Naruto: Chakra System

From the Shikigami's open stomach, two familiar chakra signatures emerged. One was the soul of Minato, which, in the instant it was released, floated, momentarily dumbfounded.

He looked down at Kakashi and Naruto in his Version 2 Bijuu Mode, his expression complete of confusion, before his soul drifted upward and vanished into the pure lands in the blink of an eye. The other was the Yin half of Kurama, which, unlike a soul, was an entity of pure chakra.

The moment it was released, the powerful chakra coalesced into a towering form. It did not drift toward the pure lands but stood tall, its immense presence causing the ruined shrine to crumble further.

The structure, already broken, began to collapse as the Kurama, the chakra entity's height was too large to fit in the underground space.

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed, instantly shaking Naruto, who had been momentarily dazed after seeing his father's soul appear and then ascend to the pure lands. "Naruto, move out of this place!"

Naruto snapped out of his daze, mumbling, "O-Okay!" In his Version 2 Bijuu Mode, his speed was even faster than before, and he vanished from the crumbling shrine in an instant.

Meanwhile, Kakashi pulled the mask from the Root ninja's face and spoke to the floating Shikigami behind him. "You can go now; your work is over."

He then extended his left palm toward the podium, where the other twenty-five oni masks hung. He sucked all of the masks into his Inventory Seal and flickered outside of the now-collapsing temple.

Unnoticed by Kakashi, the Shikigami, floating in the air, saw the flickering figure. Its expression changed to a frown. It then looked down at the body of the Root ninja, pointed its dagger, and, with narrowed, sharp eyes, sucked away his soul before disappearing into the underworld.

Once outside the completely ruined temple, Naruto's voice, a mixture of his own and Kurama's, was filled with concern. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we do? This will be immediately noticed by others!"

Kakashi turned back to the Yin half of Kurama, which was also momentarily dumbfounded by finding itself outside. He assured Naruto, "Don't worry. We're at a good distance. As long as you quickly have it merge with the Nine-Tails inside you, we can leave this place without anyone noticing."

Kakashi had not used Edo Tensei because he did not know how to, but he had known that the chakra of Yin Kurama would not go to the pure lands with Minato's soul. Bijuu were not souls but entities of pure chakra, and the pure lands were a place for the dead.

How could a Tailed-Beast, which could not even properly die, go there?

However, Kakashi still had not expected the Yin Kurama to appear and completely destroy the already ruined shrine. Meanwhile, the Yin Kurama turned its gaze to them, specifically at Naruto in his Version 2 Bijuu Mode of the Yang Kurama.

It sensed his other half, narrowed its eyes, but Naruto, following Kakashi's advice, immediately jumped toward the Yin Kurama's head. Kakashi was at a distance and did not hear what they talked about, but within a minute, the chakra of the Yin Kurama began to transfer to Naruto, vanishing from outside view.

Naruto jumped back to Kakashi's side. The chakra from his Version 2 Bijuu Mode was still surrounding him, with the same three tails, but his aura felt more powerful than before.

"Thank you!" Naruto's voice was a mix of his own and Kurama's, making it hard to tell who was exactly thanking Kakashi.

But Kakashi did not focus on it. "Let's move now; we shouldn't waste time here!"

The chakra around Naruto instantly dissipated, and he returned to his normal self, nodding to Kakashi. Both used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished in a blur of motion, instantly gone from the area.

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A few minutes later, two teams of Anbu with animal masks arrived at the location of the now-destroyed shrine. They searched the area for hours but could not find anything or anyone.

All they could report to Hiruzen was that they had sensed a powerful chakra that matched a Tailed-Beast.

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Meanwhile, Kakashi and Naruto, upon reaching home, had their Shadow Clones disperse, which they had for safety.

"Huu!" Naruto sighed in relief loudly, a smirk on his face. He then looked at Kakashi and began to laugh. "Hahaha! It really worked!"

"I knew it would. It's late now, so let's get some sleep," Kakashi waved his hand casually and walked toward his room. "Good night, Naruto!"

Naruto watched Kakashi walk to his room and shut the door behind him, a confused expression on his face. 'Doesn't Kakashi-sensei feel any thrill from this? How can he be so casual?' However, he just shrugged and went to his own room, jumping onto his bed.

He closed his eyes and found himself in the familiar location of his mindscape. He turned to see Kurama looking down at him with a wide, toothy smile.

"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked, smiling back, his face beaming with joy.

Kurama snickered and, in his natural deep voice, said only one word. "Powerful!"

Meanwhile, as Naruto had thought, Kakashi's reaction was the complete opposite. He was also thrilled by the night's events. 'It's a good thing that the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple is on the outskirts, otherwise, it would have been noticed by every ninja in Konoha. Hahaha!'

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