Chapter 284: Mother
Night
Amegakure's weather tonight was unusually clear — even after living here most of his life, Nagato could count on one hand the number of nights this beautiful.
But he had no interest in the view.
He stared out the window, fixed on the bright moon hanging in the night sky.
Hagoromo's creation. A celestial body formed by Chibaku Tensei, one of the Rinnegan's own techniques.
He'd never understood why Hagoromo had gone to the trouble of creating a moon in the first place. But there was no denying it: the man's power had been enough to reshape heaven and earth itself.
And he — the one who'd inherited that same Rinnegan—
Had lost.
Lost to a sixteen-year-old girl.
He didn't just have the Rinnegan. He was forty years old.
Nagato asked himself, honestly: should he feel shame over this?
He'd called himself a god. He'd told himself he was building an era of peace the shinobi world had never seen before.
A day ago, that had still felt like the truth he was working toward.
But now—
He'd been shattered. One punch, and something inside him — the conviction that he was, in some fundamental sense, a god — had broken apart entirely.
A god couldn't lose. And if he'd lost, then he wasn't one.
His gaunt face carried nothing but a kind of blank, hollow confusion.
If I'm not a god — then what, exactly, has all of this been for?
Nagato looked toward the corner of the room, where the Deva Path's body stood, silent, motionless.
Yahiko...
If it were you, you'd know which way I should go from here, wouldn't you...
The invincible Rinnegan.
Wasn't invincible after all.
Nagato let out a quiet, internal sigh.
So the Rinnegan is nothing more than a slightly stronger bloodline limit, in the end.
No different, really, from the Byakugan. Or the Sharingan. Just another version of the same thing.
"Nagato..."
"Please eat something. You haven't touched food in a full day..."
Konan's worried voice drifted in from outside the door.
Nagato meant to answer, but his already weakened body, drained further by a full day without food or water on top of that battle, left him barely able to manage it.
His lips moved, and he let out a quiet sigh:
"...Fine."
He watched Konan enter with a tray of food, and before long, watched her leave again.
Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed slightly.
I've given him enough time to sit with his own doubt.
Time for me to make my entrance.
Nagato was a critical piece of the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, and Sakura Haruno's sudden, disruptive rise had already thrown a serious obstacle in the plan's path, less than halfway to completion.
Whatever it took, this Sakura Haruno needed to be brought down.
Even if the cost was letting Nagato slip a little further out of control.
Madara's most important piece didn't necessarily have to be Obito. Nagato was, in his own right, a viable substitute.
Of course, if the two pieces could be made to work together — better still.
Black Zetsu, still operating through White Zetsu's body, moved one step at a time toward Nagato's room once Konan had left.
It seemed, as Black Zetsu approached, that even the lights along the corridor dimmed, faintly, in his wake.
Black Zetsu quietly pushed open the door.
Seeing him arrive, Nagato's brow furrowed. He looked at the figure before him and opened his mouth to speak — but Black Zetsu spoke first.
A single sentence, and Nagato froze where he sat.
"Nagato..."
"Do you want... to become a true god?"
...
Silence. A long, long silence.
A sharp, dangerous glint surfaced in Nagato's Rinnegan — eyes that had only just tasted defeat.
In that instant, he felt as though he'd stepped into some kind of trap.
"What are you getting at..."
Nagato didn't send Zetsu away immediately. He simply stared at him, silent, wary.
Zetsu knew something he didn't.
"The one who carries the Rinnegan — and yet you were defeated by the Hokage."
"Can you truly accept that?"
Black Zetsu's voice was calm, but laced with quiet suggestion, and the sense of a trap closing around him only deepened for Nagato.
"What do you mean by that."
Overhead, the dark clouds crept back across the sky of this perpetually rain-soaked land, and the clear, bright moon began to dim, its light drawing slowly back...
"After all... the path to godhood requires hardship, and countless trials. Doesn't it?"
"Nagato..."
—
Land of Fire coastline, Turtle Island, Truth-Seeking Waterfall
The surrounding light shimmered, dreamlike, and Karin found herself taking in a place she'd never seen before in her life.
But she had no attention to spare for the scenery right now.
In front of her sat a blond boy, cross-legged.
This was the last chance.
