Kurama stared at Naruto with slit pupils and said in a deep voice, "Do you really want to let me out?"
"Yeah, but it's a pity I'm too small right now and don't have nearly enough strength to open this gate."
Though extremely subtle, Naruto was in a state of high concentration at that moment, and he caught the minute shift in emotion in the Nine-Tails' words.
Sure enough, the moment Naruto said that, a trace of yearning slowly emerged in the Nine-Tails' eyes.
"Brat, walk in through the crack in the gate. Do not resist, and I can lend you my power to easily open this door."
At that moment, the yearning for freedom in the Nine-Tails' eyes grew stronger and stronger, its tone softened considerably, and its voice carried an enticing quality.
"Oh."
Naruto nodded innocently and took two steps forward.
Seeing this, the Nine-Tails' eyes flashed with uncontrollable murderous intent and a longing for freedom.
"Step closer... That's right, walk in. Don't let me face any resistance, and let Lord Nine-Tails take control of your body."
Yet just as Naruto was about to step through the crack in the gate, he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, brat? Walk in and I can give you incomparable power. You can completely rely on my power to take revenge on those villagers who hate and loathe you."
Seeing Naruto stop and refuse to move forward, the Nine-Tails' heart, dormant for many years, could not help but leap into its throat.
"Oh right, can you tell me who set up this gate?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Hmph, never mind who set it up. You just need to walk in according to my instructions." The voice was somewhat displeased, carrying a faint commanding tone.
Hearing this, Naruto chuckled inwardly, then feigned difficulty.
"That won't do. Fourth Grandpa said I need to be a polite, good kid."
Naruto pretended to reminisce. "He specifically warned me that if I ever encountered a caged fox, I must never easily trust it. Even though you're a dog, I can't just let you out without the owner's permission, right?"
The words fell.
A brief, dead silence enveloped the grand hall.
"If you're not going to say anything, I'm heading back. I'll come visit you again when I have time."
With that, Naruto turned as if to leave.
"Minato Namikaze is the one who imprisoned me here."
In their first clash, Naruto won a complete victory.
Hearing the Nine-Tails submit under his might, Naruto was overjoyed.
"Minato Namikaze... How come I've never heard of him? Can you tell me what kind of person he was?"
"That damned man... The man Lord Nine-Tails wants to kill!!"
"Damn human... the man I want to kill!!" True to its nature, the Nine-Tails was not human. As an accumulation of hatred, its temper was direct and straightforward. The fact that it had previously been able to suppress its rampaging emotions and entice Naruto was due to a sliver of human nature it had comprehended through cultivation over the years.
Yet upon seeing Naruto stop before the great sealing gate and refuse to take another step inside, the boundless resentment in its heart erupted in an instant.
It pressed its gigantic nose against the iron bars, instantly revealing its massive, ferocious head clearly, while a pair of crimson slit pupils stared fixedly at the boy who was inches away.
The low growl belonging to the giant beast immediately scared the boy so pale that he instinctively took three steps back and sat down flat in a puddle of water.
If the previous conversation with the Nine-Tails was something Naruto did deliberately, then this retreat and tumble caused by fear was entirely genuine.
The original story was, after all, an anime, but what he was seeing right now was the real Nine-Tails.
That was the huge chasm between 2D and 3D vision.
"Naruto... Help me tear away that Sealing, and I can grant your every wish."
Seemingly seeing Naruto display such a terrified look, the Nine-Tails ultimately forced down the anger in its heart and spoke.
"Whoa, you look so pretty, I like you so much."
Having recovered his wits and seeing the Nine-Tails' imposing appearance, the fear in Naruto's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by little stars in his eyes.
This kind of look could not be deliberately faked; Naruto genuinely thought the Nine-Tails looked imposing.
"What... You... What did you say?"
Yes, the Nine-Tails was directly flustered by Naruto's line: You look so pretty, I like you so much.
From its birth until now, perhaps only the Sage of Six Paths had ever acknowledged and praised it like this.
After the Sage of Six Paths died, these tailed beasts lived freely for over thirty years.
The Warring States period ended and the Five Great Nations were established. In the years that followed, it was either forcefully controlled in mind and used as a toy, or sealed inside the bodies of successive Jinchūriki to become an instrument of war, denied freedom day in and day out.
Who could have expected that today it would be praised to its face by a brat, who even said it was very pretty...
"Damned brat... Lord Nine-Tails is male, what 'pretty'?"
