Night had fallen.
Starlight poured down across the vast shinobi world.
Pale silver moonlight slipped through the window and gently settled over Naruto’s small bed.
It was cool and silent, yet somehow tender—as though it were watching over him without saying a word.
All around the room—on the desk, the back of a chair, empty milk cartons, bowls, walls, floorboards, lampshade, bedsheets, refrigerator, and even the clothes scattered carelessly about—crooked black formula markings had been drawn in varying sizes.
Every single one was a failed attempt at creating a Flying Thunder God formula.
Naruto lay on his bed with both hands behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling.
What exactly was that…?
Once again, he remembered the faint, unusual presence he had sensed while saying goodbye to his mother, Kushina.
One thing was certain.
That presence had not come from the outside.
It was somewhere within him.
Kurama, you really didn’t sense anything?
No.
Kurama yawned lazily inside Naruto’s mindscape.
Maybe you’re just being overly sensitive.
Now that the enormous cage had disappeared from Naruto’s inner world, the Nine-Tails was considerably more comfortable than before.
Naruto said nothing.
He turned his head toward the window.
Beyond the glass stretched a black sky and a silent night.
Suddenly—
A shooting star streaked across the darkness.
…
“Rasenshuriken!”
Naruto seized the opening and hurled an enormous chakra shuriken forward.
BOOOOM—!
The attack struck Kurama head-on and blasted the Nine-Tails backward.
At the same moment, countless chakra chains erupted from Naruto’s back and wrapped around the fox’s enormous body.
The chains tightened—
And forcibly tore a massive sphere of golden chakra from within Kurama.
The chakra was pure.
Beautiful.
Overwhelmingly powerful.
It radiated a vitality so rich that it almost seemed alive.
“Hmph…”
Kurama gave a weakened snort.
With so much chakra suddenly extracted, his enormous body visibly withered and shrank.
The young Naruto, however, grinned triumphantly.
“I won, Kurama!”
He raised one hand.
A thin strand of chakra separated from the gigantic golden mass floating overhead and drifted toward him.
Fwoom—!
Golden light erupted around Naruto’s body.
His entire figure became enveloped in brilliant chakra, while mysterious black markings appeared across his skin and clothing.
Naruto looked down at his hands, then examined the rest of his body.
“So it really is exactly the same as it was in those memories…”
He pursed his lips.
Then Naruto turned toward the weakened Kurama and scratched his cheek with an apologetic grin.
“Sorry about that, Kurama.”
He extended one hand toward the enormous sphere of golden chakra.
With a sweep of his arm—
The chakra flew back toward the Nine-Tails.
Kurama absorbed it into his body.
His enormous frame instantly returned to its original size.
Then—
Burp.
The mighty Nine-Tails actually belched.
Naruto stared at him.
“…”
Kurama stared back.
“Anyway, I’ll see you again later.”
Naruto closed his eyes.
His consciousness returned to the space where Kushina was waiting.
…
“You did it, Naruto.”
Kushina gazed at her son with pride and relief.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.
His voice grew almost imperceptibly quieter.
“I only walked down a path he’d already taken…”
Kushina could no longer hold herself back.
She pulled Naruto into her arms.
The chakra carrying this fragment of her consciousness was almost completely exhausted.
Only a little time remained before she disappeared.
She wished time would stop here.
She wished the three of them could have lived like an ordinary family.
Doing chores together.
Arguing over meaningless things.
Laughing over dinner.
Sharing countless small moments of happiness.
But—
But that would never happen.
Kushina quietly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Then she gently pushed Naruto back and forced herself to smile.
“We don’t have much time left, so let’s make the most of it and talk about the things a mother and son are supposed to talk about—dattebane!”
Her old verbal tic slipped naturally into the end of the sentence.
Naruto lowered his head and rubbed his eyes with both hands.
When he looked up again, he was smiling brightly.
“Okay!”
Then he tilted his head curiously.
“But, Mom… what are mothers and sons supposed to talk about?”
Kushina froze.
She placed a hand beneath her chin and seriously considered the question.
“That’s true…”
Her brows furrowed.
“What are we supposed to talk about…?”
The famously hotheaded Red-Hot Habanero had never once considered such a complicated question.
And since she could not think of an answer—
She simply stopped trying.
Kushina pulled Naruto down beside her.
