Chapter 26

Sitting on the rooftop of the Young Justice base, Naruto gazed at the horizon, deep in thought. The idea of moving to Titan Tower had been on his mind for a while now.

A place where it would just be him, Kushina, and Raven.

No crowded halls.

No constant mission briefings.

It would feel like home.

At least, a proper home—something he hadn't had in a long time.

So, when he brought it up to Kushina, he had expected her to be excited about the idea.

Instead, she had declined.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here, ya know!" Kushina had said, arms crossed with a grin.

Naruto blinked. "Seriously? Why? The Tower would be quieter, and we wouldn't have to deal with all these people all the time."

Kushina laughed. "That's exactly why I'm staying!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

She patted his shoulder with a smirk. "Look, the people here don't know jack about magic. That means I can do my own thing, and no one's gonna be breathing down my neck about it."

That made sense. If she moved to Titan Tower, she'd be around Raven, who was an actual expert in magic.

And Raven could teach Naruto.

Kushina pointed at him. "If you learn magic from Raven, then eventually she can make you a bunch of stuff that I can't yet."

She stretched her arms behind her head and grinned.

"So, for now, I'm staying put. But hey, if you wanna move in with your girlfriend, don't let me stop you, ya know!"

Naruto's face immediately turned red at her teasing.

"S-She's not my girlfriend!"

Kushina just cackled and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that."

Naruto groaned but couldn't help smiling a little.

Even if they wouldn't be moving, at least things still felt... normal.

For now.

Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground, a brush in his hand as he carefully traced the intricate symbols onto a blank scroll. His brow furrowed in concentration, his tongue slightly sticking out as he tried to copy Kushina's example.

Meanwhile, in the background, several shadow clones were practicing Wind Style techniques, kicking up dust as they honed their control.

Kushina sat beside him, watching over his progress with a keen eye.

"No, no, Naruto! That's wrong, ya know! You connected the suppression matrix in the wrong order!" she scolded, reaching over to tap the error with her brush.

Naruto groaned, dropping his brush. "Ugh! I don't get it! I followed the example!"

Kushina smirked and flicked his forehead. "Baka! Fuinjutsu isn't just about copying—it's about understanding the flow of chakra, ya know! Seals are like a language; you gotta know what you're saying!"

Naruto rubbed his forehead with a scowl. "Okay, okay! So, what did I do wrong?"

Kushina pointed to the wrongly drawn suppression matrix. "This here? You mixed up the stability glyph with the containment sigil. The way you drew it, the energy would leak instead of being sealed away."

Naruto groaned, letting his head fall onto the desk. "So much for making it easy..."

Kushina chuckled. "It is easy—once you get it, that is. That's why we're starting simple. Energy suppression seals are useful in fights, ya know! You slap one of these bad boys on an enemy, and their chakra or magic gets sealed away for a short time."

Naruto sat up, eyes narrowing in curiosity. "So, like a mini-seal version of Grandma Tsunade's chakra-suppressing cuffs?"

Kushina grinned. "Exactly! But these are more versatile. You can modify them for different effects. Right now, I'm teaching you the standard version, but later on, you can create one that suppresses specific elements, like Wind or Fire. That way, if you fight an enemy that relies on one power, you can completely mess them up!"

Naruto grinned. "Now that sounds useful!"

"Damn right it is! Now, stop whining and try again!" Kushina playfully ruffled his hair before pointing back at the scroll.

Naruto picked up his brush again, more determined this time.

As he redrew the symbols, Kushina explained more about Fuinjutsu.

"Fuinjutsu is basically the magical language that interacts with chakra to form a result we have in mind. Every symbol represents an element, and mixing these symbols correctly creates the effect we want."

Naruto nodded, his focus sharp as he took in her words.

"The easier the target, the less chakra it takes to activate. The more complex the seal, the more chakra you need to both draw and use it. And if your image isn't clear in your mind when drawing, the seal fails."

Naruto grimaced. "So, basically, if I mess up even a little, the whole thing is useless?"

Kushina smirked. "Yep! But that's why you practice, ya know! Don't expect to be a sealing master overnight!"

She reached for another brush and demonstrated a perfectly drawn suppression seal beside Naruto's attempt.

