The sealed space inside Kushina Uzumaki's body was completely different from the damp and gloomy one inside Naruto. It was bright and dazzling, filled with an almost magical girl transformation vibe.
But the Nine Tails didn't share in that dream-like treatment. It was tightly bound by the Uzumaki Clan's sealing chains, with its limbs, tails, and neck all heavily shackled. Moving even slightly was difficult.
To Uchiha Kei, it clearly looked more uncomfortable than being locked in a cage—at least inside Naruto's cage, the Nine Tails could stand, lie down, or stretch out with ease.
And this wasn't even the worst of it. In the original timeline, once the sealing skills of the Minato couple improved, they further enhanced the seal by chaining the Nine Tails to a massive chakra-formed boulder—completely nailed down, with all nine tails, limbs, and torso pierced and fixed in place. That was true misery.
Even a gentle-tailed beast like the Two Tails would explode on the spot after such treatment, let alone a prideful tsundere like the Nine Tails.
Kei actually bore no ill will toward the fox. On the contrary, he hoped it would one day become a user of his genjutsu game.
After all, this chakra beast was shadow-level, and even among shadow-levels, its power was considerable. If it ever joined the game, who knew how much emotional value it might generate?
Thus, Kei looked at the beast with genuine warmth and zero hostility. He spoke gently:
"Nine Tails, we're here to negotiate."
But the Nine Tails didn't care what he said. Its massive fox face—much larger than the half-form seen in future Naruto—twisted into a snarl, its slit pupils bloodshot.
With a roar, crimson chakra surged out violently.
"GET OUT!!!"
A classic vulgarity—no intent to negotiate, just raw hatred and fury. The malice it radiated was beyond reason.
Kushina frowned. "Kei, this thing is always like this. It can talk, but it's completely irrational. A single misstep and its chakra will swallow us whole."
As she spoke, she was already using her chakra to suppress the Nine Tails', clearly under pressure.
This, Kei thought, was what being a proper jinchūriki looked like.
The Nine Tails of the future being able to talk rationally with Naruto was the true anomaly—likely because it had watched Naruto grow up.
Look at the original series: when Naruto lost control and the Nine Tails took over, it looked like it wanted to burn the world down. Even after reconciling with Naruto, it only happened after being beaten. Without the power to subdue it, forget peaceful negotiations.
Kei had long known this. As Minato's best friend, he'd once said the Nine Tails wasn't just a beast—it could be reasoned with. He had encouraged Kushina to try communicating with it.
She had. Repeatedly. And failed.
Bottom line: if even Naruto's talk-no-jutsu didn't work without a beating, there was no way the fiery Kushina would succeed either.
Kei sighed. "No choice then. Since negotiation failed, let's beat it first—then it'll talk."
Minato gawked. "Wait, you're starting a fight already? Can't we try reasoning again?"
Kei looked at him. "It refuses to listen. What else can we do?"
Minato scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I thought you'd use the genjutsu game to tempt it."
Kei shook his head. "I'm sure Kushina already tried. The Nine Tails can observe the outside world—if it still acts like this, then clearly it finds human games beneath it."
Sure enough, the fox—while raging—let out a mocking smirk as if confirming Kei's words. "Mere human games? Hah!"
Minato looked at Kushina. She gave a small nod—Kei was right. She had tried. It didn't work.
Maybe it was just her spicy tone that ticked the fox off. Either way, it didn't matter anymore. At this point, fighting was the only path to understanding. Sometimes, fists spoke louder than words.
Minato hesitated. "Kei, we're in a sealed space. We can't fight at full power. Can we even win?"
Kei: "We'll win."
Then paused. Realized he'd just jinxed them. Looked wordlessly at Minato.
Minato, however, took his response as gospel and smiled confidently—pure trust in his best bro.
Kei sighed. He and Minato stood side by side, staring up at the monstrous Nine Tails.
If viewed from the right angle, it looked just like a classic shot of grown-up Naruto and Sasuke standing together. Except those two weren't even born yet. Technically, any scene of them together was just copying Kei and Minato.
