The situation grew increasingly bizarre, but Rin Nohara was the first to make the right call, pulling Sakura Haruno with her.
As Medical-nin, the two girls immediately performed the Summoning Jutsu.
Their chakra merged, and they summoned a massive slug as large as a water buffalo.
The Fourth Kazekage, who had been waiting anxiously for his wife to give birth, was already numb.
Not only had a huge group of people appeared out of nowhere, but just as he was still reeling from seeing a future version of himself, Konoha ninja actually went so far as to use a summoning technique.
Chiyo moved to attack at once.
But the moment she pulled out her puppet scroll, she was stopped by Kazekage Gaara.
When Karura said she wanted to see the child's face, the Fourth Kazekage of this world intended to have the newborn Gaara placed beside her pillow.
However, two Gaaras from other parallel worlds got there first.
One was the genin Gaara who had just fought Naruto. His clothes were tattered, and his movements were a step slower than his counterpart from another time.
The other was, of course, the future Fifth Kazekage Gaara. Clean and composed, he looked every bit the elite Kazekage, if not for the sorrow etched across his face.
"How did you get here?! Move aside!!" the Fourth Kazekage Rasa roared.
Not only had ninja from other times and spaces appeared within the Land of Wind, even Konoha ninja were here?!
"Is the Land of Fire trying to provoke a war?!" the Sunagakure ninja shouted angrily.
Seeing the two girls summon the very slug that only Tsunade-sama could contract, Shizune quickly explained,
"This is Tsunade-sama's summoned beast, Katsuyu. I don't know what's happening here, but if you truly are the Fourth Kazekage, then you must have heard of Tsunade-sama!"
"!!!!"
Chiyo glanced at the woman crouched on the ground.
"It really is Tsunade. So the rumors that she can no longer serve as a Medical-nin are true."
"Even so!" Shizune said urgently, her voice tight with emotion. "Tsunade-sama is still the greatest Medical-nin in the world! I will inherit Tsunade-sama's will and treat the patient in her stead!"
Shizune placed her hand beside Karura, working together with Katsuyu to replenish her life force.
As the Jinchūriki and tailed beast left Karura's body, her vitality drained rapidly, just like Kushina in another world when the tailed beast was extracted during childbirth.
Though they couldn't completely heal her, Shizune and Katsuyu's medical ninjutsu truly did succeed in prolonging Karura's life.
The Fifth Kazekage felt a surge of gratitude, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it. He knelt beside Karura together with the genin Gaara.
By Karura's pillow lay the newborn infant, so small it was almost painful to look at.
Naruto, Sasuke, and the others stood helplessly where they were.
The sight of Gaara and his mother made them think of the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, of the first time Naruto met Kushina.
Karura's figure overlapped with Kushina's in their minds.
She reached out, her movements gentle to the point of reverence, touching the well-behaved infant beside her.
"What a tiny child…"
Her gaze, tender yet exhausted, rested on the newborn Gaara.
"In the future… you'll surely face many hardships and much suffering."
Hearing those words, tears streamed down the face of the Fifth Kazekage Gaara, even though he had already learned the truth during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
As for the genin Gaara, just the day before he had buried those who dared disturb him with Sand Coffin, bringing down a storm of blood and death. Yet now, his face was filled with helplessness, confusion, and a deep fear of parting hidden in his eyes.
Karura saw both of them.
Whether it was the future Fifth Kazekage Gaara or the present genin Gaara, whose body still carried the scent of blood, the warmth in her eyes never changed.
She struggled to lift her hand and gently placed it on the genin Gaara's head.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you properly."
Absolute Defense did not stop her touch. Feeling something as light as a feather brush against his hair, genin Gaara froze. The question he had always wanted to ask finally escaped his lips.
"I'm the one who killed you… don't you hate me?"
Because of hatred, he had named himself Gaara, a name that meant loving only oneself, a solitary asura.
