Konoha, What Makes You Think You Deserve Shirou Emiya's Special Favor?!

Konoha Back Mountain.

The Nine-Tails gloomily chose Mito Uzumaki.

After all, it truly did not want to be used by Madara Uchiha. At the very least, Mito Uzumaki seemed to respect Shirou Emiya greatly.

If nothing else...

As long as Mito Uzumaki was willing to respect Shirou Emiya, it at least meant that this woman did not seem quite so terrible.

Mito Uzumaki thus became the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Only by sealing the Nine-Tails within herself could Mito Uzumaki prevent Madara Uchiha from summoning it, prevent it from slaughtering and wreaking havoc across the Shinobi World, and she would also strive to dissolve the Nine-Tails' negative energy.

"Hmph..."

The Nine-Tails did not harbor much resentment.

Because it also knew that this was the best choice at present.

This woman, Mito Uzumaki, treated it quite gently and, unlike Madara Uchiha, had no intention of controlling or using its power.

Then again...

This woman's husband was Hashirama Senju.

That bastard Hashirama Senju was no ordinary kind of powerful!

Unfortunately...

The Nine-Tails still had some regrets.

The Nine-Tails stood proudly within the sealing barrier, its Chakra continuously flowing into Mito Uzumaki's body, yet its eyes arrogantly stared at Shirou Emiya beside them.

"Shirou Emiya!"

"You'll regret this!"

"When you see the true power unleashed by a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, you'll definitely regret refusing to become a Jinchuriki a thousand years ago..."

"Huh?"

Hashirama Senju curiously looked at Shirou Emiya and asked in surprise, "Didn't you say that Lord Shirou wanted to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki back then? What does that mean...?"

"Bastard..."

The Nine-Tails shot Hashirama Senju an irritated glare.

"Hashirama..."

Mito Uzumaki hurriedly spared some attention to stop her husband.

"Brother..."

Tobirama Senju frowned and quickly pulled his elder brother aside, hoping he would stop talking and affecting the sealing process.

Seeing that his elder brother still wanted to question Shirou Emiya, Tobirama Senju quickly whispered the real answer to him.

At a time like this?

Could he not understand what the Nine-Tails meant?

This tailed beast must have some embarrassing dark history. Back then, it had surely wanted to voluntarily let Shirou Emiya seal it inside him, only to be rejected by Shirou Emiya...

This legendary saint...

Even tailed beasts were willing to become his companions of their own accord...

And it was even the most vicious and powerful Nine-Tails in the world.

Shirou Emiya watched as the Nine-Tails gradually vanished within the sealing barrier, transforming into an orange rainbow-like streak of light that merged into Mito Uzumaki's body.

Shirou Emiya had too many secrets.

Many of a Jinchuriki's secrets could not be hidden from a tailed beast.

Even in this era, the Nine-Tails' beliefs would sooner or later diverge from his. It truly could not understand Shirou Emiya's thoughts. These tailed beasts created by the Sage of Six Paths were born with deep bonds to him.

In the Ancient Era.

The Nine-Tails had once left.

Its departure had itself been a choice.

Shirou Emiya felt a little longing for Slug. Perhaps only Slug, whom he had raised since childhood, would support any decision he made unconditionally even after learning his true nature.

The Nine-Tails...

Would always cherish the Sage of Six Paths more.

Shirou Emiya would not feel regret over this, because he knew that his old friend, the Nine-Tails, had after all been created by the Sage of Six Paths. The deep bond between them was something he, in his true form, could never hope to match.

A fresh breeze swept over them.

A golden light suddenly emerged from Mito Uzumaki's body.

This red-haired woman of the Uzumaki Clan seemed to be draped in gold, her hair and clothes entirely enveloped in golden Chakra!

Two golden, ribbon-like fox-ear horns sprouted from Mito Uzumaki's head, while six pitch-black tomoe appeared around the collar of her golden garment!

This golden chakra was incredibly abundant!

It even invigorated Mito Uzumaki's exhausted mind!

As the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the chakra surrounding Mito Uzumaki was especially eye-catching. Even her presence continued to rise as she received the Nine Tails' gift!

Nine Tails Chakra Mode!

Only a Jinchuriki could truly unleash the power of a tailed beast!

As a Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki could clearly feel the terrifying enhancement Nine-Tails chakra brought to her physical strength!

"What is this...?"

A trace of surprise appeared on Hashirama Senju's face as he stared in disbelief at the chakra spilling from his wife's body. "This chakra is almost catching up to mine!"

"She can use Kurama's chakra directly?"