"Seals can be drawn using chakra alone, but for stronger effects, you can use the blood of powerful creatures or mix it with chakra-infused ink. Magical plants can also enhance seals. The better the material, the more effective the seal."

Naruto's eyes widened. "So, wait, if I used, say, Kurama's blood, would that make my seals super powerful?"

Kurama, listening in from within, scoffed.

"Hah! Like I'd let you use my blood for something like this!"

Kushina chuckled. "If you could use something like Bijuu blood, then yeah, the seals would be insanely strong. But good luck getting any!"

Naruto pouted. "Tch. Worth a shot."

Kushina smirked. "For now, let's just focus on getting these two seals right. Once you master the suppression seal, we'll go deeper into the explosion seal."

Naruto's eyes lit up at that.

"Oh! You mean the BOOM seal? I already know a basic version, but it's not that strong!"

Kushina grinned. "Exactly! Right now, you can make small explosion seals, but once we refine it, you'll be able to control the strength of the explosion. You can make it a small puff or a massive boom. That way, you can use it strategically instead of just relying on brute force!"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "That's awesome! I can set traps, use it for distractions, or even boost my attacks!"

Kushina winked. "Now you're thinking like a Fuinjutsu user! It's not just about slapping seals on things; it's about how you use them!"

Naruto grinned, finally feeling excited about learning Fuinjutsu.

With renewed focus, he carefully redrew the suppression seal, making sure to visualize the effect clearly in his mind.

As he worked, Kushina watched over him with pride.

Her son was finally starting to embrace her art.

And she couldn't wait to see what he would do with it.

Naruto sat cross-legged on a massive boulder, his eyes closed as he focused on the air around him. The faint whistle of the wind carried through the training ground, but he wasn't just listening—he was feeling it.

All around him, his shadow clones worked tirelessly. Some were practicing Fuinjutsu under Kushina's guidance, while others were experimenting with different applications of Wind Release. He had long since decided that Wind would be his main element.

"No point in throwing everything in like a bad bowl of ramen," he thought with a smirk. The idea of stuffing too many ingredients into a dish made him shudder. Ramen was perfect when made with balance, not excess. The same applied to his fighting style.

He would master all elements at a basic level for versatility, but Wind would be the core of his combat.

Wind was freedom. Wind was destruction. Wind was precision.

But right now, his Wind couldn't even scratch Superman.

That was a problem.

Naruto opened his eyes and created a single clone, who immediately formed a Rasenshuriken. The spiraling sphere of wind hummed dangerously in his palm, the sharp edges vibrating with intense force.

"Still not enough," he muttered.

The clone threw the Rasenshuriken at a nearby chakra-reinforced boulder, but instead of obliterating it, the attack merely chipped away a chunk.

"Ugh!" Naruto groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "Come on! If I can't even cut through a rock, how the hell am I gonna slice through someone like Superman!?"

Kurama chuckled inside his mind. "Simple. You need to refine your control. The sharper the blade, the deeper the cut. You're still throwing around a big hunk of spinning wind. Focus it."

Naruto nodded.

That was his next goal.

He needed to improve three aspects of Wind Release:

Wind Pressure – Increase the density and force of the air to immobilize enemies.

Cutting Edge – Hone his wind attacks so they could slice through anything.

Vacuum Creation – Manipulate the air to remove oxygen, disabling enemies who needed to breathe.

With Senjutsu-enhanced Wind, he knew he could reach a level beyond normal cutting techniques.

While his clones handled the technical side of training, Naruto focused on his physical conditioning.

He had perfect chakra control thanks to Kurama's training, but raw strength and endurance were just as important. His body needed to keep up with the power he was developing.

A few meters away, Kushina was guiding his Fuinjutsu clone, drilling him in the art of sealing.

"Alright, brat! Try drawing the explosion seal again! If it doesn't look perfect, you start over!" she ordered.

"Yeah, yeah!" The clone grumbled, carefully etching the intricate symbols.

Meanwhile, Naruto himself was shadowboxing, delivering fast and precise strikes into the air, causing sharp gusts of wind to ripple outward.

Gotta get faster. Stronger. More precise.

"I can't rush this," he reminded himself. "I'll get there, step by step."

One day, his wind would be sharp enough to cut even Superman.

For now, he would keep refining it, one slice at a time.

