First Meeting with the Nine-Tails

After a day of training, Naruto Uzumaki dragged his exhausted body home. No sooner had he finished washing up than he collapsed onto his bed. Gradually, his consciousness began to blur, sinking deeper and deeper. When Naruto opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark, damp sewer, with roars echoing from the distance.

"Roar—over here, brat, come closer."

Hearing this, Naruto grinned. He had been searching for a way to enter this place for a long time but had never succeeded. He hadn't expected to arrive here today, so he began walking toward the source of the roars.

Soon, Naruto reached a slightly more spacious area. The first thing he saw was a massive iron gate, and behind it, a colossal beastly shadow with two blood-red eyes glaring at him.

"Brat, come here. Tear off this seal, and I will grant you invincible power."

Naruto didn't speak. He simply snapped his fingers, and the sealing space lit up, no longer as dim as before. Now, Naruto could clearly see the beast behind the gate. Just as in his memories, it was a red fox with nine tails.

"Kurama, don't be impatient. I want to talk to you first," Naruto said with a smile as he looked at the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails behind the iron gate was stunned to hear Naruto call him by his name. He quickly regained his composure and roared at Naruto, "Brat, how do you know my name?"

"I'll tell you about that later. I want to chat about something else first," Naruto said.

"What do you want to talk about?" Looking at the smiling Naruto, the Nine-Tails calmed down.

"I want to talk about my views on the Tailed Beasts," Naruto said, sitting cross-legged as he looked at the Nine-Tails.

Seeing Naruto sit down, the Nine-Tails asked, "Then tell me, how do you view us Tailed Beasts?"

"Tailed Beasts are living beings with consciousness and thoughts of your own. You all have your own ways of life; you should not be called monsters."

"Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha saw your immense power; one controlled you, while the other sealed you away."

"Madara Uchiha controlled you and called you a monster. For the sake of so-called peace in the ninja world, Hashirama Senju treated you like objects, distributing you to various ninja villages and sealing you in these cramped, sunless places for decades. Because humans fear your power, they treat you as the embodiment of disaster. I feel very angry about all of this," Naruto said, looking at the Nine-Tails and sincerely expressing his thoughts.

The Nine-Tails watched Naruto and saw the sincerity in his eyes. As an accumulation of natural energy, the Nine-Tails possessed the ability to perceive good and evil. He sensed not a shred of malice toward him in Naruto, so he laid down.

"Then what do you think should be done?"

"I will set you free and let you become the guardian deities of the ninja world, rather than being sealed away like objects," Naruto said, explaining his vision.

"Oh? Go on," the Nine-Tails became interested upon hearing Naruto suggest that the Tailed Beasts should become guardian deities.

"The reason the ninja world is not at peace is that there are too many factions, unbalanced interests, and the erosion of various ideologies leading to a lack of trust between people. Wars constantly break out between nations. Furthermore, the status gap between ninjas, nobles, and commoners is too vast."

"I believe true peace should be based on mutual understanding, honesty, and helping one another. There should be no more war in the ninja world. Everyone should have enough to eat and wear, the young should be nurtured, and the old should be cared for."

"Of course, the first step to achieving this is to unify the ninja world, and then through a shift in ideology, eliminate the divisions between people. This will take a long time."

"Ever since you were sealed inside me, our lives have been linked. So, I need your help—whether it's your power or anything else," Naruto told the Nine-Tails everything he was thinking.

After listening to all of this, the Nine-Tails thought of the prophecy the Sage of Six Paths had given them before he left. He grinned and said, "You have kept me waiting for a long time. I am willing to help you. What should we do next?"

Hearing that the Nine-Tails was willing to help, Naruto smiled even more happily. "Then let's fist-bump first," he said, walking to the front of the iron gate and extending his right hand.

Seeing this, the Nine-Tails raised his claw and bumped it against Naruto's hand. (This was not activating the Sage Fox mode, but simply sharing memories with the Nine-Tails.)

After a long while, having finished viewing all of Naruto's memories, the Nine-Tails said, "So that's how it is. No wonder you knew so much, and even my name. What do you want to do now? And what about Konoha?"

"I need to find a way to leave the village first so I can break your seal. As for Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, and those who abused me must die. As for the others who insulted and bullied me, we'll see. If they remain so ignorant and foolish..." Naruto didn't finish his sentence.

"Fine. Whatever you do, I will support you."

"Thank you, Kurama," Naruto said gratefully upon hearing the Nine-Tails' words.

"Naruto, just as you said, from the moment I was sealed inside you, our lives were linked. So there is no need to say thank you. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you; after all, your parents died because of me," the Nine-Tails said, looking at Naruto with deep regret.

Hearing Kurama mention his parents, Naruto snorted coldly. "It's fine, Kurama. They will be resurrected sooner or later. Just consider it their punishment."

Afterward, the boy and the fox chatted in the sealing space. Perhaps because they had both been suppressed for too long and were finally able to confide in someone, they talked for a long time—about the past, about the future. Happy laughter echoed through the sealing space from time to time.

"Alright, Kurama, let's stop here for today. I have other things to do." As he spoke, Naruto used his power to modify the appearance of the sealing space. The area where Kurama was transformed into a small island, though the massive iron gate remained. The surroundings turned into ocean, a sun appeared overhead, and the entire space became filled with vitality and life—far better than that oppressive, dark sewer.

"Heh, it's been a long time since I've seen the sun. I won't say thank you," the Nine-Tails said, happy to see the environment change. After all, no one wanted to stay in such an oppressive place forever.

After changing the environment of the sealing space, Naruto walked inside the gate, came before Kurama, and placed his hand on the Nine-Tails' forehead. When Naruto pulled his hand away, a cultivation technique had appeared in Kurama's mind.

"Kurama, this technique is one I've chosen for you. Try to see if you can cultivate it." After imparting the technique, Naruto spoke to the Nine-Tails.

Kurama responded and began to try. This attempt gave Naruto a shock. He clearly felt that as Kurama operated the technique, natural energy from the outside world surged into the sealing space like a tidal wave. A portion of it gathered into his own energy vortex and then spread throughout his body, tempering his flesh. The Supreme Demon Sutra he was cultivating also began to run.

This was something Naruto hadn't expected. His original idea was just to let Kurama cultivate and become stronger, so that when they combined their powers later, they could unleash even greater strength.

Watching Kurama immersed in cultivation, Naruto exited the sealing space and began his own training.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, both Naruto and Kurama woke up from their meditative state. The spiritual energy in Naruto's vortex had begun to show signs of condensing into liquid—a sign that the first level of the technique was nearing completion. Normally, the Supreme Demon Sutra was very difficult to cultivate and progressed slowly; at his usual speed, it would have taken half a year to reach the first level of completion. He hadn't expected that just one night of cultivating with Kurama would bring him to the brink of success.

Although this was only the effect of the first time, it was certain that cultivating together in the future would be much faster than doing it alone.

Thinking of this, Naruto silently thought, "Kurama, how do you feel?"

"Very good. I feel like I've become much stronger, and my size has grown as well," Kurama's slightly excited reply echoed in Naruto's mind.

"Heh, then let's keep working hard and grow stronger together."