"Naruto, you can't beat him?"
Kurama asked, rather surprised.
Naruto wore a strange expression as he shot back, "How strong do you think I am?"
"A few Sealing Techniques, some Chakra, and some trash Wood Style that's still in its early development?"
Kurama: "..."
Now that Naruto put it that way, it seemed true!
Kurama felt even more frustrated.
It had been asleep when some lunatic suddenly came to attack it.
That thing had a sword that could change forms.
In one strike, it sealed away three of Kurama's tails.
Kurama had no time to react after waking up before it was attacked by another shark.
After running this far, the shark was too slow to keep up.
But that red giant had kept hunting it down.
If it had not lost its strength in that sneak attack, Kurama would have long since...
It would have been one thing if Kurama could not defeat the red giant.
But Kurama could not even deal with Naruto's Sealing Techniques.
It made it feel useless.
This was definitely the first time in its life it had ever felt this way.
Naruto rode Kurama as they fled ahead, while Itachi Uchiha pursued them from behind with Susanoo activated.
Itachi Uchiha was also from Konoha.
He realized they were not far from Konoha now.
So Itachi Uchiha controlled Susanoo and summoned another Spirit Tool.
Three red tomoe twisted around one another, guided by a red thread resembling a puppeteer's Chakra string.
Susanoo's massive hand opened, and the tomoe spun above its palm before being hurled at Kurama.
Seeing that things were going badly, Naruto immediately flipped off the fox.
Kurama sensed terrifying power coming from behind and instantly flew into a rage.
This thing was downright bullying it!
This old man might fear your Sealing Techniques, but did that mean this old man feared facing you head-on?
As Kurama ran, it opened its mouth and began gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But because it had so little Chakra left, the Tailed Beast Bomb looked like a miniature version.
The Tailed Beast Bomb whistled toward the tomoe.
But who would have thought that the tomoe was under Itachi Uchiha's control?
The tomoe dodged the Tailed Beast Bomb and flew straight at Kurama.
The Tailed Beast Bomb struck Susanoo's Yata Mirror.
The tomoe struck Kurama in the back.
The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded.
Although the Yata Mirror could alter its own properties and possessed astonishing defensive power,
the Tailed Beast Bomb's attack was too all-encompassing, directly engulfing the entire Susanoo.
Susanoo's solidified Chakra was blasted into fragments.
Kurama's huge body was driven high into the sky by the tomoe.
Then the tomoe suddenly split apart, and a blazing fire blot that covered the heavens abruptly formed in the sky.
Naruto hid nearby and was caught in the aftershock.
But he was not seriously hurt.
Once the aftershock faded,
Susanoo vanished.
Kurama, weakened to its lowest point, fell from the sky.
Itachi Uchiha staggered toward where Kurama had landed.
Endless coldness showed in his eyes, enough to make anyone shudder.
When he passed Naruto's position, Itachi Uchiha looked at him.
As if recognizing Naruto, Itachi Uchiha said, "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha cannot be without the Nine-Tails. Come with me."
The moment Naruto heard that, he understood what this guy intended to do.
But Naruto said nothing for now.
The two arrived where Kurama had fallen.
Kurama was already on the verge of death.
Yet it still stubbornly growled, "Damn Uchiha Clan, damn Mangekyo."
"If this old man had all his power, if you hadn't ambushed this old man, how could this old man possibly fear you?!"
Itachi Uchiha ignored Kurama. He activated Susanoo, drew the Totsuka Blade with a backhand motion, and prepared to stab Kurama.
Naruto immediately stopped him. "Itachi Uchiha, can't we talk this out?"
Hearing Naruto's words, Itachi's Susanoo vanished.
He could no longer hold himself up and dropped to his knees.
Kurama mocked, "You sickly weakling, if this old man were at full strength, I could crush you with one paw."
Naruto's mouth twitched. "Kurama, say less. You're already in this state, so stop talking big."
In truth, Kurama was also very afraid.
