"How's it going, Naruto? Are you ready?"
"I'm ready, dattebayo!"
"Good. You don't need to be afraid when you see it. I'm here with you."
"Okay!"
After speaking, Fei Shi used genjutsu to enter the seal space, intending to have the Nine-Tails pull Naruto's consciousness inside.
But the moment Fei Shi entered the seal space, his face twitched.
An orange fox with nine tails was lounging on a sofa. Two paws were busy gaming, another two held a bottle of soda and some fries, and its hind legs were crossed.
Six limbs?
"W-what... What happened to you?"
"Hmph. I studied the ninjutsu you gave me and split off two extra paws."
Fei Shi: "..."
That's amazing!
"Kurama, pull Naruto's consciousness into the seal space. You two can talk, or play games together. Build up a bond, and while you're at it, tell him about the Tailed Beasts' origins and the Ninja World's past."
Kurama looked thoroughly reluctant. There were so many good things here, and now he couldn't play with them. What a pain.
"That's enough. You're the strongest Tailed Beast. Have some dignity! Believe me, I'll head to Sunagakure tomorrow and tell Shukaku how pathetic you've become."
Kurama: "..."
He wasn't afraid of other threats. Right now, he was only afraid of having his stuff taken away and this getting out.
One consequence would be endless boredom after death. It was easy to go from simple to complex, but hard to go from complex to simple.
The other would be the humiliation—and worse, Shukaku, his rival, would hear about it. Didn't the strongest Tailed Beast deserve to save face?
"Fine."
A little while later, Naruto appeared in the seal space. He looked around. Beyond the bars, the place was dim and damp, and he wasn't used to it.
Inside the bars, everything was bright. There was water, grass, trees, and a house. A huge orange fox was lying there asleep, while a small orange fox watched him with an impatient look.
"Fei Shi, is that little fox the monster you told me about? Hehehe, it doesn't look like one at all!"
"Hehehehe, is that so?"
A low laugh rang out, and Naruto turned to look at the huge fox. Kurama stirred, and a surge of sinister chakra erupted from his body. The oppressive force weighed down on Naruto, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Well, kid? Are you satisfied with your monster now? Hehehehe."
"I-I-I-I, h-hey, F-Fei Shi nii-chan, th-this is, a m-m-monster? It's s-so huge. I-it won't c-come out, will it?"
Fei Shi was speechless.
Where'd that courage you had just now go?
"Show a little backbone. I'm here. Besides, it can't get out..."
"Oh? Come over here!"
Fei Shi: "..."
Kurama: "..."
"Hehehehe. I wonder if Minato Namikaze would beat you to death if he knew you'd led his child astray."
Fei Shi didn't even blush as he replied, "He can't beat me."
Kurama: "..."
Fei Shi's smile faded. He gave Naruto a serious instruction:
"From here on, it's up to you, Naruto. It has a name, and you need to get it from him yourself. That'll prove he accepts you. From then on, he won't hurt you, and he'll become your partner. Understand? Treat him well."
Naruto glanced at Kurama. Kurama bared his teeth in a grin, and Naruto hurried behind Fei Shi.
That was terrifying.
"I'm leaving. You're on your own."
"No!"
Watching Fei Shi disappear, Naruto felt utterly hopeless.
Then he turned to face the enormous Kurama and forced out a smile even worse than a grimace.
"Hi!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Quick!"
"Lord Danzo ordered us not to let him get away!"
"Catch him!"
A boy ahead was fleeing for his life, jumping from one tree to another.
Blood streamed from one of his eyes. Every so often, he struck back at the ninja pursuing him.
I really didn't learn what Fei Shi taught me well enough. What do I do? If this gets exposed, Konoha could be plunged into civil war! Fei Shi... He wouldn't side with the Uchiha Clan. At most, he'd stay neutral. But even then, the Uchiha couldn't withstand a combined attack from Konoha's other ninja. Sigh.
What should I do? Why did I trust those elders so much? Because they were high-ranking officials? Because they'd led the people of Konoha toward peace?
Heh. Hehehe!
Aside from Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was no way!
After Shimura Danzō had ambushed him and stolen one of his eyes just now, he'd understood.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had made some changes after learning about the Red Ideology, and relations between the Uchiha Clan and the village had improved a little.
But only a little. It would take time to solve the problem completely.
The Nine-Tails Incident had shown them that they couldn't afford to let their guard down around the Uchiha.
Even if they later made it clear that the Nine-Tails hadn't been controlled by the Uchiha Clan, but by a mysterious figure with the Sharingan who had unleashed the attack—
Someone else could do it, which meant the Uchiha could, too.
After all, the conflict between them and the village hadn't started yesterday.
Shisui was unwilling to accept it!
He'd thought he could resolve the conflict between the village and his clan once and for all. He hadn't expected Lord Danzo, the man he trusted, to show him what he was capable of.
He couldn't bear to imagine how serious the consequences would be if what had happened to him came to light.
The Uchiha were like a camel carrying a heavy load. The Third Hokage had lightened it somewhat, but the burden would still crush the camel.
The best solution... was for him to die, so the Uchiha wouldn't learn what had happened to him.
But... he might as well kill these nobodies first.
A cold glint flashed in Shisui Uchiha's remaining eye. With a short sword in hand and his Sharingan guiding him, he killed them.
Then he sent a message to his confidant, Itachi Uchiha.
As for Fei Shi, who had taught him for a while, he didn't think he had the face to meet him.
Though Fei Shi hadn't taught him ninjutsu, he had taught him how to conduct himself and interact with others. His lessons about peace had given Shisui a great deal.
But he'd still failed at the very thing he'd learned most: dealing with people.
A while later, footsteps approached from behind.
"You're here, Itachi."
"Shisui, you... How could this happen? Who did this?"
Shisui slowly told him what had happened, as well as the current state of affairs between the clan and the village.
"If this gets out, the village will be thrown into crisis. It's a shame. I still wanted to hear more of Fei Shi's ideas about peace. He spent most of his time teaching me how to interact with others. I thought I'd learned well. I never expected... Itachi, now everything will settle down only if I die. I entrust this eye and the Uchiha's future to you."
"Shisui!"
Itachi tried to grab Shisui, but he was too late.
The Three-Tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, then joined together, slowly forming a new shape.
Mangekyō Sharingan, awakened!
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