Kurama opened his eyes and looked at his hands with a complicated expression. "Old man, you really think highly of me."
He hadn't expected the old man to give him that power—and never mention it. Because of that, Kurama had been thinking he was missing something all this time. If he hadn't noticed something off and tried training just now, he probably would've stayed in the dark.
"Unbelievable, old man. Next time I see you, I'll give you a big hug," Kurama muttered through gritted teeth.
Then again, considering the ridiculous height of the Sage of Six Paths, he'd probably only reach his knees at best. On second thought, maybe not.
Getting up from the ground, Kurama had already grown used to walking on two legs. He was completely different from this world's Nine-Tails. Walking on two legs felt way better—why bother crawling on all fours?
Of course, he hadn't forgotten that he was still a fox, so most of the time, he stayed on all fours anyway.
But that wasn't the issue. The issue was… he had been spotted.
Kurama looked down at the group surrounding him. The moment their eyes met, the air seemed to freeze.
The lead ninja's face changed as he shouted, "The Nine-Tails is awake! We can't wait for the sealing ritual to finish—start sealing it now! We have to seal it back immediately!"
Kurama: "…"
He had been too focused on training to notice what was happening, but it was obvious what these guys were trying to do—they were a sealing squad planning to lock him up.
…Damn it!
That thought alone made Kurama furious. He immediately stood up and roared at them, "I was just sitting here for a moment, and you're already trying to seal me?! What did I ever do to you?!"
The lead ninja's expression changed drastically. "The Nine-Tails is attacking! Hurry up!"
Kurama's face darkened.
Before his words even finished, a massive black sealing array unfolded in an instant. Black symbols spread across the ground like wriggling tadpoles, covering the entire area in less than a second.
Seeing this all-too-familiar sealing technique, a cold rage surged inside Kurama. "Konoha's sealing formula… You're from Konoha's sealing team?"
Well, it made sense. He was hiding in a secluded forest near Konoha, and with his size, it was only natural that he got spotted.
Staring at the sealing pattern on the ground, Kurama's anger turned into icy calm. "'Tsugime Order: Ritual Seal'… (Original technique, note). Wow, you guys really went all out. This sealing jutsu requires over ten high-ranking sealing ninjas to pull off."
Nine-Tails.
How did he recognize it?
Let me ask you—do you think Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina wouldn't know a sealing jutsu?
Exactly.
Kurama himself didn't know how to use sealing jutsu, but after spending so much time with two sealing masters, of course, he'd seen plenty.
Besides, the 'Tsugime Order: Ritual Seal' was created by Uzumaki Mito herself. She specifically designed it to help Konoha suppress tailed beasts—partly to deal with enemy nations' tailed beasts during wartime, and partly to make sure Konoha could keep the Nine-Tails in check after she passed away.
Back then, both Mito and Kushina could use this technique on their own. Mito could still fight after using it, while Kushina would burn through all her chakra in an instant. Meanwhile, Konoha… needed over ten elite sealing ninjas just to barely make it work.
"It doesn't matter if you recognize it. The ritual has already begun. Even the strongest Nine-Tails can't escape once it's activated." The lead ninja smirked with pride, his excitement barely contained.
After all, securing another Nine-Tails for Konoha—who wouldn't be thrilled?
"Too bad… You really think I'm as weak as that knockoff over there?" Kurama sneered.
In the blink of an eye, his chakra erupted, and the overwhelming force of the Six Paths' power shattered the sealing formation instantly. The sheer blast sent everyone around him flying.
In the past, he wouldn't have been able to break through this sealing jutsu so easily. But he wasn't the same fox anymore. Training with the power of the Six Paths had put Kurama on a completely different level from ordinary shinobi.
Without even glancing at the people around him, he formed a small Tailed Beast Bomb in his mouth. His massive body lowered in front of the leading ninja, crouching as if he were looking at an ant.
The Tailed Beast Bomb was already bigger than the ninja himself. Kurama's red eyes gleamed with cold killing intent.
"Don't think that just because I carry human memories, I'm no longer Kurama, human."
Kurama had made it clear before—he didn't hate Konohagakure, but that didn't mean he liked it.
And what these people had just done? They had hit Kurama's sore spot, exactly.
"One last question."
A cold smile spread across Kurama's face.
"Who do you think you are? Uchiha Madara? Senju Hashirama? Or Uzumaki Mito?"
The ninja collapsed to the ground in a daze, his eyes empty. He was clearly scared out of his mind.
"You're none of them."
Kurama slowly spat out the answer—
along with the Tailed Beast Bomb that wasn't all that big.
Boom—
A mushroom cloud erupted on the far side of Konohagakure. The sheer force of the explosion instantly tore through the village's outer walls. Violent winds rushed in through the breach, but luckily, the walls had absorbed most of the impact. The remaining shockwave only sent people flying—it wasn't strong enough to kill.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Naruto and Sasuke both stopped moving at the same time, turning toward the explosion with confused looks.
"Why is Kurama suddenly going crazy? Who pissed him off this time?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.
Sasuke, now standing beside Naruto, shook his head.
"I sensed some shinobi's chakra over there just now. They probably did something."
Naruto scratched his head, about to say something, but the sharp glare from Sasuke shut him up immediately.
"Kurama isn't the smartest, but because of you and me, he wouldn't attack Konohagakure's shinobi for no reason. So before you talk, think about the consequences."
Naruto swallowed his words on the spot.
He wasn't the Naruto from the original story, after all.
Instead, he chose to change the subject.
"Since Kurama's awake, should we wrap things up here? The village is waiting for us."
"Fine."
Sasuke nodded and shifted his gaze toward the black-robed Naruto, Sasuke, and the Nine-Tails in the distance.
Things weren't going well for those three.
For the past half hour, they had tried countless ways to defeat Sasuke's shadow clones, but Susano'o's defense was too strong. No matter what they did, they couldn't break through.
To make matters worse, even Sasuke's clones could use the Rinnegan's abilities. While they weren't as strong as his real body, ninjutsu was useless, taijutsu couldn't penetrate the defense, and genjutsu? What was that supposed to do?
After finally taking down one clone, Sasuke would just summon two more.
There was no way to win.
The two shinobi and the fox had been separated into different battle zones. Aside from the Nine-Tails, the other two were panting heavily—not because they were running out of chakra, but because the sheer exhaustion of the fight was wearing them down.
They were gritting their teeth so hard they might break.
"Knock them out and throw them to Konohagakure," Naruto said. "The village can handle the rest."
"Before that, I have one more question."
With that, Sasuke vanished from where he stood.
Naruto just shrugged and stayed put, quietly waiting for Sasuke and Kurama to return.
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