Naruto stood in the middle of the training field, breathing heavily. The area around him was littered with deep gashes in the ground, trees splintered apart, and rocks carved into jagged shards. His clones had been at it for hours, testing different ways to refine his Wind techniques.

At the same time, another group of clones was buried in Fuinjutsu scrolls with Kushina, painstakingly practicing seals over and over.

And finally, the last few clones had been learning advanced theory—absorbing everything they could about chakra mechanics, elements, and how Wind could interact with other forces.

Naruto grinned, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Alright… dispel!"

POP! POP! POP!

The clones disappeared in rapid succession. And then—

WHAM.

Naruto's world spun violently.

He staggered, his legs wobbling as a tidal wave of information crashed into his brain all at once. Hundreds of memories rushed in, blending together into a chaotic mess.

The world blurred. His breathing hitched. His heart pounded.

"Shit… this is… too much…"

Kushina had been watching from the sidelines and noticed his sudden distress. "Naruto?" she called, concern etching into her voice.

He didn't respond.

Instead, his vision doubled, then tripled, as if he were looking through several different lenses at the same time. The information was coming in too fast, too dense, and it wasn't separating properly.

For a moment, his mind collapsed under the weight of the knowledge.

— He was in front of a scroll, drawing a seal, but no—

— He was throwing a Rasenshuriken, but wait—

— He was arguing with Kurama about chakra flow, but that didn't make sense because—

— He was reading about elemental fusion, but also—

None of it lined up. It was all crashing together like a puzzle with pieces that didn't fit.

"What the hell?!" Naruto grabbed his head, trying to force the memories to sort themselves out, but it was like trying to hold onto sand in a storm.

Then, his vision went black.

A cold splash of water snapped him awake.

"GAH!" Naruto jolted upright, coughing and sputtering. His body was drenched, and a stern-looking Kushina was standing over him with an empty bucket in hand.

"Alright, brat, what the hell was that?" she demanded, arms crossed.

Naruto groaned, rubbing his temple. His head still felt like it had been put through a blender. "Ugh… clones… too much info…"

Kushina sighed, kneeling beside him. "I told you not to overload yourself. Your brain isn't built for processing that much at once."

"I thought I could handle it," he muttered.

"You can't," she shot back. "At least, not yet. If you keep doing this, you're gonna burn out your mind completely. Best-case scenario? You get headaches. Worst-case? You lose memories permanently."

That made Naruto pause.

Permanently?

"Wait… so if I mess up too bad, I could forget stuff? Like… forever?"

Kushina's expression softened, but her voice remained firm. "Yeah. And I don't want to see my son forgetting who he is because he got reckless."

Naruto gulped. He hadn't considered that before. He thought at worst, he'd just get a bad headache. But actual memory loss? That was terrifying.

He looked down at his hands, still slightly shaking. The images were still jumbling together in his head, but they were starting to settle. Even then, some details were fuzzy, like static on a TV screen.

What had he been working on before? The explosion seal? Or the wind pressure technique? Had he already tested a vacuum jutsu? He wasn't sure. Some of the memories were slipping away, like water draining through cracks.

Kushina sighed, seeing the troubled look on his face. "Look, just because you can use clones doesn't mean you should push yourself past your limits. You need to train smarter, not just harder."

Naruto let out a deep breath, nodding. "Alright… no more mass-popping of the clones. At least, not all at once."

She gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair. "Good. Now, let's go get back to training."

Naruto was steadily copying down the seals that Kushina had shown him, carefully memorizing each stroke before breaking down their deeper meaning. His mind was sharp, but even so, he preferred understanding over blind memorization. He had learned his lesson with clone overuse—dumping knowledge into his brain all at once wasn't worth the risk.

Meanwhile, his combat style was evolving at an impressive pace. The integration of Asura's techniques and Mokuton was progressing smoothly, and if things kept up, within a month, he'd have two fully developed styles of combat that could dominate the battlefield.

But…

"I still like my own style better," Naruto mused internally. It was more personal, more his—something he had built from scratch, not inherited from another. It was stronger, more versatile, and above all, it suited him perfectly.

Still, curiosity nagged at him, and he turned to his mother. "Mom, you haven't told me yet—what took you so long?"

