“Hmph! Stop pretending in front of me! To be able to summon someone with such an evil power, you brat aren’t a good person either!”
The Nine-Tails scoffed at Naruto’s explanation.
In its view, Itachi had been invited here by Naruto.
Naruto was simply like a mute eating coptis root—he had suffering he couldn’t express.
If he hadn’t come here himself, he probably wouldn’t even have known what Itachi had done to him.
And the Nine-Tails wasn’t someone who would listen to explanations, so not only had Itachi tricked him, but he had also ended up being hated by the Nine-Tails.
“Tsk~~ If I say that I only just found out what that guy did to me, would you believe me?”
“Hmph! Do you think I’ll believe you?”
The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto as though he were an idiot, his tone filled with disdain.
Naruto scratched his head, somewhat unsure of what to do.
Even though he had lived two lifetimes, he had no experience dealing with something like this.
“Anyway, all I can say is that I was also ambushed. Whether you believe me is up to you. How about this? Let’s cooperate.”
“Cooperate? You mean you want to cooperate with me? Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!”
The Nine-Tails suddenly burst into laughter as though it had heard an especially hilarious joke.
Its laughter was filled with endless mockery.
As the strongest of the Nine Tailed Beasts, no one had ever spoken these words to it before.
Even Uchiha Madara back then could only forcibly control it through the Sharingan.
In its eyes, mere humans had no qualifications to speak of cooperation with it, let alone a child.
“Brat, do you know what you’re saying? Cooperate? What makes you think you have the qualifications to say such a thing to me? And what can you give me?”
Naruto didn’t become angry because of the Nine-Tails’ mockery.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the Nine-Tails before him.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that the Nine-Tails was actually very pitiful.
“Freedom. I can give you freedom.”
“Freedom? Hahahahaha! Hahahahahaha…”
This time, the Nine-Tails laughed even louder.
If it hadn’t been firmly fixed to the cross, it probably would have been rolling around on the ground laughing.
Its laughter lasted for nearly a minute before gradually stopping.
The moment its laughter ceased, the Nine-Tails restrained its emotions and expression and spoke in a low, sinister voice.
“Brat, you probably don’t know this yet, do you? You’re a Jinchūriki, and I’m a Tailed Beast. My freedom is built upon your life. The moment I become free means your death. You are using freedom to negotiate with me, which is equivalent to using your own life as a bargaining chip. Do you understand?!”
The Nine-Tails suddenly raised its voice at the end, almost roaring as it questioned Naruto.
But Naruto remained unmoved.
Knowing the future, he also knew that there was a way to have the best of both worlds.
“Of course I understand. Or rather, I probably understand these things better than anyone alive today. But I can do it! One day, I’ll set you free!”
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails with a determined gaze, trying to gain its trust.
However, all he received was the Nine-Tails’ disdain.
“Such a boring trick! You’re only a brat, yet you dare to make such an arrogant claim! Forget it. Enough, brat. I have nothing more to say to you.”
The Nine-Tails’ tone suddenly became weary.
It lowered its head and slowly closed its eyes, returning to the state it had been in when Naruto first arrived.
Naruto’s brows furrowed slightly.
Although there was no problem with leaving now, he knew what would happen later.
He would definitely need to rely on the Nine-Tails’ power in the future.
If he followed the original storyline, there naturally wouldn’t be a problem.
But now that this incident had happened, if he didn’t handle it properly, it might affect many things later on.
If this caused a problem with the Nine-Tails’ power and ultimately led to his death, he would suffer a huge loss.
So, for now, he at least needed to gain the Nine-Tails’ trust.
“I’m serious, Kurama!”
The Nine-Tails trembled all over and suddenly opened its eyes.
Its gaze was filled with shock.
How long had it been since someone had called it by this name?
Even it had almost forgotten it.
Yet now, the name had come from the mouth of a child.
How could it not be surprised?
“How… how do you know that name? Who exactly are you?”
Naruto lowered his head, doing his best to avoid eye contact with the Nine-Tails so that it wouldn’t notice any flaws.
At the same time, he deliberately shook his head in confusion.
“I don’t know either. The moment I saw you, a lot of names suddenly appeared in my mind. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki, Kurama. I only know that the name corresponding to you is Kurama.”
The Nine-Tails furrowed its brows tightly.
Its gaze gradually softened, and after a long while, it finally grinned and revealed a smile.
“Heh! Since that’s the case, then prove it to me through your actions! I believe you a little now.”
“Okay! Then it’s settled! I’ll prove it to you. Oh, right, my name is Uzumaki Naruto!”
After saying this, Naruto opened his eyes.
Looking at the familiar ceiling above him, he let out a long sigh of relief.
He gently touched his stomach with his hand and finally couldn’t help grinning.
“I finally managed to fool my way through it. Tsk! I really didn’t expect the target of that Tsukuyomi to be the Nine-Tails. No wonder I didn’t notice anything unusual. But why? What was Itachi’s purpose in doing this? He should be absolutely loyal to Konoha. There’s no reason for him to target the Nine-Tails. I really can’t figure it out.”
If the other party had been Uchiha Fugaku, Naruto would probably have worried that Fugaku was planning to use the Nine-Tails when launching the coup.
But the other party was Uchiha Itachi, so this possibility could basically be ruled out.
However, after ruling out this possibility, he really couldn’t understand what Uchiha Itachi’s purpose was in doing this.
Since the matter had already been resolved, Naruto didn’t think too much about what he couldn’t figure out.
Soon, he fell into a deep sleep.
…
Early the next morning, Naruto arrived at school on time.
As soon as he entered, he saw that quite a few people were already in the classroom.
Hinata was among them.
Since it wasn’t time for class yet, the students were chatting.
The boys were gathered in one group, and the girls in another.
Sasuke, as the handsome young master of a prominent clan, had even attracted quite a few people around him.
Naruto “familiarized himself with the route” and sat down beside Hinata.
“Yo, Hinata. You’re here early.”
“Ah! Nar, Naruto-kun, you’re early too.”
Hinata’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked startled.
Naruto smiled and was just about to continue speaking when a group of students filed into the classroom.
Immediately afterward, the class bell rang.
Iruka walked into the classroom, and the previously noisy room instantly became quiet.
“Alright, class is about to begin. Everyone, return to your seats. Today’s lesson is very important, so everyone pay attention. Today we’ll be learning one of the Three Body Techniques—the Transformation Technique. Please take out your notebooks and take notes while listening…”
Iruka took out the lesson plan he had prepared early that morning and began explaining at length.
Naruto, who had resolved to become the dead last, simply lay down on his desk and casually pushed his notebook toward Hinata.