The knock came with a greeting as casual as a neighbor dropping by, leaving the fully alert Otsutsuki Toneri utterly bewildered.
That tone sounded like the visits from relatives described in the records, and it filled Otsutsuki Toneri with boundless fear of these monsters.
Had they evolved such terrifying intelligence in so little time?
Toneri recalled that he had barely interacted with outsiders since birth.
The voice outside sounded so friendly and warm that Toneri could only think how terrifying his enemies truly were—with their newly evolved intelligence, they had immediately found his greatest weakness: loneliness.
Since this was Toneri's first time handling such an unexpected crisis alone, he had already cemented the notion that monsters were outside as an unquestionable fact.
Under the influence of that mindset, no matter what happened, he would only interpret it from that angle. He would never consider that it might already be safe outside, or that someone had come to rescue him.
It was almost a form of self-brainwashing.
I must not let them in! This crisis might be even more terrifying than I imagined...
Of course, the maid puppets did not change their stance because of Toneri's wavering. They continued faithfully carrying out their duty to protect their master and intercept outside enemies.
Whatever Toneri's state of mind, they remained ready to ambush and kill anyone who dared open the door and enter.
"Do we look that scary? Why is he so hostile?"
Outside the door, Naruto sensed the increasingly intense negative emotions and was utterly baffled.
"Let's just get straight to it and smash the door."
The Nine-Tails inside Naruto had clearly run out of patience and offered its suggestion.
It was very interested in the thing Neji had just mentioned had been left for Naruto, but had little interest in