The Dishonest Kurama

Then she closed her eyes, and her body slowly fell backward.

"Grandma—!!"

Tsunade rushed forward and caught the frail body.

Her voice trembled, her eyes were red-rimmed, but she bit her lip and held back with all her strength, refusing to let the tears fall.

"Grandma... Grandma, wake up... Don't be like this... You haven't seen me become the strongest medical ninja yet... You haven't seen... haven't seen..."

She couldn't go on.

Jiraiya crouched beside her, resting his hand on Mito's wrist for a moment before silently withdrawing it.

Orochimaru stood a little farther away, his gaze lowered slightly. There was an unusual stillness in his snake-like eyes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the edge of the barrier, his hat pulled low enough to hide his expression, but the veins on the back of the hand gripping his pipe stood out sharply.

Torifu Akimichi was already sobbing uncontrollably. A broad, sturdy man, he crouched in a corner with his face covered, his shoulders shaking.

Choza Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikaku Nara stood beside him. None of them spoke.

The Barrier Team began dismantling the formation, while the Anbu silently cleaned up the scene.

Everything was quiet, save for the wind and the occasional muffled sob.

Then, from the edge of the barrier, came a voice—

"Grandma...?"

Kushina stood there with both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

She stared at the old woman in Tsunade's arms, eyes closed and lips curved in a faint smile, as though she had been frozen in place.

"Grandma... Don't sleep... Wake up, please..." Her voice came in broken fragments, thick with tears, as she walked forward step by step. "You promised to teach me how to make soup... I haven't learned yet... You can't... you can't..."

Kushina threw herself forward, burying her face against Mito's shoulder, and finally burst into tears.

"Grandma—!!"

Her crying echoed through the valley, startling birds from the woods.

The setting sun dyed the entire barrier a warm orange-red, shining over the old woman with her eyes closed and making her look as peaceful as if she were merely asleep.

But the tea in the courtyard would never be refilled again.

Mirai Uzumaki felt as though he had sunk into a deep sea.

Everything around him was pitch-black. Beneath his feet lay a cold void, while overhead stretched endless darkness.

Only a faint glow lay directly ahead—like light leaking through the crack of a half-closed door.

He walked toward that glow, and as he drew nearer, his vision gradually cleared.

It was a cage.

A massive cage formed from the Five Elements Seal, its entire body giving off a dim golden glow.

The bars were inscribed with dense, intricate curse markings, each line flowing with a faint glimmer of chakra.

And in the very center of the cage, a gigantic crimson fox lay crouched within the confined space. Its nine tails lashed irritably, each flick stirring a low wave of chakra.

The Nine-Tails!

Mirai stood outside the cage, looking at the ultimate weapon countless people had feared, countless people had pursued, and which had brought disaster upon countless others in the original story.

Now, it resembled a large canine trapped in a cage, suppressed fury churning in its throat.

"Brat." The Nine-Tails' vertical pupils slowly turned toward him, its voice low and threatening. "Do you think this lousy cage can trap me for the rest of my life?

Mito is dead. No one will reinforce your seal anymore. Once I find the weakness in this seal..."

"And what then?" Mirai tilted his head. "Can you tear it open from the inside?

The Five Elements Seal was specifically designed for tailed beasts. Whoever's inside can never break it, unless someone outside helps tear it off—oh, don't tell me you were planning to trick me into doing that for you?"

The Nine-Tails' pupils shrank slightly.

"How did you—"

"How do I know what you're thinking?" Mirai smiled. "Because I've seen this routine far too many times. 'Release the seal and I'll make you Hokage,' 'I can give you half my power,' 'We're partners who live and die together'—can't you come up with something fresh?"

He wasn't the naïve little Naruto from the original story, so easily sweet-talked by the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails fell silent for a moment, then let out a low roar. "You insignificant brat! Do you think knowing what I'm thinking means you can control me?"

"I never wanted to control you." Mirai stepped closer, meeting those blood-red vertical pupils through the cage bars. "Kurama, no amount of roaring in there will change anything. You might as well accept your fate and become my partner. I need your power!"

The Nine-Tails' roar stopped abruptly.

Those vertical pupils widened sharply for an instant, and all its fur bristled faintly.

"You—what did you call me?!"

"Kurama." Mirai repeated it calmly. "Your name."

The air inside the cage seemed to freeze.

The Nine-Tails stared fixedly at the red-haired brat before it, countless thoughts racing through its mind—

Aside from that old man, the Sage of Six Paths, only the eight brothers who had received their shares of chakra knew that name.

Whether during the thousand years it had roamed free, or later when Hashirama of the Senju Clan captured it and sealed it inside Mito Uzumaki for decades,

the humans outside had only known it as the "Nine-Tails." No one had ever called it by that name.

"Who... exactly are you?" For the first time, the Nine-Tails' voice wavered. "How do you know my name?!"

"Take a guess." The corner of Mirai's lips lifted slightly.

The Nine-Tails stared at him for a long while, then suddenly seemed to understand something and let out a disdainful sneer.

"Hmph, it's only a name. So what if you know it? Do you think knowing my name makes you my equal?"

Its voice gradually rose, thick with mockery. "That old hag Mito sealed me away for her entire life, and in the end, didn't she die before I did? What could she possibly do to me? There isn't anyone in this world who can make Kurama bow his head!"

"Brat, you won't be an exception!"

When it mentioned Mito, its voice carried undisguised malice.

"That old hag was still putting on an act before she died, spouting nonsense about how 'Grandma's task is complete'—ha! What task did she have?

All she did was move me from one cage to another!

And she thought she'd done something so incredible—"

Mirai's expression darkened.

"Nine-Tails," he said. His voice was flat, but every word carried a chill. "I was going to listen to Grandma and try to build a proper relationship with you.

After all, we'll be living in the same body from now on. Arguing every day wouldn't do either of us any good.

But since you don't know what's good for you, and you're still insulting my grandma right in front of me—"

The Nine-Tails sneered. "What? You're going to hit me through the cage?

You can't even touch a single hair on—me..."

Its voice caught.

Mirai raised his hand expressionlessly, palm facing down, his five fingers slowly spreading apart.

An invisible ripple spread from the depths of his soul.