The moment Naruto's consciousness appeared in the sewer, Nine-Tails's tightly closed eyes snapped open.
There was only hatred and anger accumulated over decades in its eyes.
"How is this possible?"
Nine-Tails raised its head, its face drawing close to the bars of the cage, its pupils locked tightly onto the small golden figure at the entrance.
"How could you come here voluntarily?"
In Nine-Tails's understanding, the mental world between a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast is not something one can enter just by wanting to.
Normally, the mental spaces of the two only connect passively when the seal loosens or the Jinchuriki's emotions collapse to the extreme.
A situation like this, where a Jinchuriki actively enters the Sealing Space, has never happened in the long time Nine-Tails has been sealed.
Naruto stood before the cage and looked up at Nine-Tails indifferently. Then he closed his eyes.
"Brat, I am asking you..."
Nine-Tails's voice rang out again, carrying a dangerous sense of oppression.
"What did you do to my Chakra when you used it outside earlier? Why was my power so obedient when it was in you?" Nine-Tails's pupils narrowed slightly.
It clearly remembered everything that had happened in the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals earlier.
The Chakra it had deliberately released should have, according to its plan, carried its will of hatred, completely swallowing the reason of this blonde brat, and then allowed it to take the opportunity to impact the seal. But the result was completely unexpected.
The moment that Chakra contacted the brat, it was firmly gripped by something. After struggling a few times, it quietly calmed down.
This made Nine-Tails feel an extremely uncomfortable sense of unease.
Naruto still ignored Nine-Tails. He kept his eyes closed, his consciousness rapidly sweeping across every corner of the Sealing Space, sensing the distribution of Nine-Tails Chakra and the nodes of the seal.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward a specific location deep within the cage that he had just locked onto.
"Found you."
The corners of his lips curled slightly, and then he withdrew his gaze and looked back at Nine-Tails.
"Kurama. I'll come back to see you in a bit."
After saying this, Naruto's consciousness dissipated, vanishing before Nine-Tails without any warning.
The cage fell into a brief silence. Then came a violent reaction, like a volcanic eruption.
The name Kurama was like a key, thrusting into a corner deep within Nine-Tails's memory that had been buried for a very, very long time.
It was the name given to it by the Sage of Six Paths, a symbol of the time when it was treated as an independent life with dignity, a name it thought no one else in this world would ever know again.
"Kurama?"
Nine-Tails lunged at the cage bars, its claws slamming against them and emitting a deafening metallic clang.
The entire cage shook violently, and the incantations on the sealing paper began to flicker rapidly, but its large claws still recklessly reached out through the gaps between the bars, its nails scraping against the metal to create a piercing screech.
"How do you know that name, brat? You get back here! Why do you know that name?"
"Answer me, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Nine-Tails's roar echoed continuously through the long sewer, but the only response was the hollow echo.
On the other side, Naruto's consciousness passed through layer after layer of mental barriers, as if diving continuously into an ocean of consciousness.
The Sealing Space where Nine-Tails resided receded, and the cold aura of Chakra was gradually replaced by an entirely different atmosphere. It was a warm and reassuring feeling.
Golden light slowly brushed over Naruto's consciousness. The cold and damp feeling in the tunnel faded away.
The ground and walls of this space emitted a soft golden glow. There was no specific material, as if it were constructed from pure light and warmth.
The golden light beneath his feet rippled slightly with Naruto's steps. Then, he saw a woman with a full head of red hair. She was standing in the golden light, her hands folded in front of her lower abdomen, looking at him with a smile.
She wore simple home clothes and the corners of her eyes were slightly curved, filled with tenderness.
Naruto looked at her, and his heart inexplicably skipped a beat. He, of course, knew who she was.
Uzumaki Kushina, the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the wife of the Fourth Hokage, a powerful female ninja from the Land of Whirlpools, and "his" mother.
But knowing was one thing, and actually standing in front of her was another.
Some emotion belonging to Naruto was surging within his body. This connection of blood that had been forced to break since infancy was reconnected at this moment across twelve years of time.
Naruto looked at Kushina's smile, and a term of address automatically popped up in his subconscious. But due to some awkwardness typical of a thirty-year-old adult, it was forcibly changed to her full name.
"You are... Uzumaki Kushina?"
The next moment, a red afterimage rushed toward him.
Bang!
A fist landed on top of his forehead.
Naruto's consciousness was sent flying backward two meters by this punch, flipping in the air before landing. A bright red bump swelled up on his forehead at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It hurt!
This was clearly the world of consciousness, but for some reason, the pain of this blow was comparable to when he fell off a cliff and broke his ribs in his previous life.
Naruto clutched his forehead and squatted on the ground, his whole body smoking.
"What did you call me?" Kushina's voice rose.
She stood where Naruto had just been, her fist still held in a striking position.
Kushina's eyes narrowed, and the corners of her lips still carried a smile, but that smile now looked even more chilling than Nine-Tails's roar.
Her red hair seemed to be activated by some invisible aura, suddenly flying upward. A tangible red Chakra erupted from her whole body, and that sense of oppression made Naruto feel as if he saw the phantom of Nine-Tails raging behind the cage for an instant.
No, this is even scarier than Nine-Tails!
Nine-Tails was at least separated by bars, but Kushina was right in front of him, less than two meters away, and her fist might launch a second strike at any moment.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Mom... Mom!"
Naruto reacted extremely quickly, terrified that if he were a second late in calling her that, he would be treated to a second round of iron fists.
Whoosh!
Instantly, the golden space became warm and bright again.
The red hair fell down and Kushina's eyes returned to being gentle.
She clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head, looking at Naruto. "Naruto, you've grown up."
Kushina examined Naruto carefully from head to toe.
This face, the yellow hair, the blue eyes—the same as Minato.
Looking at Naruto, Kushina felt a sense of trance, as if she were seeing the tiny life she had held in her arms more than a decade ago. In the blink of an eye, he had grown so big.
Naruto stood up from the ground, rubbing the bump on his head that was still throbbing with pain, and silently made a resolution in his heart.
'In the future, when I find a girlfriend, I will absolutely not find a violent one. No matter how good-looking she is.'