Friends

"Where is this?"

Water reached his calves on the ground, the light was dim, and the air was humid.

Naruto disliked this place.

He turned around and saw a huge iron railing, its posts thicker than a person.

Looking further inside.

Isn't this the Nine-Tails, who was frolicking like a silly dog during the day?

Naruto grinned, he already understood what was going on.

But, haha... why was it locked up alone, no, as a fox, here.

As if sensing Naruto's emotions, the Nine-Tails rolled over, making a noise to remind Naruto it was still there.

This made Naruto laugh even harder.

He was laughing because the Nine-Tails in the training ground didn't seem to match the one before him. The little Nine-Tails in the training ground was like a silly dog, mouth agape, tongue hanging out, pupils wide, running and rolling around crazily, overturning who knows how many flowers and plants.

Now?

Did this Nine-Tails think he didn't see it because he was busy training back then?

Now it was acting all serious in front of him.

"Not talking? Acting all deep and mysterious? Then I'm leaving!"

Without waiting for a response, Naruto turned to leave.

"Brat."

As expected, the Nine-Tails called out to him.

There was no helping it, the Nine-Tails desperately craved freedom!

This was something that seasoned inmates who had been imprisoned for decades would surely understand and empathize with.

Moreover, there were people to talk to in prison, while this was a confinement more terrifying than prison.

After experiencing those two hours of frolicking, the Nine-Tails craved freedom even more.

If it hadn't had those two hours, it definitely wouldn't have cared. After all, it had lived like this for decades; it was already used to it.

But now, it just wanted "one more hit."

"Brat, that place during the day, can you still go there?"

"Yes," Naruto replied.

"Then that..."

The Nine-Tails felt like its mouth wouldn't open.

Who would have thought that the Nine-Tails, a tough guy who had roamed the world unrestrained his entire life, would ever beg someone so humbly?

"I like making friends, so next time we go there, I can take you along," Naruto said for it.

"But, only one hour per day."

"No, five!" The Nine-Tails extended a claw to bargain.

Naruto said decisively, "One hour is the maximum."

"If you try to bargain any further, then I'm leaving. Let me tell you, if I leave now, there won't be another chance to negotiate," Naruto threatened when he saw it still wanted to haggle.

"Hmph!" The Nine-Tails let out a heavy snort, considering it a deal.

"If that's the case, then I'm leaving."

"Wait, brat." The Nine-Tails suddenly called out to him and asked, "How long is one hour?"

Huh?

Naruto was speechless. If you don't know how long an hour is, what were you arguing with me for just now?

This Nine-Tails is a bit clueless.

Muttering to himself, Naruto explained, "It's about half the time of today."

"Only half?" The Nine-Tails shot up.

"You're complaining about the free stuff? This is because we're friends that I'm giving you so much time. Are you trying to threaten me? Then there's nothing to discuss, and I'm leaving."

"You..."

The Nine-Tails suppressed itself and finally crouched down again.

Having something was better than nothing.

"Brat." The Nine-Tails wanted to speak again, but Naruto interrupted.

"Don't call me brat. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, you can call me Naruto."

Naruto introduced himself and then asked, "What's your name? What are you called?"

Hearing this, the Nine-Tails stared at him intently, not answering.

"Is a name really that hard to answer?"

Thinking this, Naruto threatened again, "Not talking? Then I'm leaving. If I leave, everything we discussed up to this point will be for nothing."

Naruto turned to leave.

"Wait."

If this brat left, he wouldn't be able to go to that place anymore. Seeing this, the Nine-Tails gritted its teeth and said in resignation, "Kurama."

"Kurama, is that your name? Then we're friends from now on."

Friends? The Nine-Tails merely echoed the word and ignored him. Hmph, wanting to be friends with me, the Nine-Tails? You're nowhere near good enough.

Naruto thought for a moment and decided he should offer some incentive.

He said, "As proof of our friendship, I'll let you go in and play for two hours tomorrow."

Two hours? The same as today?

The Nine-Tails was a little surprised, feeling a bit manipulated.

