The Nine-Tails Was Afraid

The moment Shazo entered Naruto Uzumaki's inner world, he immediately noticed that it differed from what he remembered.

Naruto's inner world was still a sewer, but though it was damp, there was no standing water. Bright lights illuminated the passageways, so it did not feel gloomy or frightening.

The environment was far better than it had been in his memories of the story.

If Shazo had not known beforehand that this was a sewer, he would have been more likely to assume it was some underground corridor.

After walking a few steps down the sewer, Shazo saw the Nine-Tails locked behind the bars, as well as Naruto curled up asleep outside the cage.

The environment here had also changed greatly. It was not only dry, bright, warm, and comfortable, but Naruto Uzumaki was curled up on a large bed, clutching a thick blanket he had bunched up in his arms.

Shazo smiled. "It looks like the 'mask' worked quite well. It successfully kept that bitter, miserable life outside."

He quickly walked to the bedside, ignored the Nine-Tails' stare, and gently woke Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto woke groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Big Brother Shazo, is it time to get up?"

Shazo replied, "Naruto, I'm in your inner world. I came to take you to see your parents."

Naruto instantly sobered up, flipped over, and sprang to his feet. "Big Brother Shazo, I can see Dad and Mom?"

Shazo nodded. "Of course. It was a promise I made on the first day I met you, and today I'm here to fulfill it."

"And it won't just be your parents you'll meet. You'll also meet the companion you'll never be able to shake off in this life—the Nine-Tails."

Shazo pointed behind Naruto, signaling for him to turn around.

Naruto Uzumaki turned and saw the mountain-sized Nine-Tailed Fox, letting out a startled "Wow!"

He jumped around and cheered, "Such a big, handsome fox!"

The Nine-Tails, which had deliberately put on a vicious expression, went, "?"

Although he had only been raised for two years, and the attempt had technically failed, Shazo had still successfully erased Naruto's inferiority complex, along with the hatred for foxes born from it.

Naruto Uzumaki's natural love for fluffy animals was no longer suppressed. When he saw the Nine-Tails, he instinctively ignored its fierce expression and showed the purest fondness.

"Wow, such a huge fox lives inside me, and I haven't been burst open? That's incredible."

He shouted excitedly and bounced around, constantly trying to touch the Nine-Tails' flame-like fur with his hands, especially its fluffiest tails.

The Nine-Tails' expression collapsed. Its cheeks twitched as it swung its tails to evade the brat's grasping paws.

"Stop it, you damned brat! Stop right now!"

The Nine-Tails glared warily at Shazo. "Make him stop, or I'll tear him apart!"

Shazo chuckled. "If you can do it, then go ahead and try."

Naruto Uzumaki gleefully added insult to injury. "Oh dear, oh dear, adorable big fox. You live in my heart, so shouldn't you pay rent?"

"Hurry up and let me hug your tail, and I won't charge you rent."

The Nine-Tails was furious. "Bastard! It's not like I wanted to live here! To me, your heart is a prison! A prison!"

Shazo said, "Who said prisons don't charge rent?"

"Not only do you refuse to pay Chakra as rent, you even cause trouble for the landlord, disrupting Naruto's Chakra flow and leaving him as dead last."

"Nine-Tails, you'll have to pay double compensation."

The Nine-Tails snapped, "Pah! This brat's heart was cramped! Dark! Damp! Flooded! It suffocated me to death! Why should I pay rent?"

Shazo spread his hands. "But that's not what I see now. Isn't this environment quite comfortable?"

The Nine-Tails said disdainfully, "Ha, that only changed in the last two years."

"Besides, even if he became a little happier and more cheerful, making me a little more comfortable here, so what? Aren't I still in prison?"

"Pay rent? The moment I get the chance, I'll eat him—"

The Nine-Tails suddenly choked off mid-sentence.

In its excitement, one of its tails had accidentally slipped through a gap in the bars. Shazo and Naruto Uzumaki immediately pounced on it without hesitation, wrapping their arms around the fluffy fox tail.

That was right—Shazo was also a fan of fluffy things, and he especially loved petting fluffy animals.

The two of them hugged the Nine-Tails' tail, fully focused on enjoying its soft, warm fluff. They had not heard a word the Nine-Tails said.

The Nine-Tails flew into a rage and desperately tried to pull its tail back, only to discover that Shazo, dressed in black casual clothes, possessed astonishing strength. It could not pull free at all.

It suddenly erupted with immense pressure and roared, "Bastards! Listen properly when I'm talking!"

The Nine-Tails' Chakra exploded like flames, whipping up a tangible firestorm that surged madly toward the outside of the prison bars.

But the instant the Nine-Tails' Chakra passed through the bars, it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Minato Namikaze had deliberately left gaps in the seal so that the Nine-Tails and Naruto could have a chance to communicate, allowing Naruto to use the Nine-Tails' Chakra.

Therefore, the bars formed by the seal allowed them to speak and see each other, and also permitted benevolent Chakra to pass through.

But Minato Namikaze would never allow the Nine-Tails to harm Naruto, so the bars would firmly prevent any Chakra mixed with malice from passing through.

Thus, the Nine-Tails' outburst caused no harm whatsoever.

However, its outburst disturbed the two as they enjoyed its tail.

Naruto pouted and muttered, "This fox looks pretty, but its temper is awful."

Shazo raised his head and gave the Nine-Tails a calm glance. His gaze contained the Funeral Divine Art of Shinigami Xiazhuo.

In an instant, the Nine-Tails felt an indescribably terrifying pressure crushing down from every direction, pinning it firmly to the ground and rendering it unable to move.

In the real world, Shazo was only a Kage-level Ninja. He could only fight the Nine-Tails on even terms by relying on Wood Release.

But in Naruto's inner world, the soul became the sole decisive force. The Spirit of the Shinigami could display a portion of a true god's might.

The Nine-Tails' soul was itself an artificial creation. Its strength came from the exaggerated scale accumulated over a thousand years, rather than its own quality. It had no ability at all to defend against an attack from the Spirit of the Shinigami.

Shazo only needed to be careful about one thing: he could not exceed the limit Naruto's mind could endure and end up harming the boy.

At first, the Nine-Tails refused to yield and struggled desperately, but it soon discovered something even more terrifying.

Shazo's attack contained the essence of death, gradually wearing away the Nine-Tails' Chakra.

This was not the sort of damage the Nine-Tails was familiar with, where it was merely scattered apart. This was damage that could truly kill a Tailed Beast.

Tailed Beasts had never feared injury, because any damage merely dispersed their Chakra, which would soon gather again and restore them.

Even if a Tailed Beast was killed by a powerful ninja, its scattered Chakra would regroup within a few years. Not only would the Tailed Beast fully recover, it would even become stronger.

That was because the Chakra forming a Tailed Beast's body bore the imprint of that particular Tailed Beast. It was the Tailed Beast's exclusive private property.

As long as the Chakra itself could not be destroyed, Tailed Beasts would never suffer real harm.

But now, Shazo was erasing the Nine-Tails' imprint from its Chakra, returning it to its original pure state. The Nine-Tails was truly being weakened.

If this continued, the Nine-Tails would degenerate into the weak state it had been in when the Six Paths Sage first created it.

It might even be completely erased.

The Nine-Tails was afraid.