Breaking Into Naruto's Body

"Is this what they call infinite Chakra?"

Even though he had drained the Nine Tails Chakra enveloping Naruto time and time again, the moment Nagato interrupted the Preta Path's ability, Naruto—who had already transformed into a miniature tailed beast—would be instantly re-enveloped by Nine Tails Chakra. The endless stream of Nine Tails Chakra seemed almost infinite; it was simply not something the current Nagato could drain dry.

Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Nagato's eyes. Although the amount of Eight Tails's Chakra is nowhere near that of Nine Tails, Kisame's Samehada was actually able to drain the Eight-Tails' Chakra until not a drop remained. This is an ability I need to study when I have the time.

To obtain the greatest power, one must find the path to the pinnacle, and these paths were hidden within all the secrets of this world, waiting for Nagato to unearth and unravel them.

And right now, one of the world's greatest secrets was before him, residing within Naruto's body.

Thinking of this, Nagato flung a multitude of Black Receivers, pinning the howling Naruto to the ground, then leaned in to stare directly into Naruto's blank, hollow eyes.

The four Pains, along with the summoned beasts present, were also under Nagato's control, crowding around him. They suppressed Naruto and simultaneously discouraged the surrounding Konoha ninja from attempting to take advantage of the moment to attack Nagato.

Under the gaze of Nagato's Rinnegan, ripples began to form in Naruto's previously vacant eyes, gradually expanding like waves on water, growing more and more turbulent. Nagato's consciousness followed these fluctuations into Naruto's body.

"Splash."

The sound of feet stepping into standing water echoed in the cramped mental space, and a strange, oppressive feeling emanated from all directions, causing Nagato to frown.

This must be the sealing space inside Naruto. Nagato nodded.

Because right before his eyes, he saw Nine Tails, who was currently bewitching Naruto, and Naruto himself, kneeling before the giant gate of the seal.

At this moment, a pitch-black hole had opened in Naruto's abdomen, from which black liquid flowed incessantly like ink, staining the water beneath his feet black before spreading toward Nine Tails's feet. Nine Tails's Chakra also flowed into Naruto's body along with this black liquid, darkening his spirit and causing even more black liquid to pour from his abdomen.

It was like a cycle, keeping Naruto immersed in negative emotions, unable to break free.

With just one glance, Nagato understood what kind of dark game this human and beast were playing.

"Is this the Nine Tails inside you?" Nagato asked Naruto.

Immersed in negative emotions, Naruto had yet to react. Behind the massive gate, Nine Tails was the first to glare viciously at Nagato, looking fierce and malevolent; it seemed quite unfriendly, as if it did not welcome Nagato, the stranger.

Nagato understood this and returned Nine Tails's gaze with eyes as cold as metal. The powerful ocular power radiating from the Rinnegan made Nine Tails bare its fangs, wanting to roar aloud yet shrinking its neck back in trepidation.

This stinking fox seemed exceptionally wary of anything related to the power of the Six Paths.

Naruto, who had been clutching his head with his head hung low, sensed Nagato's arrival and tilted his head blankly toward him, asking, "Who are you?"

His eyes were filled with confusion.

Nagato nodded, understanding in his heart that at this moment, Naruto could no longer receive information from the outside world.

"I am Pain!"

After answering honestly, the response Nagato received was a fist swung by Naruto.

"It's you, you bastard!!"

"Human Path!"

After easily catching the fist Naruto had swung in his haste, Nagato directly activated the ability of the Human Path.

At this moment, Naruto was merely composed of the mental energy within him; he lacked the enhancement of Sage Mode and was influenced by Nine Tails Chakra, his mind in total disarray. Thus, he was no match for Nagato. After being easily subdued, Nagato used the Human Path's ability, his right hand pulling out the white soul from within the struggling Naruto.

"Pain! Are you trying to kill Naruto?" Nine Tails couldn't help but speak up at this moment.

It knew very well that the white substance emerging from Naruto's body was his soul; if it were pulled out entirely by Pain, Naruto would die. And if Naruto died, it would have to die as well, so Nine Tails did not want Naruto to die.

