Fugaku Uchiha quickly took in his surroundings, he realised he was inside Kurama, the Nine-Tails. And…
He glanced at the armored exterior of Kurama's body. Having once possessed Susano'o himself, he instantly recognized the chakra armor enveloping the Nine-Tails for what it was, Susanoo's manifestation.
Such a level of mastery over Susano'o clearly indicated Sasuke's strength. Fugaku couldn't help but show a look of pride.
"So, is there something you came to talk to me about?" However, Sasuke's voice was cold as he addressed him.
Hearing Sasuke's tone, Fugaku closed his eyes in pain and asked, "Sasuke, it seems… you still can't forgive me for what I did back then."
Sasuke fell silent, then with difficulty asked, "If you had wanted to stop Itachi… you could've, couldn't you?"
"…Perhaps."
"And yet, you just sat there, awaiting death, offering no resistance at all," Sasuke said, his eyes reddening as he glared at Fugaku.
Back then, even if Fugaku wasn't a match for Itachi, had he fought back, he might've at least saved some of the clan, or delayed their execution.
He could have helped some children or infants escape.
Then, even if he died afterward as an apology or as penance, it would've been a better outcome than… just sitting in the house, waiting to die, letting the entire clan be wiped out.
Fugaku opened his mouth, but no words came.
Because Sasuke was right.
Back then, he had already given up hope, thinking only of dying and ending it all. But in doing so, he had left Sasuke to face the aftermath alone.
Had he fought just a little harder… perhaps things would've been easier for his youngest son.
Fugaku didn't even try to explain. Not even the ability of his Mangekyō Sharingan mattered now, after all, it only revealed one possible future. It didn't justify his choices.
"…I'm sorry I made you suffer," Fugaku finally said, opening his eyes and apologizing.
"You shouldn't apologize to me," Sasuke said. "I lived through it. You should apologize to the others, the ones who might've survived if not for your surrender."
Fugaku lowered his gaze, guilt growing heavier in his eyes, "…Sasuke, do you still intend to revive our clan?"
Sasuke nodded. "I'll do it my own way. I'll lead the Uchiha onto a different path from the one they walked before."
Fugaku looked stunned. His heart tightened.
He hesitated, then asked, "Isn't that… too hard for you? If you ever feel overwhelmed…"
He trailed off, struggling with the words.
He didn't want to discourage Sasuke, but watching him shoulder so much hurt.
Sasuke seemed to understand what Fugaku meant. "I won't give up. And I may have found a path forward. I won't quit until it's proven impossible."
"…I see." Fugaku looked surprised but didn't ask about the path. Even if he knew, he couldn't offer help.
Another silence fell between them.
Then Fugaku finally spoke again, his voice full of regret and emotion, "Sasuke, you've grown up."
"…Yeah." Sasuke's tone softened, his anger fading.
"I was never a good clan leader… I'm sorry I couldn't help with the revival of our family," Fugaku said, closing his eyes.
Sasuke said nothing. At this point… he didn't know what to say.
Forgive him? Maybe… maybe not.
Suddenly, Fugaku's eyes changed into the Mangekyō Sharingan. Sasuke didn't react. In their current state, his father couldn't harm him.
Moments later, the Mangekyō faded.
Fugaku opened his eyes and asked, "Sasuke… do you still live in our old house?"
Sasuke nodded, puzzled.
Fugaku smiled faintly. "Though it's a bit late now… there's something I left for you beneath the bookshelf in my room. It's my final gift to you, I hope it helps."
Sasuke was about to object when Fugaku continued, "Don't refuse. It's the only way I can help you now… It's the last hope I have as your father."
Sasuke looked into his father's hopeful eyes. He was touched, and finally nodded.
Fugaku beamed, then said, "Then, Sasuke… please seal me now."
"…Okay." Sasuke nodded and, using the sealing technique he wasn't particularly skilled in, sealed Fugaku, who was smiling peacefully.
Meanwhile, while Sasuke spoke with Fugaku, Naruto wasn't idle.
He was controlling the massive armored Kurama in fierce combat against the nine tailed beasts.During the fight, Kurama's armor took damage from bites and blows, but the Susano'o plating protected it from serious injury. Only a concentrated Tailed Beast Bomb could pose a threat.
Meanwhile, Naruto's shadow clone leapt onto the closest tailed beast, attempting to remove the black rods embedded in its body, used by the masked man to control them.
But Naruto struggled. Every time he touched a rod, his chakra flow was disrupted, making it impossible to summon the strength needed to pull them out.
"Hmph… so you've noticed. But too bad, it won't matter if you can't remove them," the masked man sneered.
"…Is that so?" Naruto muttered. But his mind was already working.If the rods interfered with chakra upon touch, then…
What if I don't touch them directly at all?
Suddenly, Naruto's clone dispersed, and the original received the idea. He immediately summoned two more clones.
One clone, with help from armored Kurama, climbed up to a black rod's location. The second clone? It leapt into the tailed beast's mouth.
"What's he planning?" the masked man muttered. A sense of unease settled in his chest.
