After absorbing it, many memories appeared in Naruto's mind. He now understood that they belonged to his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. Without waiting for her to appear, Naruto had absorbed her chakra directly into his body.
Most of Kushina Uzumaki's memories concerned Sealing Jutsu, which greatly interested Naruto. The power of Sealing Jutsu went without saying.
With the gate gone, the Nine-Tails and Naruto faced each other in the space.
"So, how are you going to face me now?" Seeing the situation, the Nine-Tails bared his teeth.
"Let's find out." Naruto bared his teeth, too.
It was something he had wanted to do for a long time.
Both the boy and the fox were excited.
Chakra surged in an instant, and Naruto entered Nine-Tails Mode.
Seeing this mode, the Nine-Tails wasn't surprised that Naruto could enter it after taking so much of his chakra. He hadn't expected anything less.
"So this is your trump card? Do you really think so little of me?" After speaking, the Nine-Tails charged forward and swiped at Naruto with a claw.
"I'm not looking down on you!" Naruto charged as well, raising a fiery red Rasengan in his right hand. It was a Fire Style Rasengan. Unlike the Naruto in the original story, who excelled at Wind Release, this Naruto had become more skilled with Fire Style from cooking and controlling the heat. That was how the Fire Style Rasengan had come about.
The Rasengan collided with the Nine-Tails' claw.
Both of them staggered back several steps.
"Not bad, kid." The Nine-Tails grinned, excited. He'd only just regained his freedom, and already he had someone to fight.
"Looks like you're not as strong as I thought, either." Naruto grinned.
The two charged again and began fighting at high speed in the vast, white space. Without the restrictions of the seal, the space seemed endless.
"Nine-Tails, is that all you've got? What a disappointment!" Naruto's Taijutsu, combined with his ability to absorb chakra, gave him the upper hand.
The Nine-Tails said nothing. He crouched on all fours, gathering black and blue chakra in front of his mouth. A Tailed Beast Bomb quickly took shape.
He fired it toward Naruto.
"So this is a Tailed Beast Bomb?"
Naruto's eyes showed disdain. He raised his right hand and touched the Tailed Beast Bomb, using Devour and Digest.
"What a troublesome ability. You really are something, kid. So this is what gives you the confidence to face me." Though surprised, the Nine-Tails had seen this ability before.
The battle between boy and fox began anew.
Knowing his Tailed Beast Bomb was useless, the Nine-Tails started attacking at close range.
Naruto stood his ground as the Nine-Tails' claw came down on him.
Ordinary Punch. Naruto threw a punch, and the Nine-Tails was knocked back by a massive burst of wind-nature chakra.
"Nine-Tails, you really are weak." Naruto looked at the fox before him, disappointed.
"Don't get cocky, kid."
The Nine-Tails was furious, but there was nothing he could do about Naruto. He was outmatched in both speed and strength.
This ends now. Adamantine Sealing Chains! Naruto clasped his hands together. Ten golden chains emerged from his back and bound the Nine-Tails tightly.
"What? Kid, you've awakened this power?" Seeing the familiar scene, the Nine-Tails was shocked.
Naruto didn't answer. He simply walked toward the Nine-Tails, step by step.
"Kid, what are you going to do?" The Nine-Tails frowned, already guessing what Naruto intended.
"Punishment for losing."
Naruto said no more. He placed his right hand on the Nine-Tails' head and absorbed his chakra.
The Nine-Tails' chakra rapidly flowed into Naruto's body. In the end, Naruto didn't even know how much he had absorbed. He only saw that the Nine-Tails had become much thinner.
"Goodbye, Nine-Tails. I hope you'll be stronger the next time we meet." With that, Naruto disappeared.
"Kid, you'll regret this."
When Naruto opened his eyes, it was already morning. He didn't have school today, so he could sleep in. He'd slept to his heart's content and felt wonderful.
His chakra had surged, and the Nine-Tails' seal inside him had come undone, but that made things more troublesome. He still had to set aside some of his chakra to suppress the Nine-Tails.
Hand Seals weren't the key to Ninjutsu. What mattered was how you channeled your chakra while forming them. The Sharingan worked by observing the chakra inside an opponent's body and then copying it.
So, truly skilled shinobi could release Ninjutsu using only one hand seal—or without any at all.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama could do it in the later period, and the Sage of Six Paths could do it when he was young. In fact, Ninjutsu hadn't originally required hand seals. It was only after the Sage of Six Paths that people began using them. The Ōtsutsuki Clan didn't need hand seals, either. What they had in common was that their power was their own, and they possessed vast amounts of chakra.
"There's Chidori, too." Naruto was surprised to see the Jutsu. But then he remembered that the Fourth Hokage was still alive when Kakashi first created it. He had even offered Kakashi guidance and spotted the flaw in the technique at a glance.
So it wasn't surprising after all. Besides, this was only the original version of Chidori, far too outdated for Kakashi now. But it was just right for Naruto. Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke had both developed techniques suited to themselves based on Chidori: Sasuke's Chidori Current and Chidori Sharp Spear, and Kakashi's Lightning Blade.
"Shadow Clone Technique." Three loud bangs sounded, and three clones appeared. The four Narutos stared at one another, feeling curious. It was a strange sensation, like looking in a mirror.
At the same time, his chakra was divided evenly among them. But if a clone disappeared, its chakra would return to his body.
"Do you understand?"
Naruto asked curiously.
The three clones nodded and returned to the room to practice Ninjutsu.
The clones shared Naruto's memories from before their creation, so all three knew their assignments. After discussing how to divide the work, they began their research.
Satisfied with the technique, Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was at his usual training spot.
He spread out his senses. No one was watching him. He'd managed to shake off his tail.
He held two fingers upright in front of his chest.
Multi-Shadow Clone Technique.
A hundred or more Narutos appeared in an instant. Then they vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, each heading off to train somewhere different.
Naruto himself closed his eyes and began studying Ninjutsu.
Time flew by. After an unknown while, the Shadow Clones began to disappear, and their experience and fatigue flooded back into Naruto. He couldn't help frowning. The injuries weren't serious, but having them hit all at once had caught him off guard.
"Can mental fatigue only recover on its own?" Even Six Thief Immortals couldn't restore mental energy instantly.
Still, Naruto could handle the strain.
At dusk, Hinata appeared.
"Naruto's still training?" Seeing Naruto still at it, Hinata felt a little ashamed.
"I had nothing else to do, so I trained," Naruto said honestly, scratching his head.
"How about we go for a walk? I heard there'll be fireworks tonight." Hinata thought it over, then looked at Naruto shyly.
"Sure." Because of Hinata's status, Naruto hadn't gone to see her to play. He hadn't expected her to come looking for him today.