Drenched in the water curtain, Naruto slowly walked out of the Waterfall of Truth.
Jiraiya, Yakumo, and Motoi of the Hidden Cloud, who were waiting on the shore, hurriedly went to meet him.
Jiraiya patted Naruto on the shoulder: "How did it go?"
Naruto smiled: "I feel very good now!"
Motoi was a bit surprised and hurriedly asked: "Did you see the dark side of your heart?"
"Mhm!" Naruto nodded, then said: "I have already defeated him and recognized the true self!"
Motoi frowned slightly.
Sensing that something was wrong with Motoi's expression, Jiraiya asked: "Is something wrong?"
Motoi shook his head: "Not really! It's just that Killer B spent a full month in seclusion in front of the Waterfall of Truth before subduing the dark side of his heart. Yugito Nii even spent several months to succeed, so Naruto succeeding on his first attempt surprised me a bit!"
Jiraiya, on the contrary, had great confidence in Naruto and laughed heartily: "This brat can always bring us surprises, you'll get used to it slowly!"
Motoi smiled: "Naruto indeed has talent!"
At this time, Yakumo leaned close to Naruto and asked cautiously: "Naruto, nothing happened just now, right?"
"No?" Naruto scratched his head and asked: "What's wrong?"
"It's good that... nothing happened!"
Yakumo breathed a sigh of relief.
Before Naruto walked out of the Waterfall of Truth, Ido had returned to her inner world in a panic and immediately fell into a deep sleep. No matter how Yakumo called, she couldn't be awakened, which gave Yakumo a bad premonition.
Naruto stared at Yakumo: "Yakumo, thanks to your care these days!"
"You're welcome."
Yakumo smiled on the surface, but faintly felt something was wrong in her heart, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong for the moment.
Ending the day's training, the group returned to their residence.
After returning to his room, Naruto glanced at himself in the dressing mirror, and the corner of his mouth rose slightly.
Undoubtedly.
He was not the real Naruto, but Naruto's dark side, 'Uzumaki Menma'. Compared to the simple and straightforward Naruto, he knew better how to assess the situation and disguise himself.
Lying on the bed, Menma slowly closed his eyes.
Drip...
Accompanied by the sound of dripping water, Menma's spiritual body entered his, or more accurately, his and Naruto's inner world!
Still that dark, damp place; Menma strolled in the sewer-like channel, walking step by step towards the deepest cage.
Standing in front of the cage, Menma spoke: "Hey, monster!"
The Nine-Tails lying in the cage opened its eyes, then looked at Menma with interest: "Brat, have you finally let go of those ridiculous bonds?"
Menma nodded: "Mhm!"
The Nine-Tails' huge head leaned close to the bars of the cage, coaxing: "Then what are you hesitating for? Hurry up and open this seal. As long as you open it, you can possess all my chakra!"
Menma had an indifferent expression: "Don't treat me like that fool Naruto. Lend me your power, and when the time is right, I will consider opening this gate!"
"Why should I trust you?"
The Nine-Tails snorted lightly, lay back down, and closed its eyes.
Menma's expression gradually turned cold: "I said it before, I am different from Naruto! While I am willing to discuss with you, you'd better cooperate with me, otherwise..."
The Nine-Tails didn't even open its eyes, only blew some hot air from its nose, saying nonchalantly: "Otherwise, what can you do?"
Menma slowly raised his right hand and grasped at the void. The Nine-Tails' chakra then flowed out uncontrollably from the gaps in the bars, merging into Menma's body from under his feet.
"Eh?"
The Nine-Tails opened its eyes again, its expression becoming serious.
"Although that guy Killer B is annoying, the things he taught are useful. It's just that Naruto is too stupid to learn no matter how hard he tries!" With a sharp gaze, Menma continued to say to the Nine-Tails: "The way to tame a beast is to turn oneself into a beast as well!"
Feeling the continuous loss of chakra, the Nine-Tails roared: "Brat, you are courting death!"
After speaking, the Nine-Tails fiercely pounced out of the cage.
It wasn't that it couldn't temporarily break through the seal; it just felt that the brat Naruto was okay, and forcibly breaking through the seal would consume a lot of its chakra, so it was too lazy to do so.
At this moment, Menma had thoroughly enraged it, so it prepared to give Menma a little shock from a Tailed Beast!
However, facing the Nine-Tails that forcibly broke through the seal, not only did Menma show no panic, but a smile of success curled up at the corner of his mouth.
Obviously.
From the beginning, he was not prepared to discuss with the Nine-Tails. His verbal provocation was just to lure the Nine-Tails to forcibly break through the seal and come out.
In this way, he could use the power of the seal to weaken the Nine-Tails, and at the same time confront the Nine-Tails directly, attempting to tame it!
Just as more and more Tailed Beast chakra wrapped around Menma, almost drowning him, he slowly extended his right hand: "Great Spiralling Ring!"
Swish...
Instantly, a dark purple spiral appeared in Menma's hand and expanded rapidly, whipping up a storm!
The Nine-Tails was startled: "This is?!"
Holding the 'Great Spiralling Ring', Menma didn't clamor or declare anything; he just silently struck forward, smashing the 'Great Spiralling Ring' onto the Nine-Tails' body.
Rumble...
Accompanied by a huge roar, the entire inner world shook as if there was an earthquake.
And the Nine-Tails, hit by a 'Great Spiralling Ring', lay on the ground, its face full of astonishment.
In the original timeline, when Naruto subdued the Nine-Tails, he used the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres, which was the Shadow Clone version of the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan, subduing the Nine-Tails in one fell swoop, forcibly obtaining the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast chakra and gaining the 'Nine-Tails Chakra Mode'.
Menma had not mastered Sage Mode, but he developed the 'Great Spiralling Ring', which was not inferior to Naruto's Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. So with just one strike, he subdued the Nine-Tails just like Naruto in the original timeline, forcibly obtaining the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast chakra.
After absorbing all of the Nine-Tails that forcibly rushed out of the seal, a satisfied smile appeared on Menma's face.
Behind the iron bars, the Nine-Tails lay weakly on the ground.
With being subdued by Menma's force this time, Menma could now easily mobilize its chakra without needing its consent. So even without the seal in front of it, it had lost the ability to resist Menma.
"Damn it!"
The Nine-Tails closed its eyes helplessly.
Since it couldn't resist, it could only choose to wait. For an immortal being like itself, outlasting a Jinchuriki was not a difficult task.
And after fully obtaining the Nine-Tails' power, Menma did not comprehend the 'Nine-Tails Chakra Mode' like Naruto, but instead comprehended a jutsu named 'Nine-Faced Suōbaha'!