Call Me Commissar!

On the road back to Konoha, their sandals rustled over the grass, and beneath the peaceful silence lay a faint sense of oppression.

Sakura no longer peppered them with chirping questions, nor did Sasuke openly provoke anyone. Most of the time, Sakura kept her head down, reading the books Naruto Uzumaki had given her. Occasionally, she looked up at Naruto Uzumaki's back with a complicated expression—fear, dependence, and a trace of blind worship all mixed together. She had discovered that as long as she followed behind that blond boy, there seemed to be nothing left to fear.

Sasuke, meanwhile, had fallen completely silent. Again and again, he replayed everything that had happened on the bridge in his mind: Naruto Uzumaki's psychological dismantling of Haku and Zabuza, followed by that one-sided, militarized "purge" of Gato's forces. He realized that his precious Sharingan could see the flow of chakra and copy dazzling ninjutsu, yet it could not see through Naruto Uzumaki's next move at all.

Before Naruto Uzumaki, he felt like a child holding a toy.

Kakashi walked at the front, and beneath his lazy posture was deep concern. As the Jonin leading the team, the report for this C-rank mission would be the hardest one he had ever had to write.

"Mission target Tazuna successfully protected. The mission escalated from C-rank to A-rank. We encountered rogue ninja Momochi Zabuza and Kekkei Genkai user Haku. No casualties on our side. Mission completed perfectly."

It sounded wonderful.

But what about the process?

"Genin Naruto Uzumaki used words to turn the enemy's core combatant, Haku, induced Momochi Zabuza to defect on the battlefield, then used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to form an army of a thousand and annihilate over a hundred armed enemy thugs. In the end, he facilitated a peaceful political transition in the Land of Waves, was upheld by the local people as a spiritual symbol, and had the nation's most important piece of infrastructure named the Naruto Bridge."

Just thinking about it made Kakashi's scalp tingle. If he submitted that report, the Third Hokage would probably think he had fallen under some high-level Genjutsu.

Hokage's Office.

After hearing Kakashi's report, heavily embellished with careful wording, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time. He puffed on his pipe, and the curling smoke obscured his wrinkled face.

"Kakashi, you only need to answer one question." The aged voice rose. "Naruto Uzumaki... did he harm any ordinary people who had already put down their weapons?"

"No, Lord Hokage." Kakashi answered immediately. "His targets were very clear. He only targeted 'armed resisters.' The entire purge... was highly efficient and caused no collateral damage."

"Efficiency..." Hiruzen Sarutobi savored the word.

Whenever he recalled Naruto Uzumaki's current eyes, he felt a chill.

"I understand." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand. "You did well on this mission. Go get some rest."

After Kakashi left, Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to the window and looked down at the prosperous, peaceful village of Konoha. He let out a deep sigh.

"Fortunately, he only wants to be Konoha's political commissar, but..."

Political commissar? After Naruto Uzumaki repeated the term again and again, Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of it had grown deeper.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed his hand against the windowsill and quietly exerted force. "That is only what he says."

And deep beneath Konoha, beyond his sight.

A one-eyed man set down a secret report in his hand. This intelligence was far more detailed than Kakashi's verbal report. It even included every word Naruto Uzumaki had said to Haku.

"Zabuza's dream is to build ships, yet he uses sand... Loyalty is wood, contracts are sand..."

Shimura Danzō's lips curved into a cold, sinister smile.

"Interesting."

"To deconstruct human hearts and convictions into 'resources' and 'tools' that can be used. That way of thinking... it is practically tailored for Root." A masked Root ninja knelt on one knee before him without saying a word.

"That old fool Sarutobi only worries about Naruto Uzumaki's coldness. He cannot see the invaluable worth to Konoha concealed behind that coldness." Greed gleamed in Danzo's lone eye.

"A perfect ninja, untouched by emotion. A vessel capable of fully turning the Nine-Tails' power to his own use. He is not a Jinchūriki. He is a living weapon capable of optimizing itself."

"Go. Watch him closely," Danzo ordered. "I want to know everything about him. His training methods, his social circle, every movement he makes."

"But remember, do not make any substantive contact. This uncut jade is not yet ready to be carved." Danzo had already reached his conclusion. This Naruto Uzumaki was the most suitable candidate he had ever seen to inherit the will of Root. He believed that with only a little guidance, Naruto Uzumaki would become the sharpest—and darkest—blade in his hand.

Returning to his empty apartment, Naruto Uzumaki shut the door, cutting himself off from everything outside.

He sat cross-legged on the floor and slowly closed his eyes.

[External environment scan complete. No threats detected.]

[Physical condition evaluation complete. Chakra depletion rate: 3.7%. Mental fatigue: 1.2%. Negligible.]

