Sweet Water and the Nine-Tails

The Nine-Tails approached, and Naruto was intimidated by its size.

He kept backing away, almost tripping.

Suddenly, he had a realization.

This was a training space. According to the instructions, he was the absolute master here.

If he wished, he could control every blade of grass, every tree, every drop of water. He was immortal, the undisputed god of this training space.

So, what was there to fear?

Meanwhile, the Nine-Tails stared at Naruto, utterly confused.

It had been sitting in its prison, doing its usual brooding, when suddenly it was 'summoned' here.

It initially thought Uchiha Madara had controlled it again and let out an enraged roar.

Then, it noticed.

Where was Madara?

It looked around but couldn't find any sign of Uchiha Madara, nor any powerful chakra signatures.

First, confusion, then excitement.

It, Kurama, was finally free!

It trembled with excitement, frolicking like a happy dog.

But the next moment, it sensed a chakra, a familiar chakra, and decided to investigate.

And so, it saw this brat.

The Nine-Tails walked closer, its massive eyes filled with confusion. It asked, "Brat, how are you still alive?"

The Nine-Tails didn't understand. It had been released, so why was Naruto, the host, still alive?

'How am I still alive?'

Naruto curiously retorted, "Why would I be dead?"

Seeing Naruto alive and well, the Nine-Tails thought it was caught in a genjutsu. But it was a Tailed Beast; besides the Mangekyo, it was invincible.

Could it still be Uchiha Madara?

It warily scanned its surroundings, finding no enemies. In fact, it couldn't even sense a third chakra.

"Can you shrink?" Naruto asked.

The Nine-Tails was too large. At its current size, anything it did would cause immense destruction.

Just walking around could crush countless plants.

Was that good? No.

Upon hearing this, the Nine-Tails instinctively shook its head.

"Alright, I'll shrink you next. Don't be surprised," Naruto said gently.

The Nine-Tails seemed intelligent. He planned to befriend it.

Naruto loved making friends the most.

Most importantly: he was determined to have this cool, 200,000-value battle pet!

Not even Jesus could stop him!

Naruto clasped his hands together, activating the power of rules. Instantly, the Nine-Tails sensed a change.

The previously small trees grew taller and taller until they were the same size as Naruto.

This startled the Nine-Tails. It exclaimed, "Brat, what did you do? Where is this place?"

"This is a training space, and I am its owner."

As he spoke, Naruto waved his hands. The plants on the ground rapidly grew and wove themselves into a table and chairs adorned with flowers. Naruto spread his hands again, and the gravel on the ground floated up, becoming transparent in mid-air before coalescing into a pair of crystal cups.

After placing the cups, Naruto took out the ice-cold Pepsi he had just bought and poured a cup for himself and the fox.

This cola was from the mall's food section and was a promotional drink within the game, priced normally at 3 taels per bottle.

With his remaining 6 taels, he bought two bottles.

To win over the Nine-Tails, Naruto reluctantly took out one bottle to share; the other, he planned to enjoy himself.

He took a sip of the sweet water, the icy coolness incredibly refreshing, the bubbles bursting in his mouth.

Hiss~ It was a familiar taste.

This taste, Naruto deeply missed.

"Try some, this sweet water is delicious."

The Nine-Tails, which had been intently watching Naruto's every move, was utterly bewildered.

From shrinking to everything that had happened since, the Nine-Tails' mind couldn't keep up.

It instinctively grabbed the crystal cup with its paw and drank the sweet water.

The sweet, strange, yet incredibly refreshing taste made its eyes light up.

"Here, you drink this first. I'm going to train."

Seeing it drink comfortably, Naruto reluctantly gave it the rest of the cola before heading off to train without looking back.

Naruto suddenly understood many things.

Why was Kurama here?

Because this training ground could only be entered with spiritual power, and Kurama was sealed within him. Therefore, when he entered the training ground, Kurama's spiritual power was brought in by default.

Now that Naruto knew all this, he could naturally kick Kurama out.

He could do it, but there was no need.

Furthermore, Naruto guessed that the villagers calling him a 'Nine-Tails Fox' was probably also because of Kurama.

Thinking about it, if such a huge Nine-Tails appeared in the village, how much damage could it cause?

Naruto roughly understood why those people hated him so much.

He understood, but he didn't accept it.

The blame could only be placed on the person who sealed Kurama within him.

That person was now his enemy.

Once he found him, there would definitely be a spar.

As for his suspected future identity as the main villain, it was likely due to Kurama's influence.

However, destiny had changed from this moment on.

This Nine-Tails didn't seem very smart. It could probably only influence a 3-year-old child, but he was in his twenties.

Given the difference in their levels, it was hard to say who was manipulating whom.

No, how could he call it manipulation? He just wanted to get a battle pet!

No, that's not right. He should call it a partner to fight alongside?

"Hmm, that's about the gist of it."

Building a relationship wasn't urgent. He was only three years old, and he would see the other party every day in the future. There was plenty of time to get along.

For now, Naruto just wanted to try out the skills he had just learned.

Naruto walked to an open space and began to form hand seals.

He had never learned hand seals before, nor had he encountered any related knowledge. However, his extremely high talent and the Uzumaki Bloodline provided an initial boost, causing the attribute points under 'Nintai Gen' to skyrocket. There were a total of 9 attributes, all reaching a mid-level of 50 points each.

Naruto didn't know what level 50 points represented. He only knew that he was countless times stronger than before, and he had gained a lot of knowledge in his mind.

Therefore, forming hand seals came naturally to Naruto, and he even formed them at lightning speed.

Un→Mi→Yin

Bang~

An exact replica of Naruto appeared beside him.

The new Naruto looked lifelike. Naruto reached out to touch it, and the clone disappeared.

"So it really is just a shadow."

Naruto glanced at his status panel. His Chakra had been consumed by 20, and the experience for the Shadow Clone Jutsu had surprisingly increased by 382.

It increased so much?

His SSSSSS talent was still working its magic.

Seeing this, Naruto continued to train.

One advantage of this training ground was that it provided infinite resources. With just a thought, Naruto could instantly replenish his Chakra at any time.

Next, Naruto tirelessly leveled up the three ninjutsu.

From Master to Perfect.

Two hours passed, and Naruto checked. He had actually maxed out all three skills.

Shadow Clone Jutsu: 10000/10000 (Perfect)

Substitution Technique: 10000/10000 (Perfect)

Transformation Jutsu: 10000/10000 (Perfect)

He had nothing more to train, and he had mastered these three basic ninjutsu to a divine level.

"Huh? Where did Kurama go?" Now that he was free, Naruto looked up and saw that Kurama had already disappeared.

"I wanted to ask him about how to train."

Grumble~~~

His stomach rumbled at the opportune moment.

Naruto suddenly remembered that he had intended to make dinner, but he had kept putting it off until now.

No wonder I was hungry.

Naruto exited the training grounds, and after a moment's thought, he kicked Kurama out too.

Back in reality, Naruto cooked, washed up, and prepared to sleep.

His senses felt more acute after the activity; he had indeed grown stronger.

Naruto felt as though he now possessed more strength than a normal adult.

"Heehee, ninjas are so fun."

With that thought, Naruto fell asleep.

Tick-tock, tick-tock~~

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in a damp space.

"Where is this?"