"Don't be afraid, Naruto."
Uchiha Yuu took Naruto's small hand and led him deeper inside. As they continued onward, their surroundings began to change. The once bustling city gradually gave way to a dim underground expanse, where a row of faint yellow lights stretched overhead all the way to the end of the tunnel, as though leading into an unknown world.
As more and more Tailed Beasts were reclaimed, the Ten-Tails' resurrection became increasingly pronounced. The entire space was filled with the pressure emitted by the Tailed Beasts, and Uchiha Yuu walked ahead, shielding Naruto from it.
"There is someone from your clan waiting for you here, but due to his physical condition, he can only remain in this area."
Someone from his clan?
"Wouldn't he feel lonely staying in a place like this? This place is terrifying..."
Naruto's voice carried a note of doubt. Thinking of his own circumstances, with no one his age to talk to, only he understood that kind of loneliness.
"Of course he would, but all of this is for peace in the Shinobi World."
The only clan that could be called Naruto's own was the Uzumaki Clan. Naruto was still named Uzumaki Naruto. Because Minato Namikaze missed his wife, he had changed Naruto's surname to hers.
When they arrived in a vast underground chamber, Naruto looked up at Nagato suspended above them. Black rods had been inserted all over his body, and behind him was connected to a hideous monster.
Uchiha Yuu raised a hand to block Naruto's vision, sparing him the overwhelming pressure of the Ten-Tails. He looked up at Nagato in the air and said gravely, "Nagato, as the Tailed Beasts are continuously gathered and the Rinnegan gradually matures, your body is already beginning to fail."
Even with scientific staff helping Nagato