Naruto instinctively wanted to resist.
The demon, responding to his thoughts, reached out and seized his soul, attempting to tear it from his body.
The spectral hand that pierced through the ninja's body sought to grasp at the blonde boy in front of it.
Naruto clasped his hands together.
Golden chains lashed out, suppressing the specter.
The Nine-Tails tossed a scroll, and beneath the death god's feet, the pre-prepared sealing technique unfurled, unleashing the power of the Four Symbols Seal that surged towards the 'demon.'
Despite the pull and erosion of this power, the demon offered no resistance and allowed itself to be sealed.
This was going more smoothly than Naruto had anticipated.
He had expected to battle the 'demon.'
But with such a demeanor, could this summoned being really be called a 'divine spirit'?
However, now was not the time to dwell on that.
More importantly, there were five souls escaping from its belly.
One soul flailed wildly like a pair of unruly arms, darting within the barrier, seemingly wanting to return to its master.
The remaining four souls appeared as four men.
They lingered momentarily in their spiritual forms.
"Can you see us?" a white-haired man noticed Naruto's gaze, "The blonde kid."
"You must know what's going on?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared intently at that blonde head.
Another blond, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, began explaining, "The Dead Demon Consuming Seal that bound us has been undone."
"Naruto, you really did it," he noted with pride.
Naruto looked at him, "Do you have memories of meeting me, Dad?"
Minato nodded.
Naruto mused to himself, acknowledging that chakra was indeed a mysterious force—one that even the Dead Demon Consuming Seal couldn't block information transfer?
"And my mom?" Naruto inquired, glancing between the four souls, although one had black, long hair, he was certainly male and couldn't be his mother.
Kurama bared its fangs, retreating behind Naruto.
It clearly did not want to see the long-haired man.
Minato smiled and replied, "Kushina wasn't consumed by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
Naruto felt a sense of longing.
That was the Pure Land.
He had hoped to meet his mother this time, but it seemed he would have to wait until he found the 'Real Waterfall' to see her again.
A man with long hair scratched his head, looking around with confusion. There were seven people in this space, but he only recognized two of them: "Could someone explain what's going on? Who are you all?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi began to introduce them one by one: "First Lord, this is the Fourth Hokage."
He pointed to Naruto with a complex expression: "This is..."
"The Fourth Hokage's son, and a remarkable ninja from the village, Naruto Uzumaki."
The First Hokage was excited: "The Fourth Hokage!"
"It seems the village..."
Naruto interrupted his enthusiasm with a splash of cold water in a calm voice: "I'm no longer a ninja of Konoha."
"Did you defect from the village?" The white-haired Second Hokage's sharp tone remarked, "Not surprising for one who dabbles with deceased souls."
Naruto glanced around.
"I only held you back briefly before you return to the Pure Land to say a few words and understand some situations."
His gaze fell on the Second Hokage: "Compared to the Edo Tensei, which pulls souls from the Pure Land, what I do is insignificant."
There was a hint in his words.
The Second Hokage's expression shifted slightly.
Naruto didn't stop, pausing only briefly before candidly pointing out: "As the developer of that forbidden technique, Second Hokage, do you have the confidence to accuse me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face grew heavy: "Naruto, did you truly defect?"
"You were a good kid."
Naruto interrupted him again: "I'm no longer a kid."
"And please don't use the word 'defect,' lest it paint Konoha too innocently."
"I simply chose not to be a ninja and leave a place that cannot be called home."
"That's all."
Hiruzen lowered his head.
Both the First and Second Hokage couldn't help but look at him.
He did not deny the words "lest it paint Konoha too innocently."
Did the village really do something to wrong him?
"Not become a ninja?" The First Hokage exclaimed in surprise, "Is that the path you've chosen?"
The power emerging from beneath the earth grew stronger, breaking through the first barrier.
"Time is running out," Naruto shook his head. "I have some questions now, and I hope to get some answers."
He glanced at the First and Second Hokage: "What is the Pure Land?"
"How did you get there?"
"Who controls that place?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Naruto's own father apparently did not know the answers, as their souls had been residing inside the belly of the Shinigami since death.
"Are you curious about the Pure Land?" the First Hokage asked.
The Second Hokage shook his head.
"Yes, I want to understand it," Naruto nodded.
The First Hokage, known for being approachable, thought for a while before honestly answering Naruto's inquiry: "How one gets to the Pure Land, I really don't know. You just close your eyes after dying, and you're there."
"As for what kind of place it is," he continued, "it's a dim world, but very peaceful, with no wars, no hunger, and familiar faces living together."
"We have never seen whoever manages it."
