Chapter 302: Naruto Escapes Danger
"Ah~"
After realizing that what she saw was not an illusion, Kushina rolled her eyes, let out a miserable cry, and fell backward.
Before she could even hit the ground, her body vanished with a "bang."
Back then, the lump of chakra that Namikaze Minato and Kushina had left inside Naruto could be regarded as something similar to a Shadow Clone.
Because of the Uzumaki clan's miraculous sealing techniques, this kind of "shadow clone" would not disappear after the original body died, and it also had additional activation conditions.
The activation condition for the chakra left by Namikaze Minato was, Naruto attempting to undo the seal of the Nine-Tails.
The activation condition for the chakra left by Kushina was, Naruto had already begun unlocking the Eight Trigrams Seal and was preparing to seize the tailed beast's chakra.
The difference between this mode and a normal Shadow Clone was that the chakra was not evenly divided, nor was there extra chakra to condense a physical body. It could only exist within the mental space.
The similarity was that, just like a Shadow Clone, if it suffered a heavy blow or ran out of chakra, it would disappear immediately. After disappearing, it would carry its memories back to the original body.
The reason Kushina suddenly vanished with a "bang" was because the current scene was simply too shocking and intense. Her mentality exploded on the spot, exceeding the limit that a Shadow Clone could endure.
"W-what just happened??"
Naruto's real body stared blankly as Kushina suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared. He froze on the spot, even stopping his attack on Namikaze Minato.
"Naruto… your mom exploded."
Namikaze Minato took a deep breath and tried to explain what had just happened to Naruto in the gentlest tone possible.
"Oh."
Naruto snapped back to his senses and launched another attack.
"Damn enemy! Not only did you impersonate my dad and ambush me, you even cursed at me so viciously!"
"If I don't drill you to death today, I'd be unworthy of being Kakashi-sensei's disciple! Kakashi-sensei would've taught me the Thousand Years of Death for nothing!"
"Prepare to die!!!"
Naruto once again launched a furious assault.
[Naruto, stop right now!!]
After Kushina disappeared, the Nine-Tails, who had just broken free from the Adamantine Sealing Chains, hurriedly shouted to stop him.
Although the Nine-Tails really wanted to watch Namikaze Minato suffer at the hands of his own son, now was not the time to enjoy that kind of pleasure.
If Naruto actually drilled Namikaze Minato to death and he disappeared like Kushina just did, then they would truly be finished.
They still needed Namikaze Minato to help them escape the crisis.
"Nine-Tails, what's wrong? Once I drill this guy to death, maybe as a Shadow Clone he'll return his memories to the original body. Then the guy outside might reveal a flaw and we'll be able to escape."
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails in confusion after being stopped.
[You idiot brat. Didn't you promise to listen to my command?]
[This guy wasn't brought here by that Shikotsumyaku brat outside. Calm down!]
[Hey, Yellow Flash. I'll have Naruto release you and give you control. Hurry and use his body outside to escape the attacks of that Shikotsumyaku brat. Can you do it?]
[You don't want Naruto getting stabbed with a huge transparent hole, do you?]
"Alright."
Namikaze Minato agreed with a complicated expression.
Right now, he felt both miserable and happy.
Naruto having such a good relationship with the Nine-Tails, trusting it so much, and the Nine-Tails doing everything it could to help Naruto, what a wonderful thing that was.
Yet he himself had become a consumable witness to the bond between Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
[Naruto, leave it to him. Trust this old man.]
"Alright then."
Naruto dispelled the Shadow Clones and released Namikaze Minato.
Minato sighed.
He didn't say anything else to Naruto.
At this point, even if he said "I'm your father", it would be useless. It would only make Naruto think he was still provoking him.
Who told fate to be so coincidental?
Outside, there was an enemy whose voice sounded very similar to his, and that enemy had just used that exact line to ambush Naruto.
The chakra he had left behind was not much, only enough to perform one sealing technique.
Originally, it was meant to reinforce the Nine-Tails' seal after being triggered.
But it had just been interrupted.
And judging by the current situation, there was no longer any need to reinforce the seal.
"Nine-Tails, withdraw your chakra. I'm going to make a move."
Namikaze Minato spoke.
[Fine.]
The Nine-Tails agreed.
There was no countdown. After a brief pause, the Nine-Tails instantly retracted the tailed beast chakra.
As a tailed beast that had once been forced to share a "bed" with Namikaze Minato for many years, the Nine-Tails knew Minato's speed and reaction ability extremely well. There was no need for reminders.
Sure enough.
The strategy was the same as before.
First use the tailed beast cloak to expand against the restraints, then suddenly cancel the half-tailed-beast transformation to gain temporary movement in the limbs.
Earlier, Naruto had thrown out a shuriken attached to a wire to pull himself away, but it failed.
Now…
Controlling Naruto's body, Minato reached behind into the ninja tool pouch and pulled out a handful of shuriken.
With just a touch, the words "Sword of Shinobi Love" appeared on them.
Without the slightest hesitation, Namikaze Minato threw the shuriken into the distance.
The instant they left his hand, "Naruto's" figure vanished, appearing beside one of the flying shuriken. He grabbed the high-speed projectile and threw it even farther away with a backhand motion. His figure disappeared again and reappeared at an even greater distance.
"What a fast man."
Kimimaro hadn't even reacted before Naruto had already disappeared.
When the Sound Four saw this scene, they immediately erupted.
"Isn't that the Flying Thunder Formation we're training?"
"That's not the Flying Thunder Formation. That's the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God!"
"What do you mean the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God? It clearly belongs to the Second Hokage. Can you at least respect the Second Hokage's copyright?"
"Stop arguing about useless things. Can someone tell me why the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki knows the Flying Thunder God?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's inheriting his father's legacy. If Namikaze Minato knows it, isn't it normal for his son to know it too?"
"You idiot. If he really knew it, why didn't he use it from the beginning? Why wait until Kimimaro went in several times before using it? What, does he think Kimimaro going in was some kind of reward for him?"
"You damn hag, your mind is filthy!"
"Get lost! You're the filthy one!"
After glancing at the four who were arguing over meaningless things, Kimimaro sighed and released his Cursed Seal state.
He was still too weak. Even after racking his brain and abandoning his moral bottom line, he still couldn't intercept the opponent.
On the side of Amegakure.
After receiving Kimimaro's request for assistance, Orochimaru chose not to send reinforcements.
Whether Naruto found Sasuke or not didn't matter to him or to Amegakure.
Orochimaru merely had Kabuto Yakushi activate the surveillance to take a look and make sure nothing unexpected happened. Other than that, there was no need to interfere.
On the streets of Amegakure.
Kushina, Rin, and Hanabi, along with a few other female ninja, were strolling around after finishing their training.
Suddenly, a flood of memory images appeared in Kushina's mind. Her eyes widened, she rolled her eyes, and fainted on the spot.
"?"
Hanabi raised both hands and caught Kushina, who had collapsed onto her head, looking very confused.
"What's going on? Could it be that Kushina-nee has the same condition as my sister, fainting at the slightest moment?"
(End of this chapter)