"I don't want to."
Kurama finally spoke.
His voice went straight into Naruto's ears. It was perfect—this kind of conversation wasn't affected by the vacuum.
"I thought you were really going to pretend you were mute."
Naruto had long since become the true master here. He sat right on the ground and looked up at the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails looked down at Naruto, feeling especially strange.
Why did humans look so small, yet manage to grow stronger step by step?
And why had the Sage of Six Paths believed that a new version of him could appear in this world?
Time had made the Nine-Tails feel that day would never come.
The Ninja World's wars came one after another. What humans were best at was killing each other.
"I just couldn't be bothered."
The Nine-Tails continued to look down at Naruto.
He thought:
When had he started to see this mere Konoha Genin differently?
Was it because he had watched him grow up, or because he kept doing foolish things and risking his life to save people?
Maybe it was when he suddenly awakened his talent and started talking to himself.
Or perhaps...
It was simply because he had called him Kurama by name.
"Looks like you've been bottling up a lot. A Jinchuriki from the Sand Village recently came to our village. His name is Gaara."
"One-Tail Shukaku has also been trying to awaken from its seal, so that kid hasn't dared to sleep. He's always walking around with dark circles under his eyes."
"What about you?"
"Don't you feel cooped up in here? Why not go outside and take a look, Kurama?"
Naruto walked toward the seal gate.
A strange rattling of chains sounded behind him.
The Nine-Tails stared at Naruto in disbelief.
A few days ago, Naruto had said he was trying to awaken the sealing techniques passed down through the Uzumaki Clan.
He had been working at it quietly all this time. Could it be that he had succeeded?!
"Human words are lies."
"You only want greater power, so you can seize more land and kill more of your own kind. And I'm just what you call a Tailed Beast."
"Naruto, you're a monster too. Humans will always reject outsiders, including Jinchuriki."
The Nine-Tails hated the terms "Tailed Beast" and "Jinchuriki."
They hadn't meant anything else before, but now they sounded like two miserable creatures bound together.
A storm, ready to erupt and spiral out of control at any moment.
"Jinchuriki? What's that?"
Naruto really had awakened the sealing techniques passed down through the Uzumaki Clan.
Adamantine Sealing Chains!
He could unleash chains from within his body. They could drag a Tailed Beast back inside him by force, let alone an ordinary ninja.
With the Adamantine Sealing Chains, plus the Eight Trigrams Seal formed from two Four Symbols Seals,
Naruto could draw out some of the Nine-Tails' chakra whether it wanted him to or not!
The stronger he grew, the more chakra he would be able to draw out!
Once the Nine-Tails' chakra spread across Naruto's entire body, he would enter Nine-Tails Mode!
"Kurama, I think you've misunderstood."
"I no longer plan to become such a fragile thing as a Jinchuriki. My path is to become a new Sage of Six Paths—or even the Chakra God!"
"Humans or Tailed Beasts—it's better for me to create a new Ninja World myself than wait for them to reconcile and live happily ever after!"
A mass of chains burst from Naruto's body.
They appeared from every direction in the Sealing Space and pinned the Nine-Tails firmly to the ground.
In an instant,
Naruto opened his eyes as he lay on the rooftop.
A flash of golden light appeared.
He forcibly drew out some of the Nine-Tails' chakra and transformed it.
"Kurama."
"Rather than wailing in the old world, help me break this rotten, crumbling age."
Naruto held out his hand.
The Nine-Tails struggled fiercely against the Adamantine Sealing Chains pinning him to the ground.
One figure after another appeared before his eyes.
Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Mito Uzumaki, Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, Asura, Indra, the Sage of Six Paths.
Each of them was different. They were all powerful people the Nine-Tails had encountered in his life.
Some he hated, some he respected, and some he had relied on.
But ever since the Ninjutsu Sect had emerged, followed by the era of Ninja Villages,
humans had always chased after a new future, trying to find a world that everyone could accept.
Once again,
the Nine-Tails stood at the center of the Ninja World's storm.
And the Nine-Tails was the perfect witness. He had been there for every change of era.
So he had witnessed countless chapters of human history with his own eyes.
The past...
It had been so dazzling, and there had been so many times when nothing could be done.
Without exception,
every act of slaughter committed by those who treated him as a tool had ultimately been blamed on the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails, who felt emotions. The embodiment of negativity. The Demon Fox who would destroy the world.
In the end,
Naruto had made his invitation with such unshakable conviction.
Whenever the Nine-Tails had been defeated in the past, people had sealed him again and used him.
They exploited his nearly endless chakra.
Few people had ever been like Naruto, who had clearly subdued the Nine-Tails with Adamantine Sealing Chains, yet still reached out to him.
"What are you thinking, you idiot?!"
The Nine-Tails said furiously.
Naruto reminded him of the Sage of Six Paths' kindness, and of Mito, whose beliefs had been filled with love.
[ DING! ]
[The host's heartfelt persuasion has raised the Nine-Tails' goodwill by 30%. Achievement unlocked: Friend of Tailed Beasts]
[Reward: 10 Goodwill Points]
Well, well!
Naruto hadn't expected Kurama to be so tsundere.
With the previous goodwill increases added in, it had to be close to 100% by now!
"Then thanks for the chakra!"
Naruto released the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Even so, some of the Nine-Tails' chakra was converted by the Eight Trigrams Seal, though it was clearly reluctant.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Naruto turned golden!
Nine-Tails Mode!
When he had first learned to use it, Naruto had been absolutely thrilled.
A little while later, he had gotten used to it and acted as if he didn't care.
On Konoha's busiest street,
Gaara felt that Shukaku inside him was getting restless.
After forcibly suppressing his renewed drowsiness, he managed to maintain his current state.
Naruto had finally gained a new trump card.
He lay on the rooftop, basking in the warm sunlight.
Beneath Konoha's shadows,
whether it was Orochimaru, determined to destroy everything, or Danzo, who was fated to stand by and let people die,
they were both nothing more than cogs in the collapse of the Ninja World's old era.
Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Obito Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, Kaguya Otsutsuki.
As the prologue began,
dark clouds suddenly gathered over Konoha's clear skies, and a downpour began.
Naruto lay on the rooftop in the rain, feeling the storm, which was nothing more than a trivial trick.
[ DING! ]
[The host is finally rewarded for his good deeds. This draw gave you a "Better luck next time." Draw the two remaining "Better luck next time" results to upgrade the Epic Prize Pool!]
["Better luck next time" consolation prize: Choose one of the following as your prize: Shuriken × 1000, Kunai × 1000, or Ration Pills × 1000]
"There's a consolation prize too? At least you're not completely heartless, System!"
Naruto pointed at the Kunai.
With these 1,000 Kunai, he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique without holding back.
It also gave Naruto's already broke lifestyle a little much-needed relief.
After the downpour,
Naruto went home and took a hot shower.
Tomorrow was the official Chunin Ninja Exams, and it was time to open Konoha's eyes!