The Nine-Tails froze.
Behind the iron gate, his breathing suddenly grew heavy.
"Impossible."
He instinctively denied it, yet his claws slowly dug into the ground.
No ordinary person could possibly know the origins of that name.
"Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyuki."
Cangyue calmly recited the names one by one.
Finally, he looked back at the Nine-Tails.
"And you, Kurama."
Each name struck the Nine-Tails' heart like a stone.
His anger began to waver.
In its place came irrepressible shock and doubt, along with a trace of anticipation he refused to acknowledge even to himself.
What if?
What if that old man really had left something behind?
What if someone in this world still remembered that he wasn't a demon fox or a weapon, but Kurama?
The moment that thought surfaced, the Nine-Tails forcibly suppressed it.
I can't trust him.
He had trusted humans too many times and been betrayed too many times.
From being sealed and forced into service to being controlled by the Sharingan to attack Konoha, human schemes had lurked behind every supposed act of kindness.
The Nine-Tails forced himself to bare his fangs.
He asked several questions whose answers were known only to those from ancient times.
Why had the Ten-Tails been divided?
Where had the Nine Tailed Beasts once lived together?
And what prophecy had the Sage of Six Paths left before his death?
Cangyue answered without hesitation.
As for questions that were too specific, he merely frowned slightly and pressed a hand to his temple.
"This soul remnant is incomplete."
"Some memories have already been lost in the Pure Land."
Gradually, the Nine-Tails stopped questioning him.
He lay behind the iron gate, but his gaze never left Cangyue.
The emotions in those scarlet beast eyes kept shifting.
Doubt remained.
But beneath it clearly lay sorrow, nostalgia, and a spark of rekindled hope.
He suddenly recalled the downpour earlier that day.
Cangyue had merely lain in the rain for a while before his aura of swordsmanship surged, and he had even used sword intent to cut off the entire curtain of rain.
That hadn't been concealed strength.
The Nine-Tails was certain that Cangyue had genuinely grown stronger in an instant.
If a remnant of the Sage of Six Paths' soul resided within this brat, everything made sense.
Perhaps his so-called training in dreams was that soul remnant guiding him while he slept.
[Valor Points +150]
Cangyue almost failed to keep a straight face.
The Nine-Tails' emotions were even more intense than he had expected.
For all this fox's fierce talk, he clearly had never truly let go of the Sage of Six Paths.
The Nine-Tails stared at him for a long time.
Finally, he spoke in a low voice.
"If it's really you..."
Most of the savagery had vanished from his voice.
There was even a nearly imperceptible trace of hesitation.
"Why aren't you dead yet?"
"My original body died long ago."
Cangyue lowered his eyes to his hands.
"My soul remains in the Pure Land. All that remains in the mortal world are a few means I left behind that have yet to fade."
"This boy named Cangyue happened to become the vessel for a fragment of my lingering will."
The Nine-Tails fell silent.
That explanation resolved the last doubt in his heart.
So the Sage of Six Paths hadn't truly returned to life.
It was only a soul remnant.
After a brief sense of relief, a far more complicated feeling of loss welled up.
The Nine-Tails slowly lowered his head, his powerful breath passing through the iron gate and stirring the hem of Cangyue's clothes.
"Then can you break this seal?"
He stared fixedly at Cangyue, his voice unconsciously growing tense.
"Let me out."
Cangyue's expression nearly froze.
He really couldn't do that.
Nor could he allow it.
Time to bail!
The next instant, he decisively toppled backward.
Thud!
The familiar twitching began again.
Naruto jumped back, clutching his pillow.
"Here we go again!"
The anticipation on the Nine-Tails' face froze.
Then veins bulged on his forehead.
Of all the times for that soul remnant to disappear, it had to happen right when I asked about the seal?
The Nine-Tails strongly suspected that the Sage of Six Paths was deliberately avoiding him.
A moment later, Cangyue abruptly sat up.
He looked around blankly, the ancient weariness in his eyes swiftly fading.
Then he looked up at the Nine-Tails and deliberately put on a flippant expression.
"So this is the legendary Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?"
Cangyue looked him up and down.
"You don't look all that impressive."
The Nine-Tails' sorrow instantly turned to fury.
"Oi! Brat!"
He slammed a claw against the iron gate.
"Do you want to die?!"
Cangyue took a step forward.
"Come out and bite me, then."
The Nine-Tails bared his fangs, scarlet chakra churning violently.
But remembering that Cangyue might be the vessel chosen by the Sage of Six Paths' soul remnant, he finally forced himself to withdraw his power.
"The old man's taste keeps getting worse."
The Nine-Tails lashed his tails irritably.
"Take this little brat and get lost!"
"Not yet."
Cangyue turned and hauled Naruto, who had been watching in utter confusion, over to the iron gate.
"We came here for him."
Naruto pointed at himself.
"Huh?"
He still hadn't figured out what was happening.
Wasn't this supposed to be training in a dream? How had it suddenly turned into a reunion with the Sage of Six Paths?
Cangyue pointed at Naruto's chest and abdomen in turn.
Blue chakra and scarlet chakra appeared simultaneously.
The two forces tangled together, constantly clashing.
"One body, two sources of chakra."
"Nine-Tails chakra has been leaking out for a long time, interfering with Naruto's own power. That's why his chakra control is far worse than an ordinary person's."
Cangyue looked at the Nine-Tails.
"Rein in the power that's leaking out."
The anger in the Nine-Tails' eyes had yet to fade.
"Why should I help a human?"
"You share the same body."
Cangyue clasped his hands behind his back.
"Naruto being too weak does you no good either."
The Nine-Tails sneered.
He didn't trust humans.
Yet he couldn't shake the familiar look in those eyes just now.
The Sage of Six Paths had once said that, one day, the Tailed Beasts would meet someone who truly understood them.
Could this blond brat be that person?
The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto.
Naruto scratched his head, then suddenly flashed him a broad grin.
"I still don't understand..."
"But I'm looking forward to getting along with you, Kurama!"
Not demon fox.
Not monster.
He had called him by his name.
The Nine-Tails' gaze flickered slightly before he turned his head away in disdain.
"Don't act like we're friends, brat."
He raised a claw.
The scarlet chakra that had been constantly leaking through the seal abruptly drew back, separating from Naruto's blue chakra.
They no longer clashed.
The previously chaotic Nine-Tails chakra also began to work as it should.
It gave Naruto benefits such as faster recovery and abundant energy.
Naruto felt lighter, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"I really do feel so much better!"
He waved vigorously at the iron gate.
"Thank you, Teacher Kurama!"
"I'm not your teacher!"
The Nine-Tails roared, then turned and lay back down in the darkness.
His nine tails drooped, blocking the iron gate.
But before the tails closed completely, Cangyue clearly saw that those scarlet beast eyes were still watching him.
He was waiting.
Waiting for that soul remnant to awaken again.
Before you continue