If it were sealed inside a Jinchuriki,
then after a century or so, it could still regain its freedom.
If the ninja order collapsed, it would not have another Jinchuriki.
But if it were sealed inside the Totsuka Blade, it could only wait for someone to release it.
That would take forever!
Probably no one would release it for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.
By then, it would be driven completely insane from being trapped!
Itachi Uchiha asked Naruto, "What is going on?"
Naruto roughly explained what had happened.
It turned out that Kurama and Naruto had reconciled.
Then Naruto released Kurama, and in gratitude, Kurama decided to remain within the Land of Fire.
That way, Kurama could maintain the balance among the Five Great Nations.
Itachi Uchiha had known nothing about this.
When he saw the Nine-Tails alive and well, he thought something had happened in Konoha.
Itachi Uchiha knew that a major ninja village could not be without a Jinchuriki.
So he had decided to seal Kurama inside the Totsuka Blade, then go to Konoha and find a suitable Jinchuriki candidate.
As for Kisame...
Itachi Uchiha had already controlled him with Genjutsu.
But who could have expected this to happen?
Itachi Uchiha fell silent for a long while. He sat on the ground to rest, and it seemed that using Susanoo was an enormous burden on him.
Kurama was the same.
Despite being a fox, it sat cross-legged on the ground, held its paws flat, and assumed a pose to gather Chakra.
Kurama's recovery ability was extremely strong.
In just this short while, it was already about to recover.
Seeing this, Itachi Uchiha released Kurama's Chakra from the Totsuka Blade.
Kurama did not stand on ceremony and directly absorbed it.
Only then did it finally straighten its back.
After a long while,
Itachi Uchiha said, "The Nine-Tails had better not leave Konoha, because the Akatsuki Organization's goal is to capture the Tailed Beasts."
The Akatsuki Organization?
Kurama had been sealed away for a long time and had never even heard of the Akatsuki Organization.
But an organization that made Itachi Uchiha wary clearly had extremely powerful ninja within it.
Kurama instantly lost its nerve.
It might be a nuclear weapon on the battlefield, but before humanity's strongest warriors, it was ultimately nothing more than a tool fox.
After saying that, Itachi Uchiha considered the matter between Kurama and Naruto.
He discovered that Naruto had actually earned a Tailed Beast's trust.
Itachi Uchiha found that unbelievable.
Since that was the case,
Itachi Uchiha had nothing left to worry about. He turned and staggered away.
After Itachi Uchiha left,
Naruto found the whole thing rather absurd.
Because in his memory, Itachi Uchiha had not been this powerful.
The Mangekyo did counter Tailed Beasts.
And Itachi Uchiha had launched a sneak attack, with help from a shark.
Besides, Kurama was only half of itself.
But Itachi Uchiha had actually chased Kurama down and beaten it around. That was way too fantastical.
It was no less fantastical than Sakura Haruno saying, "I finally caught up to them."
But Naruto soon stopped thinking about it.
Itachi was indeed sickly, but his strongest showing in the original story had been his battle with Sasuke several years later.
This was years earlier. Who knew whether Itachi's physical condition had deteriorated to that point yet?
Besides, Itachi was half an ally.
So there was no need to worry about him for now.
Kurama suddenly said to Naruto, "Naruto Uzumaki, how about... you seal this old man again."
If it remained unsealed, its presence would be far too conspicuous.
If someone from the Akatsuki Organization came looking for it, Kurama did not know how it would deal with them.
After all, it could not even handle one Itachi Uchiha!
Although that was because Itachi Uchiha had ambushed it...
But Naruto did not agree to Kurama's request.
He lifted his shirt, revealing the complete Sealing Technique mark on his abdomen.
The instant Kurama saw that seal, it froze.
An indescribable feeling rose in its heart.
It was like...
its ex had found someone better than it??
I finally got serious once, and you made me lose so completely.
Hahahaha~~~
Damn!!!!
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