Nine-Tails, I Wish You Always Smiling~

Yamanaka Kei froze for a moment, then his whole mood went to hell.

Now he understood what it meant when they said lies weren't scary—the truth hurt the most.

Damn it!

He was going to copy an Entry that increased Chakra later!

Seeing Yamanaka Kei's expression, the Nine-Tails' lips curled slightly. It felt utterly refreshed, all its previous frustration swept away.

"You go ahead."

Yamanaka Kei waved at Kushina with a disgruntled look on his face.

After giving him a comforting look, Kushina walked up to the Nine-Tails and formed hand seals with both hands, casting the Contract Seal.

Massive Chakra gathered as countless black sealing formulas spread across the Nine-Tails' entire body.

The Nine-Tails, which usually loved causing trouble, did not seize the chance to ambush the jinchuriki this time. Instead, it stayed quietly where it was and allowed her to do as she pleased.

Its vertical pupils stared unblinkingly at the frustrated Yamanaka Kei, the faint smile at the corners of its mouth brimming with mockery and ridicule.

No matter how much it struggled, it could not get out for the time being anyway.

Wasn't it more entertaining to watch this arrogant brat get put in his place?

"Next is the Rebirth of Living Beings."

Seeing the Contract Seal completely envelop the Nine-Tails and eliminate any possibility of it being summoned through the Summoning Technique, Yamanaka Kei finally felt at ease.

As long as he could devise a life-transfer technique similar to the Rebirth of Living Beings created by Chiyo...

No matter how Madara Uchiha schemed or stirred things up, Kushina's life would be secure.

As for the side effect of such a life-transfer technique consuming the caster's lifespan...

Had he learned the Mind Body Switch Technique for nothing?

Or was White Zetsu's life energy no longer enough?

Ding~ You have significantly altered the fate trajectory of an important character. The World Line's course of development has shifted. Obtained: Entry Copy chance ×1, Entry Extraction chance ×3, Entry Stripping chance ×1, Entry Gifting chance ×1, Entry Downgrade chance ×1.

The familiar System notification sounded.

A smile curled across Yamanaka Kei's lips as he looked at the System's personal panel.

...

Host: Yamanaka Kei

Profession: Shinobi

Activated Entries: Transmigrator (Red), Zero Frame Startup (Red), Yin Release Master (Purple), Water Release Master (Purple), Space-Time Insight (Purple), Ninja World Know-It-All (Blue), Handsome (Blue)

Unactivated Entries: Wriggler (White), Glass Cannon (White), Brother, You Smell So Good (White), Smiling Face (White)

Entry Copy: 1

Entry Extraction: 3

Entry Gifting: 5

Entry Stripping: 2

Entry Downgrade: 2

...

As a gaming hoarder who always loved stuffing his storage and inventory full to the brim, just looking at a personal panel like this made Yamanaka Kei feel delighted.

And there were two Entry Strippings and two Entry Downgrades.

If Madara Uchiha really came looking for trouble...

Yamanaka Kei would make him properly experience what it meant to be helplessly bullied by brats from the southern mountains, then beaten senseless in ice and snow.

Rinnegan? Gone~

Hashirama Cells? Gone~

Top-tier Fire Release? Reduced to tiny flames~

No matter how strong Madara Uchiha was, having his arteries cut with every blow would severely cripple his strength.

And Yamanaka Kei had the Flying Thunder God Technique to rely on.

As long as his Chakra consumption could keep up, he could attack when advancing, defend when retreating, stay if he wished, and leave if he wished.

Who knew? He might even snuff out the Fourth Shinobi World War at its source.

The more Yamanaka Kei thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

He quickly searched through the original story in his Memory Palace for Madara Uchiha's hiding place.

But after looking for quite some time...

He realized the original story had only briefly mentioned that when Madara Uchiha was on the verge of death, he had stayed at the Mountain Graveyard in northern Land of Iron.

It was also the place where Obito Uchiha later met Orochimaru and helped Sasuke transplant Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyo.

The Land of Iron was neither especially large nor especially small.

Finding such a location within an entire country would not be easy.

Besides, Madara Uchiha definitely had more than one base.

After all, the place where Obito had been injured was Kannabi Bridge.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Kannabi Bridge had been an important Iwa supply route in its war against Konoha.

It was roughly located along the present-day border between Grass Country and Earth Country.

With Obito's injuries back then, half his body already ruined...

If they had really carried him all the way back to the Mountain Graveyard in northern Land of Iron for treatment, he would have fucking died on the way.

Therefore, Madara Uchiha definitely had another unknown base in Grass Country or the neighboring Rain Country.

"I wonder if the Intelligence Division can uncover any clues."

Yamanaka Kei silently decided that he would visit Konoha's Intelligence Division another day.

At the very least, he needed to figure out where the Mountain Graveyard was.

"Brat, what are you laughing about?"

The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes.

It had been watching Yamanaka Kei's expression ever since.

It had thought the brat would stay upset for a long time after getting put in his place. Who would have thought that before it could gloat for long, the brat started smiling?

No, why was he smiling?

What gave him the right to smile?!

"Kurama, actually, you look pretty cute when you smile."

Yamanaka Kei grinned.

"W-what?"

The Nine-Tails was momentarily dumbfounded by the out-of-the-blue compliment.

"System, gift the Smiling Face Entry to the Nine-Tails!"

With intense anticipation in his eyes, Yamanaka Kei issued the command to the System in his heart.

A white light visible only to him entered the Nine-Tails' body almost instantly.

"Brat! Are you making a fool of me?!"

The Nine-Tails vaguely sensed the ill intent radiating from Yamanaka Kei.

Its initially stunned expression turned ferocious, while countless thoughts raced through its mind.

It was the foremost of the nine Tailed Beasts!

Kurama, the famed moving natural disaster, was being described with a word like "cute"!

This was mockery, wasn't it?!

It had to be mockery, right?!

This brat from the Yamanaka Clan was indeed no good!

"Hey, stinky fox, when you say something like that, could you press down the corners of your mouth? I'm really not used to looking at you like this."

Kushina, who had just returned to Yamanaka Kei's side, stared at the Nine-Tails with countless question marks floating above her head.

Was this stinky fox really that easy to please?

They had only called it cute, and it was already this happy?

"Kurama, I wish you always smiling."

As soon as Yamanaka Kei said that, he grabbed Kushina and turned to run.

"Huh?"

Watching their retreating figures, the Nine-Tails raised a claw in confusion and touched its cheek.

Its upturned mouth and crescent eyes...

What should have been a fierce, violent expression seemed to have... gone wrong?

"Yamanaka Kei! You damned bastard! What did you do to me?!"

"What kind of Genjutsu is this?! Why can't I control my own face?! Get back here! Get back here!"

"Roar~ Damn it! You despicable, underhanded brat! You don't even dare face me head-on!"

"Yamanaka Kei! Just you wait! I won't let you get away with this!"

Thunderous roars echoed through the Sealing Space.

While running away, Kushina glanced back at the Nine-Tails going berserk atop the Sealing Altar.

The bizarre grin stretching nearly to its ears, paired with its nonstop roaring and cursing, made her burst out laughing.