Nine-Tails: Kushina, Reinforce the Seal

"What the hell is this bastard talking about?" Kurama felt a chill run down his spine. This monster wanted to eat him?

Ever since his birth, he had been seen as a symbol of disaster and destruction, feared by countless people. This was the first time he had seen greed and appetite in another creature's eyes.

"What exactly are you?" Kurama bared his fangs fiercely despite his inner fear, hissing like a giant cat.

"I am the devourer of all things, the destroyer of the stars. This entire world will become my food." The Slime Leader indulged his wicked sense of humor, letting out a shrill roar that carried the aura of his former status as an emperor of the cosmos.

"No, this guy's peak strength might be even more terrifying than the Sage of Six Paths." For the first time, Kurama felt fear. He could tell the other party was not lying; it seemed this being had truly destroyed world after world.

Though he was theoretically immortal, he still lacked confidence when facing a creature so clearly beyond his comprehension.

"I won't let you succeed!" Kurama roared and began reinforcing the seal with all his strength.

Though he could not affect the seal from outside, he could reinforce it from within.

The slime fell silent. He had originally been considering knocking Kurama unconscious, then having Setsuna remind this woman to reinforce the seal.

But what happened instead? This stupid fox had reinforced the seal until it was utterly unbreakable. Was he no longer planning to escape prison in the future?

Seeing the slime fall silent, Kurama laughed triumphantly. "This is my territory. Don't even think about opening the seal."

Kurama looked at the cage and felt a wave of relief. The seal that had once imprisoned him had now become a barrier protecting him, separating him from that monster.

The slime no longer cared much anyway. He had only wanted to analyze the source of the Nine-Tails' power. Now that he had eaten a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra, he could slowly analyze it after returning.

"Heh heh, let's see how long that seal can protect you." After leaving behind that threat, the slime departed.

Meanwhile, outside.

"Kushina, Kushina..." Kushina, who had been happily stuffing herself, suddenly changed expression when she heard a voice in her mind.

"Kushina, what's wrong?" Minato Namikaze noticed her unusual reaction and asked with concern.

Kushina grabbed Minato Namikaze's hand and said worriedly, "The Nine-Tails is calling me."

"What? The Nine-Tails?" Minato Namikaze panicked as well, no longer caring about the food. "I'll take you to see Lord Hokage right away."

"Don't rush. I want to hear what it has to say first." Kushina held Minato Namikaze back and took a deep breath.

No one at the table understood what had happened, but they could all sense the atmosphere suddenly turning grave.

A moment later, Kushina came back to her senses with a bewildered expression.

Minato Namikaze asked anxiously, "What did the Nine-Tails say to you?"

Tilting her head, Kushina said in confusion, "It warned me that there was a flaw in the seal and told me to quickly reinforce it from outside."

"Huh?" Minato Namikaze was dumbfounded too. The Nine-Tails had voluntarily asked for its seal to be reinforced? Was this some new kind of joke?

Kushina continued, "It also told me that a terrifying monster wanted to eat it but failed. It asked me to notify Lord Hokage immediately, then have Lord Hokage notify the other ninja villages to reinforce the seals on their Tailed Beasts. We absolutely cannot let that monster eat the Tailed Beasts and regain its power, or something terribly frightening will happen."

Minato Namikaze fell silent for a long time before finally saying, "Did the Nine-Tails slam its head into the seal and damage its brain?"

"That's what I thought too." Kushina nodded in complete agreement. "So after reinforcing the seal, I cursed at it a few times and left."

Minato Namikaze could not help sighing. "Loneliness truly is a terrifying force. Even a calamity beast like the Nine-Tails couldn't endure it and ended up damaging its own brain. If one day I lost you, I truly can't imagine how I would bear that kind of loneliness."

Moved, Kushina leaned against Minato Namikaze's shoulder. "We'll definitely be together forever. Forever and ever."

Setsuna was speechless at the sight. Was this right?

They had been talking about the Nine-Tails, and suddenly they started flaunting their affection. Was the Nine-Tails part of their "play" too?

At that moment, Obito Uchiha suddenly burst into tears again.

Noticing that Obito Uchiha's tears this time differed from his previous happy sighing, Rin asked with concern, "Obito, what's wrong?"

"I thought about how Grandma may never have eaten anything this delicious before." Obito Uchiha spoke sadly, then looked at Setsuna. "Brother Setsuna, can I bring some food back for my grandma?"

"Of course. Food only brings happiness when it's shared." Setsuna smiled and added, "But I should remind you all that I happened to meet a master chef and bought this food from him. As for when you'll be able to eat it again, who knows."

Might Guy added, "I want to bring some back for my dad too."

Asuma Sarutobi raised his hand. "I'll bring some back for the old man too, so he can use his influence to find that master chef."

"Take it. You can all take some. Don't hold back." Setsuna waved his hand grandly.

Two hours later, everyone had to lean against the walls as they walked.

Clearly, they did not possess the absurd digestive ability of Gourmet Cells, yet every one of them wore a blissful smile.

In this world barren of good food, when had they ever eaten anything like this?

After everyone had left, the slime calmly clapped his hands. "I ate a portion of that little fox's power. Its chakra is absorbed from nature and then refined, like refining gasoline from crude oil. Oh, do you understand that? My apologies, I forgot your world is still rather primitive."

"That joke isn't funny." Setsuna was rather speechless. He had actually been looked down on.

The slime continued, "You said that fox was said to possess infinite chakra, but that isn't entirely correct. If it consumes chakra faster than it can refine chakra from nature, its chakra will gradually be depleted as well."

Setsuna nodded slightly. It seemed nature really did contain chakra that was difficult to utilize. Perhaps the infinite chakra of Impure World Reincarnation bodies came from their ability to directly absorb chakra from nature without refining it.

As for why ordinary people could not absorb it, it was most likely because that chakra was mixed within natural energy.

For those "sages" who could absorb natural energy, absorbing natural energy was already difficult enough. Dividing their attention further to absorb that chakra would be practically suicidal.

"In short, I can now refine chakra from nature as well. Of course, my efficiency definitely can't compare to that little fox's."

Setsuna nodded. He did not care how much chakra the slime could refine. After all, he could not use ninjutsu. He already possessed more than enough chakra for the little amount needed to perform taijutsu, so there was no need to borrow chakra from the slime.

At that moment, the slime asked mysteriously, "Didn't you say yesterday that you had no talent for using ninjutsu?"

Setsuna nodded. "What? Do you want to help me use ninjutsu?"

"Heh, I have no interest in such weak power." As the slime spoke, his voice suddenly lowered. "I merely discovered something. You don't actually lack talent for ninjutsu as you claimed."