"Lady Mito?" Kushina whispered again, her pupils contracting in shock as the full implications of what she was witnessing began to register. These weren't fabrications or illusions—she was experiencing the Nine-Tails' own memories, preserved with perfect clarity despite the passage of decades.
The devastated battlefield, the Nine-Tails bound by the wooden dragon, Mito's determined approach—all of it formed a living tableau of one of the most pivotal moments in shinobi history: the legendary confrontation between Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and Madara Uchiha at what would later become known as the Valley of the End.
Kushina's analytical mind rapidly pieced together the elements of the scene. The massive waterfall she had observed must have been created when the cataclysmic power unleashed during that historic battle had forcibly diverted the natural flow of water, carving new geography into the earth itself. This was the origin of the landmark that now stood as a boundary between the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound—a monument to destructive power beyond ordinary comprehension.
Within the memory, Mito Uzumaki continued her approach toward the Nine-Tails. As she drew closer, the bijuu—temporarily subdued by Hashirama's Wood Style jutsu—suddenly opened its eyes. The crimson orbs that fixed on Mito contained untamed ferocity and a hatred so potent it seemed almost tangible.
"Damn humans!" the Nine-Tails roared, its voice trembling with rage even in this long-distant memory.
Mito's face remained expressionless as she regarded the massive creature. With practiced precision, her hands began forming a complex sequence of seals. Only when the sequence was complete did she finally speak, her voice carrying the calm authority of absolute resolve.
"Nine-Tails, your power is too formidable," she stated coolly. "To help him win this battle, I have no choice but to seal you away."
As these words fell from her lips, Mito's expression hardened with concentration. From behind her, golden chains—so similar to Kushina's own technique—erupted in a brilliant display of the Uzumaki clan's unique chakra, intertwining to form an impenetrable barrier. Within this construct, the Nine-Tails—already bound by Hashirama's wooden dragon—found itself further restrained by these adamantine chains.
"Seal!" Mito commanded, her voice resonating with finality.
As the two immense chakras—Mito's and the Nine-Tails'—collided and began to merge under the force of the sealing technique, the vision in Kushina's mind started to blur and distort. The scene dissolved into fragments of light and shadow before reforming into something entirely different.
Now Kushina found herself witnessing another moment from the Nine-Tails' past—one that took place beneath a darkened sky that seemed to swallow all light. The fox was roaring with uninhibited fury at a solitary figure dressed in black, a man whose very presence radiated a cold, overwhelming power.
"ROAAAAR! AHHHH!" The Nine-Tails' bellow of defiance echoed across the landscape, its chakra manifesting as waves of malevolent energy that would have brought most shinobi to their knees.
Yet the man facing the bijuu remained unmoved, as though the display of primal rage before him was of no more consequence than a gentle breeze.
With a subtle movement, the man's eyes shifted—his previously dark pupils transforming in an instant to a brilliant, blood-red hue.
"The Sharingan," Kushina gasped in recognition. "But who...?"
Within the memory, the black-haired man addressed the Nine-Tails with undisguised condescension. "Your current manifestation is merely temporary—just a fraction of your dispersed power," he stated coldly. "Nothing more than unstable energy without true consciousness."
"Silence!" the Nine-Tails snarled back, bristling at the man's dismissive tone.
Ignoring the fox's protest, the man continued as though the bijuu hadn't spoken at all. "You are nothing but an unstable force lacking true wisdom," he declared.
"SILENCE!" the Nine-Tails repeated, its rage intensifying. Even in memory, Kushina could sense the bijuu's deep-seated refusal to allow any human to challenge its dignity in such a manner.
The man's voice took on a more authoritative edge as he continued, "The only beings capable of guiding you are the Uchiha. All tailed beasts exist merely as servants to those who wield the power of these eyes."
His words dripped with unmistakable contempt, as though he were addressing an unruly tool rather than a sentient being of immense power and ancient origin.
"SILENCE!" The Nine-Tails could no longer contain its fury, beginning to gather the swirling energy necessary for a Tailed Beast Ball—only to be interrupted by the man's next command.
"You will obey me!" the black-clad figure declared with absolute conviction, his voice carrying an unnatural resonance that seemed to bypass ordinary hearing and strike directly at the consciousness.
As he spoke these words, the three tomoe of his Sharingan began to spin rapidly, merging and reforming into a new pattern—one far more complex and ominous.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan?!" Kushina exclaimed, the final piece of the puzzle falling into place. The identity of this commanding figure suddenly became crystal clear.
Uchiha Madara—one of the founders of Konoha and the only shinobi in history known to have controlled the Nine-Tails through the power of his ocular jutsu.
The memory began to blur once more, but the emotional imprint it carried continued to surge into Kushina's consciousness—wave after wave of the Nine-Tails' ancient hatred directed toward humanity. The intensity of this feeling was so overwhelming that it momentarily threatened to drown Kushina's own sense of self.
"How... how could this be?" she whispered, her pupils constricted with shock.
Throughout her life, Kushina had harbored intense resentment toward the Nine-Tails. As its jinchūriki, she had endured years of isolation, fear, and the constant struggle to contain its volatile power. In her mind, the bijuu had always been a malevolent entity—a being of pure destruction whose chakra was fundamentally corrupted by its intrinsic hatred.