"Why would you think that?" she asked softly, coughing violently. Blood stained her lips, throwing those around her into panic once more, yet her voice remained gentle. "Why would you think that?"
Genin Gaara answered dazedly, "Because I killed you?"
Karura shook her head faintly.
"I'm the one who was afraid… afraid that you would hate me for giving you this kind of life."
This time, even genin Gaara didn't realize that tears were pouring down his face. He stopped asking questions and instead begged the Medical-nin present, desperately and humbly, to save her.
That terrifying Gaara, who had appeared during the Chūnin Exams and caused every examinee to instinctively avoid him, now looked so small, so fragile, and so helpless.
Although Rin Nohara, Sakura Haruno, and the others weren't familiar with Gaara, once they learned that he was also a Jinchūriki, a sense of empathy naturally arose. In their hearts, Gaara and Naruto were placed on equal footing. The woman before them, hovering on the brink of death, inevitably reminded them of Kushina Uzumaki on the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage.
In this world of shinobi, for the sake of the village, female ninja often had no choice but to sacrifice themselves and their children.
The Fifth Kazekage placed a hand on the shoulder of his other self.
He had already made up his mind to tell the people of this era about the Fourth Shinobi World War ahead of time. As for whether the Fourth Shinobi World War and the large-scale Edo Tensei would still happen in another parallel world, even he couldn't be sure.
So here, at least, he would let his other self know the truth.
Absolute Defence was not a cursed power, but love. It was the love of their mother, Karura, transformed into strength.
"I once lost Shukaku. I'm no longer a Jinchūriki now, yet the sand still protects me instinctively. And it was only after losing Shukaku that its true form could be revealed."
Kazekage Gaara's Absolute Defence took the shape of a woman, gentle yet resolute, shielding him from all harm and blocking every enemy attack.
That very woman now lay on the operating table, barely clinging to life.
A heavy sorrow filled everyone's hearts.
The Kazekage who had committed countless cruel acts to test Gaara's so-called 'capacity' lowered his head, pain weighing just as heavily on him.
"You've grown into an outstanding man, Gaara," Karura said as she looked at the Fifth Kazekage. "You must have suffered a great deal."
Gaara replied softly, "Yes. Thanks to my friends, and the people of Sunagakure."
The Suna ninja who had been drawn here finally realized that the Gaara they once called a monster would change so drastically in the future, even becoming the next Kazekage.
They didn't understand why a future Kazekage had appeared here. If this was Genjutsu, then it was far too profound, and far too tragic. Karura-sama was the wife of the Fourth Kazekage, a kunoichi they deeply respected.
The atmosphere was unbearably heavy. Naruto couldn't stand it anymore and turned to Sasuke.
"If sealing part of the tailed beast's chakra into my mom was enough to save her, then couldn't we use the same method to save Gaara's mom too?!!"
Sasuke couldn't give a clear answer. His previous suggestion had been a desperate gamble, a last resort. This time, he honestly wasn't sure.
Minato Namikaze stepped forward.
"Maybe… it's worth trying."
"What?!!"
The Kazekage didn't understand what they meant by saving Naruto's mother, but Chiyo immediately grasped the idea of sharing tailed beast chakra.
She looked at Naruto Uzumaki.
"Could it be… that you are Konoha's Jinchūriki?!"
The rest of her words stuck in her throat. Those frozen in the space-time rift were left burning with curiosity.
What exactly was Naruto Uzumaki? Why had he been treated as a monster since childhood?!
Kazekage Gaara stated clearly that Shukaku no longer resided within him.
That meant the only one who could share tailed beast chakra with Karura at this moment was the genin Gaara, who had come to Konoha to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
Minato explained calmly to the Fourth Kazekage and the genin Gaara,
"Karura's life force is draining because she once served as the vessel that carried a Jinchūriki child. When the tailed beast and infant leaves the body, it's very similar to what happens when a Jinchūriki loses their tailed beast."
"So what do I need to do?!" genin Gaara asked immediately.
Minato didn't hide anything and spoke reassuringly.
