The pale winter sunlight streamed through the courtyard.
"Kushina, do you know what you're about to face?"
"I... I know, Grandma Mito." Kushina's voice trembled slightly.
Mito Uzumaki sat on the bedding at the edge of the bed, a hint of weariness on her aged face. Her hands rested on her legs as she gazed gently at Kushina and said softly, "Don't be afraid, Kushina."
"As long as we find love and place it within our vessel, we can still find happiness, even as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki."
Kushina froze for a moment, her dark eyes widening in confusion. "...Love?"
Mito lowered her gaze, her calm voice tinged with wistfulness. "But it is something we will never find by simply waiting."
Kushina listened quietly without a word.
Then Mito Uzumaki slowly rose, turned to the girl, and said, "Come with me, Kushina."
With that, she headed outside. Kushina followed close behind, and the two left the room together.
A short while later, they entered the ground floor of a building with a spiral staircase. A huge Uzumaki Clan crest was carved into the stone floor beneath their feet, and the stone stairs spiraled upward, winding around and around.
Mito gazed at the spiral emblem on the floor, her expression lonely, and slowly began, "The Land of Whirlpools has fallen. Although most of our surviving clansmen are here in Konoha, many are still scattered across the Shinobi World."
At that, she leaned on her cane and turned slightly toward Kushina beside her, continuing in her aged voice, "The Uzumaki Clan was once renowned throughout the Shinobi World for our vitality and Sealing Jutsu. That power became a fuse for war, and even we ourselves became consumed by it."
"It seemed that our very existence would be swallowed by that power. Yet our