Inside the tailed beast, the clone located the inner position of the rod.Then, it raised its hand, gathered chakra, and slammed its palm into the inner wall of the beast.
"Frog Kumite!"
A toad-style taijutsu technique Naruto had learned while studying Sage Mode, able to strike without touching directly.
The strike hit precisely, sending shockwaves to the exact spot of the rod.
In the masked man's astonished gaze, the rod was blasted out of the tailed beast's body!
Naruto was overjoyed, only to see, a second later, a chain whip launched from the mouth of the Gedo Statue (Demonic Statue of the Outer Path) and it latched onto the Four-Tails, the very beast Naruto had just freed!
"What is this? Didn't I already knock out the black rod?" Naruto stared in disbelief as the Four-Tails was pulled into the mouth of the Gedo Statue.
"Could there still be another black rod inside the tailed beast?"
At that moment, the masked man, hands forming seals, calmly watched the scene unfold. It was, of course, his doing, the Gedo Statue's actions were under his control.
Though there was more than one black rod inside the tailed beast, to avoid any further accidents, he had the Four-Tails retrieved right away.
The masked man also found it hard to believe. These were eight complete tailed beasts, and the enemy side had only one Nine-Tails.Sure, the Nine-Tails was stronger than the others, but this strong? It was starting to seem ridiculous.At this rate, weren't the other eight tailed beasts looking completely useless?
After all, he could clearly tell, the only reason things still looked evenly matched was because Naruto didn't want to hurt the tailed beasts.
If he were fighting seriously, with the intent to defeat rather than save them, these eight wouldn't stand a chance against Naruto, Kurama, and Sasuke.
The masked man thought to himself, This is absurd.
His gaze shifted toward their side's Nine-Tails, the one without sentience, controlled only by chakra. Compared to Naruto's Kurama, this one was clearly lacking.
For the first time, the masked man regretted wiping out Kushina's consciousness.
If he'd kept her mind intact, maybe he could've used her to fight Naruto, But then, he shook his head. He remembered Kushina's personality—and how, as Minato's student, he had seen firsthand how she treated people.
If she had retained her will, she likely would've supported Naruto instead, encouraging him, not fighting him.
That was her: fierce on the surface, but truly kind and steadfast underneath.
At this moment, the masked man's gaze sharpened with conviction.If he could create the world of Infinite Tsukuyomi, then perhaps in that world, he could finally reunite with his comrades, his teacher, and his teacher's wife…
Even so, he now understood, the tailed beasts weren't going to defeat Naruto and Sasuke. He needed to buy more time.
And so, he made his decision.
Meanwhile, Naruto was still hard at work trying to save the tailed beasts, when Kurama suddenly pulled him into the inner tailed beast space.
"What is it, Kurama?" Naruto asked, confused. "If it's nothing important, I need to get back to knocking out those black rods. This time I'm gonna get all of them in one shot!"
Kurama looked at him, sensing the Four-Tails' residual chakra now lingering inside Naruto's body, left behind after its black rod had been removed. The fox grinned and held out a fist.
"From here on out, go all out. Use your tails to restrain all the tailed beasts at once," Kurama said.
"But if I do that, I won't be able to figure out where the black rods are…" Naruto hesitated, wanting to keep working step by step.
"No need," Kurama replied. "Their chakra has already been locked by the Ten-Tails. Even if you remove all the black rods, they'll still be dragged into the Ten-Tails eventually."
"Eh? Seriously?" Naruto's spirits sank a little.
"Hmph. Don't be discouraged. Just follow my lead!" Kurama ordered.
"…Alright! Then that's what I'll do!" Naruto shouted.
Immediately, the nine golden chakra tails of the armored Kurama grew exponentially, becoming massive arms that grabbed hold of all the tailed beasts at once.
At the same time, several shadow clones rushed along the tails, aiming directly for the black rods.Naruto had originally assumed they'd need to go inside the tailed beasts to find and remove them.
But now, he noticed something strange, with the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak insulating them, the clones' chakra wasn't being disrupted by the rods.
Maybe… they could pull them out after all?
As the clones worked on removing the black rods, Naruto's real body suddenly found himself pulled into a strange realm, and there, he saw all nine tailed beasts gathered.
"Where… am I?" Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
"We've been waiting for you!" the jinchūriki of the tailed beasts also called out.
"This is the inner world of the tailed beasts," Kurama explained.
"Only by syncing with me perfectly could you reach this place. It means you've gone deeper, into the spiritual hearts of the tailed beasts."
Kurama glanced at the other jinchūriki.
Truthfully, perfect synchronization was almost impossible.
Only Killer B (the Eight-Tails' host) and Naruto had ever achieved it.
The others were here only because they had already died, their lingering souls residing alongside their tailed beasts, allowing them to appear here for communication.
As Kurama looked at Naruto, a genuine smile appeared on his face.
He was certain now.
This boy standing before him was exactly who the Sage of Six Paths had told them to wait for.
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Currently on Chapter 406 - Spatial Freeze