Nindō 0034: Offer for the Tailed Beasts
"You okay?" Naruto asked, supporting Sasuke's shoulder.
"Yeah," He nodded. "Just a little singed." Most of Sasuke's cloak was burnt off alongside some third-degree burns on his face. The moment he'd switched places with Momoshiki, lava had burst directly on his face. He protected himself quickly enough, but still ended up getting singed. By the time he came to, Naruto had already taken care of Momoshiki.
"Sakura will heal you right up," Naruto said with a smile. "No need to worry."
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded expressionlessly. "Should we go back?"
"Give me a minute," Naruto said. "Can you stand?" Sasuke nodded as Naruto let go of him and approached the sapling of the Divine Tree. He formed a claw in both hands and stabbed his fingers into the wood of the divine tree. His hands started glowing golden as he invoked Yin-Yang Release to pull out both the physical forms and the consciousnesses of the tailed beasts from the tree. Naruto's chakra spiked by a factor as he manipulated Kurama's seal to allow seven new beasts to appear in his mental space alongside the fox. The same happened with their chakra that was within the tree, it all got sealed within Naruto. Momoshiki had converted almost half of their chakra into pills and fed the rest to the tree, which was all inside Naruto now.
"You planning to keep them?" Sasuke asked, approaching Naruto as he removed his hands from the husk of the Divine Tree's sapling.
"Of course not," Naruto refused, "but I do plan to keep them close by. At least within Konoha, eventually distributing them to viable jinchūriki." As he said that, he took out another scroll that he placed in front of the Divine Tree's husk. Invoking the seal on the scroll, he sealed the entire tree into it. "Just making sure someone doesn't end up getting their hands on it."
Sasuke nodded, not commenting further.
"We can go back now."
…
"It's been a long time, guys," Naruto said as he appeared in his mindscape.
"Naruto Uzumaki," The blue flaming feline beast, Matatabi, the two-tails spoke. "Thank you for freeing us. Once again."
"Don't sweat it, Matatabi," Naruto said before turning to Kurama who was lying on the ground, ignoring everyone. "Kurama. What kind of hospitality is this? Your siblings are here. At least greet them."
The fox merely snorted, turning his head away.
"He's always been this way, Naruto-kun," The ape-like beast, Son Gokū, the four tails spoke. "Shy yet he hides it behind a prideful demeanor," Kurama growled angrily at the ape.
"First off, I would like to start with an apology. Kurama doesn't bother keeping contact with you guys and neither do I. This caused all of your captures to be completely unnoticed by either of us." Naruto said.
"It is understandable, Naruto-kun," Son Gokū said. "You are very busy and they moved far too quickly for any news to reach you in time. We couldn't even reach each other."
"Thanks for understanding," Naruto smiled, "Now then, about the circumstances of your capture …" He trailed off.
"I think we know what you're about to say, Naruto Uzumaki," The horse-like beast with a dolphin head, Kokuō, the five-tails spoke.
"Then I hope you all understand my decision," Naruto spoke. "I would like for you to stay here for a while, at least until I can find you a suitable jinchūriki. These two Ōtsutsuki weren't the only ones who might come after you soon. I merely wish to keep you all safe and make sure that you don't end up as fuel for our enemies' growth."
"I do not wish to be a combatant, Naruto," Kokuō spoke. "I do not mind staying sealed within you, nor do I mind sharing my chakra with you. I merely ask that you do not force me to fight for you."
"I understand, Kokuō," Naruto nodded. "Anyone else of the same mind?"
"Me," The turtle-like beast, Isobu, the three tails spoke, "I have always preferred peace and do not wish to be involved in any future conflicts."
"I as well," The armored bug-like beast, Chōmei, the seven tails spoke. "You may use my chakra as you wish, but I do not wish to be embroiled in conflicts."
"Isobu, Kokuō and Chōmei," Naruto spoke. "I understand your will. Until the conflict with the Ōtsutsuki is dealt with, you are going to stay sealed within me. Kurama is the one whom I fight with so as long as you share your chakra when needed, I don't have any problem. Now," Naruto looked over to the other beasts, "Shukaku, Matatabi, Son Gokū, and Saiken. I presume you will accept whatever jinchūriki I assign to you all?"
