"Kakashi-sensei, it looks like the Nine-Tails wants to meet me. Sorry for the trouble, but please watch over me for ten minutes. I want to see if we can have a friendly chat."
Before Kakashi could respond, Yi Xiang placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated, and his consciousness sank inward.
The scene before him was exactly as Yi Xiang had imagined, but experiencing it firsthand was rather unsettling. Deep darkness surrounded him, with only the enormous cage at its center radiating an oppressive presence that made his heart pound.
"Yi Xiang, how did you get in here?!"
Sensing something unusual in his subconscious, Naruto appeared beside Yi Xiang.
"The Nine-Tails Chakra invited me, and my control over the Sharingan's ocular power has improved. Getting here was pretty easy."
Yi Xiang glanced at the shallow, seemingly pale-yellow water underfoot as he spoke casually.
Bubble, bubble... bubble, bubble...
Red bubbles rose from the water in front of the cage at an increasingly astonishing rate. They gradually formed the Nine-Tails' enormous head, its scarlet eyes like blood moons fixed on Yi Xiang, who seemed no larger than an ant.
"Hmph, Uchiha brat, you really dared to come in here. I absolutely loathe those evil Sharingan eyes of your clan!"
The Nine-Tails' voice was deep and hoarse, carrying an unquestionable authority.
Yi Xiang showed no fear. Instead, he took two steps forward, each sending ripples across the water. Looking straight at the Nine-Tails, he offered a gentle smile.
"Kurama, when the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails into the One-Tail through the Nine-Tails and scattered you across the lands, wasn't his intention for you to coexist with humans and gradually understand the true meaning of the world and life?
"He believed that through contact with humans, you could find