"Protect the village for you?"
Kushina, eyes slightly red, was momentarily stunned. Was this really the last request from Grandmother Mito before her death?
"What, you don't want to?" Seeing the hesitation in Kushina's eyes, Mito spoke with an extremely weak, trembling voice.
Kushina immediately shook her head, looking at Mito and saying, "Absolutely not! It's just... how could I possibly live up to you? I could never take your place."
Mito Uzumaki's legendary reputation had been ingrained in Kushina since childhood. Although still young, she knew her own worth.
She simply couldn't be compared to this legendary kunoichi standing before her from the Uzumaki clan.
Hearing Kushina's response, Mito's tense expression relaxed as she chuckled lightly. "I said you can do it, so you definitely can. After all, you're practically Mito Uzumaki's disciple."
Kushina raised her eyebrows slightly—she had no idea Grandmother Mito thought so highly of her.
"In just six months, you've nearly mastered all the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan. They might still lack some refinement, but even those accomplishments are far beyond what I could achieve when I was your age."
Mito smiled. Back then, she'd been called a prodigy of the Uzumaki clan. Many sealing techniques that even the clan leaders had never fully mastered, she managed to learn on her own.
Back then, she had been self-taught, while Kushina had received personal instruction from her. Even so, Kushina's talent for sealing techniques was clearly extraordinary.
"Can I really do this?" Kushina muttered to herself doubtfully.
Mito nodded with a smile, though the motion looked extremely strained.
"Then please tell me what I should do," Kushina said firmly, determination showing in her eyes.
She would have protected Konoha anyway, even if Mito hadn't asked.
Because here lived the people she deeply loved.
Smiling, Mito turned her face toward Sarutobi and the others. "Sarutobi, you all leave first. There's something I need to say to this child."
Hokage Third gave a single nod. Danzo shot a dark glare at Kushina, while Sarutobi met Mito's eyes briefly.
Everyone exited Mito's room.
"Kushina, do you remember what I told you before about the battle between First Hokage and Madara Uchiha?" Mito spoke.
Kushina gave a gentle nod.
Long ago, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and his once closest friend who later betrayed Konoha—one of its founding members—Madara Uchiha, engaged in an earth-shaking battle somewhere.
Many people knew of this event, but details remained obscure to most living today.
Mito was among the few who knew the truth.
"In that battle, Madara Uchiha controlled a monster called the Nine-Tails against the First. Despite the immense power of the First Hokage himself, he had to use every means available before finally killing Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End..."
"One of the reasons the First struggled so much in that battle was the monster itself—the Nine-Tails. It possessed terrifying strength, controllable only by Madara, who wielded the ultimate ocular powers of the Uchiha clan. Its power was enough to trouble even the First Hokage."
Mito's expression grew solemn.
A slight change came over Kushina's youthful face as she asked, "Is that monster truly so fearsome?"
"Even a ninja like the First Hokage..."
Although she had never personally witnessed the First's strength, the title "God of Ninja" alone was enough to reveal his power.
"The Nine-Tails' terror lies not only in its immense chakra reserves but also in its immortality. Unlike humans, it is merely a mass of concentrated chakra. Even if killed, it will eventually resurrect after some time."
"Therefore, using conventional methods, even if you manage to kill it, there's no way to stop it from coming back to life."
These were secrets Kushina had never known before. Regarding tailed beasts, all Five Great Ninja Nations kept similar secrets hidden.
"So did the First actually kill the Nine-Tails? And has it come back to life now?" Kushina asked.
Mito shook her head and replied, "Besides the Nine-Tails, the First Hokage also had to deal with Madara Uchiha—a ninja whose strength was equally formidable. Dealing with both at once was already his limit."
Kushina nodded.
"Then how did the First win that battle?"
Mito gave a light chuckle before saying, "To help him win that battle, I sealed the Nine-Tails inside my own body!"
Her words caused Kushina's pupils to contract sharply.
"You mean... the legendary monster, the Nine-Tails, is inside your body right now?"
"Yes," Mito said. She fixed Kushina with a piercing stare. "With your current abilities, you should be able to sense it."
Kushina instinctively hesitated, then focused her attention on Mito without realizing it.
"Ahh!"
An unimaginably frigid chakra surged into her awareness, causing Kushina to gasp involuntarily.
She couldn't even begin to describe what she felt... Just brushing against it overwhelmed her completely.
"This... this is the power of the Nine-Tails?"
Even though Kushina had grown quite strong, she couldn't even begin to estimate just how powerful this chilling force really was.
And yet, it was still sealed within Mito's body. If it were ever released...
It was nearly inconceivable what kind of ninja could ever hope to contain it.
"It seems you've sensed it already," Mito added. "My lifespan is nearly over. If I die, the Nine-Tails within me will perish along with me due to the seal. However... as I mentioned earlier, it won't truly be gone. After some time, it will revive again."
"If we do nothing about it, the Nine-Tails may utterly destroy our village—Konoha Ninja Village. Even the Third Hokage and all the other ninja you just saw may not be strong enough to stop it," Mito said gravely.
Kushina's expression turned equally serious. Even a ninja like the Third couldn't stop it?
"And perhaps even if someone could, during the time between the Nine-Tails' resurrection, the village might already fall into chaos. The other Four Great Ninja Nations definitely won't miss such an opportunity."
"Why?" Kushina couldn't quite understand why the death of the Nine-Tails would involve so many complications.
Mito looked Kushina in the eye and said, "Because in this world, creatures like the Nine-Tails are not the only ones of their kind. Similar Tailed Beasts also exist in other ninja countries."
"There's more than just one of these Tailed Beasts?" Kushina couldn't even begin to imagine the threat these beasts would pose to both ninjas—and all of humanity—if they showed up in packs.
"We refer to these chakra-powered beasts as Tailed Beasts, and as things stand now, across the various ninja countries, besides our Nine-Tails in the Konoha Ninja Village, there are eight other Tailed Beasts in existence..." Mito continued.
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