Kushina, who had been watching his progress, smirked slightly. "I sparred with your friend," she said, clearly referring to Kara. "Then, I talked with the two girls—Kara and Veritas. I wanted to gather information… and make friends."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Kushina crossed her arms, her expression turning serious. "I realized something important. Technology is key in this world. We need to start integrating it into our lives if we want to cover all our bases. It's too versatile to ignore."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out after seeing all the advanced gear people have here."

"But that's not all," Kushina continued. "I've been thinking… if we can free Veritas from that trap zone, I believe we can convince her to join our side."

Naruto's eyes gleamed at the mention of Veritas. She was powerful and extremely intelligent—an asset beyond measure if she could be recruited. But the problem was…

"That's great and all," he said, leaning back, "but how are we going to do that? The time and space in that area are completely messed up. If we screw with it the wrong way, we might collapse the entire planet."

Instead of being concerned, Kushina simply smiled. Then, with zero warning, she pinched his cheek.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"For underestimating our skills," she said smugly. "Do you really think we can't handle something like this? I already have extensive knowledge of space and time, and you… well, you at least know a little about space."

Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his cheek. "Still, knowing a little doesn't mean we can just solve the problem overnight."

"True," Kushina admitted. "But that's where Zatanna comes in. She's well-versed in magic, and between the three of us, we can gather the knowledge we need to make the right seals."

"Alright, fair enough. But we can't exactly experiment with Veritas herself, can we?"

Kushina nodded. "No, that would be too dangerous. So, we replicate the same effect somewhere else—a controlled environment. If we can create a sample zone that mimics the conditions she's trapped in, we can test our solution on that first. If it works, we apply it to the real thing."

Naruto frowned, running the idea through his mind. "Can that really be done?"

Kushina rolled her eyes. "Of course. Tell me, what did you think a storage seal was?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh… a storage place?"

"Sigh… This is why I'm teaching you," she muttered. "Storage seals aren't just places to keep things. They use the basic principles of space and time. A storage seal replicates an area into an alternative dimension connected to the seal itself."

She held up her palm, where a seal glowed faintly. "And you can even modify them—allowing time to flow normally inside, or stopping it entirely. That's why stored food doesn't spoil, weapons don't rust, and medicines don't expire."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. He had never really thought about it that way.

"But," Kushina continued, "our knowledge is limited. We haven't been able to apply this to people yet, nor have we been able to accelerate time inside a seal. It works fine on energy-based beings like the Bijuu, though—that's why our clan was so feared."

Her voice took on a darker tone as she explained, "We were the only ones who could seal and unseal Bijuu at will. Given time, we could undo any village's control over their Jinchuriki. Just the possibility of that happening… led to our massacre."

Naruto stayed silent, absorbing her words.

Kushina met his gaze, her eyes softening. "This is the kind of world you're trying to fix, Naruto. I won't berate you for choosing such a noble—but impossible—goal. But you need to understand the full truth before you set your path in stone."

She reached out, gently touching his hand. "You're still young. You haven't seen enough of this world to fully grasp its cruelty. So don't burden yourself too much. Don't let the suffering of others crush you."

"You are not responsible for the entire world."

Naruto remained silent for a long moment. Then, he took a deep breath and gave a small, determined nod. "I get it… I really do. I'm not a savior—I'm a guide. I'll do my best, but I won't let myself drown in the weight of the world's problems."

Kushina smiled warmly. "Good. No matter what happens in the future, Naruto, I'll always be here to help you stand up again."

A soft chuckle escaped him. "Thanks, Mom. You know, I thought this would be awkward at first… and yeah, outside of training, it is kinda weird. But honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way."

Kushina laughed, slapping his back. "You think you have it awkward? I'm 24 with a son that's only eight years younger than me! Now that's awkward."

Naruto burst into laughter as well.

Before either of them could say anything else, a voice came from the doorway.

"Hey guys, hope I'm not disturbing you, but… do you want to visit an alien planet?"

Both of them turned to see Beast Boy grinning at them from the entrance.

Naruto and Kushina's eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

"Of course!" Naruto shot up to his feet, already buzzing with anticipation. "Wait a minute, let me grab my stuff!"

Kushina followed after him, both eager for the unexpected adventure.

Destination: Planet Rimbor.

Where five members of the Justice League had been detained.