Naruto watched the Hyuga father and daughter disappear down the street. He lingered until they vanished around the corner, then turned toward his home on the top floor of an apartment building.
He unlocked the door, and a familiar, slightly chilly air greeted him.
The apartment was small, and its furnishings were simple.
It was not spotless, but it was reasonably tidy, maintaining the bare minimum of dignity that barely qualified it as a "home."
The only regular visitors were Naruto and the few ANBU assigned to watch him.
Those ANBU generally worked in shifts and never slept inside.
Naruto was its only resident.
As for the Third Hokage himself, he only occasionally paid a quiet visit late at night, draped in his Hokage robe, to deliver the next month's living allowance, gently ask how things were going, and offer a few words of encouragement.
To Naruto now, those brief meetings felt less like an elder's concern and more like regularly scheduled observations of a test subject.
He closed the door, shutting out the wind, snow, and complicated world beyond.
The apartment was silent. Only his own breathing could be clearly heard.
He walked over to the little refrigerator and opened it. Inside, milk and a few basic ingredients were neatly arranged.
He took out a bottle of cold milk, deftly pried off the cap, and tipped his head back to take a long gulp.
Leaving the empty bottle in the kitchen sink, he went straight to the bedroom without delay and sat cross-legged on his not particularly soft single bed.
He closed his eyes, resting his hands naturally on his knees as his breathing gradually grew deep and rhythmic.
Fine chakra control was one of the core training goals he had set for himself since arriving in this world.
He knew just how powerful his future enemies would be. A vast reserve of chakra alone would be nowhere near enough.
For Naruto, the world of Naruto was a dungeon with a time limit. In roughly ten years, the Akatsuki would target him for capture because he housed the Nine-Tails.
Black Zetsu, that devoted son of the Otsutsuki, would also do everything he could to advance his plan to resurrect Kaguya.
Obito Uchiha was secretly plotting the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Madara Uchiha was waiting in the Pure Land for the day he would be resurrected.
Sinking his consciousness into his body, Naruto could clearly "sense" the energy flowing slowly through his chakra pathways, warm and vigorous as the rising sun.
Rather than molding chakra in large quantities, he focused all his attention on his fingertips.
Guided by his will, an exceedingly fine strand of chakra was carefully separated out. As though manipulating an invisible thread, he tried to shape it into a stable form at his fingertips, or make it flicker in and out like the rhythm of breathing.
The process was tedious and mentally draining. The slightest lapse would send that strand of chakra out of control, scattering it.
Yet his expression remained intensely focused, and tiny beads of sweat even formed at his temples.
He knew this was the indispensable, solid foundation of the path to strength.
As both a member of the Uzumaki Clan and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto had far more chakra than an ordinary person, making control over that power all the more essential.
When his training ended, his mental exhaustion far outweighed his physical fatigue.
Naruto let out a long breath and fell backward onto the not particularly soft bed.
He did not go to sleep immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and slowly sank his consciousness downward, as though diving into deep water.
The familiar surroundings rippled like water and vanished, replaced by a dark, damp space.
Shallow water lay beneath his feet, its surface rippling eerily.
The air was heavy, filled with an ancient, savage presence.
Most striking of all was the enormous cage ahead, built from cold iron bars.
Behind the cage, within the deep darkness, a pair of enormous, lantern-like crimson eyes lit up first, their vertical pupils brimming with bestial ferocity.
Then an immense figure gradually emerged from the shadows.
A giant fox with orange-red fur lay sprawled lazily on the ground. His mere presence exerted a suffocating pressure.
His sharp teeth gleamed coldly in the dim light, while several enormous tails swayed slowly behind him like burning shadows within the confined space.
The Nine-Tails fixed his enormous crimson eyes on Naruto, who looked impossibly small outside the cage. His low, resonant voice reverberated through the space:
"You're here, Naruto."
"Yeah, I'm here, Kurama."
Naruto answered as naturally as if he were greeting an old friend. Without a trace of fear, he walked up to the enormous, cold iron gate and stopped.
This friendship that defied all reason had begun with an even more unusual encounter.
Shortly after Naruto's soul arrived in this world, his already mature consciousness had deliberately entered this Sealing Space for the first time.
Back then, Naruto still looked like an infant, but he could move freely within this mental space.
He toddled up to the enormous iron gate, ignoring the hatred and killing intent so intense they seemed almost tangible. Looking up at the huge, savage crimson eyes behind the cage, he clearly and precisely spoke the name that had lain buried for a thousand years: "Kurama."
That name acted like a key, plunging the restless beast into a brief, bewildered silence.
Then this infant-shaped soul addressed his most dangerous "tenant" in a calm, certain tone utterly at odds with his appearance. "I know you, and I know the Sage of Six Paths. If I told you I was the child he prophesied before his death, the one who would bring change and peace, would you... believe me?"
In the years that followed, that startling declaration became the starting point for countless conversations between them.
Over those years, Naruto entered the Sealing Space day after day to talk with the Nine-Tails. Their relationship could hardly be called affectionate, but the human and beast did get along quite well.
"You find a new topic every day. Go on, then. What have you come up with today?"
The Nine-Tails lowered his enormous head slightly, his crimson, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on Naruto outside the iron cage. Though his voice still carried its usual laziness and a hint of impatience, the faint swaying of his tail tips betrayed what he truly felt deep down.
Anticipation.
Sealed in this lightless space for decades, facing the same unchanging scenery day after day, he had long since been bored almost to madness.
Naruto's regular "intrusions" over the years, along with his wildly imaginative and sometimes downright shocking topics, had become the only fresh diversion in his long imprisonment.
Naruto sat cross-legged in front of the gate, propping his chin on one hand. After what seemed like a brief moment of thought, he raised his head and posed his question in a tone as calm as an academic discussion, yet firm and clear:
"Kurama, do you think there's a chance Wood Release isn't a Kekkei Genkai, but... a Kekkei Tōta?"
Those words struck like thunder, like an enormous boulder hurled into a stagnant pool, stirring towering waves within the silent Sealing Space!
They became an invisible surge that exploded violently in the Nine-Tails' ears.
The Nine-Tails sprang to his feet, his fur bristling as hot breath poured from his mouth.
Well, if that's what you want to talk about, I'm wide awake now.