Toneri's sudden, unusual tension instantly caught Naruto and the Nine-Tails' attention. "What's wrong?"
Strange. Why did I get so nervous just now?
Toneri stood there in a daze, but Naruto's reaction soon brought him to his senses. Who else could this little golden fox be but the Nine-Tails inside Naruto?
It wasn't as though Toneri had never sensed the Nine-Tails before. He had come out yesterday, too.
Am I overreacting?
That was what Toneri thought, but he first offered an explanation. "...No, it's nothing. Maybe I'm just too nervous."
"Really? Ah, it's a shame you can't see. Kurama actually looks pretty cute. If you could see him, you wouldn't be scared."
"Don't use words like 'cute' to describe me!"
The Nine-Tails spoke irritably.
Once he realized this wasn't an enemy, Toneri breathed a sigh of relief and held out the necklace again, his expression somewhat solemn.
Naruto took the necklace. The black tomoe necklace gave off a faint, strange warmth in his palm.
For some reason, a slight sense of unease stirred in Naruto's heart.
Did Toneri's reaction scare me, too?
Naruto muttered to himself, then examined and fiddled with it for a bit, but couldn't figure anything out.
"Kurama, do you sense anything strange about this necklace?"
"You mean the chakra of Old Man Six Paths? ...Whatever. This was clearly left for you, so just use it. If it's from the old man, he wouldn't hurt you."
The Nine-Tails replied.
With the Nine-Tails saying that, Naruto stopped worrying. Following Toneri's instructions, he fitted it into the only recess among the entire row of tomoe.
On its surface. As the tomoe slotted perfectly into place, the Giant Tenseigan's golden light grew even brighter. Once the tomoe necklace was fitted into it, the tomoe pattern that had just appeared began radiating