[Beginning connection to the Nine-Tails...]

His consciousness sank into the depths.

The sight before him was not the dark, damp sewer of legend.

This was a vast, empty circular hall that glimmered with the cold sheen of metal. Above the dome, a complex star chart formed from countless runes slowly rotated. The floor was made of mirror-smooth black alloy, reflecting everything overhead.

At the center of the hall stood a massive cage built from pure spiritual energy, radiating golden light. Countless chains engraved with words such as "Order," "Obedience," and "Loyalty" extended from every point of the cage, driven deep into every corner of this mental space.

Within the cage lay the colossal Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, so massive it could blot out the sky.

Its nine tails, once capable of sweeping away mountains, had been pinned down by nine enormous pillars of light. The chakra surrounding its body was no longer violently crimson, but a suppressed, purified dark gold.

It neither roared nor struggled. It simply opened its enormous eyes, filled with wisdom and ancient hatred, and silently watched the tiny figure entering the hall.

Naruto Uzumaki walked up to the cage.

"Nine-Tails." His voice echoed through the space without a trace of emotion.

A deep rumble, like muffled thunder, rolled from the Nine-Tails' throat in response.

The Nine-Tails' ancient, wise eyes narrowed slightly. It had been trapped here and had watched Naruto Uzumaki for more than a decade. It had watched him go from a rejected child to someone now radiating a terrifying pressure.

It had watched Naruto Uzumaki grow up and thought it knew exactly what a child throwing a tantrum was thinking.

"Hmph... brat." The Nine-Tails' voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of barely perceptible temptation. "You finally came. It seems you have seen the ugly side of those humans, haven't you? Those villagers who once despised you, rejected you, and treated you as the incarnation of the demon fox... Are they flattering you in every possible way now? Do you find this hypocritical peace nauseating?"

The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto Uzumaki with amusement and temptation in its gaze. "I can feel the resentment in your heart. The pain of being abandoned and misunderstood, the thirst for power... I can give you all of it. Look at your companions, your teacher. They are filled with fear and confusion toward you, aren't they?"

Its enormous head lifted slightly, as though whispering softly. "As long as you release me, I will grant you the power to overturn everything. Those who once hurt you, those hypocritical rules, those rotten systems... you can destroy them completely. Together, we will build a new world ruled by you—a world truly belonging to the strong!" The Nine-Tails' voice carried a primal, chilling allure as it tried to erode Naruto Uzumaki's will.

Yet Naruto Uzumaki's expression did not change in the slightest. He simply stood there, his gaze as deep as a bottomless abyss, as though all of the Nine-Tails' temptations were nothing more than insignificant wind brushing past his ears. He did not reveal even the slightest emotional fluctuation. The face that had once carried a sunny smile now held only cold calm.

"You are wrong, Nine-Tails." Naruto Uzumaki spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, yet it carried unquestionable majesty, like a god's proclamation. It echoed through the empty metal hall, completely suppressing the Nine-Tails' seductive words.

"There is no resentment in my heart. Resentment is an emotion of the weak, meaningless consumption. Everything I do is for efficiency and Order. Those villagers are merely resources that need to be guided and managed. And the power you speak of..." Naruto Uzumaki's gaze swept over the Nine-Tails' pinned tails and suppressed chakra, and the corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. "Do you think you are still qualified to speak of 'power'?"

He took a step forward, and an invisible yet vast spiritual pressure spread outward as though it had substance, instantly filling the entire hall. The rune star chart above rotated faster, and ripples spread across the reflections on the alloy floor. The nine pillars of light pinning down the Nine-Tails seemed to grow brighter and more solid as well.

The Nine-Tails' immense body shuddered violently. For the first time, shock and a trace of incredulous fear appeared in its ancient eyes. It felt that this power came neither from itself nor from the sealing technique, but from Naruto Uzumaki's own overwhelming will. It was an absolute will that transcended emotion and the instincts of life itself, unstoppable like a flood of steel.

"From today onward, you have only one duty." Naruto Uzumaki walked to the cage, raised his head, and stared directly into the Nine-Tails' enormous pupils. "Submit. You are no longer merely a Tailed Beast. You are an extension of my will, a part of my power."

He paused. His voice became even colder and more majestic, each word pronounced like the declaration of a supreme law. "From this moment on, you will address me as—Commissar."

The Nine-Tails' enormous body trembled faintly within the cage. Its eyes were filled with shock, unwillingness, and a deep, unprecedented despair. It struggled, releasing a low roar from its throat, but that sound was completely suppressed by Naruto Uzumaki's powerful will. In the end, beneath that invisible pressure, its massive head slowly, unwillingly lowered.