Nine Tails

"How am I supposed to know if I'm a monster? How am I different from everyone else?"

After enduring for so long, the emotions of pain, anger, and confusion finally burst forth uncontrollably.

Tears fell like rain, and Naruto roared, unable to control his volume:

"Why! Why does everyone hate me! I haven't done anything!"

His cheeks flushed red as he questioned Danzo.

A strange malice welled up inside him, causing him to view Danzo with suspicion.

The whiskers on his face, a result of the Nine Tails, became more pronounced, and his azure pupils were tinged with red, emitting an ominous aura from his body.

"Naruto..."

Ayame showed no fear whatsoever towards the aura emanating from Naruto. With a pained expression, she reached out and grasped Naruto's small hand, glaring at Danzo as she said, "Sir, although you are a guest, you are not welcome here right now."

Teuchi stood awkwardly behind Ayame without saying a word, clasping his hands together and praying for Danzo to leave.

Naruto, whose hand was being held by Ayame, suddenly froze. The sinister aura rapidly receded, and the scarlet in his eyes slowly faded, returning to a pure azure blue.

Ignoring the two, Danzo looked at Naruto and asked, "Naruto, do you think you are a monster?"

"No!" Naruto replied.

Even if others constantly called him a monster, shunned him, or even hated him,

he knew very well that he was definitely not a monster.

He was just an ordinary child.

"Louder!"

Danzo stared at him sternly and said, "Since you don't think you're a monster, then be confident, stand tall, and tell me."

"Are you a monster or not!"

"No!"

Naruto's eyes became firm. He was not a monster, absolutely not!

"Very good." Seeing Naruto's resolute appearance, Danzo finally nodded in satisfaction and reached out to stroke his golden hair.

A strange power transmitted from Danzo's hand into his mind.

The originally bright surroundings instantly darkened.

Under the guidance of Danzo's chakra, Naruto's pupils gradually lost focus.

"This is... where is this?"

Damp, dim.

When Naruto came back to his senses, he was no longer at Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto didn't panic. Coming to this place, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

It was as if he had been here before.

Drip, drip—

The sound of water flowed in his ears. In the dim space like a sewer, a voice in Naruto's mind was intermittent, pulling him forward.

Filled with inner doubts, Naruto followed the sound in a daze, going deeper into the sewer along the water flow.

"Wake up."

Danzo suddenly slapped Naruto's shoulder, waking him from his daze.

Naruto woke up from his trance, widened his eyes, and looked at the unfamiliar environment in front of him. Then, he looked at Danzo next to him and asked, "Old man, where is this place?"

As he spoke, he unconsciously moved a little closer to Danzo.

He was a little scared.

"This is inside your body," Danzo replied.

"Body?"

Naruto's eyes widened even more, and he touched his body. "Isn't my body still here?"

"..."

He hadn't even entered the Ninja School yet, and Danzo didn't want to explain too much about chakra to him. Expressionlessly, he picked him up from the water and walked deeper into the sewer.

Being held in his hand, Naruto didn't struggle and asked, "Old man, where are we going?"

Danzo calmly replied, "To meet the monster inside your body."

His words were like a bolt from the blue, causing Naruto's body to tremble uncontrollably. He was stunned for a long time before stuttering, "Old man... am I... am I really a monster?"

He began to doubt his existence.

This was inside his own body, but he had no idea that his body would have such a place.

Could it be that he really was a monster?

"Didn't you confidently say that you weren't a monster just now? Since you've decided that you're not, then you must firmly stick to your own ideas, and don't change because of other people's words."

Noticing Naruto's low mood, Danzo reprimanded him.

"But..."

Naruto wanted to say something, but he was startled by the scene in front of him.

At the end of the sewer, a huge cage appeared before him.

A piece of paper that he couldn't understand was pasted on the cage, and the inside of the cage was pitch black. Naruto couldn't see what was locked inside.

Naruto carefully asked, "Old man, what's locked in here?"

Danzo had already put Naruto down, but the unfamiliar environment made Naruto a little scared, and he hid behind Danzo.

"There's a tailed beast locked in here." Danzo explained as he released chakra to probe into the cage.

"Get out!"

A roar sounded, accompanied by light red chakra constantlysurgeing out from the cage. These tailed beast chakramixed withed with powerful negative emotions, making Danzo instinctively dislike it.

In Naruto's terrified gaze, a pair of scarlet beast eyes filled with violence and ferocity emerged from the dark corners of the cage.

A massive body covered in crimson fur slowly emerged from the shadows. Just standing in front of this behemoth, Naruto could feel a sinister and oppressive aura.

Clinging tightly to Danzo's arm, Naruto's small body shrank back continuously.

His eyes were full of fear and dread, muttering, "Monster... there really is a monster inside me..."

Outside.

The moment Danzo's hand touched Naruto, both of their movements froze instantly.

Under the bewildered gazes of Teuchi and Ayame, a powerful and sinister aura surged from Naruto, enveloping his entire being.

A dense and ominous chakra permeated the air.

Because of Danzo, the Anbu ninjas who had been keeping their distance had a change in expression.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The sound of air being torn apart rang out.

"Teuchi-san, please leave the ramen stand with Ayame-san first." An Anbu ninja abruptly appeared inside the ramen stand, coldly instructing Teuchi to leave.

Outside the ramen stand, all the passersby had already been completely isolated from the area.

Anbu members wearing white vests and animal masks had completely surrounded the area.

In the Hokage Building, Sarutobi, who had been discussing the war situation, suddenly stood up, his face horrified as he looked towards the location of Ichiraku Ramen.

"The Nine Tails' aura?" Torifu Koharu asked with some uncertainty.

"That's right."

Sarutobi nodded, his face full of coldness.

"Danzo-sama encountered the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki at Ichiraku Ramen. After the two made contact, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's seal has loosened somewhat." An Anbu ninja quickly appeared in the room to report.

"It's that old codger Danzo again!" Sarutobi was itching with hatred; this guy was getting more and more outrageous lately.

In the past, he would only cause trouble for him in secret, but now he was doing things out in the open.

"First, send people to evacuate the surrounding crowds, surround Ichiraku Ramen, and don't let people know what's happening inside." Sarutobi calmly issued the order.

"Yes!"

The Anbu ninja responded and quickly disappeared as a black shadow.

qwq I'm so confused, did Shisui ever join Root?