“Then tell me how you’ve been living all these years.”
She immediately began listing questions.
“Have you been eating breakfast properly?
Are you getting along with your classmates?
You’re absolutely forbidden from drinking alcohol before you turn eighteen!”
Her eyes suddenly sparkled.
“Oh, right!
Is there a girl you like?”
Strictly speaking, Kushina already knew much of this.
The chakra she had left inside Naruto had allowed her to witness fragments of his life over the years.
But mothers were supposed to ask these questions repeatedly, even when they already knew the answers.
Was that not what being a mother meant?
Naruto swung his legs as he thought.
“I’ve been doing pretty well.”
“I eat breakfast properly, and of course I get along with the others at school.
Though some people really are difficult to deal with…”
His expression became slightly troubled.
“And after I started ranking first in class, it felt like there were even fewer people I could talk to.”
Then Naruto straightened proudly.
“I’m number one, you know!”
He looked at Kushina with an expression that practically screamed, Praise me!
“I always rank first at the Academy!
And I’m pretty good at the basic theory classes too!”
Kushina could not help laughing.
She affectionately ruffled his blond hair.
“Yes, yes.
You’re amazing, Naruto.”
Naruto immediately broke into a delighted smile.
He wrinkled his nose proudly.
“Well, I’m the Fourth Hokage’s son!
I can’t embarrass Dad!”
Naruto himself did not realize it—
But it had been a very long time since he had behaved like an ordinary child.
“What about the Three Shinobi Prohibitions?”
Kushina suddenly became serious.
“You must stay far away from them.
Absolutely!”
Naruto scratched his head.
“I’m not going to drink alcohol.
I drink my milk properly every day.”
“I don’t really understand gambling either…”
He hesitated.
“As for someone I like…”
Naruto’s eyes brightened.
“Mom, did you know there’s a girl at the Academy named Hyūga Hinata?”
“Oh?”
Kushina’s face immediately filled with curiosity.
“What about this girl from the Hyūga clan?”
She leaned closer with an unmistakably gossipy grin.
“Tell your mother the truth.
Do you have a secret crush on her?”
Naruto’s face turned red.
“It’s not a secret crush!”
He hurriedly defended himself.
“Mom, listen.
In those future memories, when ‘I’ was fighting an enemy who had almost destroyed the entire village, Hinata ran out to save me even though she knew she might die.”
Naruto’s voice softened.
“She even said that she liked me more than anyone…”
Then he scratched his cheek, looking genuinely confused.
“But maybe she meant she liked me the way I like ramen?”
Kushina stared at him in disbelief.
Then—
Bonk!
She struck him on the head.
“Idiot son!”
Kushina glared at him, utterly frustrated by his hopeless density.
“That girl risked her life for you!
How could she possibly mean that she liked you the same way you like ramen?!”
Her expression became a mixture of exasperation and amusement.
Minato had been so smooth when courting her.
How had their son ended up this unbelievably oblivious when it came to romance?
“Hehe… Is that so?”
Naruto scratched his head shyly.
Even he found it embarrassing to discuss something like this with his mother.
But the time granted to them was painfully short.
Far too short.
When Kushina’s body began slowly fading, both mother and son felt as though their conversation had only just begun.
Kushina panicked.
There were still so many things she wanted to tell him.
So many warnings she wanted to repeat.
So many questions she wanted to ask.
And—
She wanted to hold her son one more time.
Tears stained the corners of Naruto’s eyes.
Kushina’s fading chakra rushed toward him, wrapping him in one final embrace before dissolving into countless motes of starlight.
Then everything disappeared.
It had all been like a beautiful dream.
Naruto wiped away his tears and fought back the ache in his nose.
He knew that the strong version of himself had to return now.
However—
He suddenly looked around in confusion.
This place should have been one of the deepest levels of his consciousness.
Yet while he had been speaking with his mother, he had faintly sensed another presence nearby.
The feeling was vague and indistinct.
It was like waking from a dream and desperately trying to remember something that had already slipped beyond reach.
Naruto concentrated as hard as he could.
But in the end, he still could not determine whether the presence had truly existed—
Or whether it had merely been his imagination.
…
Early the following morning, Naruto arrived at the village gates with a backpack slung over his shoulders.
Jiraiya was already there, waiting for him.