"Friends?! Hahahaha!" The Nine-Tails laughed as though it had heard the funniest joke in the world.
Its deafening laughter seethed with mockery and rage. "Who's your friend, you stupid human? You sealed me away, treated me like a weapon and a prisoner, and now you want to be friends? Dream on!"
A massive claw slammed toward Naruto, shaking the entire space. "I only helped you because that bastard woke me from a good dream and had the nerve to run wild on my turf!"
"Now that fly's been swatted, it's time to settle things between us! Die!"
"Waaah!" Naruto ran for his life through the air, the Nine-Tails hot on his heels.
"Stop running, you annoying little bug!"
"Help! The Nine-Tails has gone crazy!"
"You'll be the sacrifice that brings me into the real world!"
"Who wants to be a sacrifice, you damn fox? Aren't we one and the same?!"
"One and the same? Fine! I'll digest you completely! Then we really will be one!"
The Nine-Tails' claw, forged from pure malice, closed in with enough force to tear through anything. It was about to smash Naruto's tiny Soul Body to pieces!
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut in terror, flailing his arms and legs.
But the pain and oblivion he expected never came.
Bang!
A dull impact rang out, as though the claw had struck an unbreakable wall.
Barely a hair's breadth from Naruto's Soul Body, the Nine-Tails' claw had been stopped by a faint but impossibly tough layer of gentle golden light!
"Hm?!" the Nine-Tails growled in surprise. Its strength seemed to have struck empty air; none of it could reach Naruto's soul.
It glanced toward the source of the light and found it coming from inside the clothes of Naruto's body.
After waiting without feeling a thing, Naruto