And so, this era's protagonists stood united against the Nine Tails.
Wait, just the two?
What about Kushina and Kikyo?
Kushina was focused on suppressing the fox. Kikyo was supporting her while maintaining the space that allowed Kei and Minato to exist inside the seal.
As outsiders, they couldn't freely move in the seal. One wrong move and the space would eject them—just like Killer Bee trying to help Naruto in canon.
Only two highly trained Uzumaki—awakened to their bloodline powers—could do this. In a post-Whirlpool Country world, such conditions were nearly impossible to replicate.
Only because of Kei's butterfly effect could such a miracle happen.
Then Kei acted. He focused his ocular power into his left eye, activating the Mangekyō Sharingan technique copied from Obito.
The fox locked eyes with him and flinched. The Mangekyō's power was affecting it.
But…
"Damn you, Uchiha brat! Those cursed eyes! You accursed Uchiha born evil!!!"
The Nine Tails exploded with rage. Its chakra surged, full of hate. It had remembered the one who once controlled it—Madara Uchiha.
That memory—being turned into a pet—was its ultimate humiliation. Worse than anything Hashirama Senju ever inflicted.
It snapped.
Kushina quickly formed hand seals, reinforcing the Adamantine Sealing Chains binding the fox.
The chains groaned under pressure, ready to snap.
She grit her teeth. "Kei, what the hell did you do to it? Why's it so mad?!"
Kei: "I just wanted to see if my Sharingan could control it. Apparently not."
Internally, he mused: so those internet theories were right. Obito couldn't control the Nine Tails on his own—it was Madara's legacy and Zetsu's enhancements that made it possible. A regular Mangekyō alone wasn't enough.
No choice. Time for Plan B.
Kei: "Minato."
Minato: "Got it."
A shadow clone had already formed. In its hand—an S-rank forbidden jutsu that wouldn't exist until over a decade later: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
This was the upgraded Rasengan Minato never created in canon. But thanks to Kei's guidance and clone-assisted training, he now had it.
Though not as easy to use as the regular Rasengan, it solved his lack of wide-area attack jutsu.
And right now, against the Nine Tails—it was perfect.
Minato blurred forward and, from thirty meters out, hurled the Rasenshuriken.
The Nine Tails, sensing the deadly chakra whirling within it, tried to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb—
—but Kushina was faster. Her chains bound its jaws shut.
It struggled, snarled, gnashed its teeth—but couldn't fire.
The Rasenshuriken struck.
BOOM.
Thousands of chakra blades tore through the fox on a cellular level. It let out a muffled roar, its body locked in pain.
And then—
A fire-style jutsu exploded into the storm, combining with the wind, amplifying its destructive force into a blazing maelstrom that engulfed the fox's upper half.
Minato jumped back to Kei's side, smiling as he raised his fist.
Kei raised his to meet it.
A perfectly synced bro-fist. Clearly, this combo wasn't their first.
Their bromance was so strong it even made Kushina and Kikyo jealous sometimes. How could they not have a combo move?
When the blast cleared, the Nine Tails was still there—but singed, scorched, its fur blackened, its massive body trembling.
Even a tailed beast, in a spiritual realm, needed time to recover from damage of that scale.
Yet the fox still glared at them in fury, the chains straining. It wasn't done.
Remember—Naruto had only fought half the Nine Tails. This was the full beast.
Minato frowned. "It really is that tough... I just hope we can end this before we run out of chakra."
He stepped forward—
—but Kei raised a hand. "Wait, Minato. Since Lord Nine Tails is so dignified, let me show him the highest level of respect."
"I'll use my newest dōjutsu technique. Once he experiences it, he'll understand an old proverb."
Minato: "What proverb?"
Kei's eyes gleamed red. "Those who endure best... are true heroes."
"…What?" Minato blinked at the old-style phrasing.
Kei didn't answer. He activated a golden-rank skill.
"Nine Tails... prepare for the ultimate experience!"
"Technique of Intestinal Taste Buds!"