"When they came to take me, stabbing me with those accursed chakra rods that rendered me helpless …" The slug-like beast, Saiken, the six-tails spoke, "I do not wish to feel helpless like that again. I wish to stand against them and fight."
"Then you shall," Naruto nodded. As you can see, my mental space has more than enough habitats for you all to explore. I have forests, lakes, mountains, everything. You can travel around and find locations that suit you the best, and if you need something specific, just let me know. Once your respective jinchūriki are ready, I will talk to you once again. As for the ones who do not wish to fight, I will talk to some experts and create a modification on the seal so that I can more efficiently siphon your chakra without your direct involvement." With those words, Naruto disappeared from his mental space.
…
Naruto opened his eyes as the moonlight that shone through the window allowed him to see his wife's face as she hugged him tightly, her expression needy and wanting. Even now after the passionate embrace they had shared for more than just a few hours, she was sticking close to him, hugging him as tightly as possible.
'Even after I constantly reassured her telepathically, she wasn't able to stop herself from worrying,' Naruto thought as he combed Hinata's hair, lightly kissing her forehead.
[Naruto.]
[What's up, Kurama?]
Naruto held Hinata comfortably in a tight embrace as he answered Kurama.
[How exactly did you take control over that Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki?]
[The Dominion Mark. I didn't plant the mark in the center of his sphere just for a deflection spectacle. I knew that he was going to absorb the attack.]
[I thought you could only apply it to willing participants.]
[I did apply it on a willing participant. He enthusiastically absorbed the attack, including the parasite mark.]
[The way you controlled him … Is it a general ability? Can you control your wife or your disciple in the same way?]
[Probably? I don't really know. And I don't plan to test it either. The mark I applied on Momoshiki's attack was applied with the sole intent to take control over the recipient. That's not my intent with Sarada, Hinata, or Karin.]
[That's why you were constantly riling up that Ōtsutsuki …]
[Yeah, I wanted to weaken his mentality so that the mark could take hold of him. As the battle progressed, he got worse and worse. I could've won long before he merged with Kinshiki, but I wanted him to do that. I wanted to take control over Momoshiki at his strongest. And I did that once Sasuke arrived to help out.]
[Speaking of … I feel that your rival is already getting suspicious of you. He didn't bring anyone other than himself for your rescue, not even your son.]
Naruto didn't say anything in response, bidding Kurama a good night instead.
He stayed awake yet, not getting out of bed. He enjoyed occasionally fondling his wife's devilishly sexy body and feeling her respond to his touch even in her sleep. The actions helped him stay awake as his clones worked overtime to take care of his duties. He couldn't sleep, since that would cause his clones to get dispelled, but it was still better than doing all of that work by himself.
He was able to drop all of his work and enjoy a lovely experience with his wife after leaving everything to his clones.
…
The next morning, the hustle and bustle of the village seemed to be much weaker than usual. Many people ended up choosing to stay home and rest after such a monumental event ended up getting interrupted so badly.
"What happened to him?" Naruto asked Sakura with a grave expression. "And why did I not find out about it the very moment I returned?"
"With how hectic everything was last night, it was impossible to realize that the Kazekage was actually in a coma," Sakura answered, standing beside the hospital bed alongside Naruto. On the other side was Temari, sitting while holding her brother's hand with a worried expression on her face.
"Give me the exact details. Why is he in a coma?" Naruto asked. "Chakra exhaustion, or something more?"
"That was the initial assumption, but chakra exhaustion can't cause such a long coma," Sakura said. "When that third Ōtsutsuki attacked after Sasuke left to get you, the Kazekage and his brother were able to repel him, moments after which the Kazekage collapsed. We thought it to be chakra exhaustion …" Sakura had a guilty expression on her face.
"Let me try something," Naruto said with a frown before turning toward Gaara. "Temari, if you would …" The blonde was lying on Gaara's comatose body as if she had lost her spirit. She nodded wordlessly and sat up, freeing Gaara for Naruto to examine.
Naruto placed his palm on Gaara's abdomen, a golden glow appeared as he invoked Yin-Yang Release. Temari showed a hopeful expression, but the increasingly ugly frown on Naruto's face dashed her rising hopes.
"It's that Otsutsuki's work," He said. "His spirit has been greatly weakened and damaged. I can't heal him."
Temari burst into tears hearing Naruto's words.
***
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