Shiraha: Look at Kurama, He Looks Like a Dog!

Shiraha listlessly followed behind Kushina. The two arrived at the Ramen shop and polished off twenty bowls between them.

Although the dishes at High-Class Restaurants were delicious, they could not eat them every day. When it came to Ramen, this place was still the tastiest.

Uncle Teuchi from Ichiraku Ramen was still only a teenage apprentice at this point, but his Ramen-making skills were already remarkably refined.

Shiraha and Kushina both loved eating Ramen.

Though it was all ordinary meat, it was still fairly nutritious. In any case, sheer quantity could satisfy Shiraha's energy requirements for practicing the Breathing Technique.

"Shiraha, how did your appetite grow so quickly?"

Seeing that Shiraha had also eaten ten bowls of Ramen, Kushina could not help but feel surprised.

Shiraha drained the soup from his bowl, wiped his mouth, and said with a smile,

"Want to know? Come to my house later, and I'll tell you!"

"Then let's hurry!" Kushina took out some money from her wallet and placed it on the counter, urging Shiraha to leave.

Kushina and Shiraha wandered about as they walked. It took them over an hour to reach Shiraha's home.

They had shopped until the Anbu Ninja tailing them had gone off duty.

When they entered Shiraha's living room, Kushina flopped down onto the soft sofa.

Although Shiraha's home was small and plainly furnished, the sofa was very comfortable. Every time she came here, she felt a warmth that made it seem like she had returned home.

It was much better than the empty, several-hundred-square-meter courtyard the Third Hokage had arranged for her on the outskirts of the village!

"Kushina, you can tell me what you wanted to say earlier now." Shiraha sat across from Kushina.

The Third Hokage's surveillance had already disappeared by the time they reached the Ramen shop.

As for the Anbu Ninja, this was the time for a shift change. Based on Shiraha's previous observations, Kunoichi generally monitored Kushina at night.

Later still would be the time when Kushina went home to sleep. Shiraha did not know whether Anbu would continue monitoring her after that.

"Weren't you going to tell me why your appetite has gotten bigger?" Kushina asked.

Her appetite had grown because of her high consumption.

Later, after sealing Kurama, her physical strength increased, along with her appetite.

As a ninja, one's appetite would not grow for no reason.

What Shiraha had said today made Kushina realize that he had many secrets unknown to others.

She was very curious!

"I'll tell you about that slowly," Shiraha said. "Don't get off topic. Since no one is watching us now, let's get to the important part first."

The matter of his appetite was naturally due to his improved physique after advancing, bringing him one step closer to the Formal Knight stage.

He had actually long planned to teach Kushina the Knight Breathing Technique, but he had never had the chance.

After all, Kushina had previously been under close surveillance.

Now that the Third Hokage was gradually putting his mind at ease about Kushina, the situation was naturally different.

Unlike a Wizard's Meditation Method, the Knight Breathing Technique did not have extremely strict talent requirements. Any normal person could practice it.

Of course, the stronger one's physical talent, the more suitable they were for it and the faster their progress would be.

"Crimson Dragon Calamity" had a very high learning threshold among Knight Breathing Techniques, but with Kushina's physical qualities, she could clearly learn it.

"Oh." Kushina came to her senses, nearly forgetting the important matter. "What I wanted to say is that Kurama has been constantly interfering with my Chakra, and it is seriously affecting my training progress.

"At first, with Grandma Mito's help, I obtained a small portion of Kurama's Chakra.

"But as time passed, Kurama seemed to have adapted to the seal and began interfering with my Chakra extraction.

"That is also why, aside from the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I can barely learn any other ninjutsu properly."

"Will there be a problem with the seal?" Shiraha asked worriedly.

"No!" Kushina shook her head. "The Adamantine Sealing Chains Grandma Mito left inside me can suppress Kurama for at least a dozen years. By then, I should be able to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains with my own strength to suppress Kurama.

"Besides, to prevent any accidents, Grandma Mito also left part of her Chakra inside me.

"When necessary, she will help reinforce the seal."

"Then I'm relieved. Let me check your condition first." Shiraha activated the Innate Spells "Eye of Truth" and "Sixth Sense."

