Main World.
Summer, Year 30 of Konoha.
Outside the Elite School in Konohagakure.
The barrier was still there.
The bars of Wood Release: Boundary-Locking Wooden Prison did not budge. The net of vines trembled slightly between them, as though breathing slowly. Jiefang stood at the center of the barrier, his wooden staff planted before him, its tip resting against the ground.
Outside the barrier, Kushina stood where she was, her gaze fixed on him without turning away. After hearing what he had just said, she had remained silent for a long time. Then she spoke, her voice a little softer than before. "Grandpa Jiefang, tell me, am I the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki now?"
Jiefang looked at her, his tone steady. "Not yet."
Kushina said nothing. She stood there as though she had finished asking that question. Jiefang added, "You will be."
Kushina stood there as though waiting for the echo of those words to fade. Jiefang looked at her, his voice dropping a fraction. "Kushina, Konoha is not your home. Mito Uzumaki is not fit to represent the Uzumaki Clan, either. You shouldn't be here."
Kushina's fingers tightened slightly around her cuff, but she did not move.
Footsteps came from outside the barrier, light but steady. Jiefang did not turn his head. Through the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he had already sensed who was coming-the chakra was familiar, the gait rather slow, but every step landed firmly. The woman walked to the edge of the barrier and stopped two paces from the bars. As she came to a halt, she took a slightly breathless breath, as though she had hurried over from somewhere, yet also as though she had already worked out what she would say on the way.
Her voice was not loud when she spoke, but it carried