When Naruto called out his name directly, Kurama was shocked.
"How do you know my name?!"
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he looked around at the lights, then waved his hand.
Suddenly, the entire prison lit up with a golden glow!
"No matter where I go, I'm still the god of light!"
Naruto smiled in satisfaction, then looked toward Kurama behind the gate.
Right now, Kurama was blinded by the bright lights and completely exposed from the darkness.
An orange-red body, nine tails, black inside his ears, and that fierce face.
"Ugh, you damn brat! What did you do?!" Kurama covered his eyes with his claws, cursing in pain.
"You were hiding in the dark, so I just gave you some light."
Naruto looked at Kurama like he was checking out a monkey locked in a cage. "You look big, but kinda skinny. Have you not eaten in years? Are you malnourished or something?"
Kurama: "..."
"You better pray I never get out of here! When I do, I'll tear you to pieces and kill everyone you care about!"
Listening to Kurama's angry shouting, Naruto felt nothing. He even had a bit of a smirk on his face.
"You? A little fox who couldn't even resist the Sharingan's stare?"
"What did you say?!"
Hearing that word—Sharingan—hit a nerve.
There are things you just don't say, and Naruto went straight for the sore spot.
No matter how angry Kurama got, all he could do was yell. Even when he clawed wildly at the bars of the cage, he couldn't touch Naruto at all.
"Don't get so worked up, Kurama."
Naruto smiled faintly. "Even though your power's kind of weak, it's the only thing you've got going for you. So how about paying some rent?"
Kurama: "I'll pay you! %#￥…&*（（（））…%￥#）））"
Naruto covered his ears and looked at the upset, anxious Kurama with a fake touched expression. "Aw, I know you're really just grateful I gave you a place to stay. No need to get so emotional."
"Let's do the math. You've been living here for more than ten years. I'll charge you… 100 chakra units a year. So that's 1,000 total. Not bad, right?"
"If that feels too much, I can give you a discount for being a long-term tenant. Round it off!"
"2,000 chakra units! Pay up!"
Kurama: "Pay you?! @#%%￥......&￥￥#（*（...%））"
Naruto raised his hand and shot a laser right through Kurama.
"Ah!"
Kurama cried out in pain and finally stopped cursing.
"Come on… even as a fox, you should have some manners. Be civilized."
Naruto sighed. "It was just a joke. Even if you gave me your chakra, it's not like I could actually use it."
"Honestly, if letting you out didn't mean I'd probably die, I would've done it already."
"No one likes being watched all the time."
It's annoying enough now—what if he got married someday? That'd be a nightmare.
Wouldn't this damn fox end up seeing everything?
"I can't see anything anymore..." Kurama suddenly said.
"You can't?"
"Yeah. Ever since you graduated from that dumb ninja school, I haven't been able to see what you're doing. I can't even hear your thoughts anymore."
Kurama sounded annoyed. "If I weren't still locked in here, I'd have thought you were dead!"
Could it be...?
'AI-chan, was that you?'
[Ding!]
[Yes, Master~♫]
Naruto hadn't expected AI-chan to have this kind of passive ability.
If Kurama couldn't hear his thoughts anymore, then maybe keeping him locked up wasn't such a big deal?
Naruto turned to look at Kurama's hateful face… then shook his head.
Just thinking about having that thing locked inside his body made him feel like he'd have nightmares in his sleep.
And he didn't think he'd ever talk-no-jutsu Kurama into being his willing partner.
So he'd better find a way to remove him—painlessly, if possible.
"I'll come check on you later. Bye, Kurama!"
With a casual goodbye, Naruto shifted his focus and returned to the real world.
Even though he'd spent a long time in his mindscape, barely any time had passed in the real world.
Looks like time moves differently inside the seal compared to the outside… If that's the case, then this little fox must've been in even more pain, right?
Naruto imagined being locked up somewhere alone for decades or even a hundred years—he was sure he'd go crazy.
Thinking about it that way, the fact that the little fox could still talk normally—and even curse people—was honestly impressive.
As expected of Old Nine, no doubt about it!
...
"Wow, so cool!!"
"That's... that's one huge frog!"
"This is just awesome!!"
While Naruto was watching a show, he heard three excited voices. He stood up and looked down from the golden toad. "Konohamaru? What are you three doing here?"
"Naruto bro?!"
"Boss?!"
"Big shot?!"
The three of them were so short they could only see the golden toad, and had no idea there was someone sitting on top of it.
"Gold Coin, bring those three up here."
Naruto told the golden toad to lift the three of them onto its head.
"Whoa, this is awesome!"
"We're actually standing on its head!"
"I can see the village from here!"
The three kids shouted different things, looking around with excitement.
"So, why are you three out here?" Naruto asked.
"We were training nearby, and then we saw this huge golden frog!"
Konohamaru said, "Big bro, why are you on top of it? And it even listens to you?"
"Because it's my summoning beast. Its name is Gold Gamaken!"
"Summoning beast?"
"Gold Gamaken?"
"So... so cool!"
"Naruto bro, I want a summoning beast too!"
"Me too!"
"Please, Naruto big bro!"
Seeing their puppy-dog eyes, Naruto still shook his head and said, "Nope. You guys aren't even genin yet. There's no way you could make a summoning contract."
"Aww, come on~"
"I really want one~"
"So does that mean we can get a summoning beast once we become genin?"
"Not as genin. Maybe if you become chunin."
"But Naruto bro, you're still a genin too!"
"Not for long—I'm about to become a chunin."
Looking at the giant toad under his feet, Konohamaru was full of envy. "Damn, I wanna graduate already! Udon, Moegi!"
"Yes!"
"I'm here!"
"We've gotta train even harder from now on!"
"Udon, who loves factorization, got it!"
"Moegi, who makes grown-ups run away in fear, got it!"
"Konohamaru, the most talented ninja in the Leaf, got it!!!"
!
---
Read 40 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---