Conversation with Kurama

Watching Itachi leave, Uchiha Kei let out a long sigh.

He had long since expected a day like this to come.

Fortunately, his ability to act cool was maxed out; otherwise, it really would have been difficult to explain.

In the anime, Itachi was known as "Itachi-god," and beyond his tragic life, it was his strength and sharp intellect that earned him the title.

How could he have been fooled by a simple word like "genius"?

"Kei! Kei!"

Outside, loud, boisterous shouting disrupted his contemplation.

Uchiha Kei sighed and slowly walked out the door.

"Yo, Naruto, how did you find me here?"

Naruto rushed over with an excited look on his face, grabbed his hand, and started pulling him outside.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing!"

Uchiha Kei was stunned, and in that split second of distraction, his feet left the ground.

"..."

If he didn't use chakra, his physical strength really couldn't compare to Naruto's.

After all, he was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki; even with the beast sealed away, his physical strength far exceeded that of an ordinary person!

Soon, the two arrived at the small grove they often frequented.

Uchiha Kei steadied himself after the sensation of weightlessness, "Naruto!"

"Sorry, sorry."

Naruto pressed his palms together, a look of guilt appearing on his face.

"I've had some changes in my body, and I didn't know who to tell. I just happened to run into Brother Itachi, and he said you were back, so I hurried to find you."

Uchiha Kei wasn't actually angry, so he began to examine Naruto's body upon hearing this.

Face: no external injuries.

Body: same as usual.

Chakra...

Forget it, that stuff didn't belong to Naruto right now.

After looking for a long time without spotting any issues, Uchiha Kei felt a bit puzzled.

"Where are the changes? How come I don't see anything?"

"There are, there are! I'll show you."

Naruto sat down cross-legged in a rush, then suddenly remembered something and stood back up.

"You should stay further away from me, so I don't accidentally hurt you."

Uchiha Kei wanted to laugh.

He was a man who now possessed the Rinnegan!

Not to mention, he had the chakra flow of a jonin circulating through him, surging and boundless!

Accidental injury?

That didn't exist.

"Go ahead and show me, you don't need to worry about me."

Naruto hesitated, but seeing Uchiha Kei's confident demeanor, he sat back down cross-legged.

"It's really quite strong, be careful."

Naruto was still somewhat worried.

"Relax."

Uchiha Kei waved his hand with the air of a grandmaster, his aura of a "king of cool" on full display.

Naruto felt reassured, closed his eyes slightly, and fell into meditation.

Gradually, a savage, violent aura began to rise slowly from his body.

Wisps of crimson "chakra" began to diffuse from him, and the six distinct whisker marks on his face grew thicker and longer.

Uchiha Kei's expression tightened, and a bad feeling welled up inside him.

"Naruto..."

Uchiha Kei hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to wake Naruto up.

Just then, the crimson "chakra" surged violently, and a massive force of repulsion slammed into him fiercely.

"What the—!"

The Mangekyo appeared in an instant, and a mass of silver-white bones wrapped tightly around him.

Even so, he still couldn't withstand the thrust of the scarlet "chakra," and his body was sent flying like a tattered sack.

"Boom!"

With Naruto at the center, all the trees and turf within a ten-meter radius were uprooted one after another, scattering in all directions.

Rolling across the ground a few times, Uchiha Kei dispelled his Susanoo, watching Naruto—who was enveloped in scarlet "chakra"—with a mix of shock and uncertainty.

This power was definitely not something Naruto should possess at this stage!

Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged, was not having an easy time either; his facial expression was extremely ferocious, as if he were resisting something.

Around his body, the scarlet "chakra" swirled like liquid, forming bubble-like shapes that carried an astonishing, bestial power.

Uchiha Kei focused his gaze to observe.

According to the plot, the first time the Nine-Tails' power went berserk should have been during the battle at the Valley of the End when Erzhuzi defected.

