"So... we got sucked into the Dragon Vein?" Naruto looked completely lost.
"Yeah," Sakura nodded firmly. "After the Dragon Vein erupted, you two got pulled in. We don’t know what happened after that, but a few seconds later, the Dragon Vein calmed down, and when you guys came back, you said the exact same thing as before."
From Sakura and the others’ perspective, Naruto and Sasuke had suddenly appeared from the Dragon Vein. Then, Mukade activated it, pulling them in. The Dragon Vein exploded, calmed down a few seconds later, and then the two of them came out again—only to repeat the exact same words as before.
It was like the scene had been copied and pasted.
Naruto, still confused, turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, what do you think?"
"There’s something strange about this... is that what you thought I’d say?" Sasuke scoffed. "I’ll check with my Sharingan."
He activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, first looking at Naruto, then at Mukade, who was tied up like a mummy. After a moment, he rubbed his chin. "Weird..."
"What is it?" Kakashi leaned against the wall. His face was as unreadable as ever, but his eyes showed a hint of concern.
Sasuke frowned. "It looks like there’s a seal in both Naruto’s and Mukade’s brains. It’s extremely powerful. I tried using the Six Paths Yin Power to break through and read Mukade’s memories, but I couldn’t do anything. Is there anyone in the world who can create a seal this strong?"
There was no known ninja capable of sealing Naruto’s memories. The Six Paths Yang Power had the strongest life force—it could break through most seals passively without Naruto even trying.
Kakashi fell into deep thought.
Jiraiya also considered it for a moment before shaking his head with a serious expression. "If this were in the past, I might have known someone who could do this. But in today’s world... aside from Orochimaru, I can’t think of anyone else."
"Orochimaru?" Sasuke froze for a second, then instinctively reached for his collar. His confusion deepened.
"What’s wrong?" Naruto asked. "Did someone leave a love bite on your neck or something?"
"No," Sasuke shook his head, his confusion shifting into shock. "The Curse Mark is gone."
Kakashi was stunned. That was even possible?
Without hesitation, he and Jiraiya moved at the same time—one teleporting forward, the other shoving Sasuke’s hand aside.
One held Sasuke’s head in place while they both stared at his neck like crazed scientists.
"It’s really gone..." Kakashi was dazed. "What kind of power could completely erase Orochimaru’s Curse Mark?"
In the Hidden Leaf Village, there was a kunoichi named Anko. She had been Orochimaru’s student and also had a Curse Mark on her neck, sealed with a complex technique. The village had tried countless methods to remove it, but nothing worked. They had even come to believe that it was impossible to erase.
And now Sasuke’s was just... gone.
"We need to get back right away and have Tsunade check you both," Jiraiya said seriously.
Things had already gone way beyond what anyone expected. If anyone could figure out what was going on, it would be Tsunade. Otherwise, were they supposed to go ask Orochimaru?
Inside his mind, Naruto looked at Kurama with a conflicted expression.
"Hey, Kurama. You really have no idea what’s happening?"
Kurama thought for a moment before speaking.
"You and Sasuke traveled back about twenty years, teamed up with Minato and Kushina, along with Sasuke’s father, Uchiha Fugaku, and a bunch of other NPCs that don’t matter to me, beat up a legendary Otsutsuki, and saved the world."
"Why don’t you just say that when we went back, we ran into my future son and Sasuke’s daughter who had time-traveled too?" Naruto said, looking completely speechless.
Kurama suddenly smacked the water beneath him.
"Funny you mention that," he said. "You actually did run into your son and Sasuke’s daughter."
"You’ve got to be kidding me!" Naruto stormed out of his mindscape, looking furious.
Sasuke noticed Naruto’s expression and raised an eyebrow. "What’s wrong? Even Kurama doesn’t remember?"
"Kurama said we traveled twenty years into the past, defeated an Otsutsuki, saved the world, and met my future son and your future daughter. Does he really think I’d believe that? He’s just messing with me!"
Sasuke blinked, then nodded.
"Yeah, Kurama could’ve at least come up with a better excuse."
An Otsutsuki twenty years ago? That made no sense.
The only known Otsutsuki in the ninja world was Kaguya. Hagoromo and Hamura didn’t count, and Kaguya had been sealed away thousands of years ago. There was no Otsutsuki running around twenty years ago.
What a joke. Did Kurama really think they were that gullible?
Kurama, watching their skepticism, put on a wise and compassionate expression.
"Whether you believe it or not is your problem, not mine."
These days, telling the truth really didn’t get you anywhere.
"Anyway, once we get back, I want to watch a movie—’Princess Gale.’" Kurama lay down inside the mindscape and said to Naruto.
Naruto looked confused.
"Why do you suddenly want to watch a movie?"
"You promised me," Kurama said, his tails swaying in a happy mood. "You even said you’d invite Hinata and the others."
Naruto had wanted to show off in front of Kushina, so he asked Kurama to play along and make it seem like he had completely tamed him. In exchange, he agreed to treat Kurama to a movie—’Princess Gale’—and invite all of the Konoha Twelve.
Kurama had been looking forward to it for a long time.
Naruto, on the other hand, looked completely dumbfounded.
"When did I ever promise that?"
His chakra flared up instantly, and his expression darkened.
"If you dare go back on your word, I’ll drag you down with me!"
"Wait, what? Go back on my word? When did I even make this promise? Just because you say I did doesn’t mean it’s true! I never agreed to anything about a movie!"
Kurama immediately lost it. His chakra surged wildly, filling the entire mindscape.
"You’re really that kind of Naruto?! Going back on your word?!"
Naruto’s own chakra flared up in response, Six Paths energy clashing with Kurama’s power.
"Then tell me exactly when I promised you this!"
"Yesterday!" Kurama said confidently. "Yesterday, when you met Kushina, you said—"
Wait... was Naruto’s memory sealed?
"Just yesterday, we were saying goodbye to the Sage of Six Paths!" Naruto said confidently. "Go ahead and tell me when I agreed to that? I always keep my word—if you can point it out, I’ll take you there right now!"
Kurama... couldn’t keep up the act anymore. The whole fox was stunned.
Naruto’s memory must have been sealed starting from when they returned from the Sage of Six Paths’ era. In other words, from the moment Rikudou Sennin sent them back until they traveled twenty years into the past and returned, he had no recollection of that entire period.
And unfortunately, the promise to take Kurama to a movie was made during that time.
Faced with Naruto’s righteous outburst, Kurama stood frozen, his raging chakra gradually calming down, leaving only a sharp, doubtful gaze as if questioning his own intelligence.
The fox was completely done.
You can read 10 Chapters ahead on my