Kushina arrives

Kurama let out a sigh and nodded his head. He never expected that he would be listening to the words of a child. But still, this child has freed him from those annoying chains. This was the least he could do. Besides, Kurama honestly wanted to believe in Araki's words that he would release Kurama.

He then asked Araki with a curious expression, "Why won't you release me straight away? If you do free me right now. I promise to not incur my wrath upon this village and just live in harmony in someplace devoid of humans."

At this, Araki shook his head and replied, "That wouldn't work. Even though I have had a short life as compared to you, Kurama, I do know something. Shinobis can't tolerate someone living their life in harmony. They will always plunge them into chaos… Unless I have grown strong enough to surpass the Hokage by a margin, there is no point in freeing you. The Hokage and the others would think of anything method to trap you again." He said while remembering how his father was assassinated.

"Hmph… Like they can." Kurama didn't hold high regard for any other Shinobi. The only one who could possibly restrain him at this moment was Mito. Once she died, even her successor wouldn't possibly be able to restrain him at Mito's level.

However, Mito shook her head at this point, "This disdain is the very reason why Madara could manipulate you and the reason why I sealed you inside me. There are still some seals known to the Hokage. One of them is precisely the Dead Reaper's Seal, I am sure even you don't dare to look down upon that seal."

Kurama had a bit of knowledge about seals indeed. He knew what Dead Reaper's Seal entailed, "I see… You are right, child. I will place my trust in your words, I will not harm my successor as long as she doesn't bind me."

A bright smile appeared on Araki's face, which seemed to illuminate the entire place. He turned to Mito's direction and said pleadingly, "Grandma…"

"You want me to design a new seal for Kushina-chan?" She asked him with a hint of a smile. To think her grandson would one day resolve the hatred between herself and Kyuubi.

"That would still be dangerous. What if Kyuubi does harm Kushina-chan? I think it would better to be cautious." She was just curious and trying to make her grandson understand that being cautious is better.

Araki didn't need to think a lot about his grandmother's question, he casually stated, "If Kurama does harm Kushina-chan, then what grandpa and grandma did to Kurama would be sweet mercy to what I would do to him." Although his words were said causally, both Kurama and Mito felt a strange, terrifying, and intimidating power from them.

Mito was relieved upon hearing his words. Moreover, she could design a seal which would give Kurama enough freedom in Kushina's mental scape and would boost the Mokuton's skill in restraining its chakra.

"Don't worry, kid. I don't plan on breaking my deal. Well, just make sure you don't die earlier before you fulfil this deal. I can't promise anything past that." Kurama said with a shrug.

This was the best he could do, both Araki and Mito understood that. And they were satisfied after having reached such a compromise.

"I guess we will leave now. Kushina-chan should be about to arrive." Mito said to Kurama and Araki.

Araki's eyes twinkled with excitement as he said, "Let's go! I want to meet Kushina-chan."

Mito used her consciousness to remove Araki from her mindscape. It took a bit of her concentration but was relatively easy to perform.

After he was released from her mindscape, Kurama stared at Mito for some time before asking her, "He doesn't know, does he? The consequences of releasing me out of your seal mean your death."

"Does it matter to you?" Mito said a little indifferently. She felt that her grandson would be too worried if she had told him about this.

"Well, I don't personally care about you. In fact, I will be happy once you die." Kurama stated with a grin as the hatred of more than 20+ years couldn't really be resolved so quickly.

Mito didn't care much about his hatred. It's a good thing if the Kyuubi's hatred could be resolved after her death. She didn't wish for Araki to feel the brunt of Kyuubi's hatred because of her husband and her own actions.

Their time had already elapsed. The only thing that remained was to place her trust in her grandson.

"I would be counting on you to protect him in the future. The seal I will design on Kushina will allow you to connect to her senses as long as she wills it. Normally, you would be able to hear what she hears." Mito informed Kurama with a neutral expression.

This was an expected bonus for Kurama as he nodded in response, "Even if you said nothing, I would still assist the kid. If that kid perishes, who knows how long I would have to remain sealed."

"Glad we can agree on something… Kurama." She said his name for the first time before leaving her seal. Now, she needed to start the preparations of 8 Trigram Seal Formation but keeping the Yin and Yang completely balanced.

Kurama let out a relieved sigh as he stared around, "Finally, I am going to be out of this damn prison! I hope the next one will have better surroundings. I can only trust the kid on that part."

Outside the seal, Kushina remained shocked when she saw Araki standing next to Mito. She thought she had been very discrete in coming here. She didn't want her friend to know that she was going to house a demon.

There was a chance he would look at her like those villagers. She didn't want that to happen. That was why she was extremely discrete.

Araki turned his head and noticed the confusion on Kushina's face.

For some moments, he remained puzzled about this look of confusion. Suddenly, it clicked him the reason behind Kushina's confusion.

"The forests are my friends. You can't hide from me, Kushina-chan. Why didn't you tell me earlier that grandma would be giving you a really cool fox? Grandma is so unfair to me. Even though I am her grandson, I didn't receive such a good gift from her." He said in a voice as if trying to cheer up Kushina.

Kushina's melancholic expression did turn into a smile. She replied, "I…, I have a special chakra, that's why."

"Grandma said the same to me. I think my chakra is also really special. It's a pity I can't have a talking fox with me. It's so huge, the scenery from above his head must be awesome!" Araki excitedly said, as if telling Kushina of the plus points of having Kurama.

Hearing him talk so excitedly, Kushina asked him with a confused look, "Did you see the fox?"

This question caught the attention of the ladies around Kushina. They also gave a strange look to Araki as if wondering what he would say.

To their surprise, Araki nodded his head excitedly, "Yup! Kurama is really good to me. Don't worry, I asked him not to hurt you."