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"How was it?"
Sam handed Kurama a cup of tea and sat down across from him. "Now that you've seen your own future, what do you plan to do next?"
"…"
Kurama went quiet for a moment. "Naruto, huh…"
Right now, Kurama was nothing like his usual swaggering, heaven-first-earth-second-I'm-third self. Instead, he looked conflicted.
What Sam had shown him was only the future. It was not something Kurama had personally lived through.
Still, Naruto's actions really had moved him, especially since the kid was the so-called Child of Prophecy that the old Sage of Six Paths had talked about.
"Well, actually, I've got a pretty good idea for you," Sam said with a grin when he saw how torn Kurama looked. "You are the strongest of all the tailed beasts, after all."
Hearing that, Kurama felt very pleased with himself.
Obviously. I am the strongest tailed beast.
"So even if you manage to break free of the seal, you'll still be hunted endlessly afterward."
Kurama fell silent again. This was exactly what he had been thinking about. That was why he had not immediately started plotting an escape just because he knew the future.
"But you could strengthen your chakra and then exchange for a transformation technique or a transformation pill in the guild," Sam continued. "Turn yourself into a human."
"A transformation technique? A transformation pill?" Kurama's beastly pupils shrank. "You mean… become human?"
"Exactly. Become human," Sam nodded. "And you can also leave a clone inside the jinchūriki. That way, you can fool those guys into thinking you're still sealed."
"…"
As expected, scheming like this really is you humans' specialty.
Not long after Elsa left, Kurama left too.
He needed to rest properly and think things through. He had to figure out how to gain true freedom.
Relying on Naruto alone would take decades, and he did not have that kind of patience right now.
When he left, though, he was dragging his weak body along, looking completely drained.
There was no helping it. Only when guild members uploaded similar items would the price of those items drop.
If no one had uploaded something before, then even guild members had to pay a hefty amount of dimensional coins to exchange for it.
That was the difference between monopoly and competition.
Kurama had sold off all his chakra. He even sold his ultimate move, the Tailed Beast Bomb, just to scrape together enough money for the transformation technique.
The transformation pill would have been easier. One pill and you turn human. But it was too expensive, and the technique itself was far more cost-effective.
Don't let Kurama's rough looks fool you. He could still do basic math like that.
"Gurgle, gurgle…"
Sam was rewatching Naruto when a sudden sound of hunger echoed through the room.
He looked over and saw Feng Baobao staring blankly while rubbing her stomach, and he couldn't help laughing.
This girl really did not put on airs at all.
"I'm hungry. Gotta go eat," Feng Baobao said.
As she spoke, she casually tossed the Under One Person manga aside and headed toward the door she had come through.
"Baobao, why don't you stay and eat before you go?" Sam said. "My treat."
"You're buying me food?" Feng Baobao scratched her cheek. "Nah, better not. Xu San said I shouldn't casually eat things other people give me."
Sam: "…"
Then why did you drink the cola I gave you?
And why did you casually take my other drinks?
"By the way," Sam said, "after seeing your future, did you remember anything?"
"Yeah, kinda," Feng Baobao replied. "But my head started hurting, and I forgot again."
"…"
Alright. You win.
"Speaking of which," Sam said, "after seeing the future, you should know there's something wrong with your soul, right?"
"Since that's the case, you might as well buy something related to soul repair. It should help a bit with recovering your memories."
"Oh." Feng Baobao's tone was completely flat. "Okay."
At Sam's suggestion, Feng Baobao sold off her qi again. Even though her qi was practically endless, she still ended up feeling drained by the time she gathered enough coins.
She spent all the coins on repairing her soul damage, but unfortunately, nothing changed. She was still the same as before.
Seeing that her memories still had not returned, Feng Baobao did not get discouraged. After saying goodbye to Sam, she left.
Eating was more important. Eating came first.
"Um, I have a question," Sam said after the Super-Dimensional Mercenary Guild was left with only him inside. "Why isn't there something that directly restores Feng Baobao's memories?"
He was asking the guild's system assistant, Robin.
Her name supposedly came from poetic lines meaning the dawn's light illuminating all things, symbolizing hope.
At least, that was what the system assistant herself claimed. Whether it was true or not, Sam had no idea.
"That is a commission from her world's consciousness," Robin replied.
As she spoke, the guild chimed, and a new mission appeared on the commission board, exactly the one she was talking about.
Then, all the dimensional coins from that commission went straight into Sam's pocket.
"…"
Watching his balance jump up by a thousand, Sam was speechless. "You guys are really something."
"But seriously," he added, "even if Feng Baobao got her memories back, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, right?"
"No. It would have a huge impact on the world."
"???"Sam almost made the classic confused face. "Then why is Kurama's world fine?"
"The Naruto world's consciousness did not commission us," Robin explained patiently. "And the situations of the Naruto world and the Under One Person world are different."
"Feng Baobao's background is the key that drives the plot. If she recovers her memories now, it will cause major fluctuations in her world."
"More importantly, her world already has problems. If she regains her memories at this moment and changes fate, the resulting disturbances could lead to even worse consequences."
"It could even invite invasions from other planes."
Sam: "…"
Damn it. I knew this stupid guild was not going to be easy to deal with.
"....."