Yet these memories forced her to confront an uncomfortable truth: the Nine-Tails was not inherently a creature of malice. It possessed emotions, thoughts, and a distinct will of its own. The hatred that Kushina had always attributed to the fox's essential nature appeared to have been cultivated through centuries of exploitation and subjugation by humans.
From Madara's domination through the Sharingan, to Hashirama's forceful subduing with Wood Style, to Mito's sealing the bijuu away—and later, the actions of subsequent Hokage and Konoha shinobi—the pattern was unmistakable. Humans had consistently treated the Nine-Tails as a weapon to be controlled, a power to be harnessed, or a threat to be contained. Never as a being deserving of its own autonomy.
The realization struck Kushina with the force of a physical blow. The Nine-Tails wasn't born as an accumulation of hatred; its hatred had been fostered through the actions of those who sought to use its power or feared its strength.
Throughout its existence, the bijuu had been repeatedly sealed within human vessels—forced to exist as a prisoner within the Jinchūriki—despite having committed no transgression to warrant such treatment.
These revelations echoed through Kushina's mind, creating ripples of doubt that disrupted her concentration. As her focus wavered, the Nine-Tails began to gain the upper hand in their contest of wills. The scarlet hue of its chakra started to spread more rapidly along the energy streams that Kushina had pulled from the bijuu, advancing toward her like blood through water.
Alarmingly, the same crimson color began to suffuse Kushina's eyes, gradually replacing their natural violet.
"What's happening?!" Minato's voice cut through the spiritual space, his expression transforming from determination to horror as he witnessed the change overtaking his wife.
The situation defied all expectations. Even with the Nine-Tails' formidable power, it should have been impossible for the bijuu to hold its ground against both Minato's suppression and Kushina's inherent Uzumaki ability to restrain tailed beasts. Yet somehow, the Fox's will was steadily eroding Kushina's resistance.
If this continued, the unthinkable would occur—Kushina's consciousness would be completely overwhelmed by the Nine-Tails, her identity consumed and her will extinguished.
"Why is this happening?" Minato thought frantically, his analytical mind racing to understand the unprecedented development even as fear for Kushina threatened to override his reason.
"Kushina!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the mindscape with desperate urgency.
But she showed no sign of hearing him. Her expression remained distant, her gaze unfocused as though witnessing something far beyond the immediate confrontation.
"Damn it!" Minato cursed, anxiety mounting as Kushina's eyes grew increasingly vacant, the crimson tinge continuing to spread.
The unique nature of their current predicament compounded the danger. Within Kushina's spiritual space, even Minato—with all his extraordinary abilities—could not directly counter the Nine-Tails' influence as it continued to infiltrate Kushina's consciousness.
He needed to act immediately to prevent irreversible damage, yet the delicacy of the situation demanded caution. A wrong move could potentially harm Kushina as much as the Nine-Tails' encroachment.
Though urgency pounded through him like a second heartbeat, Minato forced himself to think clearly. In any other circumstance involving any other person, his mind would have functioned with perfect clarity. But this was Kushina—the center of his world—and his usual composure threatened to abandon him.
After a moment of tense deliberation, his eyes flickered with sudden inspiration. "I can't directly intervene in Kushina's will," he reasoned, "but if it's the Nine-Tails..."
His gaze locked onto the massive fox with newfound determination. Minato too carried a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra within his own body—a connection that might allow him to influence the bijuu's actions within this spiritual realm.
With renewed focus, Minato channeled his chakra. "It's worth trying," he thought, though the strategy filled him with apprehension.
"Haaah!"
Pure, concentrated chakra erupted from behind him, taking the form of a massive claw composed of brilliant energy. With precise control, Minato directed this manifestation toward the streams of the Nine-Tails' chakra that were infiltrating Kushina's form.
The chakra claw seized the junction where the Fox's influence was spreading into Kushina, creating a barrier between the two energies. To Minato's relief, his chakra was not rejected by either force—instead, it flowed directly into the nexus where Kushina's and the Nine-Tails' energies converged.
"It's working!" he realized with tentative optimism.
Encouraged, Minato prepared to strengthen his chakra output further, planning to help Kushina push back against the Nine-Tails' invasion. As he did so, waves of the Fox's hatred surged toward him with renewed intensity—an expected countermeasure that Minato had braced himself to resist.
With calculated precision, he released a controlled burst of his own chakra to repel this assault. The tactic succeeded, momentarily forcing back the Nine-Tails' influence.
Just as Minato prepared to press this advantage, however, something unexpected occurred. From deep within his own consciousness, a secondary wave of hatred—distinct from the external assault—suddenly erupted with volcanic force. This internal surge bypassed his defenses completely, striking directly at the core of his being.
Minato's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the source of this attack—it was the residual will of the Nine-Tails' yang half, the portion that had crossed time and space with him. Though dormant until now, it had been awakened by the proximity to its other half, creating a resonance that threatened to overwhelm both jinchūriki simultaneously.
The coordinated assault from both halves of the Nine-Tails' consciousness left Minato and Kushina in unprecedented danger—their very identities hanging in the balance as the ancient bijuu fought for liberation with every weapon at its disposal.