"Alright, alright~ I promise I won't treat you like that in the future!" Kushina slightly tightened her grip on Kei's hand.
The evening breeze brushed past, lifting her vibrant red hair. With a smile as radiant as a blooming flower, she left Kei momentarily dazed.
Even though this world was far from perfect, there were always some people who shone brightly, bringing warmth and brilliance to the darkness. With a faint smile at the corner of his lips, Kei tightened his grip on Kushina's hand as well.
As the sun set, they walked side by side toward home.
Yet, from an angle she couldn't see, he frowned slightly.
He was certain of his feelings for Kushina, just as he was certain that Kushina had acknowledged him.
So, why hadn't the system notified him that her fate had changed?
---
[Name: Uzumaki Kushina]
[Career: Ninja]
[Traits: Nine-Tails Jinchūriki (Red), Overflowing Energy (Purple), In the Name of Love (Purple), Sealing Mastery (Blue), Beauty and Brains (Blue)]
---
At the beginning, Kushina had a total of one red, one purple, three blue, one green, and one gray trait.
Now, although only five remained, the missing ones, if he remembered correctly, were the blue trait [Unyielding], the green trait [Outburst], and the gray trait [Lonely and Helpless].
The newly appeared second purple trait was far more powerful than the three that disappeared.
And the loss of [Lonely and Helpless] also meant the removal of its negative effects.
---
[In the Name of Love (Purple):
A surging and passionate love that drowns all loneliness and hesitation. Significantly increases mental strength, mental growth, and willpower. When protecting a loved one or cherished object, all abilities receive a massive boost.]
---
The description of the trait explained everything.
Compared to when Minato and Honoka started dating and Honoka gained the green trait [Mutual Devotion],
[In the Name of Love] completely outclassed it!
Just from the description, Kei found it absurdly overpowered. And it wasn't limited to combat alone.
As long as the motivation stemmed from safeguarding a loved one, whether it was training for strength or learning new skills and knowledge, everything would receive a huge amplification.
For Kushina, this was nothing short of an epic-tier enhancement.
Yet despite this, the system still hadn't indicated that her fate had changed. That meant there was only one explanation left—the Nine-Tails!
During the Warring States period, people regarded tailed beasts as walking calamities. Among the nine tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails was the strongest—possessing an immense and terrifying amount of chakra and destructive power.
Even after being forcibly split in half by Minato later on, Naruto could still rely on just the Yang half to dominate in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
A complete Nine-Tails sustaining a red-tier trait? Not an exaggeration in the slightest.
Moreover, the Nine-Tails was a crucial piece of the puzzle for reviving the Ten-Tails. Neither Madara nor the one manipulating things from the shadows would ever ignore it.
On top of that, as a pure-blooded Uzumaki, Kushina had the natural talent to become a perfect jinchūriki.
Over the years, due to Kei's influence, she had become highly dedicated to mastering sealing techniques.
Even if she hadn't reconciled with the Nine-Tails yet, she had already forcefully extracted quite a bit of its chakra. Becoming a perfect jinchūriki was only a matter of time.
If Madara and Black Zetsu weren't complete fools, they would most likely attempt to eliminate this potential threat before she could fully mature.
After all, if she reached the level of Mito, Even Madara himself would find it troublesome.
Kei's eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled Obito's tactics in the original story.
Logically speaking, Madara should now be in his twilight years. For the sake of his Eye of the Moon Plan, he was unlikely to act personally. So, his top priority at the moment would be choosing and nurturing a suitable successor to carry out his will from within the Uchiha clan.
But no matter how strong this successor was, even if it was someone like Obito, there was still an insurmountable gap between their strength and Madara's.
Even if brainwashed by Madara and intent on attacking Konoha, they would never be strong enough to take on the village head-on.
Their method of attack would likely be the same as before: waiting for the jinchūriki to give birth, then taking advantage of the weakened seal to launch a surprise attack, forcefully summoning the Nine-Tails.
"Kushina, how's the Nine-Tails doing lately?"
Hearing Kei's question, Kushina tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? It's doing great! Except for the fact that every now and then it curses out everyone it knows, then curses the toads, then curses the other tailed beasts. When it's not doing that, it either sleeps or senses the world around it."
"??? Where did it even learn to curse?"
"Uh... well, when it senses the world, it overhears things. And over time... Okay, okay, fine! It cursed at me first, so I cursed back. After a while, it just became a habit."
"... I see."
Kei pressed his lips together, unsure of how to react. Back when Kushina first became a jinchūriki, the Nine-Tails had been filled with resentment, constantly rampaging within the seal.
She wasn't as strong back then, and even with Mito's sealing techniques, she struggled to suppress the full-powered Nine-Tails. Her condition had been highly unstable.
For the sake of Konoha's security, Hiruzen and the village elders kept her confined within a barrier at all times.
Since Kei was Kushina's close friend, he was allowed to visit. Taking advantage of the mental strength boost from [Transmigrator], he managed to enter the sealing space and meet the Nine-Tails once.
It had taken him an insane amount of effort, but he had somehow tricked the Nine-Tails into calming down, at least temporarily.
Thanks to that, Kushina had been able to escape her caged existence much earlier than in the original story.
Originally, he had thought that over time, she and the Nine-Tails would develop a much better relationship than what was shown in the original timeline.
But now… they were just arguing back and forth?
Just imagining the once-ferocious, razor-fanged Nine-Tails now spewing out an endless stream of curses like some mentally unstable chatterbox,
Kei couldn't help but feel like this world had completely broken.
"Ahem… you're someone that dumb fox knows, so…" Kushina coughed awkwardly and hesitantly reminded him.
"??? Wait, what? It curses me too?!"
"Probably, maybe, possibly… it just wants to treat everyone it knows equally?"
"... Sounds fair, I guess?"
Seeing Kushina's embarrassed smile, he could only let out a long sigh.
This girl… she really managed to deliver a new level of mental shock every single time. With all this random nonsense, he had nearly forgotten why he even brought up the Nine-Tails in the first place.
"When we get home, I'm going into the sealing space to check on the Nine-Tails."
"Then let's hurry! I'll go with you—I haven't seen it get put in its place in a long time!"
"??? I wasn't planning on cursing it out!"