"NARUTO!"
Kushina's face contorted with desperate terror as she witnessed her son disappear into the Gedo Statue's closing maw. At that same moment, the massive creature completed its liberation from her binding chains, its enormous form erupting with power that seemed to shake the very foundations of reality.
"ROAR!"
The statue's triumphant bellow was accompanied by tremendous lightning bolts that materialized around its towering form like the wrath of ancient gods. Each electrical discharge carried enough force to level mountains, their brilliant flashes illuminating the devastated battlefield in stark, violent colors.
Swish!
Kushina quickly retreated backward, her movements fluid despite her panic as the dark golden chakra claws extending from her back pressed deeper into the creature's sealed mouth. She refused to abandon her rescue attempt, even as the tactical situation deteriorated beyond recovery.
After its victory roar, the Gedo Statue's jaws snapped shut completely, yet somehow Kushina's chakra constructs remained intact within its sealed interior. Rather than seeming disturbed by this intrusion, the massive creature appeared almost pleased by the development.
The dark golden glow surrounding Kushina's form began to dim visibly as the statue started absorbing the energy from her chakra claws with greedy efficiency. To maintain the rescue constructs' existence, she was forced to continuously output enormous amounts of her personal power—energy that the creature was converting to its own use with terrifying effectiveness.
The trap had been perfectly executed. Not only had the Gedo Statue captured Naruto, but it was now draining Kushina's strength as well, turning her maternal desperation into fuel for its own dark purposes.
Inside the Gedo Statue's interior...
"WHOOSH!"
The moment Naruto fell into the creature's mouth, golden Nine-Tails chakra erupted from his entire body like protective flames. The energy blazed with desperate intensity, his instinctive defenses activating automatically in response to mortal danger.
However, the protective chakra dispersed almost immediately, dissolving like water poured onto burning sand as the Gedo Statue absorbed the energy with insatiable hunger.
Naruto found himself helpless against this overwhelming drain. Without the protection of Tailed Beast chakra in its natural form, and lacking the resistance that senjutsu might have provided, his own energy was being consumed faster than his body could produce it.
"This is it," he realized with grim acceptance, raising his head to scan his surroundings for any possible escape route.
Directly above him, barely visible in the oppressive darkness, a faint trace of dark golden light flickered like a distant star. The signature was unmistakably familiar, though it seemed impossibly far from his current position.
"Mom's chakra!" he whispered, his eyes brightening with momentary hope.
But even as recognition dawned, harsh reality reasserted itself. The Nine-Tails' chakra within his body seemed constrained by some form of innate suppression, unable to manifest in its usual forms or provide the mobility he desperately needed.
His own physical movements felt sluggish and unresponsive, as if the very environment was designed to drain strength and will from any living creature unfortunate enough to be trapped within it.
"Am I going to die?" Naruto wondered, though the question carried no fear—only a profound sense of regret.
"I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, and Chiharu," he murmured into the consuming darkness. "There really are things in this world that can't be accomplished through determination and hard work alone. I'm sorry for disappointing all of you."
His eyes began to drift closed as exhaustion and chakra depletion took their toll. In this place, once the Nine-Tails' energy was completely drained, his own death would follow within moments.
"I'm sorry, Nine-Tails," he added with genuine remorse. "I acted selfishly and ended up getting you swallowed by this monster along with me."
Just as Naruto was preparing to surrender to the inevitable, brilliant light suddenly erupted from the pitch-black void below him. The radiance was warm and welcoming, completely unlike the oppressive atmosphere that had surrounded him moments before.
The light formed a solid platform that caught his falling body, halting his descent and providing stable footing in the midst of chaos.
"Boy, weren't you pretty capable just a few minutes ago?" came a deep, muffled voice that seemed to rumble with barely contained power. "What happened to all that determination?"
Naruto's eyes snapped open in shock, his consciousness fully alert as he took in his transformed surroundings.
Standing before him was a massive creature that seemed to embody primal fire and fury. Its appearance was intimidating—almost terrifying at first glance—but closer examination revealed distinctly simian features beneath the supernatural flames that wreathed its form.
The creature's hair appeared to be composed of living fire that danced and flickered with each movement, while four magnificent tails swayed behind its powerful frame.
"You are..." Naruto breathed, his voice carrying genuine wonder.
The creature's mouth opened to reveal a voice filled with ancient pride and barely contained enthusiasm: "I am the Handsome Monkey King! The King of Sage Monkeys granted the name Son by the Sage of Six Paths himself! The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Son Goku!"
He paused dramatically before adding with a thunderous roar: "REMEMBER IT WELL!"
The string of titles was delivered with such rapid-fire intensity that Naruto found himself struggling to process all the information being presented.
"Um, so what should I call you?" Naruto asked with characteristic directness, his analytical mind cutting through the elaborate introduction to focus on practical communication.
From the chakra signature alone, he could identify this magnificent creature as the Four-Tails he had been attempting to rescue.
"SON GOKU!" the Four-Tails bellowed, his voice carrying obvious frustration. "Humans truly are simple-minded creatures! You can't even remember such a basic name!"
The ancient Tailed Beast seemed genuinely offended by the perceived slight, as if his identity was a matter of profound personal importance.
"I understand," Naruto replied with a slight nod, filing the name away carefully.
When he raised his head again, several other massive creatures had materialized around Son Goku, each one possessing distinctive appearances that spoke to their individual natures and personalities.