Watching the golden radiance rise from Mito Uzumaki's body, Shirou Emiya softly praised her. "It's willing to let you use its chakra. It seems you and Kurama get along quite well..."

"The Nine Tails is indeed fairly easy to get along with..."

Mito Uzumaki lowered her eyes slightly.

The Nine Tails was actually quite arrogant.

Yet Mito Uzumaki could only speak well of the Nine Tails.

Because the Nine Tails was Shirou Emiya's friend, she truly did not dare to completely imprison and seal it away. Fortunately, the Nine Tails did not seem especially resistant to interacting with her either.

The only problem was...

Within the Sealing Space inside her body, the Nine Tails was clamoring for her to quickly use this chakra to kill her husband, Hashirama Senju, and then challenge Shirou Emiya...

However...

This was not the end for a Jinchuriki and a tailed beast.

Mito Uzumaki could clearly feel that using the Nine-Tails chakra was still not completely smooth. She and the Nine Tails had not yet achieved true, complete trust.

This simple and crude Nine Tails Chakra Mode was merely the Nine Tails reluctantly allowing her to use its chakra for Shirou Emiya's sake...

Being a Jinchuriki...

This path had only just begun.

She still had a long road ahead of her.

Compared with being able to use the Nine Tails' chakra, Mito Uzumaki cared more about another matter—she had made a discovery that unsettled her.

Mito Uzumaki came from the Uzumaki Clan and possessed enormous chakra herself. She had always had powerful sensory abilities and could even sense the good and evil in people.

Nine Tails Chakra Mode could likewise sense the good and evil in humans. With those two abilities layered together, her sensory perception became even stronger...

Precisely because of that...

Mito Uzumaki felt uneasy.

She could distinguish the goodwill, malice, and hostility of everyone present.

Yet with the Nine Tails' help, the chakra within Mito Uzumaki's body had long since recovered. Even combined with Nine Tails Chakra Mode, she still could not sense any emotion from Shirou Emiya. Only when Shirou Emiya spoke of the Nine Tails could she occasionally sense a trace of goodwill.

"..."

Mito Uzumaki frowned slightly.

What did this Medical Ninja from the Ancient Era think of people like them from later generations? Why was she unable to sense his goodwill or malice?

"It seems you're probing me..."

Shirou Emiya exposed the truth in a single sentence and asked with apparent curiosity, "Is there something wrong with me?"

As a ninja with equally high vigilance and sensory abilities, Shirou Emiya valued this kind of training more than anyone.

Because he knew the troubles of the Shinobi World.

Back in the Ancient Era, Shirou Emiya had worried that Black Zetsu had been watching him all along.

"..."

Mito Uzumaki fell silent for a moment.

Thinking of Shirou Emiya's reputation, of how he had helped her become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the woman admitted her strange suspicion.

"We of the Uzumaki Clan possess powerful sensory abilities. I can sense the good and evil in people, and the Nine Tails' chakra can also sense the good and evil in people..."

"But..."

"We can't detect it..."

Mito Uzumaki's brow furrowed deeply as she stared fixedly at Shirou Emiya before her, voicing the unease in her heart. "There are emotions within Lord Shirou..."

In the air...

The atmosphere faintly turned strange.

Only the Nine Tails had spent time with Shirou Emiya in the Ancient Era.

Since childhood, the Nine Tails had been able to sense the good and evil in humans. It too had once been surprised that it could not feel Shirou Emiya's emotions.

Back then...

The Nine-Tails had still been simple and ignorant.

So it had once taken the initiative to ask that question.

The young Nine-Tails had received an answer from Shirou Emiya—an answer that had even made it somewhat unhappy.

Now, realizing that its Jinchuriki had asked the same stupid question, the Nine-Tails could not help mocking her.

"Hey..."

"Woman, aren't you overthinking this?"

"During the Ancient Era, Shirou Emiya spent every day on the road treating illnesses and saving lives. Over his lifetime, he treated more patients than you people have ever even seen. To him, there was no difference between patients..."

"To us..."

"Madara Uchiha was a bastard who had to be put to death..."

"And the commoners you lofty people never deigned to notice were nothing but worthless trash..."

"But to Shirou Emiya..."

"Whether he came across a grievously wounded Madara Uchiha or an ordinary person critically ill by the roadside, he would choose to save them, because he was a doctor who treated illnesses and saved lives..."

"Even that old Six Paths man you humans revered as a god was no different from an ordinary human in his eyes..."

"Who do you think you are?"

"You, woman..."

"What makes you think you people are worthy of Shirou Emiya treating you differently? That's far too greedy..."