Akira chuckled. "The leader of the Akatsuki has the Rinnegan. I don't know how he got it, but it's the real thing. That's why I'm telling you this isn't a joke. If you refuse to cooperate, you really could die."
"I ran into Yugito in the Land of Demons this time, and that cat of hers worked perfectly with its jinchuriki. You could stand to learn something from that."
"So let's call it settled. Give me one month, and I'll toughen up this kid's container."
"Oh, right. If I remember correctly, you only have half your chakra, don't you?"
The Nine-Tails jolted, instantly on guard. "You know that too?"
Akira grinned. "I looked through the records on the Nine-Tails attack. I know how impressive you were when you fought the First Hokage head-on. If you'd only had this much chakra back then, there's no way Uchiha Madara would've wanted anything to do with you."
"If you hadn't been a walking super-battery back then, what exactly was Madara supposed to use to fight the First Hokage?"
"With what you've got now, the reserves are honestly kind of underwhelming."
That made the Nine-Tails furious.
"Even with only half my chakra, I still have more than all the other Tailed Beasts put together! But in front of a freak like you, what does that even matter? Your chakra reserves are so monstrous even the Sage of Six Paths would lose!"
"I seriously don't know what kind of creature you are. How can one person hold that much chakra?"
Akira's chakra reserves really were obscene at this point. He had roughly four times as much chakra as the full Nine-Tails, putting him uncomfortably close to Ten-Tails territory.
If his Yin-Yang Release had been a little more refined, he would practically have become a god already.
Akira smiled. "The other half is sealed inside the Fourth Hokage's body, right?"
The Nine-Tails gave a reluctant nod. At this point, Akira knowing things he shouldn't know had stopped being surprising.
Akira rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That makes sense. If you were whole, Naruto probably would've exploded by now. Speaking of that, did Mito-hime or Kushina-hime ever use your power?"
The Nine-Tails thought back for a moment. "Mito was too strong. She never needed it. She went her whole life without using me at all. Kushina used it a few times, though."
Akira nodded. "That's about what I figured. With Kushina's temper, I'm guessing she just yanked the power out by force. Honestly, if she'd wanted to, she could've become a perfect jinchuriki."
The Nine-Tails had to admit it. "That's true. Kushina's talent was high. If she hadn't been as wary of me as Mito was, the two of us probably could've worked together a lot better."
Akira clapped his hands once. "Then it's settled. Naruto's going to become Konoha's first perfect jinchuriki. From now on, rein in that temper of yours. No more random rampages."
The negotiation had gone unusually smoothly, but that was mostly because of sheer force.
As Akira turned to leave, the Nine-Tails suddenly asked, "There's something I've always wondered. Where exactly did you come from? Your chakra is absurd. Are you some surviving member of the Uzumaki clan or something?"
Akira scratched the side of his nose. "I've wondered that myself. But I don't exactly look like an Uzumaki, do I? And even if they had huge chakra reserves, I doubt they were ever this ridiculous. I'm pretty sure I've got four times as much chakra as your full form right now. If the First Hokage were here, even he'd have to admit I've got him beat in raw chakra."
The Nine-Tails lay there and seriously thought it through. "That's true. The First Hokage's chakra reserves were probably around the same level as my full form, though they spiked enormously when he entered Sage Mode."
"The real problem is that you freak also know sage jutsu, and not just a rough version. What you use feels even more dangerous than the First Hokage's."
That made Akira curious enough to ask a question of his own. "I've wondered about that too. Where did the First Hokage learn sage jutsu in the first place? His style has nothing in common with the three great sage regions. I've gone through the Senju family records over and over and found nothing."
The Nine-Tails thought for a moment. "I doubt he learned it from anywhere. He probably figured it out himself. Just like his Wood Style, it was most likely self-created. He was born with a sage's body, after all."
"The truth is, most people don't know what a sage's body really means. It was passed down from the Sage of Six Paths himself. Over thousands of years, only his son Asura and the First Hokage ever truly inherited that kind of body."
"Asura could use Wood Style too. I've always suspected the First Hokage was the reincarnation of Asura's chakra."
By now, the Nine-Tails had actually started to enjoy talking with Akira. This kind of equal conversation felt far better than the way previous jinchuriki had treated it, either like a monster or like a battery.
Akira put on a look of surprise. "Asura? The Sage of Six Paths' son? That part I didn't know. All I knew was that the First Hokage's Wood Style was absurdly strong. He flattened both you and Madara."
The Nine-Tails bristled instantly. "Do you know how to talk to anyone? What do you mean flattened? Against jutsu on that scale, anyone would've gotten crushed!"
Akira laughed. "Fair enough. I mean, it was True Several Thousand Hands. That giant Buddha was over a thousand meters tall, and when all those arms came crashing down together, forget you. Even with Susanoo around you, you'd still get smashed to pieces."
The Nine-Tails hated admitting it, but that was simply true. There was no point pretending otherwise in front of this monster.
Akira looked almost dreamy. "I'd really love to see just how spectacular True Several Thousand Hands actually is."
The Nine-Tails gave him a sideways look. "Then you'd better learn Wood Style first. As far as I know, the only one in Konoha who can use it now besides that experiment Yamato... wait a second! Back in the Land of Wind, didn't you use Myōjinmon?!"
It suddenly jolted upright in shock.
"Damn it! You bastard, you actually know Wood Style?!"
The Nine-Tails had finally connected the dots. Back then, those red torii gates that had fallen from the sky and pinned it down had been Myōjinmon all along.
Its whiskers twitched wildly. "You know Wood Style?! Then why the hell did you bother wrestling me by hand? One Wood Dragon and you could've tied me up on the spot! Don't tell me with chakra reserves like yours you never stole any of the Senju clan's secret jutsu!"
The more it thought about it, the colder it felt. If Akira had simply gone straight to True Several Thousand Hands back then, the Nine-Tails would've been on its way to meeting the Sage of Six Paths again.
Akira looked innocent. "There were too many people watching. If I'd gone straight to a finishing move like that, it would've been a little embarrassing. Using Myōjinmon to make the point was enough. Honestly, I'd like to test out True Several Thousand Hands at least once. I learned it, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. My hands are itching."
The Nine-Tails was completely speechless.
"You really aren't human. Why do you know Wood Style? What are you supposed to be, the Sage of Six Paths' secret bastard child?"
In the fox's understanding, a kekkei genkai like Wood Style couldn't just be learned later in life. Either you were born with it, or you weren't.
Yamato, with his transplanted cells, didn't count. Real Wood Style required perfect fusion of Water, Earth, and Yang Release.
Most of all, it needed a monstrous Yang nature and vast chakra reserves. Without both, it was impossible.
A freak like Akira, who had somehow mastered Wood Style out of nowhere, shattered everything the ninja world considered common sense.
Akira looked at the dumbfounded Nine-Tails and said calmly, "Who says only descendants of the Sage of Six Paths can use Wood Style? Do you know how I got mine?"
"When I was eleven, I had too much free time and started studying the fusion principles behind kekkei genkai. I forced the combination through by sheer trial and error. Nearly got myself killed doing it."
Hearing that absurd statement, the Nine-Tails, trapped behind the great iron gate, was left utterly stunned.
Its massive fox head slammed straight into the bars.
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