The Seven-Tails, Chōmei, is one of the nine portions of Chakra split from the Ten-Tails by the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, in ancient times. It is a beetle with six wings and one tail.
The Chōmei in front of him was clearly smaller, obviously due to the effects of the seal.
Gekko Chizan stared intently at the massive Tailed Beast before him. Even though it was sealed, its presence was still terrifying—not something a low-ranking ninja like him could possibly match.
Thanks to the unique properties of Transparent Release, even as he stood right before the Seven-Tails, it hadn't noticed his presence.
Chizan took a deep breath. It was time to begin. Next came the most difficult part—communicating with Chōmei.
This was the hardest step. After all, the Tailed Beasts had an extremely negative view of humans—and humans felt the same toward them.
There was no trust between the two sides whatsoever.
"Hey, Seven-Tails, hello there."
Unsure how to start, Gekko Chizan decided to just throw caution to the wind. Since they had to communicate anyway, he might as well dive in.
Having been in constant struggle with the sealing technique, Chōmei was already mentally and physically exhausted. The sudden greeting caught Chōmei completely off guard.
Its massive body trembled.
That single movement terrified the ninja outside who were still maintaining the seal. They poured Chakra into the sealing formation like madmen, desperate to stabilize the Seven-Tails.
"Don't move. Stop that. Oh—right, you can't see me."
"What about now?"
Only then did Gekko Chizan remember that he was still in his Transparent Release state. He quickly deactivated the invisibility.
A calm, composed 14-year-old boy appeared before the Seven-Tails, with no trace of fear in his eyes.
Chōmei began shaking violently again when it saw Gekko Chizan, but still said nothing.
Suddenly, a thought struck Chizan—could it be the sealing technique was preventing Chōmei from speaking?
"You can't talk?"
"Then can we communicate telepathically?"
"Oh, right, I shouldn't call you Seven-Tails. I'll call you Chōmei."
"After all, I want you to be my partner."
The moment he said "Chōmei," the massive beast visibly trembled.
It was clearly shocked.
How many years had it been?How many years since someone last called it by name?
But how did this kid know its name?
Watching the suddenly motionless Chōmei, Gekko Chizan smiled slightly.
He understood. Chōmei was stunned—and now it was up to him, Gekko Chizan.
Time to use his silver tongue—good enough to talk the dead back to life—to persuade this big guy and rise to the top of the world!
Gekko Chizan walked right up to Chōmei and placed his hand on its body.
The next moment, the scene before him shifted dramatically.
A massive beetle soared through the sky, then suddenly dove toward the earth.
Gekko Chizan now stood atop a mountain peak.
Whoa... was this Chōmei's inner world?
A longing for freedom and flight...
"Human, who are you? How do you know my name?"
"Tell me!"
A muffled voice suddenly rang out. Gekko Chizan looked up at the Seven-Tails flying into the clouds, a trace of envy flickering in his eyes.
"Heh, not only do I know your name—I know the names of all nine Tailed Beasts."
"Impossible! The fact that you know my name is baffling enough. The names of the other eight Tailed Beasts? That's something no one but him could possibly know!"
Chōmei's voice was full of disdain.
But then it noticed something—the human boy before it showed no change in expression. Not even a hint of fear, even while facing it directly.
In fact, the boy's eyes were filled with confidence.
Then, the boy spoke:
"One-Tail: Shukaku."
"Two-Tails: Matatabi."
"Three-Tails: Isobu."
"Four-Tails: Son Goku."
"Five-Tails: Kokuō."
"Six-Tails: Saiken."
"Seven-Tails—you, Chōmei."
"Eight-Tails: Gyūki."
"Nine-Tails: Kurama."
"Did I get them right, Chōmei?"
Chōmei was completely dumbfounded.
Its massive body flew right up to the boy.
Gekko Chizan could feel the slightest tremor in Chōmei's body.
"I mean you no harm. On the contrary, I want to be your friend."
"Who says humans and Tailed Beasts can't coexist peacefully? You can fly, and I long for flight."
"To me, you're the most important friend I could have."
Chōmei was silent for a long time. Its gaze locked onto Gekko Chizan's eyes, trying to detect any trace of hostility or greed.
But there was none. All it saw was excitement—and some unidentifiable yearning?
"What village are you from?"
"Konoha."
"Hah, the village where Kurama lives? With him around, why come to me? He's far stronger than I am."
Chōmei's voice was dripping with disdain. And he wasn't wrong—among the Nine Tailed Beasts, aside from being able to fly, Chōmei's strength was always near the bottom.
He was nowhere near the level of the mighty Nine-Tails.
"So what? The Nine-Tails is strong, but I don't like him."
"I want to fly—can he do that?"
Gekko Chizan bluntly spoke his mind.
This shocked Chōmei even more. In its experience, humans always sought the power of the Tailed Beasts, willing to seal them inside themselves—treating them as weapons.
But this kid... wasn't following the usual script.
"Hey, Chōmei, if I become your Jinchūriki, would I be able to fly too?"
Jinchūriki! So that's what this kid was after—his power!
"Hmph! Kid, you still just want my power!"
"I won't let you succeed!"
Gekko Chizan ignored Chōmei's fury and asked again.
"Chōmei, I want to fly. Can I become your Jinchūriki?"
"Don't worry, I won't bother you when nothing's going on."
"My name is Gekko Chizan. I can turn invisible. I can teleport. The only thing I'm missing is flight—so can you help me with that?"
Chōmei was stunned... This was his inner world—he could read the kid's thoughts if he wanted to.
But what the hell was going on in this brat's mind???
Invisibility = peeping...
Teleportation = stealing...
Flight = greater convenience???
I'm the mighty Seven-Tails Chōmei!
Am I just here for convenience???
Huh? What's this? Big boobs? Big butt? Shallow!
What's so great about human females!?
Wait—bugs???
Whoa, Konoha has a clan like this?
Sss-ha... becoming this kid's Jinchūriki might not be so bad... so many adorable bugs...
Drooling, Chōmei suddenly came to a realization.
Power or no power—he was bottom-tier among Tailed Beasts anyway, and this kid didn't seem like the warmongering type.
If he could become this kid's Jinchūriki...
Well, that'd beat rotting away in a cave, right?