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# **Chapter 2 – The Caged Fox**
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### **Mindscape –**
The gates of Kurama's prison lay in smoldering ruins, their intricate seals reduced to charcoal sketches across the walls of the mindscape. The bars still stood—barely—but the containment field that had held the Nine-Tails for decades was gone, replaced by tendrils of blue fire licking at the edges like hungry wolves.
Kurama pressed a massive paw against the remaining structure. The moment his claw made contact, the fire surged.
*"Hn. Still bites,"* the fox growled, shaking singed fur.
Naruto materialized atop the cage's archway, legs swinging like a child on a playground.
*"Think of it as... pest control."*
*"You burned through Minato's seal like it was parchment,"* Kurama snarled. *"That's not just fire. That's—"*
*"Mine,"* Naruto interrupted, watching the flames ripple across the bars. *"And speaking of Daddy Dearest..."*
A ripple crossed the scorched ground of the mindscape.
Two spectral figures emerged from the smoke—their forms flickering like candlelight.
**Minato Namikaze.**
**Kushina Uzumaki.**
Their ghostly hands were already joined in a protective seal—remnants of the failsafe they'd left behind.
*"Naruto?"* Kushina's voice wavered as she took in his crimson-streaked hair and hollow blue eyes. *"Your chakra… it's all wrong."*
Naruto tilted his head. *"Or finally right."*
---
Minato's eyes flicked between the ruined seal and the boy standing at its center. His mind raced.
*"The Eight Trigrams Seal was designed to erode over years,"* he murmured. *"This… this wasn't erosion."*
Kushina's chakra flared instinctively—chains forming in a snap—but as they lashed forward, Naruto's golden chains slithered into view, pulsing with greedy heat.
The Adamantine Sealing Chains hissed, then *recoiled*.
*"Adamantine?"* Kushina breathed. *"But they're... different. They feel like—"*
*"Everything burns, Mom,"* Naruto said cheerfully. *"Even family heirlooms."*
Kurama let out a low rumble of laughter. *"Oh, this is rich. The mighty Uzumaki bloodline, purified and repurposed by her own spawn."*
Minato stepped forward, hands raised in peace.
*"Naruto, whatever's happened to you—"*
*"Let me guess,"* Naruto cut in. *"You want to fix it. Work together. Try the ol' teamwork speech?"* He leaned forward, voice amused. *"You're not Hokage anymore. You're just a ghost with bad parenting skills."*
The mindscape shuddered. Kushina's chakra surged.
*"Listen here, you little—"*
*"Kushina,"* Minato warned, one hand on her shoulder. He didn't look away from Naruto. *"The seal's containment field is gone, but the framework remains. Kyubi could break free whenever he chooses."*
Naruto smirked. *"He could… if he enjoys being set on fire."*
As if on cue, a tendril of blue flame lashed out, scorching the ground near Kurama's paw. The fox growled low but didn't budge.
*"Clever,"* Minato muttered. *"You've turned the remnants of our seal into… what? A threat matrix?"*
*"Mutually assured destruction,"* Naruto said, dropping from the arch to the ground. *"I don't cage him. He doesn't make me explode. Everyone wins."*
Kushina narrowed her eyes. *"And what do you want, Naruto?"*
The flames stilled.
*"Right now? Ramen."*
He vanished in a blink—leaving behind two stunned ghosts and a very irritated fox.
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### **Konoha – Hospital**
Naruto's physical body snapped upright. The bed beneath him disintegrated as golden chains burst outward—searing into the tile floor and walls.
The two ANBU posted at the door dropped instantly, overwhelmed by a fresh wave of **Conqueror's Haki**.
Across the village, every shinobi above chūnin rank felt it. A presence—not chakra, but pressure—like a titan pressing down on their lungs.
On a distant rooftop, Danzō Shimura observed with narrowed eyes as Homura and Koharu tensed beside him.
*"The Yondaime's seal has been compromised,"* Danzō noted. *"Yet the Nine-Tails remains docile. Curious."*
Homura wiped sweat from his temple. *"Those chains—some Uzumaki bloodline reflex, perhaps? A defense instinct."*
*"Self-regulating,"* Koharu added. *"They responded to threat only. If we push too hard—"*
*"The backlash could destroy the vessel,"* Danzō finished coldly. He tightened his grip on his cane. *"With no other Uzumaki available, it's simple: control the boy, or lose the weapon."*
Below them, Naruto stepped calmly through a shattered window and vanished into the village, unconcerned by the unconscious ANBU at his feet.
---•••
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the damage report. His pipe burned low, smoke curling up like questions with no answers.
*"He walked out,"* the ANBU captain repeated. *"The moment we stopped advancing, the chains retracted."*
*"Conditional activation,"* Hiruzen murmured. *"The bloodline reads intent."* He tapped the scroll thoughtfully. *"And the Nine-Tails?"*
*"No aggression. No change in chakra output. It's like something else is keeping him suppressed."*
Hiruzen's gaze drifted to the Hokage Monument—to Minato's carved face.
*"Prepare the Uzumaki archives,"* he said quietly. *"Double surveillance on the boy."*
The ANBU vanished.
Hiruzen muttered to himself, voice almost lost in the smoke.
*"Before Danzō gets to him."*
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**End