A Parting Gift

Having obtained the information he wanted, Gigue no longer paid any attention to the Third Hokage and the others. He used Kamui to return home directly and said to Lily, who was watering the flowers in the yard,

"Let's go. Time to get some fruit."

Lily set the watering can aside, nodded, then glanced into the house and said,

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to that blond brat?"

Gigue smiled faintly.

"Of course."

He flashed into the house and saw Naruto sitting cross-legged on the floor, his eyes vacant, looking completely out of it.

With a sweep of his Tenseigan, Gigue could see that Naruto was currently having his usual "friendly exchange" with the Nine-Tails in the sealing space—in other words, they were bickering.

Although Naruto and the Nine-Tails appeared to be arguing until they were red in the face, it was actually a sign that the bond between the boy and the fox was growing stronger.

Now, whenever Naruto needed the Nine-Tails' power, all he had to do was call out "Kurama" in his mind. At most, the Nine-Tails would mock him once before fiercely pouring chakra into Naruto's body, and this chakra would no longer have any negative effects on him.

The Anbu Naruto had sent flying with a single claw strike earlier was proof of that.

Inside the sealing space at that moment,

"I failed again today! Kurama! You deliberately messed with my chakra again, didn't you!?"

The Nine-Tails lay on the ground and cast Naruto a sidelong glance before replying flatly,

"No wonder everyone calls you a dead last. If you're no good, don't blame the fox for being no good. If you really can't manage it, stop trying to make that little blue ball of yours. How about I spit out a big ball