An Interesting Fox

An Interesting Fox

In his sleep, Naruto's consciousness was swept up by Tailed Beast Chakra and brought to a dark, damp space.

"Where is this?"

Naruto was a little confused, but after looking around, he quickly got his answer.

The standing water beneath his feet, the massive cage before him, and the faint beastly roars from behind it all proved that he was no longer in his room. He had arrived in the space where the Nine-Tails was sealed.

After all these years since coming to this world, had he finally met the Nine-Tails?

After silently grumbling, Naruto stepped forward a few paces and, by the candlelight on the walls, got a clear look at the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails was beautiful. Its fur was fiery red, its ears long and slender, and nine tails swayed lazily behind it, brimming with wildness.

Even suppressed by the Sealing Space, it still possessed a gigantic body over ten meters long. It looked as though it could effortlessly kill a child like Naruto.

Perhaps sensing the arrival of a guest, the Nine-Tails slowly turned around, its lantern-sized eyes settling on Naruto.

Stared at by such a massive creature, Naruto forgot to run, forgot to breathe, and stood frozen in place.

Yet the Nine-Tails' lips curved into a subtle smile. A small cluster of Nine-Tails Chakra passed through the cage and completely enveloped Naruto's body.

Ominousness, hatred, resentment, anger...

Affected by the Nine-Tails Chakra, the negative emotions Naruto had suppressed in his heart began to erupt, spreading uncontrollably through his mind.

The unwillingness from his previous life, witnessing the Fourth Hokage and his wife's tragic deaths with his own eyes, and the unfair treatment he had suffered over the past four years.

Scene after scene flashed before Naruto's eyes. His expression grew increasingly agitated, as though he would be devoured by those negative emotions at any moment and turn into an asura that slaughtered everything.

But soon, through sheer willpower, Naruto regained his clarity.

He was, after all, an adult who had endured society's harsh lessons. He might not have been able to resist the Nine-Tails' corruption at its peak, but what he faced now was merely the portion of power leaking from the Tailed Beast inside the cage.

The Nine-Tails was somewhat surprised. This four-year-old child had actually regained his senses.

Though it was only a tiny fraction of its Chakra, less than one ten-thousandth of its peak strength, it was still absolutely not something a child could resist.

After suppressing his negative emotions, Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails with a thoughtful expression and said, "So there's a giant fox inside my body. Is that why I'm called the Demon Fox?"

Hearing itself called a giant fox, the Nine-Tails was somewhat displeased. It hated that name.

But recalling everything it had seen while staying inside Naruto over the past few years, the Nine-Tails suddenly had an idea and said:

"That's right. I am the culprit behind you being called the Demon Fox. What those villagers said wasn't wrong either. I once destroyed more than half of Konoha and killed the Fourth Hokage."

"As my vessel, you naturally became the target of their hatred."

"Come, hate me. Loathe me. Don't suppress your emotions. Show all your hatred and anger! Go take revenge on those who bear malice toward you!"

"As long as you accept my Chakra, you can destroy everything!"

As it spoke, the Nine-Tails used its power again, attempting to beguile the young Naruto.

Faced with those tempting words, Naruto merely shook his head lightly and said, "Giant fox, you can't do it. If you really had the power to destroy everything, you wouldn't be trapped here, and I wouldn't have become the cage holding you."

"So you don't have the power to destroy everything at all."

"You...!"

The Nine-Tails flew into a rage, unleashing earth-shaking power within the cage and causing the entire Sealing Space to tremble. But no matter how great the commotion, it could never shake the seal or leave the cage by even half a step.

After its outburst, the Nine-Tails gradually quieted down. One human and one fox faced each other through the iron bars, both remaining silent.

Even so, the Nine-Tails had not given up. It secretly tried to influence Naruto with its Chakra, but failed every time.

Attack, defense.

After several rounds, Naruto grew a little bored and was the first to start a conversation. "Giant fox, give it up. I already told you, although I don't know who locked you in here, since they sealed you inside my body, they must have considered that you might try to escape. No matter how much you struggle, it's useless.

"As for the malice you're trying to stir up, I got used to it a long time ago."

The Nine-Tails fell silent. It knew Naruto was speaking the truth.

Unless Naruto voluntarily removed the sealing talismans from the iron gate, there was no way it could escape. And right now, it could not control Naruto's actions at all.

While the fox was silent, Naruto muttered to himself, "Come to think of it, you're my tenant. You moved into my body without saying a word, and I haven't even asked you for rent yet."

The Nine-Tails glared at Naruto and could not help saying, "Do you think I wanted to be sealed inside you?"

Naruto responded without any politeness, "Do you think I wanted to become the vessel sealing you? Neither of us had a choice. For the sake of this connection between us, I won't take the initiative to charge you rent."

The Nine-Tails snorted and skipped over the subject. "Do you really refuse to accept my proposal? As long as I take over your body, I will definitely help you get back at those villagers who bullied you. I have watched everything you went through and always felt it was unfair for you."

"I really have suffered a lot of unfair treatment. For example, they always call me the Demon Fox, so I'll do what a Demon Fox should do and return all their malice to them. There's no way a monster should fear ordinary people, right? They should be the ones afraid of me."

Naruto spoke to himself, then seemed to remember something and looked at the Nine-Tails warily. "You said you've always been watching me. Does that include when I bathe and use the toilet?"

The Nine-Tails had not considered that point. After freezing for a moment, it said, "I don't watch you all the time. I'm not a pervert. Besides, I have no interest in human bodies."

"What about foxes?" Naruto spotted the loophole.

That question made the Nine-Tails' expression hard to maintain. It cursed, "Get lost, get lost, get lost! I have no interest in female foxes. I am the Nine-Tails, a life-form made entirely of Chakra!"

Naruto asked with a smile, "Then are you a male fox or a female fox?"

The Nine-Tails suddenly felt that it and Naruto were fundamentally incompatible. Giving up on trying to beguile Naruto into undoing the seal with words, it turned its head aside and faced the wall to think.

Now it was Naruto's turn to freeze.

Were Tailed Beasts' minds really so fragile? Could they not take a joke?