[Naruto's House]
Naruto sat alone at the dining table, dazed.
For him, although the Nine-Tails had given him many unpleasant memories in childhood, that had nothing to do with the Nine-Tails itself.
"Eat quickly, why are you spacing out," Kushina gently tapped her son.
Naruto came to and asked curiously, "Mom, do you hate the Nine-Tails?"
Kushina thought for a moment, then said, "That depends on what you consider the Nine-Tails to be."
Naruto paused and answered, "A tailed beast?"
Kushina smiled and served him a prawn, "Talk while you eat. Since you regard it as a tailed beast, then you're a jinchuriki."
"Even if a jinchuriki and a tailed beast can't fully understand each other, the best is at least to coexist."
"When I sealed the Nine-Tails back then, no one targeted me specifically."
"The root cause of the bullying you suffered as a child was Hiruzen"
"The Nine-Tails' chaos back then was caused by Obito releasing it."
"As an independent being, the Nine-Tails didn't want to be locked up inside a jinchuriki."
"We imprisoned him only to use his power to protect the village; nobody was completely wrong, it's just different positions."
"Although your father and I both died by the Nine-Tails' claws, the biggest responsibility lies with Obito."
"Minato and I don't hold that much hatred toward the Nine-Tails. Even if we did, it has nothing to do with you."
Kushina found it not so easy. In truth she didn't feel about the Nine-Tails exactly as she said.
But she had seen future images and knew Naruto would become friends with the Nine-Tails.
So she didn't want to pass this grudge down to Naruto.
After all, later the Nine-Tails would be Naruto's greatest help, so she said this on purpose.
Naruto nodded thoughtfully, "Mom, I think the Nine-Tails is pretty good. I want to be friends with him."
Kushina smiled, "That's the best. You're a jinchuriki; the two of you are inseparable. There's nothing wrong with being friends."
Naruto looked at his stomach, a little disheartened, "They've been separated. The Nine-Tails has already been taken away."
Kushina inwardly smirked, but didn't tell Naruto the truth for now.
"It's okay, we'll find the Nine-Tails again later."
"After all, not many people want to be friends with the Nine-Tails."
Naruto shook his head, "If the Nine-Tails could be freer that would be better. I just worry whether he's having a hard time being imprisoned now."
Kushina reached out and patted her son's head, "Alright, these things you can't change for now."
"Just train obediently; when you grow up you can change these things."
Naruto nodded resolutely, "I understand, Mom."
Kushina thought for a moment, then said, "Something happened with the Hyuga clan."
Since Naruto hadn't left the house since coming back, he basically didn't know about the Hyuga branch family coup, so he only asked curiously, "What happened?"
Kushina thought of the little girl who always followed Naruto around and sighed, "Hinata's father passed away."
Naruto reacted, "Ah, you mean Hiashi-senpai?"
He didn't really know Hiashi, he only knew that was Hinata's father.
Kushina replied, "That's right. Besides Hiashi, all the other main family members are dead."
Naruto's eyes widened. He and Hinata were somewhat familiar with each other; he had a rough idea how many people the Hyuga main family had.
"How could that be? What happened? Hinata's okay, right?"
Naruto instinctively worried about Hinata.
Kushina shook her head, "Rengoku already took Hinata and Hanabi to the Uchiha clan grounds."
"From now on, Hinata will probably live with the Uchiha clan."
"As for what happened, you don't need to know that."
"Telling you this is so you'll take care of Hinata in the future."
———
[Uchiha Clan Grounds]
After hearing Rengoku's plan, Tsunade still had other concerns.
"If they all leave Konoha, won't Konoha's strength be greatly reduced?"
Rengoku smiled, "You're worried other villages will attack us, right?"
Tsunade nodded.
Rengoku's strike this time was too wide; Konoha's core strength would be at least halved.
No village would give up such an opportunity.
Rengoku beckoned for Tsunade to follow him.
Tsunade, puzzled, followed.
After turning down a few corridors, she was surprised to see two figures sparring with taijutsu ahead.
A blue-gray–haired woman stood nearby watching.
"Konan? Are the other two Yahiko and Nagato?"
Tsunade hadn't paid close attention to outside intel, but after a few moves by the Akatsuki she had some indirect understanding.
It was already basically confirmed that the Akatsuki was founded by the disciples Jiraiya once took in.
From the three people's hair colors she vaguely saw shadows of Nagato and Yahiko from back then.
Yahiko and Nagato stopped. They and Konan exchanged glances with Rengoku, then greeted Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade was surprised, "How are you here?"
Before Konan and the others could speak, Rengoku clapped his hands, "They're our allies."
Tsunade was stunned for a long moment, "So, Senku… is also one of ours."
Rengoku smiled; he didn't plan to expose the matter of clones.
After all, the fewer people who knew about hidden identities, the better.
Tsunade exhaled, "With this, Konoha will be much safer."
The Akatsuki already had some reputation; especially Sasori and Konan were well-suited for battlefield operations.
Not to mention Nagato with the Rinnegan.
Rengoku's action was a show of trust; seeing Rengoku was prepared, Tsunade relaxed somewhat.
But Rengoku wasn't satisfied; he revealed one more bombshell, "Yagura is also one of ours."
Tsunade was surprised: "Aren't you collaborators?"
Rengoku shook his head, "Yagura is one of my people."
Tsunade looked up and down at Rengoku; this felt like the first time she really got to know him.
Just then a fifteen-year-old girl dashed down from above and grabbed Rengoku's hand, shaking it, "Shishou! Shishou! Hinata and Hanabi woke up! They kept crying; now I finally soothed them!"
Rengoku saw Karin inviting praise and responded, "Good, thanks to you. Where are they now?"
Karin smiled embarrassedly, she hadn't done much.
Rengoku, seriously praising her, made Karin a little shy.
She hurriedly said, "Hinata said she wants to see you."
"All right, go home first. I'll be there right away," Rengoku reached out and patted Karin's hair.
"Hehe, Shishou, I'm off then!", Karin bounded away.
She was clearly happy to be able to help Rengoku.
Rengoku turned to Tsunade, "That's it for now. I need to handle Hinata's matter."
Tsunade hurriedly called after him, "What happened with the Hyuga clan?"
Rengoku replied, "The Hyuga branch staged a coup. Except for Hinata and Hanabi, the entire main family was wiped out."
"Sss!", Tsunade sucked in a cold breath.
So many things had happened in one day.
"You go back for now. Proceed according to the plan tomorrow."