When it came to situations like this, Naruto was surprisingly clever.
He had prepared himself mentally long ago.
He knew that as long as no one revealed his true identity, more and more people would insist he was the reincarnation of the Demon Fox.
Almost everyone would come to fear or hate him.
That was why Naruto had bought everything he needed before people fully noticed the whisker-like markings on his face.
By the time they reacted.
It was already too late.
Naruto himself had once carefully examined those markings.
In the end, he discovered they weren’t actual whiskers.
They resembled birthmarks more than anything else.
Perhaps the children of Tailed Beast Jinchūriki were simply born with certain peculiarities.
Then again.
What about Uzumaki Mito’s children?
Wait as Naruto recalled, Mito only became the Nine-Tails’ Jinchūriki after Uchiha Madara brought Kurama to battle Senju Hashirama.
Hashirama later succumbed to the injuries he suffered in that fight.
Which meant.
Mito had most likely given birth before becoming a Jinchūriki.
As for the other Jinchūriki.
It wasn’t clear whether any of them even had children.
Nor was it known whether those children had been born before or after they became hosts.
There was no point speculating.
In any case only Naruto’s family line seemed to produce children with whisker-like facial markings.
He could only treat it as a unique trait.
(Or perhaps the earliest concept for the story had simply intended Naruto himself to be a fox spirit, which explained the whiskers.)
Regardless.
Naruto couldn’t be bothered listening to everyone else’s gossip.
Maintaining a calm expression, he carried his purchases home.
By now.
His abnormal strength was becoming increasingly obvious.
Those bags weren’t exactly light.
Yet he effortlessly carried huge piles of them in one hand.
Many pedestrians stopped and stared.
How could such a tiny child possess so much strength?
“Careful.”
“That’s the Demon Fox.”
Taking advantage of the situation, more and more people confidently spread the rumor that Naruto truly was the Demon Fox reincarnated.
Seriously.
Were these people incapable of doing anything besides making up rumors about him?
More importantly.
Why?
Did spreading lies pay them?
Naruto couldn’t understand it.
Has he offended anyone?
Most of those people had never even met him.
Those who hurt others rarely understood the pain they inflicted.
Yet when misfortune eventually befell themselves.
They would complain endlessly about how unfair life was.
Never once reflecting upon the harm they’d caused others.
Naruto had no desire to provoke anyone.
Nor did he intend to waste energy worrying about something so meaningless.
So he simply went home.
Naruto stretched out comfortably.
“Home really is quieter.”
“It gets a little lonely.”
“But that’s still better than constantly listening to people gossip behind my back.”
Then, as usual, he added one final sentence.
“Hey, grumpy fox.”
“How much longer are you planning to sleep?”
Naruto muttered to himself.
As always, he called out to the Nine-Tails.
This time, however, he referred to him as a grumpy fox, hardly the most respectful form of address.
Originally he hadn’t expected any response.
After all, for three entire years, every attempt to contact Kurama had disappeared into complete silence.
Surely this time would be no different.
Just as that thought crossed his mind.
A majestic voice suddenly echoed through his mind.
“Hmph.”
“Brat do you have any manners?”
“Huh?”
Naruto shot upright in surprise.
A look of delight instantly spread across his face.
“Grumpy fox!”
“So you finally decided to answer me?”
“You bastard!”
“You weren’t pretending to sleep all this time, were you?”
“Hmph.”
Kurama snorted again.
His thoughts directly echoed through Naruto’s spiritual world.
“That damned Fourth Hokage he forcibly split me into two halves.”
“Then sealed this half inside your tiny body it left me unimaginably weak.”
“I’ve only recently begun waking up if you hadn’t kept calling me all these years.”
“I might have remained asleep for several more.”
So that was the truth.
Kurama had indeed fallen into an extremely weakened state.
Because of it.
He had slept for three whole years.
Which actually made perfect sense.
After all, Minato had literally split him into Yin and Yang halves.
Had that happened to a human.
They’d have died instantly.
Whether physically cut in half.
Or spiritually torn apart.
Neither outcome left much hope for survival.
Naruto frowned.
His reply was equally blunt.
“Don’t get too full of yourself, grumpy fox.”
“The Fourth Hokage was my father.”
Ever since witnessing his parents sacrifice themselves to protect him.
Naruto had fully accepted them as his parents in this life.
There was no way he would quietly tolerate Kurama insulting them.
“So what?”
Kurama sneered.
“What are you going to do about it, brat?”
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
His expression darkened.
But instead of arguing.
He calmly changed the subject.
“I almost forgot you were asleep back then so you probably don’t know.”
“I’ve already met the Sage of Six Paths.”
“Grumpy fox.”
“No.”
“Kurama.”
Using the fox’s true name.
“What?!”
For the first time.
A genuine surprise appeared in Kurama’s voice.
Yet moments later, he burst into laughter again.
“Hahaha!”
“Stop trying to trick me!”
“Do you even know how many years the old Sage has been dead?”
“And you?
You’re just a little brat.”
“How could someone like you possibly have met the old man?”
Although Kurama clearly didn’t believe him.
His tone noticeably softened whenever he mentioned the Sage of Six Paths.
Naruto couldn’t help smiling to himself.
Ever since three years ago.
He had already decided he would win Kurama over.
And he’d prepared for this conversation well in advance.
Did people really think all it took was calling him “Kurama” once and claiming to be the Child of Prophecy?
Besides the prophecy came from the Great Toad Sage.
There was no guarantee Kurama even knew about it.
So Naruto had chosen an entirely different approach.
He would invoke the Sage of Six Paths himself.
As mentioned before.
The nine Tailed Beasts had all been created by the Sage after he divided the chakra of the Ten-Tails.
They were, in essence, living masses of chakra.
They could never truly die.
To them.
The Sage of Six Paths was something akin to their father.
The Tailed Beasts might look down on almost everyone else.
But they deeply respected Hagoromo.
That was precisely why Naruto felt so confident.
He was certain he could gradually win Kurama over.
Hearing Kurama’s disbelief, Naruto remained completely composed.
Then he said calmly,
“Have you really not noticed yet?”
“Doesn’t my chakra feel familiar?”
“I may not look like much.”
“But I’m the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths’ son, Ashura.”
He deliberately phrased it that way.
“So, Kurama.”
“I know quite a lot about you.”