"What the hell is this bastard talking about?" Kurama felt a chill run down his spine. This monster actually 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 despite his fear, hissing like a giant cat.
"I am the devourer of all things, the destroyer of the stars. This world, too, shall become my food." The Slime Leader's wicked sense of humor flared up. He shrieked loudly, exuding the aura of his former self as a cosmic emperor.
"No, this guy's peak strength may have been even more terrifying than the Sage of Six Paths." For the first time, Kurama felt fear. He could sense that the other party was not lying; he truly seemed to have destroyed world after world.
Though he was theoretically immortal, he still lacked confidence when facing a creature so far beyond his comprehension.
"I won't let you succeed!" Kurama roared and began reinforcing the seal with all his might.
Though he could not affect the seal from outside, he could reinforce it from within.
The Slime could not help falling silent. He had originally been planning to knock out the Nine-Tails, then have 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 never planning to escape again?
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 protective barrier, isolating him from that monster.
The Slime no longer cared. He had only wanted to analyze the source of the Nine-Tails' power in the first place. 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 devouring her food, suddenly turned pale when she heard a voice echoing in her mind.
"Kushina, what's wrong?" Minato Namikaze noticed Kushina's unusual expression 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. He no longer cared about the food. "I'll take you to see the Hokage right away."
"Don't panic yet. I want to hear what it has to say." Kushina stopped Minato Namikaze, took a deep breath, and spoke.
The people at the table had yet to understand what was happening. They only felt the atmosphere suddenly turn heavy.
A moment later, Kushina came back to her senses with a bewildered expression.
Minato Namikaze asked anxiously, "What did the Nine-Tails tell 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 the outside."
"Huh?" Minato Namikaze was dumbfounded as well. The Nine-Tails was voluntarily asking for its seal to be reinforced? Was this some new kind of joke?
Kushina continued, "It also said that a terrifying monster wanted to eat it, but failed. It told me to hurry and inform the Hokage, then have the Hokage notify the other ninja villages to reinforce the seals on the other Tailed Beasts. We absolutely cannot let that monster eat the Tailed Beasts and recover its strength, or something extremely terrifying will happen."
Minato Namikaze was silent for a long time before finally saying, "Did the Nine-Tails crash into the seal and damage its head?"
"I think so too." Kushina nodded in firm agreement. "So after reinforcing the seal, I cursed it a few times and left."
Minato Namikaze could not help sighing. "Loneliness really is a terrifying force. Even a disaster beast like the Nine-Tails couldn't endure it and ended up damaging its head. If I ever lost you one day, I truly can't imagine how I would endure that kind of loneliness."
Moved, Kushina leaned against Minato Namikaze's shoulder. "We'll definitely be together forever. Forever and ever."
Setsuna was utterly speechless at the sight. Was this really right?
They had been talking about the Nine-Tails, and suddenly they started showering everyone with affection. Was the Nine-Tails also part of their "play"?
At that moment, Obito Uchiha suddenly began crying again.
Noticing that Obito Uchiha's tears this time differed from his earlier tears of happiness, Rin asked with concern, "Obito, what's wrong?"
"I thought that Grandma may never have eaten anything this delicious." Obito Uchiha spoke sadly as he looked at Setsuna. "Big Brother Setsuna, can I bring some food back for my grandma?"
"Of course you can. Food only brings joy when it's shared." Setsuna smiled and added, "But I have to remind you all that I happened to meet a master chef by chance and bought this food from him. As for when you'll get to eat it again, who knows."
Might Guy followed up, "I want to bring some food 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 left while supporting themselves against the walls.
Clearly, they did not possess the absurd digestive ability of Gourmet Cells, but every one of them wore a blissful smile.
In this food-starved world, when had they ever eaten anything like this?
After everyone had left, the Slime calmly clapped his hands. "I ate part of that little fox's power. Its chakra is absorbed from nature and then refined, like refining gasoline from crude oil. Oh, right, can you understand that? My apologies, I forgot your world is still rather primitive."
"That joke wasn't funny." Setsuna was rather speechless. He had actually been looked down upon.
The Slime continued, "You said that fox supposedly has 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 that nature indeed contained 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 needing to refine it.
As for why ordinary people could not absorb it, it was most likely because that chakra was mixed in with natural energy.
For those "sages" capable of absorbing natural energy, absorbing natural energy alone was already difficult. Splitting their focus to absorb that chakra as well would simply be courting death.
"In short, I can now refine chakra from nature too. Of course, my efficiency definitely can't compare to that fox's."
Setsuna nodded. He did not care how much chakra the Slime could refine. After all, he could not use ninjutsu anyway, and he already had enough chakra for the Taijutsu he used. 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 he spoke, the Slime's voice suddenly deepened. "I merely discovered something. You don't actually lack talent for ninjutsu, like you claimed."
Before you continue