A cat wreathed in ethereal blue flames regarded him with intelligent eyes. A creature possessing a shell-like carapace observed him with ancient wisdom. Something resembling a fusion of pufferfish and horse studied him with benevolent curiosity. And a massive bovine creature with octopus tentacles instead of legs watched him with what might have been respect.
Despite their vastly different forms, they all shared one crucial characteristic—the number of tails extending from their bodies corresponded exactly to their traditional designations.
Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails.
"I never imagined that a human could reach this level of spiritual depth," the Eight-Tails said, his voice carrying genuine surprise and growing admiration.
His gaze shifted to look past Naruto toward something behind him: "Nine-Tails, your Jinchūriki is truly exceptional."
"Nine-Tails?" Naruto repeated in confusion, then turned around slowly.
Standing directly behind him, massive and magnificent in his full glory, was Kurama. The Nine-Tails appeared exactly as he had during their previous confrontations, but somehow different—calmer, more present, lacking the constant undercurrent of rage that had defined their earlier interactions.
"You came out from the seal..." Naruto said softly, his expression suddenly shifting to one of profound anguish.
Tears began flowing down his cheeks as the implications hit him with crushing force. His voice cracked with grief and self-recrimination as he continued: "It seems I really am dead, and I've dragged you down with me, Nine-Tails!"
"You ridiculous child," Kurama growled with exasperated affection, "how can a dead person shed tears?"
His voice softened slightly as he added: "Besides, Tailed Beasts cannot truly die. We are manifestations of natural energy itself—our essence is eternal."
"That's right," Naruto murmured, his father's teachings suddenly returning to him. "Dad explained that Tailed Beasts are immortal beings."
His confusion returned as he looked around at the impossible gathering: "Then where exactly are we?"
The other Tailed Beasts had been observing this exchange with varying degrees of amusement and concern, but the Eight-Tails—apparently possessed of the most patient temperament among them—took it upon himself to provide clarification.
"We are all still within the Gedo Statue's interior," he explained with the tone of someone accustomed to teaching complex concepts. "However, this represents a deeper level of consciousness—a spiritual realm that exists beneath physical reality."
He paused to ensure Naruto was following before continuing: "Generally speaking, only a Jinchūriki who has achieved perfect harmony with their Tailed Beast's power can access this level of awareness."
As he spoke these words, every Tailed Beast except Kurama turned to stare at Naruto with expressions that mixed surprise, curiosity, and something approaching respect.
The implications of what the Eight-Tails had just revealed were staggering—Naruto had achieved a level of spiritual development that typically required years of dedicated training and perfect cooperation between human and Tailed Beast.
"Now is not the time for theoretical discussions," the Eight-Tails continued, recognizing that philosophical explanations would have to wait. "As a human being in this environment, you are in immediate mortal danger. We must find a way to extract you from the statue's body before your physical form is completely consumed."
Rather than responding to this urgent warning, Naruto instead turned to face all the assembled Tailed Beasts and bowed deeply, his posture carrying the weight of genuine remorse.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I couldn't save any of you. I failed in everything I promised to do."
The massive creatures stared at him in shock, their ancient minds struggling to process what they were witnessing. Even in this moment of personal crisis—when his own survival hung in the balance—Naruto's primary concern remained their welfare.
Such selflessness from a human being challenged fundamental assumptions they had held for centuries.
"It's a bit premature to be apologizing," Kurama said suddenly, his voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere with characteristic directness.
Naruto turned to face the Nine-Tails, his eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
Kurama's expression softened into something that might have been a smile as he continued: "Kid, when you get out of here—and you will get out—don't forget what you told me earlier."
His tone grew mockingly threatening, though his eyes betrayed genuine affection: "Otherwise, I'll take control of your body first, and then I'll deal with your parents and that Madara character myself."
"Don't worry!" Naruto replied with renewed determination, his voice carrying absolute conviction.
"By the way, Nine-Tails," he added suddenly, his curiosity overcoming even their desperate circumstances, "you must have your own original name, right? Like Son Goku and the others?"
Kurama's expression immediately shifted to one of extreme panic, as if Naruto had just asked the most embarrassing question imaginable.
"That kind of thing..." he began, then seemed to lose the ability to form coherent words.
The Two-Tails—Matatabi—chose that moment to interject with obvious amusement: "Of course he has a name. His original name is Kurama."
"SHUT UP!" the Nine-Tails roared, directing a withering glare at his smaller sibling.
"Kurama?" Naruto repeated thoughtfully, testing the syllables as if tasting something new.
"Do you have a problem with it?" Kurama snapped, his defensive anger making him seem almost vulnerable despite his massive size.
The name clearly held deep personal significance—perhaps representing a connection to his original identity before centuries of hatred and imprisonment had shaped his current persona.
Naruto shook his head with a warm, genuine smile that seemed to illuminate the dark spiritual realm around them: "Although it feels a bit unusual, it suits you perfectly."
As he looked upon Naruto's heartfelt expression, something fundamental shifted in Kurama's eyes. The constant anger and resentment that had defined their relationship began to give way to something softer, more trusting.
"But," Naruto continued, his practical nature reasserting itself, "I just tried to extract the Tails' chakra and failed completely. How am I supposed to escape from here by myself?"
He began pulling at his hair in frustration, the familiar gesture indicating that his mind was racing