The space remained silent for a long time. The Nine-Tails, which had been filled with rage, gradually suppressed its emotions.
For once, it didn't lash out in its usual fury. Instead, it remained quiet, lying down in its cage with its massive fox head resting on its front paws.
It seemed to have given up on resisting.
Yes, it could look down on Naruto. Yes, it could refuse to believe that Naruto wouldn't eventually give it a chance to break free.
But so what?
As long as that boy existed, even if it broke the seal, what meaning would it have?
If things played out like before, and it was captured and sealed again, it would truly lose all dignity.
The Nine-Tails sighed. "Old man Six Paths, ever since you left, this shinobi world has become incredibly frustrating for me."
"I finally get the weakest Jinchūriki in generations, only for this kid to show up. Are you cursing me from the afterlife?"
It let out another sigh.
It had abandoned the idea of struggling.
At first, it had believed Naruto was the weakest among the three Jinchūriki it had been sealed in. It thought it could gradually erode the seal while Naruto recklessly relied on its chakra.
But Yoruha's appearance changed everything.
Even if the Nine-Tails broke free, it wouldn't matter. Yoruha had the ability to capture and reseal it.
Right now, Yoruha didn't possess that power—at least, not yet. At this moment, he was not its match.
But the Nine-Tails was highly sensitive to strength. It knew that it wouldn't take long before Yoruha grew strong enough to suppress it completely—perhaps even reaching the level of Hashirama Senju.
The mere thought of that name filled the Nine-Tails with irritation.
Yet, it had no choice but to acknowledge it.
From Yoruha, it could see the shadow of Hashirama, or perhaps… someone with even greater potential.
Because in its estimation, at Yoruha's current age, Hashirama hadn't been nearly this powerful.
Even Yoruha himself wasn't fully aware of his own strength.
But the Nine-Tails, being highly attuned to power, could tell—at this moment, Yoruha's strength had already reached the level of a Kage.
Whether he had surpassed that level, the Nine-Tails wasn't sure. It hadn't seen Yoruha fight yet.
But just the mysterious force residing in Yoruha's body was enough for the Nine-Tails to see the boundless potential in his future.
Meanwhile, Yoruha was somewhat surprised.
He muttered to himself, "This fox isn't resisting anymore… that's kind of strange."
He had assumed the Nine-Tails was secretly preparing a big attack.
He never expected that it had simply given up.
His presence alone had completely erased the Nine-Tails' desire to break free.
After all, what was the point of escaping if it was just going to get captured and sealed again?
What the Nine-Tails didn't know was that Yoruha remained extremely cautious.
As he reinforced the seal, he kept a close watch on it.
This continued for about an hour.
Eventually, Yoruha finished strengthening the sealing technique inside Naruto's body, making it even more secure.
The Nine-Tails could feel it.
Due to Yoruha's chakra, the newly reinforced Eight Trigrams Seal was far stronger than the one placed by Minato Namikaze.
The difference was crystal clear.
This only deepened the Nine-Tails' suspicions.
There was an incredibly powerful force hidden within Yoruha.
Because after Yoruha reinforced Minato's seal, it had become several times stronger than the original version.
Previously, the Nine-Tails could slowly seep out chakra and corrode the seal Minato left behind.
But now—
It realized that its chakra could not corrode the new sealing technique left by Yoruha.
That's right—Yoruha, worried that merely reinforcing Minato Namikaze's seal wouldn't be secure enough, had added another Eight Trigrams Seal.
The reinforced version of Minato's seal could still be eroded, though it was significantly stronger than before. If the Nine-Tails continuously leaked its chakra to corrode it, there was still a chance of breaking through.
But the additional Eight Trigrams Seal Yoruha had placed—no matter what it tried, its chakra couldn't erode it at all.
In other words, the seal left by Yoruha was something it simply couldn't break.
At least, not with its own power.
Unless Yoruha himself released it, or Naruto did.
The Nine-Tails furrowed its brow.
Its fox-like eyes stared intently at Yoruha.
"Brat, you actually added another seal? Aren't you afraid of exhausting all your chakra?"
At that moment, Yoruha's face looked a little pale.
"You're not wrong. I almost ran out of chakra—sealing techniques really do consume a lot. Looks like my chakra reserves are still too low."
The Nine-Tails twitched its mouth slightly.
Seeing Yoruha's serious expression, it nearly cursed out loud.
This brat had risked exhausting his own chakra just to add yet another sealing technique. And even though it was the same Eight Trigrams Seal, it was several times stronger than the one Minato had left behind.
With its current abilities, it had no way to break through.
The new seal Yoruha left behind was far more resilient than Minato's, and naturally, it had consumed multiple times the chakra as well.
Yet Yoruha's chakra reserves were far greater than Minato's.
Minato had a lot of chakra, but it simply couldn't compare to Yoruha's.
Not to mention, Yoruha's chakra was fundamentally different from ordinary chakra.
But regardless of that, everything Yoruha had done was for the sake of sealing it. There was no way it could feel happy about that.
However, what truly shocked the Nine-Tails was that—just ten minutes later—Yoruha's chakra had fully recovered.
Just ten minutes.
The Nine-Tails was completely stunned. "You… Your chakra actually recovered?!"
Yoruha's complexion had returned to normal. He stood up with a relaxed expression.
"Running out of chakra really doesn't feel good… Alright, I should be going."
"See you around, Nine-Tails."
With that, Yoruha turned and prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
The Nine-Tails quickly called out to him.
Yoruha frowned slightly but didn't leave. Instead, he turned to look at the Nine-Tails. "Something else?"
The Nine-Tails held back its words for a long moment before finally asking, "What exactly is that brat Naruto to you?"
"Why are you willing to go this far for him?"
Yoruha paused for a moment, then chuckled.
"I'm just doing what I think is right. Naruto is… a friend, I suppose. And he's someone very important to Konoha—I can't let anything happen to him."
"Everything I've done is simply to help him control your power in the future. I believe he'll succeed. But until then, I don't want you causing him any trouble."
"After all, if you break free, it'll be a huge problem for me as well."
"Right now, I'm still not your match. If you were to escape at this moment, I doubt anyone in Konoha could seal you back again."
Yoruha's tone was calm.
If anyone else had said those words, the Nine-Tails would've blasted them with a Tailed Beast Bomb without hesitation.
But since it was Yoruha saying it, it felt… nothing.
Among those who could speak to it like this in the shinobi world, the Nine-Tails only acknowledged the Sage of the Six Paths, his sons Indra and Asura, as well as Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Not even Mito Uzumaki or Kushina Uzumaki—who had sealed it for decades—were recognized by it.
Yet when Yoruha spoke, the Nine-Tails didn't doubt for a second that he could do exactly as he said.
It was just curious as to why he was willing to go this far.
It still remembered clearly—Naruto and Yoruha weren't exactly close.
Naruto had even treated Yoruha as a rival before.
Back then, the Nine-Tails didn't know who Yoruha was or what he looked like.
But after some thought, it could now tell—the person Naruto had talked about… was Yoruha.
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