Nine-Tails

Uzumaki Reikawa stepped onto the water surface within the sealing space and gazed at the Nine-Tails' massive form. "I am Uzumaki Reikawa of the Uzumaki Clan. I only came to ask if you could coexist peacefully with Naruto."

Before entering, Uzumaki Reikawa had already used a genjutsu to knock Naruto unconscious, so Naruto's consciousness was not present in the sealing space at this moment.

In the outside world, Naruto lay on the ground, unconsciously wrapped in a cloak of Nine-Tails chakra, while Uzumaki Reikawa kept his hand pressed against Naruto's stomach. The skin on his hand was being corroded by the Nine-Tails' chakra, albeit at an extremely slow pace.

Kakashi lay on a tree branch, observing their situation; he would intervene immediately if things went wrong to ensure the Nine-Tails did not go on a rampage.

The Nine-Tails understood the situation instantly upon hearing this, grinning with a mocking expression. "The Uzumaki Clan? To think there is still a descendant capable of reaching this level of strength. But what makes you think I have any reason to coexist with Naruto? Or to lend my power to him?"

Uzumaki Reikawa thought about it seriously before saying, "You have witnessed Naruto's experiences for so long. Do you truly have no thoughts on the matter?"

The Nine-Tails fell silent for a moment. "So what? Humans are treacherous and cunning. This little brat actually returns kindness for malice; in my eyes, he is a complete fool. And he may be like this now, but who knows what he will become later?" The Nine-Tails snorted coldly; he had seen such situations countless times before.

Once he experiences enough despair, who knows if he will still maintain this mindset? Thinking of this, the Nine-Tails felt a strange sense of anticipation, as if waiting to watch a good show.

Since reasoning was getting nowhere, Uzumaki Reikawa lost his patience; after all, he was not a master of Talk no Jutsu. Suddenly, several Adamantine Sealing Chains extended from his back.

Seeing this, the Nine-Tails retreated slightly, baring his teeth, mostly because he had been traumatized by this jutsu in the past. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I was thinking, since the Fourth could split you into Yin and Yang halves, and Tailed Beasts are merely aggregations of chakra, does that not mean you could be divided further? If so, when Naruto uses your chakra, it would act as a gradual transition, preventing you from taking advantage of his emotional instability to cause a rampage." Uzumaki Reikawa lowered his head, seemingly contemplating the feasibility of this idea.

The Nine-Tails' fur stood on end at these words, because this guy actually seemed capable of doing it. The thought of being infinitely divided sent a chill through his entire body, and he hurriedly spoke up. "Making Naruto go berserk is not something I do, or at least, it is not influenced by my conscious intent. Don't you humans always say we Tailed Beasts are symbols of calamity? If you wish to use the power of calamity, you will inevitably be influenced by that power."

"...Tailed Beast chakra is attribute-less, and you are not calamities. When Naruto borrows your chakra, you are simply infusing your resentment and other negative emotions into it, or rather, you are consciously guiding Naruto toward darkness."

The lie was exposed on the spot. The Nine-Tails: "..."

Uzumaki Reikawa: "..."

For a moment, they stared at each other... whatever the Nine-Tails was thinking, he eventually backed down, and seeing this, Uzumaki Reikawa retracted his chains.

The Nine-Tails lay down on the ground, his ears drooping, looking inexplicably aggrieved. "I can stop influencing Naruto and allow him to borrow my chakra, though he cannot withstand much of my power right now. But if Naruto eventually turns into one of those guys, I will devour him."

The Nine-Tails could clearly sense the goodwill or malice of humans, but strangely, he could not sense either from the person in front of him. If it were goodwill, he had just threatened to split him into pieces; if it were malice, he couldn't feel any hostility toward himself at all.

These humans had always treated him as a symbol of evil and disaster, so it was rare to hear a human say he was not that way.

But the key factor that made the Nine-Tails compromise was that after Naruto learned it was the Nine-Tails who killed his parents, he did not blame the beast for it, which moved the Nine-Tails.

In fact, among the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails was the most sentimental, but it was precisely because he was sentimental that he felt so much pain and malice, eventually becoming what he was today.

Uzumaki Reikawa was surprised that things had gone so smoothly, but since the Nine-Tails had compromised, it was a good thing. He bowed slightly to the Nine-Tails. "Thank you for being able to trust Naruto. I believe Naruto will not let you down."

The Nine-Tails turned his head away in a haughty manner; humans were all just smooth-talking creatures.

Outside, the corrosion of Uzumaki Reikawa's palm by the Nine-Tails' chakra ceased, and the overflowing chakra slowly receded. Kakashi closed the Icha Icha Paradise in his hands, jumped down beside Uzumaki Reikawa, and asked, "How did it go?"

"No problem." Uzumaki Reikawa flashed a toothy grin. "From now on, when Naruto uses the Nine-Tails' chakra, there shouldn't be any risk of a rampage, provided nothing unexpected happens. However, there is no need to tell Naruto this for now, to avoid him becoming overly dependent on the Nine-Tails' chakra."

After speaking, he noticed Kakashi looking him over, seemingly thinking about something and hesitating to speak.

Uzumaki Reikawa: "??"

Kakashi asked with some hesitation, "So, what exactly is your level of strength?"

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure myself, but I can be certain that compared to you, it should be a 50-50 split." Well, as long as he didn't use the Sharingan to cheat, Kakashi the 50-50 did not earn his name for nothing.

"..."

At this time, Jiraiya was explaining the intelligence he had gathered to Tsunade.

"You suspect Hanzo is already dead? Do you have any evidence?"

"I discovered in the Land of Rain that the residents there are basically in a state of peace; even fights and brawls rarely occur. But they all say this is thanks to God and Lady Angel. Although Hanzo is a demigod, I feel he is far from reaching that level. Moreover, I saw the central high tower, and my intuition tells me that if I insist on approaching it, I will likely die."

"..." Tsunade bit her thumb upon hearing this, feeling uneasy. Even someone with Jiraiya's strength felt death? "Then what is your speculation?"

"I suspect the base of the so-called Akatsuki organization is there." Jiraiya said with a serious expression. "We haven't been able to find the roots of the Akatsuki for so long, and if Hanzo is truly dead, then the Land of Rain, as an independent nation that has had little contact with the outside world in recent years, could very well have become the headquarters for the Akatsuki!"

"...Have you notified other ninja villages about this news?"

"Not yet. Although I am 70% certain, without personally experiencing the terror of the Akatsuki, other villages will not believe it. In such a situation, even if our guess is correct, we have no way to take targeted action."

Speaking of this, Jiraiya suddenly thought of Naruto. "By the way, where is Naruto now?"

Tsunade briefly explained the events of the past few days to Jiraiya.