Back at the Hokage Building, Kaito had just sat down when Minato suddenly rushed in, dragging a coffin along with him.
"Kaito! I brought Kushina's coffin for you!"
Kaito glanced at the coffin and noticed there was still dirt clinging to the lid, clearly freshly dug out.
Naruto followed right behind the coffin, looking visibly emotional.
"Kaito-senpai! Dad said you're going to bring Mom back to life—thank you so much!"
Kaito shook his head helplessly. With a casual wave of his hand, the coffin lid floated aside, revealing Kushina inside.
The Hokage's preservation methods for corpses were excellent; Kushina only looked a little dried out.
Minato stared at Kaito without blinking, so anxious he nearly dropped to his knees, but too afraid to disturb him.
Kaito didn't waste words. He pressed his hands together and intoned in a deep voice,
"Reincarnation!"
After a brief pause, Kushina's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she sat up inside the coffin.
"Kushina!"
Minato immediately embraced her, while Kushina remained stunned. Naruto stood frozen—at home, Minato had shown him pictures of Kushina before, but seeing her in person now left him overwhelmed and at a loss.
Kushina instinctively hugged Minato back, confusion clouding her face.
"Where… am I? Minato? Did your soul also come to the Pure Land?"
Minato's face was already drenched in tears. Choking back sobs, he said,
"No! You're alive again—and so am I! We're both here, back in the real world. And it's all thanks to Kaito!"
"Kaito?"
Only then did Kushina notice Kaito standing opposite them. Seeing his snow-white hair, she froze in surprise.
"Kaito, your hair… it's white?"
Right. Everyone who saw Kaito again after a long time had the same first reaction.
Kaito waved it off with a casual excuse.
"You've been dead for years. Am I not allowed to get old?"
"But your face hasn't changed at all! No—wait! You're even more handsome than before!"
"Oh. Thanks, I guess."
Kaito felt like he'd had enough of this airheaded couple. He walked over and gave Naruto a light push.
"Naruto, that's your mom. What are you standing there for?"
"Naruto!?"
Of course Kushina could never forget her son's name. She shoved Minato aside and turned toward Naruto.
When she saw the spiky blond hair and whisker marks on his cheeks, Kushina gasped and covered her mouth. Tears spilled down her face.
"Naruto… you're my Naruto!"
She stepped out of the coffin and rushed toward him.
Naruto stood dazed in front of his mother. Even though it was their first meeting, the blood bond between them was undeniable. He knew without a doubt—this beautiful red-haired woman was his real mother.
"Mom…"
At that one word, both Kushina and Minato broke down into tears. Minato rushed over again, and the three of them embraced tightly, holding each other as a family at last.
Kaito silently watched. He opened the dimensional wall of the Gate Space, allowing Obito to see everything as well.
Inside the Gate Space, Obito lowered his head in shame at the sight.
By now, he fully understood the magnitude of his mistakes. Minato's family's tragedy was entirely his doing, and he wished he could crawl into a hole to escape the weight of his guilt.
...
After the three finally pulled apart, Minato explained everything—Naruto's childhood and all that had happened until now.
When Kushina learned that Naruto had been treated as a monster, shunned and insulted, her hair flared wildly as though she'd triggered Life Return in her rage.
She burst out, shouting furiously,
"Those old fools in the Third Hokage's era were nothing but bastards! Why did they have to hide Naruto's identity!? How hard is it to protect the Hokage's own son!?"
"Naruto's a demon fox? Bullshit! My Naruto is a hero! They're all blind idiots!"
"Naruto! My poor child!"
Naruto was stunned. He never imagined his mother would be so fierce—the complete opposite of his father.
Minato, meanwhile, wore a tender smile. The more fiery Kushina was, the more it reassured him that this wasn't just a dream.
But as Kushina's tirade grew more intense, cursing nearly every Hokage in history, Minato finally tried to cut in.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. It's all in the past. Calm down, Kushina."
"Nani? You're telling me to calm down?!"
Kushina spun toward him with a glare that could eat him alive.
"Minato! Look at what you were protecting all these years! Look at the state of this Konoha you defended!"
"…"
Minato instantly lowered his head, becoming an ostrich.
Naruto hurried to ease the tension.
"Mom, it's really all in the past. Just being reunited with you both is enough for me. And that's all thanks to Kaito-senpai!"
"Mm! Exactly! We need to thank Kaito properly!"
Kushina turned and bent into a deep ninety-degree bow toward Kaito.
"Thank you so much, Kaito! Thank you for giving our family the chance to be together again!"
When she lifted her head, her gaze was so earnest that anyone watching might have thought she harbored other feelings for Kaito.
Kaito's mouth twitched. He gestured for her to rise.
"No need to thank me. Back then Minato helped me plenty too. This is something I should do."
Minato was instantly dumbfounded.
What? How come his tone toward Kushina is so much gentler than toward me!?
Kushina shook her head softly.
"No… what you've done for our family can't even be compared to that. I truly don't know how to repay you."
"I said it's fine. If you really want to thank me, then just take this guy with you. He's taking up space."
With that, Kaito opened the Gate Space and tossed Obito out.
Kushina stared hard at him for a long moment before confirming it was indeed Obito. She had already learned the truth from Minato, so her eyes toward Obito were sharp and full of anger.
Obito kept his head down, not daring to meet her gaze. He only mumbled,
"Sensei's wife…"
Kushina had once treated Obito like her own son. Even though her heart boiled with fury, hearing that familiar yet estranged "Sensei's wife" stuck the scolding in her throat.
She let out a long, heavy sigh.
"So… do you realize your mistake now?"
"I do… I was such a fool, tricked completely by Madara, and I dragged sensei's whole family into disaster. I wronged both of you… and Naruto most of all!"
As he spoke, tears of regret spilled from Obito's eyes.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo