All of the Root shinobi stopped channeling chakra into Naruto's body.
At this moment, the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's abdomen was already in tatters—only half of the sealing formula remained intact.
Watching Naruto gasp for breath, Danzō murmured to himself,
"Six tails is the limit, huh… That should be enough."
After seeing Danzō and the Root shinobi leave, the corner of Naruto's mouth curled into a victorious smile.
Inside the Nine-Tails' Inner World
Kurama looked at Naruto, who was lying on the ground drenched in sweat, and couldn't help but scold him.
"Naruto, that was far too reckless. Even if the seal were released right now, I'd still need to expend a massive amount of my power just to suppress my own chakra so it wouldn't harm you. There's no need to rush breaking the seal!"
Naruto sat up from the ground.
"Kurama, we have far less time than I imagined. What we're facing isn't just Konoha—it's Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki as well.
I thought that with jōnin-level strength, and knowing that Minato and Kushina wouldn't truly try to kill me, I could seize the other half of you from Kushina… I was far too naïve."
Kurama spoke solemnly,
"Naruto, even if you fully mastered all of my power, it still wouldn't necessarily be enough to oppose all of Konoha. You should know—when I was in my complete form, I was still defeated by Konoha twice.
You need another kind of power."
"Another power?" Naruto asked.
Kurama nodded his massive fox head.
"Even though I really hate that kind of power, I have to admit it's extremely strong. Back then, Senju Hashirama defeated me precisely because he possessed it."
Naruto asked in surprise,
"Wood Release? Can I even learn that? That's impossible, right?"
"Idiot—of course not Wood Release!" Kurama snapped.
"Although Hashirama's Wood Release was indeed quite powerful, what truly defeated me was a senjutsu technique called Sage Art: Wood Release — True Several Thousand Hands!"
"Sage… jutsu?" Naruto asked blankly. "What's that?"
"Sage jutsu are ninjutsu performed using senjutsu chakra," Kurama explained.
"Senjutsu chakra is a special chakra created by absorbing natural energy and fusing it with one's own normal chakra."
Naruto stared at Kurama with a completely confused expression, clearly not understanding at all.
Kurama let out a deep sigh.
"I knew you wouldn't get it. Just understand this—if you master senjutsu chakra, you'll gain tremendous power. That's all you need to know."
"Then how do I learn senjutsu chakra? Can you use it, Kurama?" Naruto asked curiously.
Kurama turned his head away arrogantly.
"Hmph! How could I possibly know something like that? I'm only telling you this much because you're too weak right now. Otherwise, even if you begged me, I wouldn't tell you a single word!"
"Yeah, yeah, Kurama, you're the best!" Naruto said quickly, running over to the cage that held Kurama and burying his head into the fox's fur as he acted spoiled.
"Hurry up and tell me!"
"Get away from me! Don't cling to me!" Kurama said irritably, pushing Naruto aside.
Naruto reluctantly pulled himself away from Kurama's soft, smooth fur.
"Ahem," Kurama continued.
"In the entire shinobi world, there are only three places where one can learn senjutsu: Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave.
The leaders of these places have lived for thousands of years and call themselves 'Sages.' Hah—what a joke. As if they're worthy of calling themselves sages."
"Do you know where those places are?" Naruto asked.
"No," Kurama replied bluntly.
"These locations are extremely well-hidden. The only way to reach them is through Reverse Summoning."
"Reverse Summoning…" Naruto frowned.
Reverse Summoning required a contract with a summoning beast. Without one, attempting the technique was basically suicide—you'd have no idea where you'd be sent.
"There's no need to feel troubled," Kurama said.
"If you want to get there, it's actually very simple. Konoha's Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the traitor Orochimaru each have contracts with Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave, respectively."
Hearing this, Naruto began silently calculating his options.
Orochimaru was a missing-nin—discarded.
Tsunade wasn't familiar with Naruto—also discarded.
That left only Minato Namikaze's teacher—Jiraiya.
Naruto smiled at Kurama.
"I understand now, Kurama. I have a plan."
Seeing Naruto's smile, Kurama felt both relieved—and strangely pained.
Kurama still remembered the first time he met Naruto.
Back then, Naruto was only three years old. He had been beaten unconscious by a group of children his age and, by sheer coincidence, entered the Nine-Tails' inner world.
When Kurama first saw him, his rage flared, and he wanted to kill the child outright.
But Naruto's eyes were dull and lifeless as he walked up to Kurama and said,
"Please… kill me."
Faced with that request, Kurama instead calmed down and asked,
"Why?"
"I don't know what I did wrong," Naruto said.
"Why does everyone bully me? Why does everyone hate me?
If my very existence is a mistake… then why not just kill me directly?"
There was no attachment to life in Naruto's eyes.
At the time, Kurama wanted to use Naruto to break the seal.
Naruto complied without resistance, but the Eight Trigrams Seal was far too strong. The young Naruto simply couldn't undo the sealing formula on the cage.
Later, Naruto found a way to freely enter the Nine-Tails' inner world. Every day, he came to see Kurama, trying to help him escape from the cage.
As time passed, Kurama gradually became familiar with Naruto.
But what truly made Kurama open his heart was one particular day.
That day, Kurama no longer wanted to deceive Naruto. He asked him,
"If the seal is broken, your life will end as well. Even so, would you still do it?"
Naruto gently stroked Kurama's fur.
"Kurama, you must be in so much pain. I can feel it.
You're not a violent monster. They misunderstood you, feared you, and forcibly sealed you inside a jinchūriki. I can feel your grievance, your unwillingness, and your anger."
"You're my only family. Freeing you from this cage is my responsibility."
From that day on, Kurama completely opened his heart to Naruto. He chose to trust him, told him everything about his origins, and resolved to support Naruto unconditionally—no matter what decision he made.
When Naruto chose to take revenge on everyone, Kurama chose to support him as well.
Even while bound by the Eight Trigrams Seal, Kurama forcibly used his vast chakra to create a tiny crack in the seal—supplying Naruto with the Nine-Tails' power.
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