On the grass, Naruto was already able to fly quite steadily.
Fern was also making smooth progress on her end; her mana control was naturally very strong, and she mastered both spells very quickly.
The only issue was stamina.
“Huff…
huff…”
Fern landed back on the ground and caught her breath for a few moments.
She had been flying continuously for over ten minutes, and the mana consumption was significant.
Naruto also landed, looking much more relaxed than her.
“Aren’t you tired?” Fern asked, looking at him.
Although she had known for a long time that Naruto possessed a massive amount of mana.
After all, previously, Naruto just couldn’t hit the boulder, rather than having the spell dissipate midway.
She just hadn’t expected the gap to be so large when it came to Defensive Magic and Flight Magic.
“It’s alright, I guess.” Naruto scratched his head.
“I feel like I can fly for a while longer.”
He was telling the truth.
He had realized it just now while practicing.
The amount of mana within his body was far greater than Fern’s.
For the same amount of time and the same consumption, Fern was already tired, while he still felt he had energy to spare.
Fern was silent for a moment, then said seriously, “Then you must make good use of this advantage.”
“Yeah.” Naruto nodded.
The two of them rested for a while.
Fern looked around but didn’t see Frieren.
“Where on earth did Frieren go?”
Naruto followed her gaze; there was indeed no one near the woods in the distance.
“She’ll probably be back soon; let’s keep practicing.”
Although Fern found it strange, she didn’t ask any further and continued practicing Flight Magic.
Naruto walked over to a tree, sat down against the trunk, and closed his eyes.
On the surface, he looked like he was resting.
In reality, his consciousness had already sunk into his Mental Space.
…
In the dim space, the iron cage was still in its original position.
The sea of flowers beneath the cage was even more lush than before, colorful and completely out of place with the surrounding environment.
The Nine-Tailed lay on the ground, surrounded by light blue hexagonal fragments.
It was practicing Defensive Magic.
It was just much harder to practice without a staff.
Seeing Naruto appear, the Nine-Tailed raised its head, its tails wagging subconsciously.
“Why are you here again?”
Its tone was still that impatient one, but there was a hint of happiness in its eyes.
Naruto walked to the edge of the cage and sat down: “To practice with you.
It must be pretty boring practicing alone in here.”
The Nine-Tailed snorted but didn’t refute him.
It did indeed feel bored.
Naruto could practice with Fern outside, testing the effects of the magic on each other. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
It could only mess around by itself here.
“Come on, try blocking with Defensive Magic.” Naruto stood up, stepped back a few paces, and raised his hand.
White light lit up the tip of his staff.
The Nine-Tailed also raised a barrier, and the hexagonal fragments assembled into a shield in front of it.
“Bang!”
The beam hit the barrier, and the fragments vibrated, but they didn’t shatter.
“Not bad.” Naruto smiled.
“Let’s do it again.”
The Nine-Tailed’s eyes lit up, and its tails wagged even more happily: “Bring it on!”
The two practiced in the Mental Space for quite a while.
The Nine-Tailed’s Defensive Magic became more and more proficient, and the strength of the barrier grew higher and higher.
Naruto stopped and caught his breath.
The Nine-Tailed also lay down, looking very satisfied.
After a while, Naruto suddenly spoke up: “Kurama, let me ask you something.”
“What is it?” The Nine-Tailed squinted its eyes, still immersed in the previous practice.
“Have you ever eaten a human?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but he was very serious.
The Nine-Tailed opened its eyes, its pupils slightly constricting.
It was silent for a moment, the expression on its face changing several times.
“Can I not answer that?” Its voice was much lower than usual.
Naruto frowned.
The words Frieren said yesterday surfaced in his mind.
“Demons are just that kind of existence; they can speak and express emotions, but essentially, they are just beasts.”
Could it really have been right?
“No.” Naruto’s tone became serious.
“You must answer.”
He looked into the Nine-Tailed’s eyes and said word for word: “After all, since you’ve been following me, you’ve learned quite a bit of magic.
Could it be that Grandma Frieren was right, and you are actually a ‘Demon’ that tricks humans with language?”
The Nine-Tailed stood up abruptly, its nine tails bristling like a cat that had had its tail stepped on.
“I am not that kind of low-class creature!”
Its voice was loud, echoing throughout the Mental Space.
But soon, its voice quieted down again.
“We Tailed Beasts…
don’t need to eat at all.”
It paused, as if making a difficult decision.
“But I did…
eat humans.”
Naruto’s expression didn’t change; he just listened quietly.
The Nine-Tailed continued, its voice getting lower and lower.
“That was a long, long time ago, when the Ninja had just united to establish the Village.”
“Many Ninja Villages coveted the power of us Tailed Beasts…”
“I didn’t want to kill anyone, but those evil humans wouldn’t stop at all.
Forced by necessity, I ate them.”
Its voice stopped.
After a long while, it continued. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“In the end…
I was also eaten by them.”
The Nine-Tailed lay down, burying its head in its front legs, its voice muffled.
After hearing this, Naruto was silent for a long time.
He had originally thought he would be very angry or very disappointed.
But strangely, there was only an indescribable feeling in his heart.
It wasn’t sympathy, nor was it forgiveness.
It was just…
understanding.
If what the Nine-Tailed said was true, and it didn’t actively go to kill humans but was being ‘bullied’, then it really couldn’t be blamed.
“Oh.” Naruto nodded, his voice very calm.
“Hmm?”
The Nine-Tailed raised its head, stunned for a moment.
Just an ‘Oh’?
It thought Naruto would scold it, hate it, or at least show some emotion.
The result was just an ‘Oh’?
“Oh…
Hmm?!”
Naruto’s voice suddenly rose quite a bit, and his eyes widened.
“What did you just say?
You were eaten by humans in the end?!”
The Nine-Tailed was startled by his reaction: “You…
your reaction is way too slow!”
“No, wait.” Naruto scratched his head, his mind a bit chaotic: “You said you ate humans, and then you were eaten by the people you ate?”
The Nine-Tailed said irritably: “The humans in the Ninja World are such crazy and evil creatures!”
This counted as one of the Nine-Tailed’s disgraces, though those two also possessed the weapons of the Six Paths Sage, so it really couldn’t be blamed for being in such a sorry state.
“Oh…” Naruto returned to his calm state.
“As long as you didn’t actively harm people, that’s fine.
Grandma Frieren will understand you.”
The Nine-Tailed looked at him, not knowing what to say for a moment.
This human brat’s reaction was simply too strange.
“Aren’t you angry?” The Nine-Tailed couldn’t help but ask.
Naruto thought for a moment: “No.”
“Why?”
“Because when you said those things just now, you looked very sad.” Naruto said seriously.
“And when you didn’t want to talk, I asked you, and you still told me.”
The Nine-Tailed was stunned.
“I think that someone who is willing to admit they did something wrong probably isn’t too bad.” Naruto smiled.
“Although you aren’t human.”
The Nine-Tailed was silent for a long time.
Finally, it muttered: “A brat is just a brat, naive as hell.”
But it didn’t say anything else, just turned its head away so Naruto couldn’t see its expression.
However, the nine tails behind it swayed gently.