"What are you talking about, brat?"
Just as Naruto finished complaining about the freeloading tenant sealed inside him, an angry voice, laced with shock and doubt, rang in his mind.
"Uh… No, no, it's been more than a few years. And I doubt my mom ever asked you for rent."
"It looks like you've been in debt for decades now, Kurama."
Naruto spoke calmly as he leaned against the edge of the tub, scrubbing himself clean.
After a moment of stunned silence, the Nine-Tails finally responded.
"That's nonsense… brat, how do you know my name?"
Naruto ignored the question and instead took the initiative to converse with the Nine-Tails for the first time.
First impressions are crucial.
I need to start with something rarely known in the shinobi world.
If I can make him feel even a little goodwill toward me, I won't have to deal with as much trouble later… No, I'll wait until I get my hands on Uchiha Shisui's corpse.
With the Sharingan… on the night of the Uchiha massacre, while collecting corpses en masse, I can awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
By then, Kurama will be nothing more than a toy.
But if possible, I'd rather have a Tailed Beast with its own will than one reduced to a mindless husk.
Of course, that depends on whether Kurama is reasonable.
"You are one of the nine Tailed Beasts, created when the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails' chakra."
Nine-Tails: "…"
"You all shared the chakra equally~"
"One for Shukaku, one for you, one for Matatabi, one for you…"
The words made the Nine-Tails' ears twitch in surprise.
Even though Naruto wasn't exactly complimenting him, a hint of pride flickered in Kurama's expression.
Yes, among the nine Tailed Beasts, I am the strongest.
"What a shame."
"What's a shame?"
Kurama's voice had lost much of its previous hostility.
"It won't be long before the Ten-Tails is resurrected. When that happens, you'll just become fuel for it again."
Kurama fell silent for a long moment before sneering.
"Brat, I don't know where you're getting all this from, but you underestimate me too much."
Naruto scoffed in return.
"Kurama, your power is too immense. Sorry, but I can't let you roam free."
With that one sentence, Kurama nearly lost his temper.
"Susanoo fused with Kurama doesn't seem that strong."
"What about True Thousand Hands?"
As he spoke, Naruto activated his Mori Mori no Mi abilities, turning his arm into wood.
Instantly, a howl of rage and fear echoed through the sealed space.
Memories of being restrained by Hashirama's Wood Release flooded Kurama's mind.
"By the way, you don't need to be too depressed. After all, Hashirama Senju never intended to keep you in Konoha permanently."
Kurama said nothing, merely twitching his ears and listening.
"If it weren't for Tobirama Senju's deep-seated distrust of the Uchiha and his policies pushing them to the margins… No, compared to his brother, he was definitely short-sighted."
"Speaking of which, Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju—both elder brothers—had a grander vision than their younger siblings. But on the surface, it's the younger ones who seem more like strategists."
"Hmph, so what? In the end, they still left me in Konoha."
Kurama couldn't help but interrupt.
Naruto shook his head.
"It seems you've forgotten how easily those eyes manipulated you."
"Snort…"
"Separating you from the others was meant to maintain balance. It made the other villages stronger while ensuring Konoha, as the dominant force, didn't become complacent."
"Besides, when someone possesses an overwhelmingly powerful weapon, they tend to slack off."
"Ahem, anyway, that's not the main point. The main point is, Konoha had both the Uchiha and the Tailed Beasts… and yet, the moment you so much as glanced at them, they all turned against the village."
"Hashirama had the ability to unify the shinobi world, but he chose not to. That was his wisdom."
Kurama's eyes narrowed. He had never considered these perspectives before, but now, listening to Naruto, he began to grasp something.
He stopped arguing.
"Hashirama Senju never pursued something as superficial as 'ending all wars.'"
Suddenly, Naruto stopped speaking.
Kurama couldn't hold back. "Then what was he after?"
"And what happened to that damned Uchiha Madara?"
Naruto smirked.
"After all that, you still won't pay rent, and now you won't even let me inspect my own house?"
Kurama rolled his eyes, exasperated. "The seal's too strong. My chakra can barely seep through, and you've already started refining it, haven't you?"
"Hmph, you're a sneaky little brat. You fooled the Third Hokage. You're much sharper than your naive father. In the end, all he could do was die to give you a chance."
"Oh? So you're not that strong after all."
"What did you say?!"
"Just wait until I gain full access to this sealed space."
"The chakra sealed in me is only your Yang half. The Yin half is sealed away with my 'cheap' old man. He really did gamble everything for my sake."
"Yang Release chakra body reinforcement must be pretty nice."
Kurama was beginning to get used to Naruto's attitude.
He already knew about the Ten-Tails, so hearing that he was split into two no longer surprised him.
Before cutting off communication, Naruto smirked.
"Behave yourself and don't interfere with my chakra training."
"Hah! As if I'd care! What, if you don't train, you'll end up crushed by a bunch of nobodies?"
"If I fail, you'll be in an even worse spot. So just sit back and watch."
With that, Naruto ignored the grumbling Nine-Tails.
He began practicing water-walking.
Tree climbing? It's essentially the same thing.
Besides, wouldn't it be better to train directly on the smooth bathroom wall?
Plus, with the Mori Mori no Mi's powers, nature itself favored him.
His chakra control training would be absurdly fast.
Still, for the best results, climbing the walls was superior.
To avoid being discovered by the Anbu keeping tabs on him, Naruto only trained in the bathroom.
He also practiced secretly in the river while fishing.
Absorbing nutrients needed to be done gradually. Too much at once would kill off the surrounding trees, making it obvious.
Luckily, after scouting the area, Naruto had begun shifting his fishing spot toward the Naka River, near the Uchiha district.
Now, he could increase his absorption rate.
These nutrients couldn't all be taken in at once.
Some were stored, while others were converted into chakra.
Chakra wasn't naturally storable—it needed constant refining.
But the Mori Mori no Mi made storing it possible.
The days passed peacefully.
Naruto acted normally.
Kurama's chakra no longer leaked out uncontrollably.
As time passed, the Anbu monitoring Naruto stopped focusing on quantity and instead assessed quality.
The Third Hokage's primary directive: Naruto must never detect them.
But little did they know—
Naruto had already mastered water-walking and wall-climbing.
His chakra control had reached a point where he could maintain passive refinement even in his sleep.
Through rigorous training, Naruto's chakra reserves were growing exponentially.
Compared to Kakashi—whose chakra reserves were notably drained by his Sharingan—Naruto estimated his own reserves had already surpassed the 'one Kakashi' unit.
After mastering basic chakra control, Naruto moved on to finer manipulation.
If memory serves, superhuman strength required excellent chakra control.
A medical-nin skilled in the Mystical Palm Technique already possessed this control—but it wasn't enough.
As Naruto's chakra mastery improved, medical ninjutsu would come easily.
Bloodline. Talent.
Naruto had both. And he trained tirelessly.
Kurama, despite his tsundere attitude, even leaked a bit of Yang Release chakra to aid in Naruto's physical conditioning.
His body grew stronger by the day.
One day, when he casually gripped his cup, it shattered with the lightest squeeze.
He had mastered super strength.
With fine chakra control training complete, it was time for a new challenge.
Chakra nature transformation.
Not long after, the 'kind-hearted' Third Hokage gifted Naruto with a chakra control exercise—
The Three Basic Jutsu.
After observing Naruto's poor control, the old man left, satisfied.
…
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