Pain. Not sharp, not sudden — deeper. It was like the world itself was crushing down on him, smushing him into the ground.
He attempted to open his eyes — if he even had eyes — and a bellow ripped from his throat before he could even think about it. The noise shook the ground, rumbling across the darkness like thunder.
Heat blistered at the periphery of his vision. Smoke seared the atmosphere. The copper flavor of blood glazed his tongue.
With every step, the earth broke open under him. Enormous paws crashed down onto the ground, shattering everything within striking distance. Roofs were shattered, cries were sent screeching into the air, and through the smoke, he noticed a village — painted from directly out of an anime fantasy.
Above him, a red moon was hanging low, cold and mocking. Behind him, nine tails ripped through the air, their blazing pathways igniting the trees.
His mind came in pieces. What is this?
The last thing he knew was sitting in his room, watching Naruto reruns, messily spilling ramen — and then nothing.
And now this. The heaviness. The claws. The rage seething in his chest.
It hit him all at once.
He wasn't human anymore.
He was the Nine-Tails.
A glint of gold sliced through the frenzy. Blond hair. A white cloak.
Minato Namikaze — the Fourth Hokage.
In his arms, a sobbing infant. At his side, a red-haired woman fighting for air.
Kushina Uzumaki.
The recognition struck like a blade. This night. The night of the Nine-Tails' attack.
He struggled to hold back, but the body refused to listen. One of the tails moved wildly, smashing stone, knocking over houses. He was aware of himself screaming in his head, but he made no noise.
And then came the weight — a chill, scorching pressure pushing against his mind.
A red light seeped through his eyesight.
Sharingan.
Obito.
Each struggle to resist sent shafts of agony through his head. His body jerked like a marionette, ripping through the village as villagers scrambled like ants beneath him. He bellowed — not with anger, but pain.
Stop, I don't want this.
No one listened. The monster didn't care.
Then — a moment of light. The control broke.
He lurched, claws digging into the ground. The Sharingan's hold released, and he was gasping in the instant quiet. His mind was his own for an instant.
But before he could act, chakra throbbed from the ground. Chains erupted from the soil — heavy, shining golden, fiery hot — and bound his limbs and tails.
Adamantine Sealing Chains.
They tightened with each movement, holding him down. The chakra imprisoning him was weak but persistent, throbbing with life that would not extinguish.
And there she stood — Kushina, white and shivering, her body clinging together by a thread, blood on her lips. Even in her condition, her chakra glowed hot enough to pin him in place.
"Just… stay there," she whispered, trembling.
Minato stood beside her, still cradling the baby in his arms. His eyes were exhausted, but firm.
The Nine-Tails struggled against the chains, his body contorting with instinct. He didn't want to — but one enormous claw struck out.
The noise that came after was not loud, but it muted all else. His claw had gone through both of them — Minato and Kushina — as they protected their child. The monster stood still, mouth agape, the roar stuck in his throat.
Blood fell onto the baby's blanket.
Though in pain, Kushina smiled weakly. "He's… safe now."
Minato's hands fluttered fast — seals being made, light blazing. The air charged with power.
The Nine-Tails felt it before he saw it — the cold, divine weight pressing into the world.
The Reaper Death Seal.
The Shinigami's presence loomed behind Minato, hand reaching through him. Kurama roared, thrashing against the chains, but it was useless. The seal's pull tore through him, splitting his essence apart — light and shadow ripping from his core.
Half of him was pulled towards the weeping child. The other half was pulled into Minato's dissolving chakra.
The chains loosened. The flames died down.
For a moment, everything stopped. Smoke hung in the air, light shifted around the fading chakra. He could feel the seal forming, pulling him in.
No. He knew this place. He knew this moment. This was where Kurama had been sealed into Naruto. But now, it was him.
"I'm not supposed to be here!" he tried to shout, but it came out as a roar. His thoughts scrambled. He tried to resist, tried to understand what had happened.
The Reaper's hand pierced Minato's chest. Golden chakra chains flared, drawing the demon's energy away. He felt his soul split—half toward the child, half fading into nothing.
"Wait!" The thought was his own. "If I'm sealed inside him…"
The infant's eyes opened—blue, clear. Something looked back at him.
The pull grew stronger. His roars died inside his mind. Then—silence. No sound. No heat. No pain. Just existence.
He floated in a sea of red chakra, coiled and still. Only his mind felt alive.
"…Naruto Uzumaki." The name echoed inside him.
Time passed. Or maybe it didn't. He couldn't tell.
Years passed. Or seconds. He couldn't tell.