Nine-Tails

Uzumaki Reikawa stood on the water's surface within the sealing space, looking at the Nine-Tails' massive body. "I'm Uzumaki Reikawa, from the Uzumaki Clan. I just wanted to ask whether you could coexist peacefully with Naruto."

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

From the outside, Naruto lay unconscious on the ground, wrapped in a cloak of Nine-Tails chakra. Uzumaki Reikawa's hand rested on Naruto's stomach, though the skin on his hand was being slowly corroded by the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Kakashi lay on a tree branch, observing their situation. The moment anything went wrong, he would immediately intervene to ensure the Nine-Tails did not go berserk.

The Nine-Tails immediately understood. It grinned as if in mockery. "The Uzumaki Clan? There's actually a descendant who has reached this level of strength. But why should I coexist peacefully with Naruto? Why should I lend him my power?"

Uzumaki Reikawa thought seriously for a moment. "After all this time, you should have seen what Naruto has gone through. Don't you have any thoughts about it?"

The Nine-Tails fell silent for a moment. "So what? Humans are treacherous and deceitful. This little brat repays grievances with kindness. In my eyes, he's just a complete fool. And he may be like this now, but that might not be the case in the future." The Nine-Tails snorted coldly. It had seen plenty of cases like this.

Once he had experienced enough despair, who knew whether he would still keep that mindset? Thinking of this, the Nine-Tails inexplicably looked forward to watching a good show.

Since reason would not work, Uzumaki Reikawa had no patience left. After all, he could not talk people into submission. Several chains of Adamantine Sealing Chains suddenly extended from behind him.

The Nine-Tails took a slight step back and bared its fangs. It had truly been traumatized by this ninjutsu before. "What are you trying to do?!"

"I was thinking, since the Fourth Hokage could split you into Yin and Yang halves, and Tailed Beasts are merely collections of chakra, does that mean you can be divided as well? That way, when Naruto uses your chakra, it can be transferred little by little. He won't become berserk because his emotions are unstable and you take advantage of an opening." Uzumaki Reikawa lowered his head, seemingly considering the feasibility of this idea.

The Nine-Tails' fur immediately stood on end. This guy really seemed capable of doing it. At the thought of being endlessly divided, its entire body was instantly chilled. It hurriedly said, "Naruto going berserk wasn't my doing. Or rather, it wasn't something I consciously caused. Don't you humans always say that Tailed Beasts are symbols of Calamity? If you want to use the power of Calamity, then you'll inevitably be affected by that power."

"...Tailed Beast chakra is attribute-less, and you aren't Calamity either. When Naruto borrows your chakra, you merely mix your resentment and other negative emotions into it. Or rather, you're consciously guiding Naruto toward darkness."

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

Uzumaki Reikawa: "..."

For a moment, they simply stared at each other... Who knew what it was thinking, but in the end, the Nine-Tails yielded. Seeing this, Uzumaki Reikawa withdrew the chains as well.

The Nine-Tails lay on the ground, its ears drooping. It somehow looked pitiful and aggrieved. "I can refrain from influencing Naruto and let him borrow my chakra. But he can't withstand too much of my power right now. However, if Naruto eventually becomes like those people, I'll Devour him."

The Nine-Tails could clearly sense human goodwill and malice, yet strangely, it could not tell whether the person before it meant goodwill or malice. If it was goodwill, he had just talked about splitting it into several pieces. If it was malice, it could not sense any hostility toward itself at all.

These humans had always treated it as the symbol of evil and disaster. It was rare to hear a human say that it was not like that.

But the most important reason the Nine-Tails compromised was that, after Naruto learned it had killed his parents, he had not blamed it for their deaths. That moved the Nine-Tails somewhat.

In truth, among the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails valued feelings the most. Yet precisely because it cared so deeply, it felt more pain and malice than the others, gradually becoming what it was today.

Uzumaki Reikawa was somewhat surprised that things had gone so smoothly. Still, since the Nine-Tails had compromised, that was a good thing. He gave it a slight bow. "Thank you for being willing to trust Naruto. I believe Naruto won't disappoint you."

The Nine-Tails haughtily turned its head aside at that. Humans were all full of sweet talk.

Outside, the Nine-Tails' chakra stopped corroding Uzumaki Reikawa's palm, and the overflowing chakra slowly receded. Seeing this, Kakashi closed the Icha Icha Paradise in his hand, leaped down beside Uzumaki Reikawa, and asked, "How did it go?"

"No problem." Uzumaki Reikawa grinned. "From now on, when Naruto uses the Nine-Tails' chakra, there shouldn't be any risk of him going berserk, barring any accidents. But there's no need to tell Naruto this yet, so he doesn't become overly dependent on the Nine-Tails' chakra."

After saying that, he noticed Kakashi studying him as though he were thinking about something, hesitating to speak.

Uzumaki Reikawa: "??"

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

"I'm not entirely sure myself. But one thing I can confirm is that compared to you, it should be fifty-fifty." Well, without using the Sharingan to cheat, Kakashi the 50-50 had not earned that name for nothing.

"..."

At that moment, Jiraiya was explaining the intelligence he had gathered to Tsunade.

"You suspect Hanzo is already dead? What evidence do you have?"

"I discovered that the residents of the Land of Rain are basically living in peace. Even fights and brawls are rare. But they all say it's thanks to God and Lady Angel. Hanzo may be called a demigod, but I don't think he was anywhere near capable of that. And when I saw the central tower, my instincts told me that if I insisted on getting close, I would probably die."

"..." Tsunade bit her thumb, feeling uneasy. Even someone with Jiraiya's strength had sensed death? "Then what do you suspect?"

"I suspect the so-called Akatsuki organization's base is there." Jiraiya spoke with a grave expression. "We haven't been able to find any trace of Akatsuki for so long. If Hanzo is truly dead, then as an independent country that has barely interacted with the outside world in recent years, the Land of Rain could very well have become Akatsuki's headquarters!"

"...Have you notified the other ninja villages about this information?"

"Not yet. Although I'm seventy percent certain, unless they personally experience Akatsuki's terror, the other ninja villages won't believe it. Even if our guess is correct, we have no way to make plans in response under these circumstances."

As he spoke, Jiraiya suddenly thought of Naruto. "Right, where is Naruto now?"

Tsunade briefly explained everything that had happened over the past few days to Jiraiya.