Seeing that he had easily stirred the Nine-Tails' emotions, Naruto felt immensely joyful inside. This was the benefit of knowing the personalities of various supporting characters in advance; one could completely exploit their weaknesses to keep oneself in an undefeated position.
"Male? Are you a real man too?" Naruto raised his head and looked curiously at the Nine-Tails. "Oh right, I haven't formally introduced myself yet. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will become Hokage in the future. What about you... Do you have a name?"
Originally, the Nine-Tails did not want to answer this question, but through their brief contact, it discovered that Naruto seemed not to know its actual identity. This made it think that if it exercised some restraint, there might be a possibility of breaking free from the Sealing.
Thinking of this, the Nine-Tails hurriedly hid its nine massive tails behind itself in the darkness.
After all, the brat had already said earlier that the Third Hokage had warned him not to easily trust a caged fox.
If it still said it was the Nine-Tails or Kurama, it would easily be linked to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Wouldn't that be voluntarily exposing its identity?
Though hard to bring itself to do it, for the sake of the freedom it yearned for and to shake off this endless Sealing, the Nine-Tails altered its voice and emitted a canine bark.
"Woof... Woof..."
The barking was very awkward, as if it didn't bark often.
"Hmph... Brat, you can respectfully address me as: Fox Lord!"
Uttering these words, even though the Nine-Tails had lived for hundreds of years, it still felt its old face burn hotly. Fortunately, its face was naturally orange-yellow, so the blush wasn't very obvious.
"Fox... Fox Lord?"
Now it was Naruto's turn to have his brain short-circuit, repeating the two words "Fox Lord" in a low voice.
"Brat, I've already told you my name. Can you help me tear off that seal on the gate now?"
The Nine-Tails had gone so far as to drop its trousers for this, terrified that the boy wouldn't take the bait, and right now it was staring fixedly at Naruto with a pair of crimson slit pupils.
This left Naruto in a bit of a predicament. Walking into the gate was out of the question, and handing over control of his body was even more impossible. As for lifting the seal, wouldn't he be totally screwed then?
However, Naruto was a modern person after all, well-versed in the personalities of many supporting characters in the Naruto World, and he quickly thought of a countermeasure.
Yet just as Naruto was about to speak.
Suddenly.
A harsh alarm clock rang in his ears.
This time it was serious. His physical consciousness was awakened by the physical world, and the mental consciousness of Naruto, who was currently in the sealing space, instantly shattered into pieces and slowly vanished.
Watching Naruto disappear before its eyes, the Nine-Tails went completely berserk.
"Damn it... Hiruzen the Third, Minato the Fourth Hokage... Damn you all, you all deserve to die!!"
Instantly, dark red chakra roared through the grand hall.
This scorching, rampaging chakra persisted for a long time before subsiding.
Then, behind the sealing gate, the pair of crimson slit pupils filled with resentment and hatred slowly closed, until they were entirely swallowed by the darkness.
"Naruto... Treated like this by Konoha, I'll eventually get my chance..."
Four-thirty in the morning.
As the alarm clock rang away like crazy.
Naruto's consciousness finally returned to his physical body.
Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto smiled bitterly. "Well, that's equivalent to not sleeping all night."
Despite saying that, Naruto didn't get up immediately; instead, he kept recalling the Nine-Tails' appearance and the things it had said to him.
"This is getting interesting. It looks like the Nine-Tails' intelligence hasn't regressed from being sealed by successive Jinchūriki; it's actually improved somewhat. It even knows how to try and lure me?"
"Fox Lord?"
A smile played at the corners of Naruto's mouth, and then, as if hit by a shot of adrenaline, he leaped directly out of bed.
Opening the door to the outer balcony and looking out at Konoha before dawn, Naruto stretched lazily and shouted at the distance.
"I'm going to be Hokage!!!"
The voice rolled outward like waves, spreading rapidly to the surroundings.
At the same time.
The system's notification arrived.
[Ding! Received 1 point of negative emotion value from a Konoha Villagers!] [Ding! Received 1 point of negative emotion value from a Konoha Villagers!] [Ding! Received 1 point of negative emotion value from a Konoha Villagers!] ...
The villagers awakened by Naruto's roar all greeted Naruto's ancestors down to the eighteenth generation in extremely gentle tones.
Waking up bright and early to harvest 100 Negative Emotion Points, Naruto flashed a sunny smile and turned back into his room.
"Yup, another day full of vitality."
After a quick wash, he slung his canvas bag loaded with ninja tools over his shoulder and sprinted all the way toward the training ground at a dead run.