"You'll need to transfer half of the tailed beast inside you into your mother. It will weaken your strength, but that portion of power is something you can't control anyway. Whether it's there or not won't make much difference to you."
"What do I need to do?" Genin Gaara had no objections at all. Right now, he only wanted to know what was required of him. The man before him, who had once taken him and Naruto out for ramen and was said to be Naruto's father, would help him.
"As for what you need to do…" Minato looked toward the Kazekage and the ninja of Sunagakure. "More importantly, we need your consent."
The biggest obstacle was whether the Kazekage would allow Konoha ninja to interfere with a Jinchūriki's seal.
Naruto blurted out, "Isn't this the time to stop worrying about stuff like that?!"
"No," Minato replied calmly. "This concerns crucial matters of inter-village diplomacy."
Unlike Naruto, Minato couldn't afford to be careless or idealistic.
Compared to the Fourth Kazekage, who was struggling to bring himself to agree, the far more stubborn Chiyo was still impossible to persuade.
At that moment, the Fifth Kazekage Gaara spoke up quickly, revealing that in their parallel world, he himself had been saved by Chiyo using the forbidden technique, One's Own Life Reincarnation.
"And the people you want to revive with that forbidden technique are probably your son and daughter-in-law, aren't they? For the sake of your grandson, the missing-nin of Sunagakure," the Fifth Kazekage continued. "In the future, he will join an organization called Akatsuki. Their stated goal is peace, but their actions lead to destruction. You should prepare yourselves."
Chiyo had never truly believed that these people came from the future. Having lived through countless shinobi wars, she would rather believe she had fallen under Genjutsu.
But when she heard that the forbidden technique she had only just begun researching had already saved Gaara's life in the future, she finally accepted the truth.
Silently, she stepped back, allowing the Konoha ninja to reseal Shukaku within Gaara and Karura.
…
"Eight Trigrams Seal!"
This was a brand-new fūinjutsu Minato Namikaze had learned from his counterpart in another world after examining the seal on Naruto's abdomen.
It split an immensely powerful tailed beast into two parts, like yin and yang within the Eight Trigrams.
By sealing the Yin and Yang halves into two different people, one life could be saved, while the tailed beast's power would be weakened, preventing constant backlash against its host.
It was Minato's first time using the Eight Trigrams Seal, yet he executed it flawlessly.
The price, however, was that genin Gaara lost half of the tailed beast, while the one who was saved was Karura from another parallel world.
There was no time for sorrowful words.
Minato Namikaze suddenly felt the rapid surge of space-time chakra once again!!
Moments earlier, they had regained movement and color, but as the space-time chakra began to flow violently, their bodies faded back into dull shades of gray and white.
Despite undergoing two space-time transfers, less than an hour had passed in reality.
The ninja from both villages felt as if they had lived through a surreal 5D film, forced to confront many of their own past cruelties.
"So that Gaara kid… he's actually the Kazekage's son?"
"Yeah. Using his own child as a container to seal a monster inside."
"It was for the village! Our Kazekage had no choice, right?! Don't let the Konoha people run their mouths!"
"Exactly! And what about that Naruto Uzumaki from your village?"
"Hey, I overheard their conversation in that world earlier, and it got me thinking…"
"Jinchūriki like that… every village seems to have at least one, doesn't it? Back then, the God of Shinobi supposedly distributed all the tailed beasts."
Called a monster.
Rejected since childhood.
Yet able to become friends with Gaara.
Transforming into a massive golden fox in battle!
So Naruto might be…
What neither this generation nor the people of Sunagakure had known was now obvious to almost everyone!!
The flow of space-time ninjutsu chakra slowed down—
It was midnight, and the location was an open field unfamiliar to everyone.
Clearly, they still hadn't returned to their own world.
Their bodies remained gray and motionless.
["ROAR—"]
A thunderous beastly roar shook the air, forcing everyone to look in the same direction.
That was—
The Nine-Tails incident from twelve years ago!!