[By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto and Sasuke's strength had skyrocketed.]
[First, on Naruto's side: He fully reconciled with the Nine-Tails during battle, becoming a perfect Jinchuriki and mastering the complete Tailed Beast Mode, which is called the Nine-Tails Mode. The first time Naruto activated the Nine-Tails Mode, he deflected five Tailed Beast Balls with a single strike. His glowing figure even made Kakashi think for a moment that his teacher had come back to life.]
[In addition, Naruto could now undergo full tailed beast transformation and use Tailed Beast Balls. In that form, he suppressed five Tailed Beasts at once. It has to be said—the Sage of the Six Paths was really biased. Half of the Nine-Tails' chakra could fight five Tailed Beasts to a standstill. It's truly absurd!]
The screen changed scenes again.
It was Naruto's inner world—the same place shown before. But unlike the dimmer tones of earlier, this time it was noticeably brighter.
Kurama extended a massive claw, then clenched it into a fist, holding it in midair across the grille, face to face with Naruto.
Naruto, kneeling on the ground, reached out his left hand.
One beast and one man—fists gently touching through the bars.
Hah~! Huoh!
With a stirring piece of music—
The spiral seal on Naruto's belly vanished, ring by ring.
When the last of the ring disappeared, the red grille holding Kurama burst open!
But unlike the ferocious Kurama of the past, this time the beast remained still—simply crouching behind Naruto.
Meanwhile, Naruto spread his arms wide, and the two of them unleashed an overwhelming surge of power.
Markings appeared on Naruto's hands. His chakra cloak transformed into a flowing cape, and the Nine-Tails' chakra emanating from him burned like living flames.
The scene then cut to the outside world.
The sky was dark; smoke and dust filled the air.
Five massive Tailed Beasts stood before them, their mouths each forming a pitch-black Tailed Beast Ball.
Those spheres grew larger and larger, sucking in the surrounding air with a low hum.
Standing directly before them were the future Kakashi and Might Guy—tiny as ants in comparison to the five beasts.
Guy was visibly alarmed. "T-This is really bad."
Kakashi's left eye instantly transformed from three tomoe into the Mangekyō, and he spoke calmly: "Guy… don't move. I'll use my left eye's Kamui to deflect them."
"There are too many of them! Your Ocular power alone won't be enough!" Guy quickly replied, "Then I'll open the Eight Gates—"
Hearing that, Kakashi's eyes widened. "Idiot! You'd die if you do that!"
Guy: "But—"
In the middle of their rapid exchange, the five Tailed Beast Balls transformed into golden spheres, trailing enormous tails of flame, and shot toward them with world-ending fury.
But just then, a golden figure appeared in front of them—and in a single motion, deflected all five Tailed Beast Balls.
The destructive balls, capable of destroying anything, flew off like marbles, without even a moment's pause.
The sheer force of the shockwave made it impossible for Kakashi to clearly see who it was. His eyes stung from the wind, and in that blur, he actually seem to see the words "Fourth Hokage" written on the figure's back.
Kakashi's Mangekyō widened to its limit, his pupils contracting sharply. "S-Sensei?!"
As the stirring music swelled, the wind gradually subsided, and only then did Guy get a clear look at the figure.
"Is… is that Naruto?"
As those words landed, the five deflected Tailed Beast Balls struck the ground at different locations, triggering massive explosions.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. A valley outside Konoha]
Kakashi stared at the screen in shock, forgetting to even blink.
It wasn't his fault for seeing things—Naruto on the screen really did look just like Minato-sensei.
Blond hair, a similar silhouette, even the same posture—apart from not having the words "Fourth Hokage" on his back, he was almost identical.
It was only natural that his future self would mistake him.
"Wow!"
Naruto beside him wore an enchanted expression.
"So cool! This form is really too cool!"
He patted his stomach, staring at his belly button through his clothes.
Sigh, how was he supposed to communicate with the Nine-Tails? He really wanted it to give him its chakra already.
Deep inside Naruto, Kurama felt a chill run down its spine.
What had happened to it in the future? It had actually reconciled with this brat?
Watching them bump fists, Kurama felt like its fur was about to stand on end.
"Impossible."
It growled, "There's no way I'd make peace with this brat. Absolutely impossible!"
Jiraiya rested his chin on his hands, looking even more troubled. His knowledge of Tailed Beasts basically amounted to suppressing them and extracting power.
As for reconciling with a Tailed Beast and becoming a perfect Jinchuriki—even Kushina hadn't achieved that, and Jiraiya had no idea how to go about it either.
His original plan was to gradually let Naruto access portions of the Nine-Tails' chakra. Now that he knew there was a way to achieve it all at once, he was deeply tempted.
'What a pity.'
He glanced at Naruto, who was still smiling goofily. For now, the kid could only go one tail at a time.
Reconciliation wasn't something that could be forced.
---
[Konoha, Year 48]
Kushina looked at the golden figure on the screen, grinning from ear to ear.
"As expected of my son… he's even better than me!"
She closed her eyes and sank her consciousness inward.
Inside her mental space, the environment was much better than before. Kurama lay behind the massive grille, its golden vertical pupils fixed on the woman who had suddenly appeared.
"Kurama, I didn't expect you to have that kind of mode. How about trying it with me too?" Kushina put her hands on her hips, grinning.
Kurama glanced at her, narrowed its eyes, and spoke slowly. "I can… but as you saw, your son had to unseal me in the future."
"How about this, you release my seal, and I'll give you power."
Kushina rolled her eyes. "You sure have some nice dreams!"
Kurama snorted and closed its eyes, ignoring her.
Kushina teased it a few more times, but when it wouldn't respond, she withdrew from the mental space.
After she left, Kurama slowly opened its eyes.
"Uzumaki… Naruto…"
Its voice was so soft that only it could hear.
The mental space then fell back into silence.
Kushina opened her eyes and tugged at Minato's arm, acting spoiled. "Minato, Kurama is so annoying! It won't give me that Nine-Tails Mode."
Minato smiled indulgently. "Come on, that's something Naruto achieved on his own in the future. If Kurama could just hand out power to anyone, it wouldn't be the way it is now."
"But I want it too."
"Alright, alright. Once Naruto learns it, he can teach you."
Kushina paused. "Ah… so Naruto still has to become a Jinchuriki in the future?"
Minato spoke calmly. "Kushina, you have to believe in Naruto. It looks like Kurama is going to be an indispensable partner for him."
"Besides, as long as the two of us are here, Naruto will only have it better."
Kushina thought for a moment, then smiled again. "Yeah, you're right!"
---
[Konoha, Year One]
Madara, Tobirama, and the others were very surprised.
Tailed Beasts—they were actually the creations of the Sage of the Six Paths? Their chakra was given to them by the Sage himself?
If that was true, could interrogating them yield information about the old man?
Madara and Hashirama looked at each other and nodded quietly in unison.
*****
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister