"So that's what this jutsu is all about…"
The Nine-Tails listened intently as Kazuki explained the technique. With a sudden flash of understanding, it nodded, and its two massive paws came together in an unconscious clap—almost as if applauding.
It wasn't trying to put on a show to flatter Kazuki.
The Nine-Tails was genuinely impressed—truly moved by Kazuki's brilliant ninjutsu lecture.
Ever since it had been sealed and humiliated by two humans—Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—it had slowly realized that its brute strength, once enough to roam unchecked for a thousand years, was no longer enough. The era had changed. Sheer chakra volume could no longer overpower every technique. Gone were the days it could act freely as a wild beast.
In pursuit of freedom, the Nine-Tails had spent generations inside jinchūriki, deeply reflecting on its failures.
It needed to evolve.
Its massive form could no longer suppress techniques like True Several Thousand Hands or the Complete Body: Susanoo—especially that damn Buddha, which once pressed down on its head with one hand, like grabbing a baby chick!
Its corrosive Tailed Beast Chakra, which once shattered human wills, was effortlessly neutralized by the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even the Tailed Beast Ball, seemingly destructive, proved too slow to pose a real threat against top-tier shinobi with high mobility—it was no longer a reliable weapon.
Despite its vast chakra reserves, the lack of proper techniques made it no different from a samurai stripped of armor and blade—reduced to fighting with raw force alone.
And then there were sealing techniques—the thing it despised most. Techniques that seemed like its natural nemesis.
If it wanted to defeat Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, those vulnerabilities had to be addressed.
The problem was—
There had once been a chance to learn. Back when it was still a little fox, it had the opportunity to listen to the Sage of Six Paths himself. And it missed it.
Only after it had been sealed inside Uzumaki Mito—bound and immobilized—did it realize just how precious that opportunity had been.
Cut off from outside knowledge, lacking access to resources, teachers, or scrolls, the Nine-Tails had no choice but to rely on its imagination. It tried to decipher the mysteries of ninjutsu—an art refined over a millennium of conflict and warfare—through sheer guesswork.
Naturally, it failed.
The ninjutsu widely practiced in the shinobi world had been shaped by centuries of bloodshed—an art honed through the lives and deaths of countless humans to reach peak efficiency.
It wasn't something a shut-in fox could replicate on its own.
People—
No, foxes like it—
Always fail to cherish what they have, only realizing its value when it's already too late…
But everything changed after it met Kazuki.
That was when the situation began to reverse.
When Kazuki first descended into Naruto's body, the Nine-Tails—native to this vessel—immediately launched an attack without the slightest hesitation.
The result was... brutal.
With just two thunderous slaps, Kazuki left the once-proud fox dazed and reeling, nearly shattering its very essence.
Once it regained a bit of composure and sensed Kazuki's chakra and presence, the entire fox bristled from head to tail.
Its first reaction was to mistake Kazuki for the Ten-Tails.
And not just any Ten-Tails—it was as if Kazuki were a humanoid version far more powerful than the Ten-Tails it had ever known. Just from those two strikes, the Nine-Tails' chakra went into a frenzy, surging toward this mysterious man as if drawn by an irresistible force. Kazuki seemed to exude an infinite gravitational pull on chakra itself.
Not even the Sage of Six Paths had given it such an overwhelming sense of pressure...
And yet, strangely—
Despite how the entire shinobi world, and even the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, longed for the Nine-Tails' chakra, Kazuki showed no interest at all. He didn't absorb even a sliver of it.
After witnessing Kazuki summon Namikaze Minato and Kushina, and effortlessly shape and expand Truth-Seeking Balls by manipulating chakra attributes at will, the Nine-Tails couldn't help but feel a deep reverence.
This was a power that surpassed even the Sage of Six Paths.
Even more bewildering were the hints in Kazuki's words—subtle suggestions that he wasn't from this world at all, and had come here merely to play among mortals.
The more it observed him, the more the Nine-Tails felt the sheer mystery and might behind Kazuki's presence.
And when the Nine-Tails saw Naruto growing stronger through constant training, a flicker of envy and longing stirred in its heart.
Then Kazuki did the unthinkable—he took it on as a disciple.
And during these recent days, Kazuki had treated both it and Naruto equally, breaking down and patiently teaching them precious techniques and jutsu—feeding them bit by bit like it was nothing.
The Nine-Tails was starting to feel... inflated!
Maybe—just maybe—it could now stand a real chance against those two bastards, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara!
During this time, it had also been secretly using its unique ability to sense malice, convinced that it was subtly probing Kazuki without being noticed...
And what shocked the fox most—
Kazuki truly harbored no malice toward it.
It seemed he genuinely wanted to teach it ninjutsu—just like the Sage of Six Paths once had.
That realization stirred something subtle and complicated within the Nine-Tails' heart.
"…And this is how you use the Shadow Clone Technique. For the two of you, with your naturally abundant chakra, this is an ideal method for reconnaissance and testing."
Kazuki was explaining various types of Clone Techniques to the Nine-Tails and Naruto.
From elemental clones using Lightning Release, Earth Release, and Water Release—all forms of the Five Elements Clone Techniques—to more advanced methods like the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, and even the Wood Clone Technique, so lifelike that it could deceive even the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Both the Nine-Tails and Naruto watched Kazuki's every movement with intense focus. Small hands and massive paws moved in perfect sync, forming hand seals in rhythm, as they absorbed the essence of each technique Kazuki broke down for them.
Kazuki carefully analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each clone technique.
"Elemental clones, built from the Five Basic Natures, are more convincing when blended into the natural environment... But the chakra used to form them is easier to detect for shinobi with keen perception."
"In terms of general combat versatility, they fall short compared to regular shadow clones made from a single chakra type."
As for the Wood Clone Technique—the most effective among all, even capable of fooling a Mangekyō Sharingan—Kazuki had modified and taught it to these two, despite neither of them possessing Wood Release.
That didn't matter.
As long as they infused their clones with a semblance of Wood Release's vitality—through the principles of Yang Release—they could replicate the hallmark trait of wood clones: lifelike presence brimming with energy.
Naruto and the Nine-Tails soaked up Kazuki's grand lecture with unrestrained enthusiasm.
The boy and the beast were like two dried-out sponges, desperately absorbing every drop of knowledge Kazuki gave them.
Empowered by Kazuki's Brahma-Manifested Svadhisthana, both the boy and the fox were not only improving themselves—but also, in a way, working tirelessly for Kazuki.
In truth, Naruto and the Nine-Tails weren't so different.
Naruto had been hindered by the Nine-Tails' chakra, unable to train properly.
The Nine-Tails, locked away inside a jinchūriki, had been cut off from the outside world.
When their hearts were at odds in the beginning, they did nothing but hold each other back.
But ever since Kazuki arrived, the boy and the fox had become sparring siblings—driving one another to learn and grow, both unwilling to fall behind in front of their sensei.
At this moment—
Though Naruto's physical body sat slumped over his desk in the academy classroom, appearing to be peacefully asleep…
In his inner world—
Naruto and the Nine-Tails were already locked in a frenzy of training!
Naruto didn't want to disappoint Kazuki. He had been the first to befriend him, the first to become his student—there was no way he'd let a fox outshine him!
The Nine-Tails, even more annoyed, scoffed at the idea. It was the strongest and smartest of all Tailed Beasts—how could it possibly let some snot-nosed brat get the upper hand?
And amid this strange rivalry…
Something subtle was shifting.
The relationship between Kazuki, the Nine-Tails, and Naruto was beginning to warm in an unexpected and quiet way.
Although they often bickered and mocked each other, Naruto and the Nine-Tails also privately discussed the finer points of technique.
A bond difficult to put into words had quietly begun to take shape between them—subtle, but unmistakably real.
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