Konoha: Naruto of Sekiro

Inside the room.

Naruto sat cross-legged on the bed, head bowed, carefully observing the Eight Trigrams Seal on his abdomen.

Even within the Uzumaki clan, the Eight Trigrams Seal was considered top-tier in both difficulty and strength.

Due to his own unique circumstances, he had focused his research on the Eight Trigrams Seal when studying sealing jutsu.

By now, he had a fairly thorough understanding of it. Replicating the Eight Trigrams Seal on his body exactly wasn't realistic; after all, it was a sealing jutsu linked to the Reaper Death Seal, and without the power of the Dragon Heritage, he didn't want to touch that thing for the time being.

However, he already had a general idea of how to release the Eight Trigrams Seal.

The Eight Trigrams Seal was renowned for being composed of two Four Symbols Seals. One Four Symbols Seal primarily acted on the Nine-Tails—the cage he saw in his mental space. The other Four Symbols Seal acted on himself. This Four Symbols Seal, rather than being just a seal, utilized the unique cyclical nature of the Four Symbols Seal to 'purify' the Nine-Tails chakra leaking from the first Four Symbols Seal to a level he could passively absorb.

After all, the Nine-Tails' chakra itself possessed an extremely strong corrosive property.

Forget a newborn baby; even a Jonin would be harmed by close contact with Nine-Tails chakra.

Over the years, before reaching an understanding with Kurama, the reason he had lived so freely, without the dark circles under his eyes like Gaara or nearly suffering a mental breakdown, was entirely thanks to the perfect cycle of these two Four Symbols Seals.

Furthermore, part of the reason his chakra was so terrifyingly vast was that, for over a decade, the second Four Symbols Seal had continuously helped him absorb Kurama's chakra.

The Four Symbols Seal was further divided into Inner Four Symbols and Outer Four Symbols.

The Inner Four Symbols Seal was too domineering and unsuitable as a Jinchuriki seal, so it could be disregarded for now.

Both Four Symbols Seals on his body were Outer Four Symbols, establishing a sealing cycle through the mutually generative relationship of earth, wind, water, and fire chakra natures.

Voom, voom, voom, voom…

Chakra of the four respective natures gathered on his fingertips. Naruto pressed them onto the Eight Trigrams Seal on his abdomen and rotated them clockwise.

Suddenly, his fingers felt like jammed gears; no matter how much force he applied, it was useless.

After a moment, Naruto withdrew his chakra and slowly lowered his hand.

Just like his previous experiments, it had ended in failure.

His father in that world, Minato Namikaze, had clearly considered the risk of the Eight Trigrams Seal being forcibly undone when he set it.

He had left a hidden backdoor in the Eight Trigrams Seal, requiring a special jutsu formula to unlock it.

It was like certain safes that required both a password and a key to be opened.

If Naruto wasn't mistaken, the key to this backdoor should be with the Jiraiya of that world.

"A backdoor?!!"

Suddenly, Naruto's expression turned excited, and he rushed directly out of Amegakure.

After running until Amegakure was no longer in sight, Naruto casually ducked into a cave.

"Kurama, use your chakra to erode me with all your might," Naruto said in his mental space, looking down at the large fox beneath him.

"Hmm?" Kurama looked slightly stunned, then laughed mockingly. "If eroding you with all my chakra was actually useful, do you think I'd still be stuck in here?"

"Don't waste your time on these things. I'm not in a hurry to get out right now."

He had seen the little guy's attempts to release the seal recently. Although he hadn't said anything, he felt an unprecedented warmth in his heart.

"Besides, have you forgotten what happens when a Tailed Beast leaves its Jinchuriki's body?" Kurama asked with an unreadable expression.

"That's because my body instinctively resists your erosion," Naruto said, shaking his head. "No matter how powerful the Four Symbols Seal is, it's just a jutsu formula. It doesn't operate without purpose."

"I will now completely open my mind and accept your chakra."

Kurama: "…" "Aren't you afraid things will go wrong?"

"Go wrong? What could go wrong?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

But before he could react, an immense surge of chakra burst from the gaps in the seal and violently poured into his body.

In the outside world, through the gaps in the Four Symbols Seal, Kurama's crimson chakra slowly enveloped him. On his back, a tail slowly began to form.

Then, a second, a third, a fourth…

Starting from the fourth tail, Naruto's form began to dehumanize, gradually transforming into a fox composed of chakra.

Since his father had deliberately left gaps in the seal, he must have considered the possibility of Kurama exploiting an opening.

But Jiraiya, who held the key, wouldn't always be by his side. Minato Namikaze, as the Fourth Hokage, certainly wouldn't have overlooked this.

Assuming he was Minato Namikaze, would he let his son be taken over by Kurama exploiting an opening because he didn't have the seal's key? No.

He would definitely leave a countermeasure to help his son.

The moment the ninth tail appeared, under the immense chakra pressure, the world seemed to have its mute button pressed.

In his mental space, a blond-haired man wearing a white Hokage's robe suddenly appeared before Naruto. He pressed his right hand onto the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's abdomen and rotated it counter-clockwise, reclosing the seal that had been forced open.

"Naruto, you've grown up," Minato Namikaze said, looking at him with a gratified smile.

"What form of existence are you in now? Chakra? Soul?" Naruto asked curiously.

Minato Namikaze: "…"

This wasn't quite how he had envisioned this unfolding.

"When I sealed the Nine-Tails into you, I also sealed a portion of my own chakra and your mother's chakra within you," Minato explained, though the way things were proceeding was somewhat unexpected.

"Meaning, chakra can exist for extended periods," Naruto mused, sinking into thought.

If that's the case, then there are definitely old monsters lurking beneath the surface in this world.

"You…" Minato hesitated for a moment. "Don't you have anything you want to ask?"

"Oh, sorry, I got sidetracked," Naruto apologized. "So, what about Mom?"

"Kushina left her chakra to help you…" As he spoke, seeing the curious expressions on both Naruto and Kurama, Minato was momentarily at a loss for how to answer.

What could he say? That Kushina's chakra was meant to help Naruto control the Nine-Tails' chakra at a critical moment? His son didn't seem to need that help much…

"I'll awaken Kushina's chakra now."

Though Naruto was a bit baffled by Minato's abrupt shift, as long as the outcome was right, he didn't press further.

A few breaths later.

Naruto didn't know what Minato did, but a warm chakra slowly coalesced before him.

Familiar long red hair came into view. The warm chakra gave Naruto an inexplicable sense of peace.

"Minato? Naruto?" Uzumaki Kushina looked at the two figures, somewhat bewildered. Where was the chakra tug-of-war? Why did Minato awaken her? This was way too different from the original plan, wasn't it?

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