"Don't complain that it's short. You should know that even I have to put in a lot of effort to get into that place. I can't even stay there for long every day."

The Nine-Tails believed this. Maintaining that kind of place must consume a tremendous amount of energy.

Once it understood, it didn't hate the little guy as much anymore.

It even wanted to ask what help it could offer to extend the daily time, so it could have more free time.

But it forcefully stopped itself.

It was the Nine-Tails, a tough guy, not a dog.

"Since we've settled this, I'm leaving. Wait, how do I leave?"

Huh? As soon as these words were spoken, the Nine-Tails almost died of anger.

You don't even know how to leave, and yet you threatened me like that?

"Haha, just kidding. See ya." With that, he disappeared.

Seeing this, the Nine-Tails was stunned for a moment.

"This brat."

After a helpless sigh, seeing that the brat had left and no one was watching, the Nine-Tails' eyes were practically squinting with happiness.

Tomorrow, he could run around happily again.

It's just that the time limit was a bit short.

Suddenly remembering something, the Nine-Tails immediately retracted all its overflowing red chakra, then converted it into pure chakra and let it overflow again.

Its Nine-Tails chakra energy was rampant, and it would be difficult for a small child to absorb, with side effects. This pure chakra was different.

After this brat absorbed it, he would gain a lot of chakra every day.

Although refining pure chakra took some effort, this kid, no, he was worth it.

Naruto getting stronger = more free time. The Nine-Tails understood math too.

Besides, it had a lot of chakra, enough to output daily. Wasting it was fine.

Doing this was definitely not to help Naruto, but for himself.

Yes, that's right.

Thinking about the 'friend' Naruto had proposed, the Nine-Tails closed its eyes. Hah, a human brat actually dared to dream of being my friend.

The next day.

Naruto woke up early.

His living expenses used to appear on the table as soon as he woke up, so Naruto planned to go back early to get them, to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Before setting off, Naruto suddenly thought of something.

In broad daylight, if he walked over like this, he didn't know how many people would give him hateful glares. Naruto was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist hitting them.

So, he decided to transform into someone else.

Thinking this, he opened his panel and glanced at his chakra.

Today he was going to learn advanced skills, so his chakra needed to be boosted.

But one look at it froze him.

Chakra: 2172/2172 (C)

(Increase 20(Young) x (1+200%+5000%) x 2 = 2120/day)

(Recovery 1%(Young) x (1+200%+2000%) x 2 = 46%/hour)

What, it just doubled?

Checking the more detailed messages and records, he finally understood.

"So it was the Nine-Tails."

I didn't expect this guy to be so reasonable, knowing to pay rent.

Taking the opportunity, Naruto glanced at his status panel again.

Not many changes.

Hand Seal Speed +20, Chakra Control +10.

The SSSSSS Talent was still working its magic.

At this moment, Naruto had a deeper understanding of this unique SSSSSS Talent.

This kind of thing was passive; it wouldn't manifest all at once but would gradually take effect.

Although the manifestation was slow, considering that an increase of 20 and 10 per day, when calculated against a normal person's max level of 100 points, this speed was still terrifying.

Naruto knew that such a massive increase in stats wouldn't continue like this forever.

The game had detailed explanations.

Below 70 points: 1:1

71-80 points: 2:1

81-90 points: 5:1

91-95 points: 10:1

96-100 points: 20:1

101-500 points: 50:1

This meant that after reaching 100 points, each 1 point increase in attribute value was equivalent to a 50-point increase when below 70 points. The 2-point difference between 101 and 103 was equivalent to the difference between 0 and 82 points.

However, this wasn't what Naruto needed to worry about right now. His mission was to get his living expenses.

Un→Hai→Ushi→Inu→Tora

Transformation Jutsu.

Bang~

After the smoke cleared, an old man appeared in his place.

It was the old man he had met just a few days ago.

This old man was ordinary, a lonely old man, and certainly wouldn't attract attention. Transforming into him would be perfectly fine.

Naruto looked himself up and down; he looked quite similar. His max-level Transformation Jutsu was not to be trifled with.

Seeing that the time was about right, Naruto set off for home.

In the appearance of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.