Chapter 143: Nine-Tails Day
Drip.
The sound of water droplets hitting the ground echoed through the chamber.
The shadows of the prison gradually receded, leaving behind a world divided between hazy light and heavy darkness.
At the boundary between the two, a mountainous creature crouched in the water, radiating an evil and overwhelming presence as it slowly approached the iron bars of the prison.
The next instant, a flash of golden light swept through the darkness.
The oppressive aura seemed to have encountered its natural enemy and immediately recoiled.
The terrifying and incomprehensible sight would have left an ordinary person gasping for breath, but Kushina had long since grown accustomed to it.
She stepped forward and kicked the iron bars twice.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dull echo rang through the prison.
Two bloodshot eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness.
Kushina crossed her arms as she looked at those sinister eyes.
"Did you sense anything unusual just now?"
"Hmph!"
The Nine-Tails shifted its gaze slightly toward the tiny vessel outside the prison—it was smaller than an ant from its perspective—and snorted before closing its eyes.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Feeling someone kicking it again, the Nine-Tails opened its eyes.
It slammed one enormous paw into the water.
The impact sent waves crashing through the chamber and made the entire prison tremble.
Then it lowered its head toward Kushina, who had stepped inside, and roared,
"Believe it or not, this old man will eat you."
Kushina looked up at the Nine-Tails.
Its tone was so arrogant that it sounded as though it were about to devour her the next second.
She stood there in confusion.
"Did you secretly train behind my back?"
ROAR!
A gigantic, bloodstained maw suddenly appeared in front of Kushina and let out an enraged roar.
As her red hair fluttered in the wind, the Nine-Tails snarled.
It glanced back at the golden chains wrapped around its tails, then suddenly lunged forward again.
A little farther.
Clang!
The chains immediately tightened and dragged it back.
The Nine-Tails opened its mouth and roared at the empty air again before angrily declaring,
"Hmph. This old man has never eaten a human."
Kushina clicked her tongue at the fox that had suddenly learned how to lie.
"Not to mention the distant past. I know about the Gold and Silver Brothers from Kumogakure…"
Bang!
The Nine-Tails suddenly slammed both paws into the water.
A massive wave exploded upward, filling the prison with a downpour.
It leaned forward, flattened its ears against its head, and growled in a low voice.
"Do you think they were eaten by this old man, or do you think this old man originally had ten tails?"
???
Several black lines immediately appeared on Kushina's forehead.
Honestly, the first possibility sounded more believable.
She looked up at the Nine-Tailed Fox.
It looked as though someone had stepped on its tail.
Kushina took a step back and comforted it.
"I believe you had ten tails."
"Heh."
The Nine-Tails sneered and closed its eyes.
In the eyes of humans, it was an evil existence.
Even when it told the truth, nobody believed it.
I'm tired.
"Hey, Nine-Tails."
Kushina suddenly jumped back to a spot not far in front of it and began negotiating.
"If you can find someone I know in the outside world, I'll loosen some of your restraints."
So there are times when she actually needs my help?
The Nine-Tails sensed its restraints loosening.
This powerful human woman rarely asked it for anything, so it slowly opened its eyes and glanced at the man standing opposite Kushina.
Whoosh!
The moment it saw the Uchiha crest on his clothes, the Nine-Tails' expression darkened.
Then it saw that damn raccoon standing by a second-floor window and waving at it.
Its already gloomy expression seemed capable of squeezing out water.
Kushina frowned when she saw the terrifying darkness spreading across the Nine-Tails' face.
"Is there something wrong with him?"
Hearing that, the Nine-Tails closed its eyes and turned its head away.
"Why would this old man help you? Think about it yourself."
Kushina shook her head.
"I don't sense anything."
The Nine-Tails bared its teeth, its enormous fangs glinting coldly.
"This old man doesn't sense anything either."
Kushina lightly bit her finger, muttering to herself.
"I just feel like he's interested in my beauty…"
Before she could finish, the Nine-Tails stared at the narcissistic Kushina with its eyes wide open.
Then it glanced toward Uchiha Asuka, who was standing by the window with a murderous expression, and Shukaku.
It sneered.
Who do you think you are?
You think everyone is drooling over your body?
They're obviously drooling over this old man's body.
The Nine-Tails then looked toward Shukaku.
The damn raccoon was still shouting at it to leave its Jinchūriki's body, its eyes bloodshot.
"If I ever get out, you'll be the first one I kill."