Unclear on how they got there, and having never encountered someone in charge.
Naruto nodded, frowning.
Even from the deceased, there's no useful information to be gained.
Karin retrieved a scroll, quickly jotting everything down.
The Second Hokage shook his head: "I refuse."
"That's a forbidden technique that toys with the souls of the dead, and the fewer who know about it, the better."
The First Hokage intervened: "Tobirama, just tell him. I have a feeling he's a good—"
Before he could finish, the Second Hokage turned his head and coldly interrupted: "Refuse."
"I think—"
"Brother, say no more."
"He would never toy with the souls of the deceased."
"Shut up!"
The First Hokage looked dejected and disheartened.
"I just want to know if this technique is related to the Pure Land," Naruto asked again. "You don't have to worry about that. I understand how to respect the deceased better than you," replied the Second Hokage, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "It's unrelated."
Kagura's Mind Eye confirmed this was the truth.
Naruto nodded.
A technique related to "the souls of the deceased," yet not connected to the Pure Land?
"Do you really believe it so easily?" the Second Hokage asked, slightly surprised.
Naruto replied, "I'm from the Uzumaki clan and I can use Kagura's Mind Eye."
The Second Hokage immediately understood.
That ninja art, capable of sensing others' emotions, was indeed a formidable power.
Naruto lowered his head.
The second barrier layer had already been breached. That "Guardian of the Pure Land" was so powerful it was almost uncanny, breaking through much faster than he had anticipated.
There was no time for unnecessary conversation.
"Dad, is the other half of the Nine-Tails inside your body?" Naruto asked.
Minato Namikaze nodded.
"Will extracting it from your body harm your soul?" Naruto queried.
Minato shook his head, "The seal between the Nine-Tails and me isn't one that connects life force."
"Do you just want to reunite with the Nine-Tails, Naruto?"
Naruto extended his hand, pulling the Nine-Tails, which shrunk behind him, by the neck to show it: "We get along well now."
"Thanks to Dad's technique, it can leave my body temporarily."
The First Hokage's eyes lit up, "Is this the Nine-Tails?"
"Has it become this cute now?"
The Nine-Tails bared its teeth, flicking its tail, "Long time no see, Hashirama Senju."
Minato chuckled, "You've succeeded in such a short time, Naruto. In that case, let it go back."
He extended his hand, placing it on his stomach.
Chakra waves pulsed.
The red beast's chakra flowed, extending along Minato's arm, surging towards Naruto's body.
"Even in a soul state, you can use chakra?" Naruto looked at Minato's hand, a bit surprised.
Minato Namikaze nodded, "I can use some of it, but it's not as powerful as when I was alive."
Naruto pondered.
In the textbooks of Konoha, chakra is defined as "the life energy extracted from the body through spiritual will," which means this power should be entirely linked to the physical body. So why is it that even as a soul, Dad can use chakra?
Isn't this power different from what's defined in the textbooks?
Combining this phenomenon with his past knowledge gave him a strange feeling.
Hashirama Senju approached and caught the Nine-Tails, "You get along so well with the Nine-Tails."
The Nine-Tails bared its teeth, but in Hashirama's palm, it remained docile and didn't resist much.
"Why can't you get along with the village, then?" Hashirama asked in a somber tone, tugging at its tail.
He really liked this little fellow named Naruto.
Just by looking at him, he felt a bond as strong as if they were "blood brothers," even stronger than what he felt with his own brother, Tobirama.
Naruto tilted his head and looked at him, "You founded Konoha."
Hashirama nodded.
"What is the purpose of the village's existence?" Naruto asked.
This was a question that had intrigued him for the past year and a half.
But whether in Konoha or Kirigakure, he had never found an answer.
"In the beginning, I hoped the village would be a link between clans," Hashirama replied earnestly, stroking the Nine-Tails, "A transition from chaos to order, a crucial hub for maintaining peace."
"It's meant to protect children from needless conflicts and eventually achieve peace."
His expression was serious.
The feedback from Kagura's Mind Eye confirmed that he was speaking the truth with heartfelt sincerity.
Naruto chuckled, "What a naive ideal."
Hashirama glanced back at his brother, "Naive? Tobirama said the same to me."
"I thought you would understand."
His voice was firm.
Somehow, he felt that Naruto was the same kind of person as he was.
Naruto met his eyes, "In your time, were ninja also tools of war?"
Hashirama nodded.
"Praying for peace through the means of war." Naruto shook his head, "It's like trying to heal a wound with a sharp blade."
"Isn't that naive?"
He found it difficult to imagine that the First Hokage of Konoha could be such a simple person.
(End of Chapter)