Even If It Was Only a Fox

After Naruto finished speaking, silence returned to the dark, damp space.

Only Naruto's breathing echoed through the quiet space.

Wasn't it Love?

He had relied on his powerful rationality to overcome the negative emotions in his heart.

Honestly, Naruto's words had suited its tastes quite well.

To possess such temperament at such a young age—if he did not die young, he would surely become strong in the future.

The mountain-sized beast looked down at the small figure standing before the iron gate, its emotions somewhat complicated.

It was hard to say whether it felt disappointed or something else.

In an instant, Nine-Tails recalled some other things Naruto had said that concerned it greatly.

"You damned brat, how dare you look down on my power? I am a calamity feared by everyone!"

Its roar rang through the space.

Immediately afterward, even more powerful Chakra emerged alongside the rage of the mountain-sized beast, filling the entire space.

"You're locked in here."

Naruto seemed not to feel the killing intent permeating the air as he spoke calmly.

"I once razed more than half of Konoha to the ground. You ninjas hate me to the bone, yet you cannot kill me." Nine-Tails bared its fangs, its anger growing even stronger. It refused to believe that a mere brat would dare look down on it so much.

"You're locked in here."

Naruto tilted his head, his tone somewhat puzzled.

He did not understand what the beast before him was being so arrogant about. If it truly was invincible, it would not be locked in here talking nonsense with him. It would have long since killed him, the cage, and gone out to wreak havoc.

Was being locked in here something to be proud of?

"Your Konoha Village is renowned throughout the Shinobi World. The Fourth Hokage, known as the Yellow Flash, died beneath my claws."

Seeing this, Nine-Tails grew even angrier. It spoke viciously and raised one of its enormous claws, waving it to make its claim more convincing.

This time, Naruto did not even want to speak to the fox.

The fox seemed kind of stupid. No wonder it looked so strong yet had been locked up.

Naruto decided to take it as a warning. From now on, he would always act within his capabilities and plan before taking action.

Besides that, he needed to read more books and make himself smarter. Otherwise, someone might trick him someday and he would not even know it.

With a sigh, Naruto decided to figure out how to leave this place and go to his Learning Space.

He had already wasted quite a bit of time tonight. It was about time to study.

He had come here while refining Chakra. This space probably existed within his body just like the Learning Space, something like a mental space. Leaving it should not be difficult.

Just as Naruto thought this, the space before his eyes shifted, and he had already arrived in his Learning Space from that dark, damp Sealing Space.

"As expected, I was right."

Naruto rubbed his chin as he looked at the familiar surroundings.

Then, with a thought, he returned to that cold, damp Sealing Space.

"Big Fox, I'm leaving. Bye-bye. I'll come see you again next time."

Back in the Sealing Space, Naruto looked at the enormous fox behind the iron gate, which was still in a furious state, and smiled as he waved goodbye.

One had to be polite.

Although his first meeting with Big Fox had not been particularly pleasant, it did live inside his body. Strictly speaking, they could be considered neighbors who would see each other every day.

Though it was not friendly, it had not ignored his existence like those villagers did.

It was someone he could communicate with.

Although it was not as if he could not live without someone to talk to, deep down, Naruto still hoped to have someone he could communicate with.

Even if it was only an unfriendly fox.

Therefore, Naruto still held himself to strict standards. Only after politely saying goodbye and expressing his goodwill did he truly leave the Sealing Space.

In the Learning Space, Naruto sat back down at his desk, picked up a copy of People's Education Press Elementary Mathematics Volume 11, and continued studying.

Although he had not finished Five Thousand Years of Chinese History yet, that was extracurricular reading and could not delay his formal coursework.

Very soon, as he listened to the teacher's explanation in the instructional video, Naruto entered a focused state of study.

Meanwhile, Nine-Tails watched Naruto wave and disappear.

After a long silence, the fury on its face gradually faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

As a Tailed Beast, its senses were shared with its Jinchuriki to a certain extent.

Therefore, from Nine-Tails' observations, Naruto's consciousness often seemed to leave his body and go somewhere unknown. Only on very rare occasions did it remain within his body.

However, Nine-Tails had never been able to fully confirm this before.

Perhaps this disappearance of consciousness was simply a talent unique to Naruto?

The Shinobi World was vast. Nothing that happened would be too strange.

But now, taking advantage of Naruto's first time refining Chakra and his intensely focused mind, it had pulled him into this Sealing Space.

Upon seeing Naruto himself, it had also witnessed intelligence and knowledge far beyond what someone his age should possess. Only then did it fully confirm that the disappearances of Naruto's consciousness were definitely not accidental.

They were a conscious, deliberate act. He went to a place it did not know of, where someone taught the still-young Naruto.

Recalling how Naruto had reappeared after disappearing, greeted it, and only then truly left, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Nine-Tails' mouth.

That brat was annoying, but he was quite polite.

This made Nine-Tails, which had always been treated as an unintelligent creature incapable of communication and inferior to humans, feel rather good.

It was just a pity that it had no way to take advantage of the Jinchuriki's youth and ignorance to shape him into its own form.

The night passed in silence.

The next morning, Naruto finished his studies for the day, withdrew from the Learning Space, and woke up in his room.

Out of habit, he jumped out of bed and made it.

At this moment, Naruto Uzumaki discovered with some surprise that he was in better condition than ever before.

With just a slight sense of awareness, he could detect a powerful stream of Chakra flowing through the meridians of his body. Moreover, it was constantly growing stronger at a visibly observable rate.

Based on the rough evaluation methods recorded in the textbooks he had read before, the amount of Chakra in Naruto's body was now no less than that of an ordinary Chunin.

Naruto scratched his head, completely baffled.

The books had clearly said that refining Chakra was difficult, especially for children.

After all, Chakra was refined through the combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. The golden age for a ninja's Chakra growth should have been between the ages of twelve and eighteen, when the body grew and matured.