Nine-Tails

Without a Kekkei Genkai or a powerful family legacy, no matter how hard an ordinary person worked, their ceiling would be someone like Might Guy.

A lifetime of effort might earn them the power to shatter one enemy with a single kick, only to die of exhaustion afterward.

But Naruto could not afford that.

He was different from other transmigrators.

He had not transmigrated into some random nobody. He had become Naruto Uzumaki.

The Child of the Prophecy in this world, Ashura's reincarnation, a chosen worker destined to face Six Paths Level enemies head-on.

Kaguya, Six Paths Madara, Ten-Tails Obito, Rinnegan Nagato, the Impure World Reincarnation army, and more...

Any one of those names was an apocalyptic disaster.

Others could lie flat. He could not.

If he lay flat, no one in this world would be left standing.

Moreover, Naruto had a very clear understanding of himself: he could not use Talk no Jutsu.

Anime Naruto's strongest weapon was not the Rasengan, nor was it Nine-Tails Mode. It was that mouth of his, capable of talking villains into becoming allies.

Nagato had been talked to death by Naruto. Even someone on Six Paths Obito's level could be talked into doubting his entire life.

But he was not the Naruto from the anime. He did not have that naturally infectious personality or those experiences.

As an adult soul who had transmigrated at thirty, he could not sincerely and purely reform his enemies the way a teenage boy could.

Since the path of Talk no Jutsu would not work, he could only take another path: absolute suppression through strength.

And the source of that strength was already within him.

The Nine-Tails, the strongest Tailed Beast in the Shinobi World. If he became a Perfect Jinchuriki with it, he might be able to contend with Six Paths Level experts—though only barely.

The Chakra imprints left behind by Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were merely two clusters of Chakra, but they contained all the battle knowledge and experience of the Fourth Hokage and the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

There was also Ashura's reincarnation Chakra. That one was more uncertain, but in theory, it existed within him as well.

The previous Naruto had no way to actively reach these powers. He could only wait passively for them to erupt under external stimulation.

But now that he had the Absolute Control Ability, everything was different.

Naruto could actively explore the inside of his body, find these powers, and take control of them one by one for his own use.

Naruto made a list of priorities in his mind. First priority: meet Minato Namikaze and Kushina, then learn core ninjutsu such as the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God.

This was the fastest route to improving his actual combat strength.

Second priority: gain further control over the Nine-Tails' power, at least enough to freely use and adapt to Nine-Tails Chakra.

Third priority: try to contact Ashura's Chakra. This was a longer-term goal and might not produce immediate results, but if it succeeded, the gains would be transformative.

Having thought it through, Naruto completely immersed his attention within his body.

The Absolute Control Ability activated.

The sensation was extraordinarily strange.

The moment he activated the ability, his consciousness seemed to become a pair of all-seeing eyes, allowing him to clearly perceive every detail inside his body.

The flow of Chakra through his meridians, every contraction and relaxation of his heart, the sound of blood rushing through his veins, every tremor of his muscle fibers.

Everything appeared within his perception in flawless detail.

And in that vast universe of his body, several places radiated distinctly different lights.

Some were warm and bright, like golden morning sunlight.

Others were gloomy and dark red, like magma imprisoned deep underground by chains.

Naruto first locked onto the glow filled with oppression and evil.

Its source lay in the deepest part of his body.

Naruto took a deep breath, and his consciousness abruptly sank downward.

The darkness before him rapidly receded, replaced by a massive, dim, damp sewer.

This was the projection of the Nine-Tails' seal within his Mental Space: a seemingly endless corridor, its floor covered by a shallow layer of water. Every step sent cold ripples spreading beneath his feet.

The air was damp and frigid, filled with the mixed scent of rust and the distinctive smell of some massive beast.

At the end of the corridor stood an absurdly enormous cage.

Red metal bars ran from the floor straight to the ceiling, each one thick enough for an adult to wrap both arms around.

A massive sealing talisman was affixed between the bars, its densely packed incantations flickering with uncertain golden light, like some sleeping living thing breathing.

Behind the cage was a dark-red presence so enormous it was suffocating.

It was curled within the shadows, nine thick tails slowly swaying behind it like nine winding giant serpents. Each sweep of those tails stirred a gust that rumbled like muffled thunder.

The instant Naruto's consciousness manifested in the sewer, the Nine-Tails' tightly shut eyes snapped open.

There was no reason in those eyes, no mercy—only hatred and rage accumulated over decades, so thick it could not be dissolved.

"How is this possible?"

The Nine-Tails' voice was low and earthshaking, like a hundred great drums struck at once. The entire sewer trembled faintly from the sound.

It raised its head, bringing its enormous fox face close to the cage bars. Its vertical pupils locked tightly onto the tiny golden figure at the entrance.

"How could you come here on your own?"

In the Nine-Tails' understanding, the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beast's Mental Space was not somewhere one could enter whenever they wished.

Under normal circumstances, their mental spaces would only passively connect when the seal loosened or the Jinchuriki's emotions collapsed to the limit.

In all the long years since the Nine-Tails had been sealed, a Jinchuriki had never consciously entered the Sealing Space on their own like this.

Naruto did not answer its question.

He stood before the cage, his toes planted in the icy pooled water, and looked up at the Nine-Tails.

He merely looked at it once. There was neither fear nor provocation in his eyes, only the indifference of someone looking at a painting on a corridor wall.

Then he closed his eyes.

"Brat, I'm asking you..."

The Nine-Tails' voice rang out again, lower this time, carrying a dangerous pressure. It was like a ferocious beast testing its prey with a growl from deep in its throat.

"What did you do to my Chakra when you used it outside earlier?"

"Why was my power so obedient inside you?"

The Nine-Tails' vertical pupils narrowed slightly.

It clearly remembered everything that had happened in the Magic Mirror Formation earlier.

That strand of Chakra it had deliberately released should, according to its plan, have carried its hateful will and completely devoured the blond brat's reason, allowing it to use the opportunity to attack the seal.

But the result had been completely beyond its expectations.

The instant that Chakra touched the brat, something had gripped it tightly, like a wild cat seized by the scruff of its neck. After struggling a few times, it had obediently gone still.

That made the Nine-Tails feel an intensely unpleasant sense of unease.

Naruto still ignored the Nine-Tails.

With his eyes closed, his consciousness spread like a rapidly unfurling net, sweeping through every corner of the Sealing Space as he sensed the distribution of the Nine-Tails Chakra and the seal's nodes.