How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

Minato… was starting to wonder if he had fallen into a Genjutsu. 

Sasuke looked at Naruto's Kurama form, who was acting all smug, and didn't feel the slightest bit weird about it. As expected, Naruto had completely taken on Kurama's personality. 

Thinking about it, Sasuke turned to Minato and said, "Uncle Minato, don't doubt whether you're in a Genjutsu. This is just how Kurama is in the future. Just think of him like Guy-sensei—someone whose brain doesn't always work properly." 

Minato stayed silent as an image of Guy popped into his head. Then, he thought about the Kurama inside Kushina. Finally, he imagined a Kurama wearing a green jumpsuit, with an orange bowl-cut, flashing a shiny grin and giving him a thumbs-up. 

Minato was done. 

Just thinking about that gave him a headache. 

The bug and butterfly glanced at each other and could see the words "massive headache" written in each other's eyes. 

Guy: First of all, Sasuke, I did nothing to you. Second, Minato-senpai, I did nothing to any of you… BUT YOUTH NEVER GIVES UP! Kakashi, let's settle this once and for all! 

Kakashi: I'm hibernating. Don't bother me. 

Minato rubbed his temples, looking exhausted. "Forget it. Anyway, gathering intel is more important right now." 

He took a deep breath and looked at Kurama. "Ku… Kurama, I don't know what happened in the future, but I really appreciate you standing by Naruto's side and sharing this information with us." 

Gotta block off any chance for him to back out later. 

Kurama scoffed. "If you wanna call me Nine-Tails, just say it, Minato. This fake politeness of yours is what I hate most." 

"I understand. Alright then, Nine-Tails, please share what you know about the 'Otsutsuki,'" Minato said with a nod. 

Kurama smirked. "I'm not here to talk about the Otsutsuki clan in general. I'm here to tell you about your next enemy—Otsutsuki Urashiki." 

Sitting down, Kurama continued, "First, let's talk about the standard Otsutsuki abilities. The Byakugan—you guys should already know what it does. Just imagine the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, but dozens of times stronger." 

"Dozens of times?" Minato found it hard to believe. 

"I'm not exaggerating. That's the reality," Kurama said, giving Minato a glance before going on. "Next is the Rinnegan. Sasuke will explain that one later, so I won't bother." 

Sasuke shrugged. 

"What I want to tell you is something you don't know." Kurama paused. "First, time reversal." 

"Urashiki's eyes let him rewind time. Meaning, you can land a hit on him, but he can keep rewinding time until the result is that you never hit him at all. However, any damage he takes doesn't disappear when he rewinds time. In other words, negative effects will keep stacking on him." 

Minato nodded. The moment he heard about this ability, he had already figured out its mechanics. It was definitely powerful, but any attack that couldn't be dodged or became stronger over time could become this technique's weakness. 

For example… poison. 

Yeah, looks like he needed to get in touch with Sunagakure. Granny Chiyo would probably be happy to have a test subject for her poisons. 

Might as well call in Tsunade-sama too. 

"The second thing is his fishing hook…" 

Urashiki had plenty of abilities, and every single one of them was a pain to deal with. If he only had to face one ability at a time, Minato alone could come up with countless ways to take Urashiki down—of course, that's assuming their strength was on equal footing.

Minato was strong, but Urashiki was still a member of the Otsutsuki clan. In a normal fight, Minato would definitely have the upper hand. But if Urashiki went crazy and swallowed his own eyes to enter his second stage, Minato might not be able to keep up. 

That said, Urashiki couldn't use his previous abilities in his second stage. His Yellow Spring Izanami and Hirazaka wouldn't work either, so Minato could still fight him using the Flying Thunder God technique. 

It was just hard to say who would win. After all, in the original story, Urashiki completely overpowered a worn-out Sasuke and a Jiraiya who hadn't activated Sage Mode… 

Wait, now that I think about it, why does Urashiki seem so weak? 

After Kurama gave a brief explanation of Urashiki's abilities, Minato fell into deep thought. Since he was wearing a mask, Kurama couldn't see his expression, but he was probably finding the situation troublesome. 

