Isn't That a Husky?

The instant her consciousness sank into the sealing space, the core runes of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style peeled away like scraps of burnt paper.

Black flakes fell into the shallow water and quickly dispersed.

The heavy iron gate, more than ten meters tall, let out a piercing creak.

Then it swung wide open.

The Nine-Tails froze where he stood.

He had raised his front half, ready to spring, but all the mockery and venom he had prepared stuck in his throat.

He stared at the open doorway, his enormous slit pupils growing wider and wider.

Faced with the red-haired woman, who had not even formed a Sealing Formula, his mind went blank.

He had thought she would only dare open a crack.

Instead, she had gone all in and taken the whole gate off.

Kushina planted her hands on her hips, threw back her head, and laughed.

Her voice boomed through the space.

"The sea outside is plenty big. Come out and run a few laps."

The Nine-Tails stood with his fanged jaws agape, unable to remember what he had meant to say.

A full five seconds passed before an indescribable emotion flickered through his huge eyes.

More than ten years of pent-up anger suddenly ebbed away.

His deep voice made the water ripple.

"Kurama. My name is Kurama. Stop calling me Nine-Tails."

Kushina paused, then blurted out, "Why does that name sound so strange? Who gave it to you?"

The corner of Kurama's eye twitched. His teeth nearly ground together.

This woman couldn't be treated nicely for even a second.

But as he looked at the wide-open gate, his jaws spread into an unexpected grin.

For the first time, he burst out laughing.

He slammed a tail into the water, sending up a great spray.

"I've put up