Chapter 579: The Real Violent Kushina

By the time Hanabi handed the tablet to Hinata, Naruto's experience inside Engraved Tsukuyomi had finally begun in earnest.

Naruto had even made one special request:

Everyone inside the illusion should keep calling him Naruto instead of Menma!

His reason was simple.

He hated bamboo shoots!

The moment he saw the incredibly realistic Konoha around him, Naruto became wildly excited.

He jumped out of bed and raced through the house, only to discover that nobody else was home.

There were, however, obvious signs that other people lived there.

So it was true.

His parents were alive in this world.

Naruto couldn't wait another second.

He jumped straight out of the window and began stopping random people in the street.

"Do you know where my mom and dad went?"

He kept asking until he finally ran into someone familiar.

"Huh? Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto hurried over.

"Do you know where my parents are?"

"Uh…"

Kakashi hesitated.

"Try the supermarket up ahead."

Then he turned and walked away without looking back, as though something terrifying might be following him.

"The supermarket?"

Now that Naruto had a destination, he immediately sprinted off.

…

"Hey, Blondie. Out buying groceries again today? What a devoted househusband."

"Some country bumpkin shows up, gets Konoha residency, and that still wasn't enough? You even had the nerve to seduce Lady Kushina!"

"Come on. Be good and let us have a look."

In an alley beside the supermarket, Namikaze Minato stood weakly clutching a bag of freshly bought groceries while several Konoha villagers surrounded him.

That was right.

Originally, Kushina had intended to let Naruto witness what she had gone through when she was bullied as a child.

But then she thought about it.

Since they were already using Engraved Tsukuyomi anyway, why not replace herself with Minato?

Showing Naruto those embarrassing scenes from her own childhood was one thing.

The possibility that other people might be watching too made it much worse.

So Kushina had changed the victim to Minato without the slightest psychological burden.

And that was the only thing she had personally altered.

Everything that happened afterward was simply Heaven's Will automatically filling in the details around that modification.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

The moment Naruto saw that familiar face—the same face he had once seen inside his sealed space—being bullied, fury exploded through him.

He rushed forward and planted himself in front of Minato.

Only after jumping in did Naruto suddenly realize something was wrong.

He turned around and stared at his father in confusion.

"Wait, aren't you the Hokage? How are a few random villagers bullying you?"

"The Hokage?"

One villager burst out laughing.

"So that's what he tells you at home?"

"Lady Kushina is the Fourth Hokage! This guy's just her pretty little husband!"

"Oh, Uzumaki Naruto is here too? Perfect. Then today we can humiliate father and son together!"

The villagers carrying the Will of Bullying began forming an orderly line at the entrance to the alley.

Naruto stared in disbelief.

He looked left at his timid father.

Then right at the completely insane villagers.

Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

A swarm of Narutos appeared.

"Take this—

"One Thousand Years of Death!"

Naruto unleashed the combination attack and sent every last villager collapsing to the ground.

Want to attack him?

Then get attacked first!

Simple.

Satisfied, Naruto dusted off his hands.

Then he glanced back at his stunned father and clicked his tongue.

Well…

This was fine too.

A timid father was better than an overbearing one.

At least Naruto wouldn't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night to discover Flying Raijin being used for something horrifying.

Besides, judging from what those villagers had said, his mother was apparently the Fourth Hokage in this world.

Did that mean she was currently at the Hokage's office?

Naruto desperately wanted to go see her immediately.

But after what had just happened, there was no way he dared leave his father alone outside.

So he escorted the still-shaken Minato home.

He even thoughtfully poured him a cup of hot water.

After finishing the drink and finally calming down, Minato looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, how could you be so violent? You're going to cause trouble for your mother."

Then he frowned.

"And isn't today your Chūnin Exam? Why aren't you there? What were you doing at the supermarket?"

"Huh? The Chūnin Exam? I…"

Naruto instinctively panicked and started looking for an excuse.

Then he remembered—

This was an illusion.

So what if he skipped the exam?

"Dad, don't worry about it. Who cares about some Chūnin Exam? My strength is already—"

Naruto was just about to start bragging when another thought struck him.

After entering this illusion, hadn't all his abilities been reset?

The reason he could still use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique just now was probably because this world's version of him already knew it.

Then what about Kurama?

Was he still the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki here?

Naruto focused inward.

His eyes widened.

There really was a Nine-Tails inside him!

But according to what he had heard earlier, shouldn't his mother have been the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?

And extracting a Tailed Beast was supposed to kill the host.

Unless…

Could this world actually work like Limited Tsukuyomi?

Could a jinchūriki somehow pass a Tailed Beast down through childbirth without anyone dying?

Naruto's imagination began running wild.

"Naruto, you really should go."

Minato interrupted his thoughts.

"Kushina carefully chose several jōnin instructors for you. If you don't show up, she's definitely going to be angry—"

BANG!

Before Minato could finish speaking, the front door was kicked open.

"You three wait outside."

Kushina's voice came from beyond the doorway.

Then Uzumaki Kushina walked inside with a dark expression and slowly removed the Hokage hat from her head.

She strode straight toward Naruto.

Tailed Beast chakra erupted around one arm.

Then, with an elbow strike disturbingly similar to a Lightning Release: Lariat—

BOOM!

The completely unprepared Naruto was smashed straight into the wall.

And not merely against it.

He was embedded so deeply that someone would probably need tools to pry him back out.

"My foolish son."

Kushina walked over to the dazed Naruto and grabbed him by the collar.

"Tell me.

"Why did you skip the Chūnin Exam?"

That smooth sequence of movements looked strangely familiar.

Could it be that when Naruto had said at character creation that he wanted to become Sasuke and experience Sasuke's life, the Engraved Tsukuyomi system had thoughtfully decided to give him the full experience?

"Kushina, don't be like that. Naruto, he—"

SMACK!

Minato didn't even finish before Kushina casually backhanded him across the room.

"You shut up!"

She glared at him.

"I can step outside to buy a pack of cigarettes and run into nine people claiming they've been with you!"

"…"

…

PFFFFT—!

Watching from outside, the real Kushina sprayed ice cream everywhere.

All she had done was set Minato to suffer heavy bullying so Naruto would develop a strong desire to resist bullying.

She had never expected the category of "people bullying Minato" to include herself!

And what kind of ridiculous reason for domestic violence was that?!

What did any of this even mean?!

Then Kushina suddenly froze.

Wait.

Something clicked.

If she and Minato were both alive in this world…

Why was Naruto still called Uzumaki Naruto?

That meant Minato had married into the Uzumaki family.

And judging by the direction this world had developed, there might be an even deeper implication behind that.

They would have to keep watching.

Back inside the illusion, Naruto was still embedded in the wall, thoroughly stunned.

"I-I…"

He weakly tried to defend himself.

"I just thought I was strong enough already…"