Golden Body Mode

In this state, Naruto's appearance began to undergo earth-shaking changes.

His hair was lifted upward by chakra, the strands over his forehead splitting into the shape of two horns. Six black magatama formed from chakra appeared around his collar.

When Naruto opened his eyes, his pupils had the exact same shape as the Nine-Tails', yet they gleamed a bright orange-gold under the sunlight.

The thirty Shadow Clones collectively fell silent for two seconds, then sighed in unison.

"Wow, the original went all out."

"We've been painstakingly studying the Flying Thunder God here, while the original secretly went off and powered up like a Gundam behind our backs!"

"Uh, what do we do if we get blinded by the original halfway through studying the Flying Thunder God? Waiting online, urgent."

Naruto ignored the Shadow Clones. He slowly raised his hands and lowered his head to examine his palms.

Golden chakra flowed across his fingertips like molten gold, illuminating every line in his palms with perfect clarity.

This feeling was simply too wonderful.

Previously, whenever he drew upon the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, whether in his initial berserk state or the Four-Tails form, he had needed Absolute Control to suppress the hateful will within the Nine-Tails' chakra.

But now, things were different.

The Nine-Tails had willingly given him its chakra. Before the hateful will within it entered his body, the Nine-Tails had already withdrawn it itself. All Naruto needed to do was accept the pure power itself.

As a result, Naruto felt so light that he could practically fly, every cell in his body brimming with gentle yet immense power.

"So this is Golden Body Mode—or rather, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode."

Naruto muttered to himself.

He bent his knees slightly and lightly tapped the rock with the tips of his toes. His body turned into a streak of golden light and appeared on the opposite bank of the pool.

It was neither the Body Flicker Technique nor the Flying Thunder God. It was simply the most basic movement speed in Golden Body Mode.

He raised his hand again and spread his fingers toward the pool before him.

A brand-new sensory ability naturally unfolded.

Good and Evil Perception

It was completely different from the detection he had previously performed using Absolute Control in conjunction with chakra fluctuations. Good and Evil Perception in Golden Body Mode was a more advanced sensing ability.

He could sense the goodwill others held toward him, as well as any malice they gave off.

Naruto closed his eyes and slowly expanded the range of his Good and Evil Perception.

There were no malicious chakra sources in the forest around the waterfall, only a few scattered gray presences that were probably nocturnal animals.

As the range continued expanding to the edge of Konoha, he could sense vast amounts of benevolent chakra scattered throughout the village like stars. Several of them stood out especially clearly.

Iruka-sensei, Uncle Ichiraku, and the three little brats led by Konohamaru—they bore him no ill will.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his Good and Evil Perception, confirming the current limit of its range.

With the support of his chakra reserves, Good and Evil Perception could cover the entire Konoha area without any problem.

Then Naruto carefully checked the chakra conditions both inside and outside the barrier once more.

After Golden Body Mode had been activated, all chakra fluctuations had been contained by the Perception Isolation Barrier. The outward investigation for traces beyond the barrier had also come back clean.

There was no disturbance in Konoha. Everything in the village was normal. The ANBU were still crouching in their original positions, and the Third Hokage's crystal ball was most likely still aimed at his Shadow Clone, which was snoring away.

With those two layers of insurance, this awakening of Golden Body Mode had not alerted anyone at all.

"Although the result turned out well, it was still a bit risky."

Naruto muttered.

His original plan had been to train in the Flying Thunder God first. Once he had gained a preliminary grasp of it, he would find a wilderness far from Konoha, then spar with the Nine-Tails and attempt to activate Golden Body Mode.

He had never expected the Nine-Tails to be moved by his sincerity. In a burst of emotion, it had directly pushed all of its chakra into him, completely throwing his plans into disarray.

Fortunately, the Perception Isolation Barrier and Absolute Control had worked together flawlessly. Otherwise, that instant of chakra eruption would have been enough to wake every sensory ninja in Konoha.

That would have been troublesome.

Immediately afterward, Naruto's consciousness sank back into the Sealing Space.

It was still the same blue sky, white clouds, and endless grassland.

The Nine-Tails' enormous body lay sprawled across the grass. But unlike before, its massive dark-orange body had visibly shrunk by a full circle, and its once thick, lustrous fur had become somewhat sparse and dull.

Its nine tails lay limply across the grass, too lazy to even swish.

Naruto walked up beside the Nine-Tails' huge fox head and placed a hand on its furry muzzle, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Thanks, Kurama."

"I'm sorry for leaving you like this."

The Nine-Tails' eyelids twitched open a sliver.

"Hmph. I didn't expect you to really pull it off."

The Nine-Tails' voice was much softer than before and carried obvious weakness, though its tone remained as proud as ever.

"Uzumaki Naruto... no, Naruto."

"You now possess my power. I hope you use it well."

"Stop saying such sappy things. Just let me sleep for a while."

"And when you have time, don't just practice those flashy jutsu."

The Nine-Tails closed its eyes, its voice growing lower and lower. "You may have Golden Body Mode now, but your body has yet to fully adapt to the speed and power of this form."

"Make training to adapt to the golden body your top priority. Otherwise, when you throw a punch, the first thing to break won't be your enemy's face—it'll be your own finger bones."

"Also, now that you have my chakra, you should start learning the Tailed Beast Bomb and several basic Tailed Beast techniques."

"You have such enormous chakra reserves now. Without methods that match them for releasing that power, you're just wasting resources."

"Got it, Kurama."

Naruto nodded seriously.

"Also, remember this: in this mode, you're using your own chakra to control my chakra."

"Although your chakra can be controlled with precision, your total amount isn't that great. Don't rely on Golden Body Mode and burn through it recklessly."

"If you use it all up, my chakra will instantly lose control and go berserk. When that happens, you won't be able to rein it back in."

"I'll remember that, Kurama."

Naruto answered solemnly.

"Now that you understand, get out. I'm going to sleep for a while."

The Nine-Tails turned its head away, presenting the back of its head to Naruto. Its nine tails gathered around its body, and its breathing gradually became long and steady.

Naruto withdrew from the Sealing Space, his consciousness returning to reality.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw over thirty figures staring at him in unison. Naruto shook his gleaming golden hair and deliberately struck a pose.

"Yo, everyone. What do you think of my new look?"

At that, all the Shadow Clones stared expressionlessly at Naruto. After a moment of silence, they erupted together.

"Damn it, the original actually got to show off!"

"We've been over there sticking our asses up and meditating while studying the Flying Thunder God, and you've been sneaking around over here making pinky promises with the Nine-Tails to unlock Golden Body Mode! Is there no justice? Is there no law?!"

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