Naruto’s Decision (2)

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"Why is she naked?"

Orochimaru better had a good reason. I wouldn't let him live if the pervert had done something to my mother.

"I thought it would be in your best interest to know I hadn't tampered with any part of your mother's body. As you can see, she doesn't have a single scar or seal on her."

I put my hand on Kushina's stomach and spread my Chakra on her skin. No seal was triggered, so Orochimaru was being truthful.

"Then, what happened to the scar she should have gotten from Kyūbi?"

Still, I had to ask. I could never take whatever he said at face value.

"It's her Uzumaki blood. It does wonders."

That made sense, so I didn't bother to refute it. I urged Orochimaru with my chin and he began to tell me what happened. Kushina was never dead. Orochimaru told me that Minato also wouldn't have died if he didn't use Shiki Fujin. Kurama's claw delivered a fatal blow, but it was not enough to kill them.

"Kushina was still breathing by the time they carried her to the hospital. Everyone tried their best to save her but believed it to be futile. They still did their best, but no one tried to save Kushina. It was, of course, a sound decision. After all, she showed no signs of consciousness even a week after her condition stabilized."

"And how did you come to play?"

"I have always been interested in the Uzumaki for their vitality and longevity. I was hoping it might be my answer to immortality, so Kushina naturally caught my attention."

Orochimaru cackled creepily, but I sensed no malice from him. I guessed he was no longer interested in Kushina or the Uzumaki.

"Disappointingly, the Uzumaki is not the answer. Unlike Hashirama's cells, you have to turn your entire body into that of an Uzumaki to reap the benefit. Doing so means I have to give up on my Chakra coils. Although I am sure I would get a better one, I don't want to waste years of my efforts."

"You were monitoring Kushina and taking samples of her cells during her stay in the hospital," I concluded.

"No, I did the tests later, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru shook his head. "The other thing that attracted my attention was Kushina's lack of soul. No, that is not it. Kushina's soul is there but incomplete. This is likely the reason why she remains comatose."

"Why is that particularly interesting?" I wondered.

"Kushina's soul was attacked by something. I am determined to find out what it is. Imagine an attack that can cleave souls. If I somehow manage to master that, no one would dare cross with me," Orochimaru grinned, reminding me he was a mad scientist.

Orochimaru seemed to be misunderstanding something. No one was capable of attacking souls unless they used Shiki Fujin. Kushina was not targeted by Shiki Fujin. I was sure of that. If she had, her soul wouldn't have remained in her body. I had a theory of what happened, but I didn't know how true it was until I tried it out. Nonetheless, I would let Orochimaru drown in his delusion.

"Is that the sole reason why you keep her here?"

"Why, yes, Naruto-kun. But it is better than being cast away like the council suggested."

"What…"

This universe I found myself in was a lot more ferocious than the Naruto universe I knew. I had realized that the moment I received Naruto's memory. The anime didn't show Naruto getting beaten up by villagers, but I had that memory. I had initially thought it was the part that the anime didn't show, but what the council tried to do to Kushina proved that this world was indeed more ferocious.

Three months after Obito's idiotic action, the council decided that Kushina could no longer contribute to the village since she hadn't shown any signs of waking up. Two choices were brought up by the council. One, Kushina should be euthanized and properly buried. Two, Kushina should be sent to the lab, so her Kekkei Genkai could be passed down.

The council debated it for a week before Orochimaru decided to kidnap Kushina. He replaced her with a lifeless clone of her, thus making everyone believe Kushina had died due to her ailment. In a way, Orochimaru had saved her from an unwanted fate. I thanked him inwardly for his quick wits.

"You are not doing weird stuff with Kushina's DNA, are you?"

Nevertheless, I wouldn't let him play scientist with any part of Kushina.

"Protective, aren't you?" Orochimaru chuckled. "The only time I did something with her DNA was when I cloned her. I am more interested in her soul than her body."

"Yeah, that has to stop now," I stated.

"… What about a middle ground?" Orochimaru offered.

"Do your research on someone else," I unintentionally snarled.

Orochimaru stared at me silently for a moment. He had an amused and careful look as he thought about something I didn't care to know. Eventually, he nodded his head. I took out a blanket and covered Kushina. Orochimaru stated that he had her clothes, but I ignored him and told him to take me to my room.

"Don't you think you are being a Momma Boy, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru mocked.

"Sucks that you could never be one, huh?" I retorted.

"…. My, that is a good comeback."

We arrived at my room. Orochimaru knew that I needed some private time, so he immediately left after telling me he would have his subordinates deliver Kushina's clothes later. I got inside the bedroom and inspected it briefly. It was as big as my room at the Senju Compound but not as well-illuminated. I dropped Kushina onto the bed and found that the bed could have been better.

I sat on the ground and crossed my legs. Burrowing my consciousness into my mind, I soon found myself in my mindscape. The whole space was white with nothing but a stone tablet decorating it. White Room works on people. It makes them crazy. However, it didn't work against Kurama. My experiment had failed.

Of course, I had no genuine intention to drive Kurama crazy to make him easier to control. The furball was already cooperative, after all. I just wanted him to beg me to change the scenery when he got bored. It would be fun to tease him.

"What are you doing staring at me like that?"

Ah, right…

"Do you think there is another soul trapped in here?"

"…Why?"

Kurama knew something, I concluded. Walking to the stone tablet, I put my palm on it. I poured my consciousness into it and my being was immediately sucked in. In the next moment, I found myself in an endless golden space. I was inside the part of Hakke Fūin Shiki that Minato had tempered.

A rustle behind me made my body turn. A beautiful red-headed woman greeted me with crossed arms. The act accentuated her plump bosom, making me wonder if that was her purpose. It was unlikely, but she would be wrong if she thought she could make an intimidating figure.

"Well, don't you have anything to say?"

I did.

"See you next time!"

"Huh…!?"

I left the seal and returned to my mindscape. Although I didn't possess the characteristics of a physical body in my mindscape, I could feel my heart hammering. I didn't like the burst of euphoria. I hated emotional outbursts. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. The original Naruto part in me still had greater influence than I wanted to admit.

Kurama snorted derisively. I frowned but didn't say anything. If I opened my mouth, he would likely mock me for my cowardice. He had once told me the reason why I didn't rip the seal off was not my fear of his taking control but meeting Minato. He believed I wouldn't be able to say a thing.

The guy didn't know I was not the original Naruto but seemed to notice my wariness of Minato. Well, I was not afraid of him as a Ninja but as a parent. Minato was smart. There was an off-chance he would notice I was not his son. He would be devastated and I would feel quite bad. But I guess it was his punishment for damning Naruto to an accursed life.

"Did you get what you wanted to know?"

"Yes, I did, Kurama."

Stopping my train of thought, I shook my head and ejected myself out of my mindscape. My guess was spot on. Kushina's soul was trapped inside the seal. Whether extracting her soul from the seal and returning it to her body would work, however, remained unknown. I needed to test it to get the answer.

I sighed as I looked at the naked body of my mother. She didn't look like someone who had a teen son. Another detail I just noticed was the hair in her nether region. It was well-trimmed. My killing intent flared as I thought about Orochimaru doing it. Then again, he must know every inch of my Kushina's body since he had been studying her body.

Orochimaru has to die!

When someone yelped beyond the door, I retracted my killing intent. A scowl made its way to my face as I realized Kushina had made me lose control over my emotions again.

"H- Hi, Naruto-kun."

Opening the door, Karin greeted me. She was there to deliver Kushina's clothes. I thanked her, told her I would meet her at dinner, and closed the door. I had a mother to dress.