Kushina carefully considered the Nine-Tails' words.
Her expression gradually became serious.
While maintaining her mental connection with Asuka, she asked,
"He… Does he know you're inside my body?"
"Hmph!"
The Nine-Tails snorted.
It glanced once more at the laughing Shukaku standing by the window before squeezing its eyes shut.
The prison immediately fell silent.
Only the Nine-Tails' heavy breathing echoed rhythmically through the chamber.
After waiting for a while, Kushina assumed it wouldn't answer and prepared to leave.
Then a low voice came from ahead.
"Whether he knows that this old man lives inside you or not, one thing is certain. That Uchiha brat has no ill intentions toward you."
"He even seems to have some goodwill toward you."
The Nine-Tails recalled the expression of that annoying raccoon and felt its entire body twitch with amusement.
Even though the man belonged to the Uchiha clan—the clan the Nine-Tails hated most—if that man had basically earned Shukaku's approval, then the Nine-Tails still believed that the Uchiha's character must be far superior to that of many people in the shinobi world.
That raccoon was certainly weak.
Its intelligence was also nowhere near this old man's.
But it wasn't completely stupid.
[…]
Kushina looked up at the half-restrained Nine-Tails and lightly bit her finger, repeatedly mulling over its words.
In the Nine-Tails' ranking of the clans it disliked most in the shinobi world, the Uchiha ranked even lower than the Senju and Uzumaki.
Yet even the Nine-Tails, which hated the Uchiha clan to an extreme degree, had given Asuka a fairly decent evaluation.
This was the first time Kushina had experienced something like this as a Jinchūriki.
An Uchiha who harbored no ill will toward her…
Who even seemed to possess a little goodwill toward her…
When Kushina disappeared from the space, the restrained Nine-Tails opened its eyes again and looked outside.
The moment it saw Uchiha's fingers touch Uzumaki Kushina's belly, only for him to be punched into the sky by her, a schadenfreude-filled grin appeared on its face.
This old man sincerely hopes you find a woman like Uzumaki Kushina.
If you do, that raccoon probably won't have an easy time either…
As a Tailed Beast sealed inside a human, the Nine-Tails could understand what Jinchūriki endured.
So it was extremely satisfied with the punch Kushina had just thrown.
If Kushina was willing to beat up a few Uchiha every day and deal with that damn raccoon, the Nine-Tails wouldn't mind lending her some chakra.
The next moment—
The Nine-Tails saw Kushina walk out through the Uchiha compound's gate.
Two ANBU immediately appeared beside her.
Seeing their cautious, confirmatory expressions—and Kushina's increasingly irritated look after repeatedly explaining herself—the Nine-Tails wagged its tail in disdain.
If they don't even trust their own comrades this much, why did they allow her to enter the Uchiha compound in the first place?
Human psychology is truly impossible to understand.
"Humans are the source of all chaos."
[…]
It closed its eyes and continued complaining inwardly for quite some time.
When it opened them again, the scene had already shifted to the street.
It could hear Kushina humming an unfamiliar song.
From Kushina's emotions, the Nine-Tails could tell that she was in an excellent mood.
The next second—
It suddenly turned its head toward the apple stall beside the road.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
At that moment, a well-disguised bastard who looked like a raccoon was casually picking up an apple and munching on it.
Shukaku watched its vessel pass by and suddenly developed a strange expression.
A sinister smile crept across its lips.
It casually took several coins from the teapot it was carrying and tossed them to the stall owner.
Then it jumped to the ground, maintaining an appropriate distance from Uzumaki Kushina, and silently watched the back of the red-haired vessel.
"Come out and play!"
Seeing the stall owner wave at Shukaku with a smile, as though they were old acquaintances, the Nine-Tails' eyes once again filled with blood vessels.
Endless.
That damn raccoon blocks this old man's path every single day.
The next moment, when the Nine-Tails understood Shukaku's lip movements, it completely broke down.
"Come out and play. Come out and play. You keep telling this old man to come out and play. The moment he comes out, the first thing he'll do is kill you."
Sensing the Nine-Tails' irritated emotions, Kushina frowned and once again entered the prison.
"Nine-Tails, what are you throwing a fit about now?"
The Nine-Tails gave her a cold look.
Then it closed its mouth, completely uninterested in talking to her.
It glanced at Shukaku once more before immediately shutting its eyes and covering its ears with both paws.
Out of sight, out of mind.
If I can't hear it, I can live in peace.