With the boost of his Innate Spells, the Energy Field emanating from Kushina was simply far too powerful!

Based on Kurama's portrayal in the anime, he is clearly an intelligent creature. In that case, there might be a way to fool him. Shiraha thought to himself.

To sense Kushina's condition more accurately, he placed his hand on her lower abdomen. Then, using Chakra as a medium, he began probing with his Mental Power.

Boom—!

Shiraha's vision went black. It felt as though he had slammed into a wall, and a powerful, violent Chakra forcefully pushed his Chakra out.

Good grief, was his temper really this bad?!

"Shiraha, what's wrong?"

Seeing Shiraha's body tremble and his face turn slightly pale, Kushina could not help asking with concern.

Shiraha shook his head. "It's nothing. It seems Kurama isn't very friendly toward humans."

"Yeah, Tailed Beasts are all extremely powerful and violent creatures. Kurama is the strongest among them, as well as the embodiment of evil and the collection of all hatred.

"He will take advantage of moments when my heart is vulnerable to seize my body, then wreak havoc and slaughter people."

Kushina explained.

Compared to her own impression of Kurama, she was mostly repeating the descriptions she had heard from Mito.

However, after becoming the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, Kurama often made so much noise during that initial period that she could not sleep, and her mood would become inexplicably irritable.

Hearing this, Shiraha had an idea and said,

"Come to think of it, Tailed Beasts really are quite awful. Did he do something outrageously wicked before, which was why Konoha's predecessors sealed him away?"

"Of course! If he hadn't done bad things, how could he have been sealed? He must be rotten to the core!" Kushina waved her fist. "Shiraha, don't worry. I won't let him get the chance to come out and hurt anyone!"

At that moment, hearing the two brats outside slander him so brazenly, Big Orange—who had been sealed away for decades for no reason—suddenly widened his eyes and roared furiously,

"Damn brats! It's all lies! This is all you damned ninjas' fault! I have never done such things!"

Seeing Kushina's expression suddenly turn strange, Shiraha asked, "What's wrong, Kushina?"

"Kurama spoke just now," Kushina answered honestly.

"What did he say?"

"He said he never did it, that it's all lies. I don't believe him."

"Oh?" Shiraha's heart stirred.

According to the scattered records in books, Tailed Beasts had already been demonized.

However, the books said that long ago, Tailed Beasts either lived in remote mountains and forests rarely visited by people, or in the sea.

Thinking of the saying, "History is written by the victors," Shiraha felt that the information left behind by their predecessors should be viewed objectively.

"Kushina, keep asking him."

"Ask him what?"

"Can you bring my Chakra into the Sealing Space with you?" Thinking of the scene where Naruto met Kurama, then considering Kushina's eloquence, Shiraha decided that he should handle the negotiation himself.

"Probably. I entered the Sealing Space a few times while sleeping. Should I try?"

"Wait."

"What is it?"

"Ask Kurama for his consent first. That should make it easier to get in."

"Oh, okay. Huh?" Kushina agreed, then suddenly realized what he meant. Blinking her big eyes, she stared at Shiraha with a bewildered, adorably blank expression.

"Damn brat! Are you mocking me?" Kurama raged within the Sealing Space. He made it sound as if the seal were his home, somewhere Shiraha could come and go as he pleased!

"He's angry. He's cursing you," Kushina relayed.

Shiraha: "..."

What terrible manners. Was he some kind of street thug?

"Since that's the case, it doesn't matter whether he agrees or not. Let's go in."

"Okay!"

Shiraha once again gathered his Chakra at Kushina's lower abdomen, while his Mental Power transferred along with Kushina's Chakra.

Very quickly, Shiraha felt his body appear within an enormous, empty space.

It felt rather like meditation.

Four enormous Golden Chains, glowing faintly, extended from the void above and tightly bound the orange beast before them. It looked just like a tightly wrapped rice dumpling. Chains were even wound tightly around all nine of its tails, leaving only its head exposed so they could clearly see its appearance.

Looking at Kurama's appearance and his stubbornly upright ears, Shiraha could not help finding it amusing.

"So this is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? Why does he look a little like a dog?"