Kushina's voice, brimming with barely-contained glee, echoed from the Spirit Pearl. "Oh my god, HAHAHA! The Slug Sage is never, ever going to forget you now! I bet you're the first person in a thousand years to leave that kind of impression on her!"
"Her first... special guest?" Mikoto mused aloud, the words slipping out before she could filter them.
That sent Kushina over the edge. "PFFFT— HAHAHAHA! Mikoto-chan, 'special guest'! That's absolutely perfect! The Slug Sage's 'special guest'! I can't breathe!" she howled, her laughter pealing through the room.
"Special guest? That's not even the right term!" Yuto's eye twitched in exasperation.
"Oh? What would you prefer then?" Kushina managed between giggles, hand clamped over her mouth. "How about 'Bug Wrangler'? That has a nice ring to it."
"It was an accident! Stop making a whole thing out of it!"
"That poor slug is probably back in the Shikkotsu Forest, shivering in a corner, terrified you're going to summon it again! Wait... or maybe not." Her tone shifted to one of mock horror. "What if she... liked it? She might start seeking you out, trying to get a repeat performance…"
"Are you trying to tell me a ghost story right now?" Yuto deadpanned, looking utterly drained.
Bzzt bzzt.
A faint, insistent buzzing cut through their banter.
Just as Yuto pulled out the mysterious communicator, Yugao peeked her head out from the kitchen, a dish towel in hand. "Captain Yuto? Was that you?"
"Just an alarm, nothing to worry about," he said smoothly, a flicker of Kyoka Suigetsu ensuring her gaze slid right off the device.
His fingers flew across the screen.
[Dumb-Snack]: So? What's the verdict, Madara?
[Magical-Girl]: I must know. Why did Black Zetsu betray me?
He'd wrestled with that question in the endless silence of the Pure Land, and the not-knowing was finally too much to bear.
A familiar, annoying prompt appeared.
[Choose.]
[1. Because Black Zetsu coveted your fine booty, but you never gave him a chance!]
[2. Black Zetsu was jealous of your Magical Girl transformation!]
[3. Bet you didn't see this coming! Black Zetsu is my good boi! I'm the mastermind behind it all!]
'I get options for this, too?' Yuto thought, his expression flatlining for a nanosecond before he tapped a reply.
[Dumb-Snack]: Black Zetsu was jealous of your Magical Girl transformation.
[Congratulations! You have obtained twenty years' worth of Chakra energy!]
[Dumb-Snack]: Kidding, don't mind me. The real answer is, Black Zetsu didn't betray you. He was never on your side to begin with.
[Dumb-Snack]: It's simple, Madara. Black Zetsu isn't your will. He's the will of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. You were just the ultimate patsy he used to spring his mommy from seal jail.
[Magical-Girl]: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki? Who is that?
[Dumb-Snack]: You don't know? She's the Sage of Six Paths' mother.
On the other side, Uchiha Madara stared, utterly stupefied.
[Magical-Girl]: The Sage of Six Paths... had a mother?
[Dumb-Snack]: How did you think he was born? Did you think he just spontaneously generated out of a rock?
It wasn't exactly what he'd thought, but it was uncomfortably close. The legendary Sage, a figure of mythic origin, having something as mundane as a mother? And that mother's will had manipulated his entire life? He, Uchiha Madara, the architect of the Moon's Eye Plan, was merely a tool?!
Unacceptable!
For a man of his monumental pride, the revelation was a devastating blow.
[Dumb-Snack]: I can feel the rage from here, but cool your jets. You're in the Pure Land. You got a plan to actually do anything about it?
Madara looked at the message, his spectral form seeming to deflate. The answer was a resounding no. The Pure Land was just an endless expanse of drifting soul lights—no resources, no leverage.
[Magical-Girl]: What do you suggest?
The words tasted like ash, but he typed them anyway.
[Dumb-Snack]: Stick to the script. Wait for the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
[Dumb-Snack]: Huh, hang on. Looks like I can just send you the whole thing.
Yuto spotted the memory transfer function next to the upload button and pressed it.
Vroom.
A deluge of information, the entire saga of Naruto, flooded into Uchiha Madara's consciousness.
"Aren't you worried about the chaos that could cause?" Kushina floated closer, her voice laced with concern.
"An Uchiha Madara who knows the entire future... wouldn't he be even more dangerous?" Mikoto added, her brow furrowed with worry.
"Don't think so small," Yuto replied with a lazy grin. "Is this even the same world anymore? He's just one Madara. There's nothing that can stand before us."
Putting the communicator away, Yuto pulled out a blank scroll and began sketching and writing notes.
"Captain Yuto, you're so diligent," Yugao said, emerging from the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea. She placed it gently beside him. "With your power, do you still need to write out battle plans?"
"Just organizing some thoughts," he said, offering her a warm smile.
"I see. Would it bother you if I stayed here?" she asked, subtly inching closer. From this distance, she could catch the clean scent of laundry detergent on his clothes—a simple, comforting smell that made her heart flutter.
"Not at all," Yuto said, pretending not to notice her slight movement.
"Captain Yuto, you don't look very old, but you know so much!" Yugao marveled, her voice full of admiration. "The gap between a genius like you and an ordinary person like me is just... huge."
"Don't underestimate yourself, Yugao. You're plenty skilled," Yuto shook his head, his tone gentle. "You have impressive talent in kenjutsu, and you're incredibly kind and perceptive with people."
"Hehe, hehehe…" Yugao was so flattered she felt a little lightheaded, a wide, goofy grin spreading across her face. "I'm not that great. Really, I'm not."
"This girl is completely gone. She's totally forgotten about her little childhood crush," Kushina sighed, shaking her head.
"Can't be helped. Our Yuto-kun is just too magnetic," Mikoto whispered, hiding a smile behind her hand.
"Hey now, cut it out," Yuto protested, though his expression was playful. "Praising me like that is an insult to a pure-hearted romantic like me!"
"HAHAHAHA! 'Pure-hearted romantic' he says!"
"Yuto-kun, you have zero self-awareness!"
Ignoring their teasing, Yuto turned his attention to the drowsy-looking Yugao. "Yugao, if you're tired, you should go rest in the guest room. I'll be fine here on my own."
"No, I'm not sleepy yet," she murmured, her red lips forming a slight pout. Her words were beginning to slur. "Captain Yuto, don't send me away... I still want to talk to you. What kind of girls do you like? I wonder if someone like me could possibly…"
Her sentence trailed off as her eyes slowly fluttered shut.
"Hey, you little rascal," Kushina floated out, raising an eyebrow. "You used a Gengetsu, didn't you? Why not let her finish her question?"
"Afraid of what she might say next? Would it shatter your 'pure-hearted romantic' image?" Mikoto added lightly.
"Time to focus on the mission, ladies," Yuto said, cracking his neck and standing up.
"Poor girl," Kushina said, looking down at the peacefully sleeping Yugao with genuine pity. "When she wakes up in the morning, her world is going to come crashing down…"
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