Perfect Jinchuriki! Nine-Tails Chakra Mode!

Mirai walked up to the cage. A thin emerald-green root emerged in his hand, and he casually twirled it around his fingers like a foxtail grass stem.

Then he met the Nine-Tails' crimson vertical pupils. "Kurama, how are you feeling today?"

The Nine-Tails glanced at the root in his hand. Its fur instinctively bristled before it forcibly suppressed the reaction. "Brat, just say what you want."

"What I wanted to ask, I already mentioned last time." Mirai wound the root around his fingers, his tone casual. "Will you help me become a Perfect Jinchuriki? In exchange, I can find a way to let you see the outside world."

A trace of surprise flashed through the Nine-Tails' eyes, but it remained silent.

"Of course, you can keep opposing me." Mirai's voice was calm as he raised the emerald-green root in his hand. "Then every time I come here, I'll take one-tenth of your chakra. I'll keep taking it until you vanish from this world."

A low, unwilling growl rumbled from the Nine-Tails' throat, but it forcibly swallowed the rest of its curse.

It knew this red-haired brat was serious.

He could extract its chakra, and he really would do it.

It had yet to fully recover from what had been taken last time. If this happened a few more times, it might truly disappear from this world.

The Nine-Tails was a little afraid. It had lived for thousands of years, yet it had never been this frightened—not even when Madara Uchiha captured it and turned it into a summoned beast.

"Becoming a Perfect Jinchuriki isn't something that can happen just because I want it to. Our hearts also need to understand one another..." The Nine-Tails stared at Mirai Uzumaki for a long time before finally speaking, its voice muffled.

"And what did you mean when you said you could let me have a chance to see the outside world?"

Mirai Uzumaki showed no fear under its stare.

A faint smile curved his lips. "I have my ways. You'll find out when the time comes. Do you have any other conditions?"

The Nine-Tails turned its face away and snorted, its voice muffled behind its paw. "If our hearts can understand one another, then I have one final condition—you are not allowed to extract my chakra again!"

"Hahahaha, of course—no!" Mirai Uzumaki flashed a wicked grin. "Kurama, you live inside my body. It's only right that you pay a little rent, isn't it?"

"What?!" The Nine-Tails, despite having lived thousands of years, widened its eyes in pure innocence.

It had never seen anyone so utterly shameless!

Was it living here willingly? Hadn't a whole group of humans forcibly shoved it in here?

And now he wanted to charge it rent? Was there no justice? No law?

Did a Tailed Beast not have rights too?

The Nine-Tails' huge eyes were filled with huge confusion.

"Hahaha, don't worry. I'll only take a tiny bit of chakra as rent." Mirai Uzumaki held up his thumb and index finger, making a gesture guaranteed to break the defenses of people from Stick Nation in real life.

It meant it really was only a tiny bit.

"Bear with it. It won't hurt much."

"Hmph!" The Nine-Tails wanted to bare its fangs, but one had to bow beneath another's roof!

"I hope you keep your word!"

"Don't worry, Kurama!" Mirai Uzumaki's expression grew slightly more serious. "—Come on, fist bump!"

"I'll let you understand my heart."

Mirai walked up to the cage and extended his right fist.

After a moment of silence, the Nine-Tails haughtily raised one forepaw. One large and one small, its paw lightly touched his fist.

The instant they touched, their thoughts surged toward one another.

"A new Sealing Jutsu that will allow your consciousness to project outside..."

"Through Shadow Clones, you can see the outside world, touch the wind, rain, and sunlight, smell flowers and grass, and feel the earth—"

"This is the greatest freedom I can give you."

Mirai's thoughts were direct and pure, without a trace of impurity.

He was already close to developing the corresponding Sealing Jutsu.

When one fist-bumped with a Tailed Beast and connected hearts, there was no way to fake it.

The Nine-Tails' will surged toward him as well.

There was resentment, anger, and decades of bitterness from imprisonment within it, but also a nearly imperceptible stirring hidden deep beneath it all.

It had seen many humans—Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Mito Uzumaki. Every one of them had been powerful, and every one had tried to control it in their own way.

Especially that man who said, "Nine-Tails, you're too powerful! I have to seal you away!" He had been especially excessive.

Never before had anyone stood before it and said, "I'll give you freedom."

Buzz—

The moment the fist bump was complete, Mirai's consciousness was suddenly enveloped in golden light.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands—a layer of golden Chakra Cloak covered his entire body, black rune-like markings flowing across its surface.

The golden chakra flames slowly rippled, carrying a warm yet powerful presence.

Perfect Jinchuriki—Nine-Tails Chakra Mode!

He clenched his fist, feeling the power surging from the seal.

It was no longer simple "borrowing," but true "resonance."

The chakra in his body and the Nine-Tails' chakra pulsed at the same frequency, like two rivers merging into one.

"So this is what it feels like to be a Perfect Jinchuriki." He murmured, a trace of emotion in his voice.

The Nine-Tails watched him from deep within the cage, its expression complicated.

"Kurama." Mirai glanced back at it, golden chakra flames slowly burning around him. "I'll definitely keep my promise. Soon, you'll be able to see the outside world."

The Nine-Tails did not answer. It buried its face in its forepaws and gave a muffled grunt, impossible to tell whether it believed him or not.

It understood very clearly that this youth who controlled the Ten-Tails would either bring new change to the Shinobi World or bring about utter destruction!

And it could no longer turn back.

Mirai withdrew from his consciousness space and opened his eyes. Outside the window, the night was still deep.

He raised his hand and looked at his palm. With a thought, golden chakra flames flickered over the surface of his skin before vanishing.

A smile naturally spread across his lips. Now that he had become a Perfect Jinchuriki, he finally felt secure!

He turned over, pulled the blanket tighter around himself, and quickly fell asleep...

Early the next morning, not long after sunrise, Mirai and Kushina left the Senju Clan Compound one after the other.

"I'm heading to the hospital! Tsunade said she'll officially start teaching me the basics of the Yin Seal today!"

Kushina waved at him, her ponytail swaying in the morning light.

"Got it." Mirai waved back, watched her run away, then turned toward the Hokage Building.

When he reached the meeting point, Minato was already there, holding a rice ball as he ate while flipping through some book.

As usual, Naori stood against the wall with an expressionless face. When she saw Mirai, she merely lifted an eyelid in greeting.

"Where's Jiraiya-sensei?" Mirai asked.

Minato lowered his book. "He's probably late again."

The three exchanged glances, then sighed together.

Sigh—

Fortunately, half an hour later, Jiraiya finally arrived. A toothpick hung from his mouth, and he wore the contented expression of someone who had eaten and drunk his fill as he waved at them.

"Yo, been waiting long? Let's go. We've got a lot of missions today, so let's make haste."