Nine-Tails: How Can There Still Be Conditions?

"Don't leave!"

"Let's talk a bit more!"

The Nine-Tails was frantic—it was genuinely terrified that Uchiha Nan would just walk away like this.

The most terrifying thing wasn't the endless darkness stretching beyond sight, but having just glimpsed a sliver of light in that darkness, only for it to vanish in an instant.

When any creature dwells in the abyss, as long as it can see hope, it displays unparalleled endurance.

Wasn't it just another decade or so inside Mito Uzumaki's body? Endure it—just endure it, and it would pass.

A bright future was still waiting for it!

The Nine-Tails cheered itself on in its heart. The chance to regain freedom was right before its eyes—it absolutely couldn't let this slip away.

"Thought it through?"

"Can you accept it?"

Uchiha Nan sneered inwardly. This big fox had finally taken the bait.

"I can accept it!"

"Isn't it just enduring another ten-plus years? I can handle it!"

The Nine-Tails thumped its chest, signaling that it was still strong and could overcome this little problem on its own.

Uchiha Nan nodded. Since the Nine-Tails had started to give ground, now was the time to press his advantage. The initiative in the negotiation was already in his hands.

If he didn't set conditions now, when would he?

"Let's make a three-part agreement. I guarantee that after Mito Uzumaki dies, I'll give you your freedom. In return, you'll live near Konoha as a guardian tailed beast."

"Of course, Konoha will provide you with corresponding protection and a guarantee of your livelihood!"

Uchiha Nan certainly wasn't about to just release the Nine-Tails outright and let it become a wild tailed beast.

Even if he became Hokage, he couldn't simply set the strongest tailed beast in the ninja world free. The other higher-ups in the village wouldn't agree—this would shake the very foundation of Konoha's survival.

For all he knew, the moment he let the Nine-Tails go, it might go missing, only to be caught by Uchiha Madara hiding in some cave and turned back into a beast of burden.

No matter what, Uchiha Nan felt he was looking out for the Nine-Tails. He just didn't know if the Nine-Tails could understand his good intentions.

"Nani?"

"I still have to stay in Konoha?"

"That wasn't the deal just now!"

The Nine-Tails was getting flustered and angry. How could another condition be tacked on? Damn these evil Uchiha!

"What did I say just now?"

"I did agree to release you from Mito Uzumaki and give you freedom. I'm doing you a huge favor—aren't you going to give me something in return?"

"That's pretty stingy of you. You're not going to be as petty as One-Tails Shukaku, are you?"

"If that's the case, then I'll respect your decision. I guess I misjudged this tailed beast."

Uchiha Nan pretended to be displeased, putting on an air of having misjudged things, his words making the Nine-Tails feel like it had committed some terrible wrong against him.

Especially when Uchiha Nan brought up One-Tails Shukaku. Of the other eight tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails had the worst relationship with Shukaku—they often fought and clashed.

To be lumped into the same category as Shukaku? The Nine-Tails couldn't accept that!

It was the strongest tailed beast. Even in death, it couldn't sink to Shukaku's level.

Thinking it over carefully, living near Konoha wasn't actually that bad. The vast forests around it weren't much different from where it used to live.

As for guarding Konoha, the Nine-Tails conveniently ignored that part. When the time came, it could just go through the motions without putting in real effort!

Firing off a couple of Tailed Beast Bombs would be enough to show goodwill. Enemies who couldn't withstand a Tailed Beast Bomb usually couldn't reach Konoha anyway.

As for enemies who could casually shrug off a Tailed Beast Bomb, the Nine-Tails figured it probably couldn't deal with them either. Firing off two bombs on the battlefield would already be doing right by Uchiha Nan.

If it didn't cut and run then, all those years of imprisonment would have been for nothing!

No matter what, it had to agree first. It had to get out of that little dark room inside Mito Uzumaki's body. The Nine-Tails couldn't even remember the last time it rolled around in a sunlit patch of grass.

Everything else could wait!

Thinking this way, the Nine-Tails suddenly felt the world was vast and its thoughts were no longer shackled.

As long as it bided its time, kept its head down, and played its part, there would surely come a day when it soared like a bird into the blue sky or swam like a fish into the ocean!

Hah, it was so clever. The Nine-Tails felt that the two poetic lines it had just thought up were incredibly cultured. When the day of its escape came, it absolutely had to recite them!

"For your sake, I suppose agreeing isn't out of the question!"

"I, the Nine-Tails, am not the kind of tailed beast that forgets a favor!"

The Nine-Tails flashed a sly grin, its tsundere attitude so strong it made Uchiha Nan overjoyed. This big fox was actually pretty easy to handle.

"Then let's make our three-part agreement. A fist bump to seal it!"

Uchiha Nan wanted to try what Naruto Uzumaki did. He'd heard it could create a bond of hearts with a tailed beast, though he didn't know if it was true or not.

His heart was clean, with no ill intentions toward the tailed beast. By the time Mito Uzumaki died, many years would have passed anyway.

Maybe at this rate I could even pull out the Rinnegan—why bother with tailed beasts at all?"

"Fine!"

The Nine-Tails extended a fist bigger than any Uchiha's and bumped it against Uchiha Nan's. Too bad there was no special reaction—no telepathic spark whatsoever. Probably the bond wasn't deep enough yet.

Uchiha Nan couldn't be bothered to dwell on it. The main goal this time was just about achieved anyway. Time to talk serious business.

"Kurama, how exactly are you planning to help me?"

Uchiha Nan's face turned serious. Having followed the Sage of Six Paths for so many years and lived over a thousand years, he refused to believe the Nine-Tails had no trump cards left. Mito Uzumaki wasn't Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju—she hadn't crushed the Nine-Tails through raw power alone. The fox must have had some way to influence her.

"Hmph. All those years I was trapped inside Mito Uzumaki's body, I spent every moment eroding the seal with my Chakra. But the amount was tiny—so small it was almost undetectable."

"But I never lacked time. Drops of water wear through stone. Mito would eventually grow old, grow weak. As long as the seal weakened, I'd have my chance."

The Nine-Tails let out a sinister chuckle, a nasty look on its face. Uchiha Nan nodded—he hadn't misjudged the fox after all.

A fox was always cunning and treacherous.

Uchiha Nan gave the Nine-Tails a thumbs-up, praising its persistence in wearing down the stone drop by drop.

That made the Nine-Tails feel a little smug. It continued speaking to Uchiha Nan:

"In a moment, when you leave, I'll mobilize all the Chakra I've used to erode the seal. The seal will weaken, and I'll go all out to reclaim the Chakra that Mito Uzumaki stole from me."

"At that point, Mito Uzumaki will be fully occupied suppressing me. She won't have the strength to maintain the Tailed Beast Transformation. As for the rest, I don't need to spell it out for you."

"Just give that bitch Mito Uzumaki a thorough beating!"

The Nine-Tails flashed a malicious grin. Clearly, it had zero good memories of her. She and Hashirama Senju were birds of a feather—neither of them had ever treated tailed beasts as people.

"No problem!"

Uchiha Nan agreed without hesitation. Beating a dog when it's down was right up his alley. If you wanted to establish authority, you had to pick the hardest nut to crack.