Of course, such words were merely an excuse. In Nagato's view, this little tsundere of a Nine Tails actually had a deep protective complex toward its host, though it would never admit it.

Nagato glanced up at Nine Tails while pulling on Naruto's soul.

Even through the massive sealing gate, Nagato could see the immense resentment radiating from within Nine Tails's body.

It was a level of resentment that no human or tailed beast should possess, feeling like the entrance to a hellish abyss, giving one a hair-raising sensation.

He didn't know if it was because Nine Tails was connecting to Naruto, or because Naruto's soul was currently being held in Nagato's hand.

At this moment, in Nagato's eyes, the infinite resentment pouring from Nine Tails's body took the form of human-shaped wraiths, crawling out from Nine Tails's body and letting out ear-piercing, hate-filled shrieks at Nagato, looking exceptionally eerie and terrifying.

Such a sight made Nagato narrow his eyes. He was very curious about the origin of the countless wraiths on Nine Tails.

Unfortunately, he was still a bit too weak to deal with Nine Tails right now; even if he risked his life to capture it, it would only benefit Obito Uchiha. So, he had to give up for the time being and postpone his plans to study Nine Tails.

Thinking of this, facing Nine Tails's questioning gaze, Nagato replied indifferently, "I just wanted to confirm a few things."

After all, Nine Tails was not the only secret on Naruto's body.

"Confirm what things?"

Nine Tails continued to press with a low voice. The power of the Six Paths always appeared for a reason, and Nine Tails was eager to know what purpose Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, had now.

However, Nagato did not intend to answer the stinking fox any further.

To him, Naruto's body was equivalent to a treasure trove of Chakra.

The most likely guardian to appear was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

But now, even though Naruto was in mortal danger, Minato Namikaze's Chakra had not appeared.

This indicated that the Chakra of Minato Namikaze left inside Naruto was merely something akin to a program.

As long as Naruto did not release Nine Tails's power to the eighth tail, Minato Namikaze's Chakra would not appear.

Although Nagato did not fear Minato Namikaze, he liked his affairs to proceed smoothly and disliked surprises. And an existence of Minato Namikaze's caliber, once it appeared, could always cause some sort of accident.

Having figured this out, Nagato immediately ordered the Pains in the outside world to suppress Naruto, keeping the Nine Tails Chakra on Naruto's body at a maximum of six tails.

Because Nagato had previously absorbed a massive amount of Nine Tails's Chakra, and the Hashirama necklace around Naruto's neck had also begun to take effect, it was not difficult for the Pains and their summoned beasts to suppress Naruto's body for the time being.

However, that might not hold true if the situation dragged on.

"Nine Tails, you don't want Naruto to die, do you? Then temporarily stop your Chakra output..."

Opportunities to study Naruto were rare, and Nagato wanted to try extracting the various Chakras within Naruto's body to examine them.

"Why should I do that?" Nine Tails bared its teeth. It had originally intended to ignore Nagato, but after glancing at Nagato's Rinnegan, it changed its tune. "What's in it for me?"

"In return, I won't kill Naruto, and I will remove the necklace from his neck afterward."

As Nagato said this, he pulled out a bit more of Naruto's soul as a threat.

At this moment, Naruto had not yet learned the technique of "tug-of-war" with a Tailed Beast. Furthermore, being in a spiritual state and facing Nagato, who had already absorbed so much of Nine Tails's Chakra, meant that a large portion of his soul was quickly being pulled out.

Waves of weakness washed over Naruto. He looked on in terror as his soul was being extracted from his body, struggling with all his might to resist. He could hear the voices of Nagato and Nine Tails bargaining over him, and he was so furious that he cursed out loud: "You bastards are looking down on me too much! Let me go... you jerks..."

Unfortunately, Naruto soon lacked even the strength to curse. His voice grew fainter and his eyelids heavier; he seemed unable to hold on any longer.

Seeing this, Nine Tails quickly shut its mouth, effectively agreeing to Nagato's demand.

Trapped within the Four Symbols Seal, it was powerless against Nagato. With Naruto subdued by Nagato, it had no choice but to yield as well, feeling deeply frustrated.