If Naruto failed to subdue the Nine-Tails under these conditions, everything that followed would be simple.
He'd stay in the village.
Three years ago, during the last great shinobi war, he'd still been able to leave and take on missions.
But now—
Enemies on every side.
It wasn't just Karin here. Yuki, Sasuke, Hikaru, and Sakura had all gathered as well, ready to help Naruto win his tug-of-war against the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Watching the boy before them, Yuki spoke, calm:
"While he's fighting the Nine-Tails for control, we can each channel our own chakra into his body."
"That should buy him a little extra edge in the fight."
"Though we won't be able to give him our full strength this way — probably closer to half our usual output, given the process."
Sakura nodded slightly at that.
Unfortunate, given her own chakra still hadn't fully recovered. If it had, she alone might have been enough to tip the odds decisively in Naruto's favor.
Her gaze settled briefly on the red-haired girl beside her.
Between Karin's Adamantine Sealing Chains, the presence of Kushina Uzumaki's chakra buried somewhere inside Naruto all along, and Minato Namikaze's chakra — not yet revealed, but still to come—
That should be enough.
Dark. Damp.
Inside a sealed space that looked something like a sewer, Naruto arrived once again.
He looked up at the colossal figure that had haunted him for so long.
Fur the color of burning orange, a body the size of a small mountain, nine thick, powerful tails behind it.
A pair of massive beast eyes, glinting with barely-contained savagery and violence.
The Nine-Tails.
The strongest of all the tailed beasts.
Right now, the Nine-Tails sat behind a golden gate, sealing runes plastered across its center.
"Naruto..."
A low breath of white steam rolled out of the Nine-Tails' mouth and nose.
Its massive beast eyes fixed unwaveringly on the blond boy walking toward him, step by step.
Whatever Naruto knew, the Nine-Tails knew too.
Kurama was aware of exactly what was waiting outside: two Mangekyō Uchiha, an Uzumaki with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, a Perfect Two-Tails jinchūriki, and the current Fifth Hokage herself, waiting to intervene.
Against a combination like that, even outside of any seal, there'd be no chance of winning.
"Nine-Tails."
Naruto had already walked across the water's surface, standing before the sealed gate, looking up at the beast.
"Didn't expect you to bring outsiders along to gang up on old me."
"Pathetic little worm."
The Nine-Tails bared its teeth, glaring viciously down at the boy before it.
"They're not outsiders..."
"They're my friends."
Naruto said it calmly. He knew everything hinged on this moment.
"Heh. Same difference."
"Disgusting little humans."
"That Hokage out there just wants to use my power to fight against other humans, same as you."
The Nine-Tails' gaze went dark and heavy, contempt flashing in its beast eyes.
"You. Old me. It doesn't matter which."
"We're both nothing but blades in that Hokage's hand."
"Friends... don't make me laugh."
"You humans slaughter each other with one hand and shout about peace with the other."
"The single most disgusting thing I've witnessed in this whole miserable, endless existence!"
The Nine-Tails watched Naruto climb steadily up toward the gate, every word dripping with contempt for humanity.
Naruto listened, and thought of a certain pink-haired woman. He said nothing.
Because he knew the Nine-Tails wasn't wrong.
But—
His fingers had already reached the sealing rune.
"If it were up to me, honestly, I'd want to be your friend too."
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp, dangerous gleam flickered through the Nine-Tails' eyes.
And at that moment, the sealing rune plastered on the gate—
Peeled away!
"Don't make me laugh!"
"Naruto!"
"Give me your body, and be done with it!"
The Nine-Tails let out a furious roar and surged out through the broken gate!
A violent gust of wind erupted from its mouth, and in an instant the entire sealed space seemed to twist into a raging typhoon.
Even having braced for this, Naruto still nearly lost his footing — and just as he tried to steady himself, he found himself caught in an unexpected embrace.
A figure appeared out of nowhere the instant Naruto peeled away the seal, caught him, and vanished with him — reappearing dozens of meters away from the Nine-Tails.
Seeing the man, the Nine-Tails' fury exploded, and it let out a roar:
"MINATO NAMIKAZE!!!"
The words, saturated with raw chakra, made Naruto's ears ring painfully.
He glanced instinctively at the man beside him.
