The Nine-Tails stared at the green sprout in Naruto's hand, utterly stunned.
Had Naruto really recreated the First's Wood Release just like that?
Yet Naruto learning Wood Release over the holidays did not mean developing it was truly that easy.
His breakthrough in such a relatively short time had resulted from several extraordinarily demanding conditions working together. Not a single one could have been missing.
First, and most fundamentally, Naruto, like Hashirama Senju, was a reincarnation of the chakra of Asura, the Sage of Six Paths' son.
And Asura had been the first person in the history of the Shinobi World to awaken and use Wood Release. (This did not count the Sage of Six Paths, who might also have possessed Wood Release.)
As descendants of the Uzumaki and Senju Clans, Naruto and Hashirama shared bloodlines that were fundamentally rooted in the same origin.
That connection and potential, stretching across a thousand years from the very source of their bloodlines, had given Naruto his most basic-and most powerful-possibility.
This was not simply a matter of chakra natures, but a deeper affinity tied to the essence of life itself.
Second, the Nine-Tails had played a crucial role in keeping him safe through countless dangerous failed fusion attempts.
Whenever an imbalance in chakra proportions or unstable control caused the fusion to fail and the energy to backlash, the Nine-Tails had immediately mobilized his vast, pure chakra to forcibly disperse, soothe, or even devour the failed byproducts running wild or accumulating in Naruto's chakra pathways, greatly reducing the damage to his body.
Without the Nine-Tails acting as a top-tier "safety valve" and "purifier," Naruto would likely have suffered severe injuries during his first few failures, perhaps even ruining his entire chakra pathway system.
Finally, the most strategically critical factor had been Naruto's starting point of understanding.
He had not let his previous life's knowledge that "Wood Release is a water-and-earth kekkei genkai" constrain him. Instead, his own analysis had led him from the outset to view Wood Release as a "kekkei tōta" requiring the fusion of earth, water, and yang chakra natures.
As a result, his direction of research, his fusion methods, and his expectations for the final result had all differed completely from the conventional approach to developing a kekkei genkai.
It was precisely this higher-level understanding that had guided him past the "water-and-earth fusion" bottleneck he might otherwise never have overcome, allowing him to work directly toward the correct, more complex fusion of three natures.
Thus, Naruto's success was by no means something an ordinary shinobi could replicate.
After succeeding, Naruto's consciousness naturally sank into the sealed space.
He needed no words. He simply presented the tender green sprout in his palm, pulsing with life, before the Nine-Tails' enormous crimson eyes.
Behind the cage, Kurama reined in his shock, and his expression subtly changed as he looked at Naruto, who had come to show off.
He neither roared nor mocked him. His enormous head dipped slightly as he gazed at that tiny miracle.
A moment later, an almost brazen grin curved across his fang-lined mouth.
At the same time, Naruto's face lit up with a dazzling smile, brimming with accomplishment.
In that moment, the boy and the fox shared a knowing smile before the fruit of their joint efforts.
It held the understanding forged by working together, and their shared anticipation of the limitless possibilities ahead.
A good beginning was half the battle.
The tender shoot trembling as it unfurled in his palm was like a prophecy full of hope.
They both knew this was only an insignificant starting point. A much longer road lay ahead, with far more refined control still to master.
A tree too wide to wrap one's arms around began as the tiniest shoot.
One day, towering trees-and even a boundless forest capable of turning the tide of battle-would surely spring forth in all their grandeur from this first, insignificant little sprout!
"What this kid said... really was true."
The Nine-Tails' deep voice slowly echoed through the sealed space, carrying a trace of disbelief and an admiration he could no longer deny.
He had witnessed firsthand how Naruto had put that astounding hypothesis into practice, truly bringing that green symbol of life into existence from nothing in so little time.
"He actually... reached the threshold of Wood Release this quickly."
That fact was more convincing than any words.
Slowly, with the relief of something finally settled, he lay down on the cold water's surface, resting his enormous head on his forelegs.
Though he tried his hardest to preserve his dignity as the strongest tailed beast, he could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting, betraying the powerful emotions surging deep within him.
Perhaps... this kid really could be the Child of Prophecy the old man spoke of before he died.
Once that thought took clear shape, it was like a warm current flowing into his parched heart.
A thousand years was such a long time.
He had endured the cycle of being feared, fought over, and sealed by humans, witnessed countless shinobi rise and fall, and gradually grown numb amid endless hatred and solitude.
Until this moment.
During this long imprisonment, whose end had seemed almost impossible to see, he seemed... to have finally found him.
Found the Child of Prophecy whom the Sage of Six Paths had mentioned to him and the other tailed beasts before fading from this world-the one who would transform the Shinobi World and bring about true peace.
This search and wait spanning a thousand years seemed, at last, to have revealed a faint but genuine glimmer of dawn.
Looks like... maybe I really can let that brat Naruto use my chakra with a little less worry.
The instant that thought surfaced, the Nine-Tails violently shook his enormous head, as though trying to fling that "dangerous" idea out of it.
He fiercely insisted to himself:
It's not like I've accepted this brat!
And it's definitely not because seeing him succeed made me like him a little.
It's just... just that he's still young, and his body's still growing. Forcing himself to use a technique on the level of Wood Release is bound to put an enormous strain on his body and burn through his chakra!
He struggled to find a seemingly reasonable excuse for his behavior.
Right, that's all it is!
If this brat accidentally dies from exhausting too much chakra, won't I be finished right along with him?
At that thought, he seemed to have finally found the strongest possible justification, and a look of "just as I thought" flashed through his eyes.
Hmph! I don't care whether this brat lives or dies. I just don't want to die with him!
Whatever happens to this kid doesn't matter. What matters is my own life!
As the Nine-Tails repeated these things to himself, trying to convince himself, he completely and selectively forgot one thing.
Only a short while earlier, whenever Naruto had asked him for chakra again and again while exploring Wood Release, he had grumbled and complained endlessly, yet granted almost every request and never once refused.
Just what kind of change will the Child of Prophecy bring to this world?
Old man, over there in the Pure Land, you'd better watch over Naruto!