Kurama, Swallow Him!

"Human?"

The Nine-Tails' eyes flashed with immense hatred. Violent killing intent exploded through the dark, damp dungeon as red chakra surged desperately toward the outside of the bars like mist.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast the red chakra moved, it could only fall futilely within the red bars.

The gaps between the red bars seemed to contain an invisible iron curtain, separating the inside and outside into two worlds and forging an inescapable prison.

"Yeah, a human." Naruto no longer looked at the fake Sakura in the puddle. He turned and smiled at the enraged Nine-Tails.

"So what can you do about it? Come out and fight me."

"Roar!!!"

A furious howl rang out, making the entire space tremble violently. Water leaked down faster and faster from above, and filthy wastewater poured down in torrents.

Yet nothing changed. Naruto still stood there quietly, laughing with reckless abandon.

At that instant, the person behind him had already gotten back up and rushed at Naruto with a kunai in hand!

The kunai aimed for Naruto's neck, yet Naruto stood there as though he had not noticed the attack coming from behind.

Boom!

Just as the fake Sakura was about to succeed, a red tentacle burst from the ground with a bang and slammed directly toward the attacker.

The person bent backward nimbly, dodging the red tentacle as it swept past the tip of their nose. Looking at the wooden tentacle, whose color was identical to the red bars, the fake Sakura was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

This place didn't exist. It was only Genjutsu!

But the next second, even more red tentacles sprouted from the ground and shot toward the person with unerring accuracy, as if they possessed intelligence.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The red tentacles attacked relentlessly, shattering the ground. Countless pits and craters appeared where the fake Sakura had been dodging.

The tentacles grew faster and faster, almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Squelch!

A tentacle pierced into the person's flesh. The fake Sakura let out a miserable scream, and the remaining red tentacles seized that fleeting opening and descended.

The fake Sakura's hands and feet were nailed to the ground, skin and flesh alike. Another tentacle pierced their abdomen, leaving a horrifying wound.

Blood sprayed everywhere, splattering across the ground and forming a bloody phantom of a fox's head.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

The heart-rending pain instantly consumed the person's mind. The Transformation Jutsu could no longer be maintained, and with a bang, they returned to their original form.

It was a masked ninja, with blood seeping out from beneath the mask.

He had never expected that this Genin brat would possess such formidable abilities. Any Genin should have fought in fear when faced with life and death.

But Naruto was different. He had grown during his battle with Zabuza. Walking the edge between life and death did not frighten him; it excited him instead.

He understood one thing: life and death in battle were not determined by the enemy's strength, but by the intensity of one's own desire to fight.

In other words, as long as someone was an enemy, they should be killed by any means necessary, without regard for anything and using every cruel method available!

The screams echoed throughout the dungeon. The Nine-Tails beyond the red bars watched everything unfold before it, and a trace of wariness flashed through its eyes.

It could sense the pressure emanating from those red tentacles. Their aura was identical to that of the red bars imprisoning it. If that brat could control those tentacles, then he could certainly control the red bars as well.

But the Nine-Tails did not realize that Naruto, who had been watching it without ever turning around, had already caught the wary look in its eyes and smiled.

"Well?"

"What do you mean, well?" The Nine-Tails bared its fangs at Naruto, its red eyes glaring at him. "Human, you deserve to die!"

"I'm asking what you thought of the show." Naruto ignored the garbage the Nine-Tails spewed.

"A show?" The Nine-Tails cast Naruto a disdainful glance and sneered, "You humans love killing one another. You have been doing so for thousands of years."

"Seems that way." Naruto tilted his head, and his neck made a crisp crack. "Ow, ow! That hurts! I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying!"

Shouldn't have tried to act cool. Nothing good ever comes from acting cool.

"Ahem." Naruto coughed awkwardly and waved his hand under the Nine-Tails' contemptuous gaze.

The ninja nailed to the ground, whose identity as ANBU or Root could not yet be determined, was immediately dragged underground by the red tentacles. Moments later, he emerged on the inner side of the red bars.

He was still conscious. Under the effects of adrenaline, he stared in terror at the enormous red fox whose body rivaled a mountain.

"What are you trying to do, human?"

Naruto lowered his head, his eyes hidden in shadow. The Nine-Tails could only see the curve of a smile rise at the brat's lips.

"Swallow him."

"What?!" The Nine-Tails flew into a rage at his words. It was furious that this human dared command it! He even wanted it to devour a filthy human.

What did he take it for? A dog?

This was outrageous!

"Human! You will pay for your words and deeds!"

The space shook more violently than ever before, as if it were about to collapse. A red gale rose from nowhere.

Naruto stood there facing the oncoming red gale. His body swayed for a moment like reeds in an autumn wind before steadying once more.

This time, his voice was cold and clear. He raised his head and stared solemnly at the Nine-Tails. In an unquestionable tone, he commanded loudly.

"Kurama, swallow him."

The moment Naruto called its name with perfect accuracy, the Nine-Tails fell into a brief trance. Naruto's eyes brimmed with fervent, terrifying emotion.

"Swallow him!"

Naruto roared, his voice stern and awe-inspiring. He seemed like a completely different person. Boundless ferocity filled his eyes, and his pupils were so red they seemed ready to burst into flame.

The Nine-Tails had no choice. With its mind blank, it was genuinely dominated by Naruto and opened its massive jaws, picking up the dying ninja in its teeth.

"Don't!! Don't! Help!"

"Aah!!!"

The sound of crunching rang out, followed once more by screams that echoed throughout the space. The Nine-Tails threw back its head, and the ninja's voice abruptly vanished.

Silence. There was no longer any sound in the space, only dead silence. Only Naruto's heartbeat remained, slowing from a frantic pace until it returned to normal.

The blood-red color faded from Naruto's pupils, and his expression returned to normal.

Everything that had just happened seemed like a dream, yet the glaring bloodstains on the ground reminded the Nine-Tails that it truly had been dominated for an instant.

In that instant, the Nine-Tails had felt that the brat's soul was unimaginably immense. Before him, it was nothing more than a kitten.

Like an ill-tempered master scolding his pet, that fierce gaze had actually made even the Nine-Tails afraid, causing it to obey instinctively.

Humiliation. It was simply too humiliating! As a tailed beast, and the strongest one at that, it had devoured a human like a dog.

Recalling the sensation of swallowing at its throat, an unprecedented wave of nausea surged through its mind, nearly making it retch.