, and blue eyes—he looked almost exactly like her beloved Minato.

Looking at Naruto, Kushina seemed to see, in a daze, the tiny life from more than ten years ago, wrapped in swaddling clothes in her arms and crying by her ear.

In the blink of an eye, he had grown this big.

Naruto stood up from the ground, rubbing the still-throbbing bump on his head as he silently made a decision.

When I get a girlfriend in the future, I absolutely, absolutely won't choose a violent type.

No matter how pretty she is.