Night...
"The old man's pretty sensible. He said he'd switch me to a better room, and he did. No dragging his feet this time."
Settling into his new home,
Naruto remarked with some feeling
as he looked at a room four times the size of his old, shabby place.
The decor and furnishings were much better, too.
After the war, Konoha had enjoyed a period of peace.
Ordinary people weren't living particularly comfortable lives.
But what did that have to do with him, Naruto?
The main problem was that these people loved courting disaster.
Everyone wanted to stand out and become Hokage.
If you didn't have the strength or the iron will to handle things,
then don't come out and compete.
Wouldn't that keep the world at peace?
"Kurama."
Naruto entered the inner world, where the Nine-Tails was sealed.
He'd torn off the sealing tag a long time ago.
The Nine-Tails was lying inside its cage
like a well-behaved little puppy.
Even with the gate wide open,
it didn't dare take a single step outside.
Moved? It didn't dare move.
Kurama had told Naruto its real name yesterday.
"May I ask what you need, Master?"
The Nine-Tails spoke respectfully, not daring to act out.
After what had happened last night,
it realized that sticking close to Naruto
was absolutely the right choice.
"How are you recovering?" Naruto asked.
Naruto had forcibly and perfectly fused the chakra of the two Nine-Tails.
He himself hadn't been affected in the slightest,
but the Nine-Tails, the main one involved, had grown weaker
after the fusion was complete.
It needed some time to rest.
"Master, after a full day of rest, I'm completely recovered."
The Nine-Tails answered honestly.
The other half of its power, the other half of itself, had returned to its body.
The feeling of regaining that power—
it couldn't begin to describe how good it felt.
Even so,
not a single thought of escape crossed the Nine-Tails' mind.
Just as it had thought last night,
Naruto might be young,
but he was already terrifyingly powerful.
Give him a little more time to grow, and wouldn't he soar to the heavens?
Even if it escaped Naruto,
the commotion it caused in Konoha would surely be enormous.
The other ninja villages would hear about it,
and sooner or later, they'd capture it again
and seal it inside another Jinchūriki.
Who knew whose body it would end up in this time?
The Nine-Tails didn't want to keep living this life of endless wandering.
By Naruto's side,
it could sense a familiar warmth that it couldn't explain.
It was just like the days when it had lived with the Sage of Six Paths.
Of course,
it still didn't know Naruto was Asura's reincarnation.
Naruto stroked his chin.
"You can shrink your body, right? Make yourself doll-sized."
The fox's face was filled with confusion.
He wanted a colossal beast like it to turn into a stuffed toy?
It pictured little brats cuddling such toys while they played,
or needing to hug one at night to fall asleep.
The Nine-Tails shuddered.
Could Naruto actually be thinking of doing that?
It immediately gave the answer it knew was a lie.
"Master, I can't!"
Naruto spread his hands.
"What's the point of having a useless thing like you?"
The Nine-Tails lowered its head even further.
Whatever you say, boss.
Go ahead and scold me... Scold me all you want...
If I, Kurama, so much as furrow a brow,
I'll stop calling myself Kurama and take your name instead: Uzumaki!
Uzumaki Kurama. Not bad. A fine name!
Naruto grinned.
"I heard your old friend, the One-Tail, Shukaku, can grow or shrink whenever it wants."
"It said you could do it too. What, were you lying to me?"
Old friend?
The One-Tail, Shukaku?
Oh, hell!!! What kind of nonsense was that about an old friend?
That stupid bastard had set me up!
Wait... How did Naruto know the One-Tail was called Shukaku?
And how did he know about my relationship with it?
We weren't old friends.
We were sworn enemies.
How was it supposed to explain this?
Seeing Naruto stare at it with a knowing smile,
the Nine-Tails immediately gave in.
"Master, I was wrong! I just remembered. I actually can use that grow-and-shrink technique."
When Naruto opened his eyes again,
his blue-green irises had turned golden, with rippling rings.
The Rinnegan.
"I don't even know when strange ninjutsu might suddenly fly out of my hand."
A threat.
A blatant threat!
And the Nine-Tails couldn't even get mad about it.
You're the boss. Whatever you say goes.
"Master, I was wrong. I'll transform right now!"
"Oh? Can you turn into a cute girl?"
"I... I'm a beast, you see..."
"What's the point of having a useless thing like you? You can't even turn into a cute, nine-tailed girl. You're completely useless."
"..."
What the hell, I'm not human!!!
Even if I can shrink, I can't take on a human appearance.
I must have done something awful in a past life!!!
That damned Masked Man dragged me to Konoha to cause trouble.
The Masked Man ran off.
I got captured.
To end up with a Jinchūriki like this—
I must have had the worst luck imaginable.
I never had a choice before, but from now on, I just want to be a quiet, well-behaved fox.
Please, heavens, give me a chance.
P.S. Thanks so much to all the big shots for your donations!
I can see them in the backend, all those little bits and pieces, a few cents here and there. Together, they've added up to more than ten yuan.
That's just enough for a bottle of Huiyuan juice. Thank you~ I'll post an extra chapter tonight.
Before you continue