There, dressed in the Hokage's own ceremonial robe, hair the exact same blond as his own, and a pair of blue eyes as bright as clear sky — a striking, handsome man, looking down at Naruto with a gaze full of warmth.
"It's been a while, Naruto..."
The man said.
"Da... dad."
Naruto stared, stunned, at the man in front of him.
He thought back to nearly a year ago, when he and Sakura and the others had traveled through the Dragon Vein and encountered Minato — back then, though, Minato had only been nineteen.
The man standing before him now radiated something that could only be described as reliability, through and through.
"Hey."
Minato looked at Naruto, his expression soft with warmth, then turned toward the Nine-Tails, now charging toward them, his face growing grim.
"Now's the critical moment, isn't it..."
The instant the words left his mouth, Minato raised a hand and drove a hard punch straight into Naruto's stomach.
"Ugh..."
Caught completely off guard, Naruto doubled over in pain.
"A little rough, I know, but it's the most effective way to do this."
"Sorry, Naruto."
And at that moment—
"MINATO NAMIKAZE!!!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
Old enemies, meeting again — nothing sharpened the eyes quite like it.
The Nine-Tails came charging straight at Minato.
At the same time, its cheeks swelled, and orbs of light burst from its mouth in rapid succession!
In an instant, Minato's entire field of vision filled with Tailed Beast Bombs.
Gripping a Flying Thunder God kunai, Minato's expression turned grim as he took in the wave of Tailed Beast Bombs about to engulf him.
Not a full Tailed Beast Ball. Tailed Beast Bombs instead.
Trying to end this fast, given the threats waiting outside?
The confined space limited Minato's mobility severely.
And at that moment—
A rat scurried out from somewhere unseen.
How could there possibly be a rat in a place like this?
And this particular rat's whole body was wreathed in blue chakra flame.
Silently, unnoticed, it had slipped beneath the Nine-Tails — and then—
Exploded!
Blue flame flared bright across the Nine-Tails' stomach.
This was—
"Matatabi!"
"Even you're helping these damned humans!"
The Nine-Tails roared, furious.
It understood now — the people on the outside had already begun their move!
If this couldn't be resolved fast, there was a real chance Naruto might gain complete control over him instead.
More rats emerged, one after another, from the corners of the sewer-like space, each one racing straight for the Nine-Tails with clear intent.
Explosion after explosion bloomed across its body.
Individually, the blasts carried little force — but the sheer number of them added up fast.
"Damned vermin!"
"ROAAAR!"
The Nine-Tails let out a furious roar, unleashing an endless gust of wind that sent the swarming rats flying in every direction.
Meanwhile, from Minato's punch, Naruto had sunk deeper into his own consciousness.
The colors around him shifted, dreamlike, disorienting.
"Where... is this?"
Naruto looked around, confused.
And then, a red-haired figure stood quietly behind him.
"Can't believe Minato used a method that rough just to get you here."
"Next time I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
The red-haired woman's eyes stayed fixed on Naruto, her voice carrying nothing but warmth and affection.
"Who — huh?"
"Karin?"
"No, wait — that's not you."
Seeing the red hair, Naruto's first instinct was to think of Karin — but he ruled it out almost immediately.
"Karin?"
The woman named Kushina Uzumaki stepped toward him, step by step, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
"You're not Karin. You... you're the Nine-Tails, aren't you!"
"Damn you, Nine-Tails!"
"Turning into a woman to trick me!"
"Lucky for me, the great Naruto Uzumaki's got sharp eyes!"
"Or you'd have gotten me for sure!"
Naruto snapped to attention, and stumbled back a few steps, wary.
"The... Nine-Tails?"
Kushina blinked, stunned for a beat — and then exploded, closing the distance in two quick strides, launching herself forward and delivering a full-force flick straight to Naruto's forehead.
"OW!!!"
Naruto clutched his head in pain, tears springing to his eyes from the sheer force of it.
But in the next instant, something seemed to click for him, and he stared at the woman before him, confused.
"...Huh?"
The woman in front of him scratched her head, looking faintly embarrassed.
"That was just an old habit slipping out, and Minato—"
But before Kushina could finish, Naruto had already stepped forward, wrapping his trembling arms around her, his voice cracking as he choked out:
"Mom..."
(End of chapter.)
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