"So that's Shukaku…"
Naruto swallowed hard.
Just as three kinds of intertwined chakra coiled through his own body, Gaara carried three kinds of his own.
And the Shukaku before him was the most ominous of those three.
"Found someone I wanna kill!"
The freshly unleashed Shukaku locked onto Gamabunta immediately.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Shukaku slapped its belly, and a massive air cannon burst forth, hurtling toward Naruto and Gamabunta.
Gamabunta launched himself skyward. "Water Release: Gunshot!"
Water and wind collided, churning the surrounding air. The very sky and earth shifted color.
A colossal downpour blanketed the entire forest.
Naruto felt a chill of relief—thank god he'd gotten Gaara out of the exam venue first. Otherwise, all of Konoha would have been baptized by this storm.
Boom!
Gamabunta crashed to the ground.
"Hey, Naruto—can you still use those Adamantine Sealing Chains?!" Gamabunta called out. "One shot of those and we'd finish this instantly!"
"About that… I'm completely out of Chakra." Just clinging to the top of Gamabunta's head was taking everything Naruto had.
"Drilling Air Bullet!"
Shukaku gave them no time to talk, immediately launching three more Drilling Air Bullets.
"Gunshot!"
Gamabunta fired back with two Gunshots.
"Boss, there are three!" Naruto's senses caught the discrepancy.
"Gunshot!"
Gamabunta hastily spat out a third.
Six massive Chakra spheres collided in midair. The forest had been nothing but clear skies, yet now it was being ravaged by a monsoon.
"Then find a way to wake that kid up!" Gamabunta said. "Wake him up and the jutsu comes undone!"
"How?!" Naruto asked.
"Just punch him!" Gamabunta launched into action immediately.
"Gunshot!"
"Zannen—can't hit me!" Shukaku looked fat, but he was surprisingly agile, dodging the attack with ease.
But that was just a feint.
Gamabunta had already closed the distance to Shukaku's flank.
"Now!"
"Yeah!"
Naruto leapt.
"Ah—crap, Naruto!"
But Shukaku twisted its body with unexpected agility, and Gamabunta—lacking claws—couldn't hold on.
Naruto, more skilled than his canon counterpart, had a sharper eye for openings—which ironically had put him at a disadvantage. He'd committed to the opening too early.
Naruto hung in midair, weightless, helpless. No Chakra meant no Shadow Clones. And with the Nine-Tails held in check by Kushina, he couldn't borrow its power either.
"…But I'm not giving up here. Adamantine Sealing Chains."
At the very brink of desperation, chains erupted from Naruto's body.
Mustering the last of his willpower, Naruto flung out the chains, latching onto Gaara, and rocketed forward.
"I am NEVER giving up!"
Naruto closed in on Gaara.
"Huh…?"
But at the last moment, the chains vanished.
"…Adamantine Sealing Chains."
A sigh.
Then far more chains surged from Naruto's body.
Massive chains ensnared Gaara—and then wrapped around the entirety of the colossal Shukaku.
"Wha—?! This is—this is—!!"
Shukaku shrieked.
[Naruto's mom!]
[Mom!]
[Oh my god!]
[Real mom's subbing in—she's here!]
"This Chakra—this feeling?"
Even Gamabunta was startled by that distinctive Chakra.
The enormous chains blotted out the sky. Even Shukaku, bound by them, couldn't muster an ounce of strength.
Kushina touched down on top of Shukaku's head, directly in front of Gaara.
She had resolved not to come out again—but now, she had no choice.
"You've… finally come?"
Bathed in that gentle chakra, Naruto felt an extraordinary warmth.
"If you keep using my power—using the Fox's power—your future will face an even more terrible abyss. You yourself will no longer be you. Even knowing that, you'd still do this?"
When Naruto had carried Shukaku away from the Chūnin Exam arena, Kushina had noticed.
This child's temper was just like hers. But he was also, unmistakably, that man's child.
"Yeah," Naruto said. "Because—that's my ninja way!"
"I understand." Kushina got it.
She couldn't stop him.
Then right now, let his mother do what only a mother could.
"The living me couldn't do this. But the me I am now, can. Shukaku—your power is too great. I'm going to seal you."
The Sand ninja's method of sealing jinchūriki was far too crude and unstable.
Naruto wanted to defeat this opponent—and even more, to save this person whose experience mirrored his own.
The old her couldn't have done it. But now that she could command the Nine-Tails' power, it was possible.
"Though there's no need to be too harsh—just reinforcing the seal should be enough…"
Seal him she would, but this was also a pitiful child.
"Sealing Technique: Four Symbols Seal!"
The chains dragged Shukaku, hauling the Tailed Beast down toward Gaara's abdomen.
"Damn it… damn it all!"
Shukaku screamed.
But there was no resisting. Under the unyielding Adamantine Sealing Chains, Shukaku was stuffed right back inside Gaara.
"AAAAAGH!"
Gaara thrashed and screamed, then slowly opened his eyes, and the sandy world around them vanished along with it.
Once the seal was complete, Kushina vanished.
[Cheat revoked]
[You—no cheating allowed!]
[Lmao, Naruto's mom won't let Naruto cheat, so she sealed Gaara's cheat too]
[I'll give that one a thumbs-up]
"Ohhh!"
After hitting the ground, Naruto rallied.
"Shukaku's power… I can't use it anymore?!"
Gaara lay face-down, utterly disbelieving.
At that moment, Naruto came charging in again.
Neither of them had cheats now. Who's afraid of who!
"Take this!"
He was still out of Chakra, but he had raw stamina to spare.
"Huh?!"
But when Naruto's fist was about to connect, sand automatically rose to block it.
"But Shukaku's power was supposed to be—"
Both Gaara and Naruto stared, wide-eyed.
Then, inside Gaara's mind, words Hanabi had once spoken to him flashed back.
"…You have a gentle, loving mother, you know…"
That was what she'd said.
At first, Gaara had taken it as a provocation.
But seeing the sand that had risen to shield him, Gaara finally understood what those words meant.
"Mom's love… is right here with me…"