Chapter 202: The Bond with Kakashi
"Oh right."
After the Nine-Tails returned to Kushina's body, Senju Tobirama suddenly thought of something and reminded her, "Since you've decided on this, remember, do not have any physical contact with Naruto. Otherwise, the chakra of the two Nine-Tails will immediately resonate and obtain each other's memories."
"?"
Kushina had been in a great mood, but upon hearing this, a question mark practically popped over her head.
Wait…why say this only after it's already been sealed in?
Not long ago she had just gone to activate the chakra she had left inside Naruto back then, planning to happily let that clump of chakra help her meet Naruto once first. Then when she appeared herself, she wouldn't have to struggle over it.
They were practically about to meet now, and you pull this?
What kind of bitter melodrama of human suffering is this?
After finally being able to see each other again, they couldn't even touch.
At that point, it would be better not to meet at all.
What if Naruto misunderstood something later? That would be bad.
"I should've just stuffed the Nine-Tails into Kakashi instead. Look at him always lacking chakra."
Kushina muttered quietly.
"Don't even think about giving it to Kakashi!"
Tobirama immediately scolded her sternly when he heard that.
"Huh? I was just joking… wait, why can't it be given to Kakashi?"
Kushina found it strange.
If it were given to Kakashi, wouldn't it make up for his lack of chakra, just like she said?
And that way, Team Minato, plus their whole family, would all be jinchūriki.
It would be great.
"Have you still not realized how deep the bond between Kakashi and Uchiha Obito is? Those two are already completely bound together!"
"Giving the Nine-Tails to Kakashi would be the same as placing the Nine-Tails in a position where it could be taken by the other side at any moment!"
As Tobirama said this, his face filled with pain and regret, as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself.
"What is it? Second Hokage-sama, what did you discover? Just say it!"
Noticing Tobirama's expression, Kushina hurriedly asked.
"Impure World Reincarnation bodies have no physical sensation, and normal perception is weakened. But for sensory-type ninja, chakra perception instead becomes sharper because the five senses are gone."
"And I myself specialize in sensing…"
Tobirama rattled off a bunch of prerequisite explanations before finally sighing and revealing what he had found, "On Kakashi's body, I sensed my elder brother's cells. Even more frightening is that there were faint residues in his oral cavity as well."
"I asked my elder brother about it. During the time he was in Konoha, he never did anything like that to Kakashi."
"Although my elder brother had an unclear relationship with Uchiha Madara, he was still a very upright person. If he did something, he would admit it. If he didn't, he wouldn't. So I believe him."
"So… how did my elder brother's cells end up on Kakashi?"
"!"
When Kushina heard Tobirama say this, she instantly remembered.
She and Rin had seen it with their own eyes!
Back then, when Kakashi fell unconscious, the masked man who had hidden for many years didn't hesitate to appear in Konoha and "offer himself" to Kakashi.
He walked up to Kakashi's hospital bed and injected him with Hashirama's cells from his own body.
As for what he used to inject them with…well, that was hard to say.
The masked man had his back to her and Rin, so they couldn't see and could only imagine.
Probably a syringe (guiltily).
Wait a second.
"Then by that logic, wouldn't giving the Nine-Tails to Kakashi actually be a good thing? Just like reviving Rin and making her the Three-Tails' jinchūriki."
Kushina asked in confusion.
Reviving Rin and making her the Three-Tails' jinchūriki had been done precisely to force the masked man to make a choice, whether to kill Rin himself and extract the Three-Tails.
If he couldn't bring himself to do it, then it was a good sign, he could be pulled back.
If he could do it, then it meant he was beyond saving and should just be killed.
Likewise, based on what Tobirama said and what she and Rin had personally seen, the masked man and Kakashi shared a deep friendship.
In that case, Kakashi could take Rin's place.
Make Kakashi a jinchūriki and see whether the other side would be willing to extract the tailed beast from Kakashi and let him die.
Just thinking about it, he had even kept Kakashi's Mangekyō Sharingan all this time without taking it back. That showed how much he cared about Kakashi.
"The idea sounds good, but you should understand that bonds between men like my elder brother and Madara can easily become warped over time."
"I saw a pair of conjoined twins called Sakon and Ukon over at Orochimaru's place. What if that masked man doesn't kill Kakashi and instead chooses to merge directly with him, indirectly absorbing the Nine-Tails? Then what?"
"And according to what Shiromo said, that masked man originally had half his body crushed and destroyed, leaving only the other half. That makes it even easier for him to fuse with Kakashi."
Tobirama shattered Kushina's fantasy.
Kushina imagined the scene of the two of them merging together in her mind and couldn't help shivering.
Too terrifying.
Indeed.
It really was too twisted.
And just like Tobirama said, it was entirely possible.
If it were Rin, Kushina didn't think the masked man would use such a disgusting fusion tactic.
With Kakashi, though, it wasn't so certain.
"Alright, alright. Then I'll take care of it."
Kushina rubbed her belly, "Maybe I should go to the Amegakure Village instead. If I stay in Konoha and end up seeing Naruto but can't touch him, wouldn't that be awkward?"
"By going to the Amegakure Village, I can also keep Rin company."
"That works."
Tobirama placed a hand on Kushina and used Flying Thunder God to send her straight to the Amegakure Village.
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"Achoo!"
The masked man sneezed after finishing his healing.
Strange…would someone with his constitution still catch a cold?
Looking at the Kamui space, where the ground had been dug into a smooth semicircular depression, the masked man wondered what the hell Kakashi had transmitted in again this time.
Could it have been some gigantic Rasengan?
That would barely explain why, just as he was about to transfer earlier, he got hit dead-on by a Rasengan.
It was just that the ground damage was way too smooth.
Since no one else could enter the Kamui space, the masked man wickedly went to a construction site and stole a big bucket of cement and building materials, planning to patch the hole.
But looking at the hollow, he suddenly got another idea. He built a ring around it with cement, made a base in the pit, and drew in hot water from outside.
…Didn't that turn it into a hot spring bath?
Nice.
After soaking for a while, the masked man suddenly thought that Kakashi had probably passed out again after using Kamui to send in some huge unknown object.
So…
In Konoha's medical department, after the surveillance was destroyed, a figure once again appeared in Kakashi's hospital room.
Glug glug.
The figure vanished.
Bang.
The Kakashi on the bed turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared as well.
In the neighboring room, the real Kakashi leaned against the wall, carefully suppressing his presence. After receiving the memories and information from the shadow clone, his face turned deathly pale and he started gagging, fingers digging into his throat.
(End of this chapter)