Back then, Naruto didn't have such powerful physical strength, so the Nine-Tails' power was naturally not that strong, and he was soundly beaten by Erzhuzi in his Cursed Seal state.

Although he wasn't sure how strong Erzhuzi was in his Cursed Seal state, it should have been at most between a genin and a chunin.

But the power Naruto was erupting with now could directly crush a chunin!

This power was somewhat sinister.

Unless he had been stimulated by a Sharingan with three tomoe or more...

Suddenly, a figure appeared in Uchiha Kei's mind.

It wasn't just the Uchiha who possessed the Sharingan.

There was also a guy who feared no chaos in the world...

He also possessed a Sharingan!

"Roar!"

By now, Naruto had partially beastified, shifting from his cross-legged position to all fours as the scarlet "chakra" churned.

A pair of red eyes stared fixedly at Uchiha Kei.

Indifferent, murderous, and bloodthirsty!

"Naruto, can you hear me?"

Uchiha Kei asked softly.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

His response was a heaven-shaking roar, and the figure, now turned black and red, lunged forward violently.

"Damn it!"

Uchiha Kei cursed under his breath and quickly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Possessing jonin-level chakra, his Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu had also risen by several grades.

A thin line of fire spewed from his mouth, expanding instantly into a massive fireball ten meters in diameter after leaving his body by three meters.

"Bang!"

The giant fireball collided with Naruto, the resulting shockwave kicking up dust from the ground like a scene from purgatory.

The giant fireball and Naruto fell into a stalemate.

"Roar!"

The beastified Naruto was incredibly irritable, his mouth emitting continuous hisses as his figure suddenly doubled in size, and a tail made entirely of scarlet chakra appeared!

"Whoosh!"

A sound of breaking air rang out; Naruto's figure tore through the fireball in an instant and appeared before Uchiha Kei in the blink of an eye.

"Rip!"

Sharp claws extended, piercing through Uchiha Kei's chest from front to back.

"Naruto..."

Uchiha Kei called out softly, paying no mind to the wound that had pierced through his chest.

"Roar... roar..."

The beastified Naruto froze, looking at Uchiha Kei's injury, a look of struggle appearing on his red and black face.

Pain, despair, bloodlust, and ruthlessness!

All sorts of contradictory emotions appeared in succession.

"Kei... Kei..."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed, tears flowing unconsciously.

Now!

The figure that had been pierced turned into a log with a "bang," and the real Uchiha Kei appeared at his side.

"Look at me!"

The sword-shaped Mangekyo snapped open.

Naruto instinctively turned his head, his gaze instantly locking onto those eyes.

The scene fell silent at once.

The crimson chakra stopped boiling.

The volatile Naruto also quieted down.

Beside him, Uchiha Kei stood equally rigid and motionless.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened.

When Uchiha Kei opened his eyes again, he had arrived before a massive cage.

An ink-black iron gate stood silently, with crimson bubbles permeating the air everywhere.

Etched upon the iron gate was an ancient, primitive seal.

"Brat of the Uchiha clan!"

A massive fox head lunged out from the gap in the iron gate, its eyes brimming with brutality.

"Hi, how are you, Kurama?"

Uchiha Kei was not the least bit surprised; instead, he greeted the Nine-Tails quite casually.

"Brat, how do you know my name?"

Kurama was stunned.

It had been many years since anyone had called him by that name.

"I know a lot of things."

Uchiha Kei curled his lip.

Kurama was filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

The fact that this brat could enter the seal meant he possessed a Mangekyo.

Against an Uchiha with a Mangekyo, it truly had no power to resist.

"I came here to negotiate with you."

"Negotiate? You aren't worthy!"

Lacking the power to resist did not mean Kurama would simply surrender.

Being a tsundere for ten thousand years was not just a figure of speech.

"Don't put on such a fierce and menacing act, you tsundere."

"Brat! What nonsense are you spouting!"

Kurama grew somewhat agitated, and the crimson chakra began to boil once more.