Minato stayed silent for a while before looking at Kurama. "Do you know what kind of person Urashiki is?" 

"Proud, confident, playful, not bloodthirsty, but ruthless when he fights. He has a violent side but also a kinder side." Kurama summed it up. "You could think of him as a mix of Konoha's three legendary Sannin." 

"Most of the time, he acts like Jiraiya but has Orochimaru's mindset. When he's angry, he looks like Orochimaru but thinks like Tsunade. And in his second stage, he looks like Tsunade but has Orochimaru's mindset." 

A perfect description. Couldn't have said it better. 

Minato stared at Kurama. "One last question. Where did you get such detailed information? The 'you' from this time… do you know all this too?" 

"Heh, trying to trap me?" Kurama chuckled. "If I told you the Sage of Six Paths told me, you wouldn't believe it, right? So I'll be honest—I'm actually from another world. I've already seen how this ends. In the future, Naruto's son will take this guy down. Believe it or not, that's up to you." 

Minato: "…" 

He silently turned to look at Sasuke, only to find that Sasuke seemed completely unfazed, as if he was already used to this kind of thing. There wasn't a single trace of doubt or hesitation on his face. 

Minato was convinced now. The Kurama of the future must have been hit in the head too many times by Kushina. When this was all over, he should probably talk to Kushina… 

And tell her to hit harder! 

Maybe if she messed up the current Kurama's brain too, everyone would be happy. 

"Hmm?" Kurama narrowed his eyes and stared at Minato. "I can feel the hostility from you, Minato. Are you badmouthing me again?" 

Minato smirked. "I've never hidden my dislike for you, Nine-Tails. I'm sure you know that better than anyone." 

Kurama: "…" 

Great. He had finally met his match today. 

He turned to look at Sasuke, who was still standing there looking completely calm. But the way the corner of his mouth twitched slightly gave away his inner amusement. 

"You're really testing my patience." Kurama rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Minato. But before he could even finish rolling them up, Naruto forced him offline. Left with no choice, Kurama could only scream in frustration inside the mindscape. 

Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead, then pulled Kurama's sleeves back down. Looking a bit awkward, he said, "Dad… uh, so have you figured out how to deal with Otsutsuki Urashiki?" 

"Yeah." Minato nodded, his smile turning gentle. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'll send the intel back to Konoha, and Third Hokage will send reinforcements." 

Setting everything else aside, Tsunade needs to be called. On the Sunagakure Village's side, Granny Chiyo has to be contacted too. Jiraiya-sensei happens to be free lately, so he should come as well. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio wouldn't feel right missing two members, so they all need to be included. Since the enemy has the Byakugan, there's no way the Hyuga clan can be left out—they have to come too. 

Sasuke is an Uchiha, so the Uchiha clan will probably be very interested in joining. Bring them in as well. If Genjutsu doesn't work on the enemy… sealing techniques might. And with Naruto here, Kushina has a valid reason to join too. 

Since Kushina is coming, the Sand Village's Jinchuriki should be arranged as well. If the Sand Village's Jinchuriki is involved, then it would be strange if the Kazekage didn't come too. After all, everyone knows what kind of power Shukaku has. 

If Granny Chiyo is in, the puppet masters definitely won't just sit back and watch. Mukade's body might not be in great shape, but with the queen's bloodline, he should still be able to control puppets powered by the Ryumyaku's energy. 

That should be most of it. Konohagakure and the Sand Village still need people left behind for defense, right? 

Oh, right—Insect's side can also contact the Aburame clan. 

Minato pictured the battle in his mind. If the enemy was really as troublesome as Kurama said, then maybe… yeah, Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade-sama should try reaching out to Mount Myoboku and the Shikkotsu Forest. 

As for Orochimaru-sama, who knows where he's hiding and doing research these days? Maybe the Third Hokage can try contacting him. But knowing Orochimaru-sama's personality, he probably wouldn't participate. What a shame… no Ryuchi Cave involvement. 

Minato let out a quiet sigh. 

Konohagakure is still too weak… 

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