"Hokage-sama!" ×2
Two masked ANBU, assigned to monitor Naruto Uzumaki, emerged from the shadows and dropped to one knee before the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen stood at the base of the stairs, his gaze fixed on the shattered second-floor window. He said nothing.
Even before arriving, he had sensed it—a surge of chakra spreading through the night air.
Oppressive. Violent. Unstable.
A chakra signature that anyone in Konoha who had survived that night five years ago would recognize instantly.
The Nine-Tails.
"What happened?"
Hiruzen's voice was low, controlled—but dangerous.
Earlier that day, his plan to reach Naruto through Nara Shikamaru had finally begun to show promise.
And now, only hours later, there were signs of a possible Nine-Tails rampage.
He had been buried in paperwork for the village's sake and had even planned to visit his one-year-old grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru, afterward.
That plan was gone.
"The target returned home at noon and hasn't left since," one ANBU reported.
"He stepped onto the balcony briefly in the afternoon—less than two minutes. Everything was normal until a few minutes ago…"
"…when the target, while on the second floor, suddenly released Nine-Tails chakra without any warning."
Hiruzen's expression eased slightly.
He raised a hand.
Six ANBU stepped forward simultaneously, forming a precise formation.
"Barrier—Form!"
A translucent hexagonal barrier rose around the building, sealing Naruto's home completely.
A masked ANBU in a pale-yellow hood stepped beside Hiruzen.
"Hokage-sama, the barrier is active. The jinchūriki's chakra signature hasn't moved. Should we—"
BOOM—!
The second-floor wall exploded outward.
Debris scattered across the courtyard.
Everyone turned.
Naruto stepped out of the gaping hole in his pajamas.
Crimson chakra cloaked his body.
His eyes glowed red, pupils slit vertically.
Two tails swayed behind him.
Hiruzen's face darkened like a gathering storm.
"Hokage-sama," Naruto asked calmly,
"what are you all doing here?"
"…What?"
Hiruzen froze.
"Naruto? You're… still conscious?"
Naruto had prepared for this moment.
He needed to look in control—lucid, rational, harmless.
Danger lay not in power, but in perception.
So when Hiruzen asked, Naruto blinked and tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
Hiruzen was stunned.
A jinchūriki manifesting tailed beast chakra should have already lost themselves.
Yet Naruto stood before him—clear-eyed and composed.
After a heartbeat of shock, Hiruzen forced his familiar gentle smile back into place.
"Naruto," he asked softly,
"what's going on with that chakra around you?"
Naruto hesitated, then answered with wide-eyed uncertainty.
"I don't know."
To lie convincingly, one must first believe the lie.
Naruto delivered the words as if they were half-formed thoughts.
"You don't know?" Hiruzen frowned.
"Then how did it appear?"
Naruto raised his claw-like hands, studying them with innocent confusion.
"I really don't know, Hokage-sama. Today, I made a friend—a boy from the Nara Clan."
"I was so happy that I came straight home. After lunch, I stayed upstairs refining chakra until night."
"Then suddenly… I heard a voice calling my name."
That drew everyone's attention.
"What kind of voice?" Hiruzen asked quietly.
Naruto tilted his head.
"I think it was… a fox."
"What kind of fox?"
"I didn't see it clearly," Naruto replied.
"But I followed the voice and saw a dark iron door. A fox face appeared beside it."
"It told me this was a reward for meeting it at such a young age."
"Then red stuff flowed out of the door and wrapped around my feet…"
"And when I came to, I looked like this."
Inside the seal space, Kurama blinked.
This brat…
The story was suspicious—but annoyingly flattering.
Kurama snorted and stayed silent.
Hiruzen nodded slowly.
So the Nine-Tails initiated contact.
That was dangerous—but not uncontrollable.
His gaze shifted to the ruined wall.
"Naruto," he asked calmly,
"why did you blow up your own house?"
"I didn't!"
Naruto's voice rose sharply.
"…What?"
Hiruzen and the surrounding ANBU froze.
"It wasn't me!" Naruto insisted, pointing behind himself.
"It was them!"
He gestured toward the two swaying tails.
"When I noticed this stuff on my body, I was confused. Then the tails started smashing everything—my desk, my chairs, half the furniture!"
"I didn't want them to destroy more, so I tried to leave."
"But just as I reached the door—boom! They knocked a hole in the wall!"
Hiruzen remained cautious.
Naruto was calm. Rational. Not berserk.
But according to every record—from Konoha and other villages alike—when a jinchūriki manifested tailed beast chakra, only two outcomes existed:
Full control
Complete loss of self
Yet Naruto was conscious—but not in control.
That shouldn't have been possible.
More troubling still…
Naruto clearly didn't understand what was happening.
Hiruzen needed to explain everything—carefully—without triggering fear or rebellion.
After a brief pause, he smiled kindly.
"Naruto, why don't you come down?"
"We'll help you learn how to control that chakra."
"Okay!"
Naruto leapt from the second floor and landed lightly.
As he approached, the surrounding ANBU spread out instinctively.
"Is it really controllable?" Naruto asked, looking up.
"Of course," Hiruzen replied warmly.
Then he added gently,
"Naruto… could you open your shirt for me?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Don't worry," Hiruzen said reassuringly.
"I just need to check if your body's been harmed. Like when you went to the hospital before. Remember the nice medical-nin?"
"Oh… okay."
Naruto lowered his gaze and slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
For an instant—
A flicker of bloodlust surged within him.
He shut his eyes immediately, suppressing it.
The chakra was far more volatile than he had anticipated.
Hiruzen mistook the closed eyes for fear.
He crouched down.
The Eight Trigrams Seal was clearly visible on Naruto's stomach.
"Just like before—no damage."
"The dual Four Symbols Seals within the Eight Trigrams are functioning properly—allowing small amounts of Nine-Tails chakra to leak out and convert into Naruto's own."
"That explains why he remains conscious but can't fully control the power."
"…Minato really planned this thoroughly."
Hiruzen placed a hand on the seal and probed deeper with chakra.
His eyes flickered.
Naruto's chakra reserves were already comparable to an average jōnin.
At five years old.
If the Nine-Tails chakra were added on top of that—
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
Then he smiled again.
"All done. Your body is fine, Naruto."
"But from now on, if you ever hear strange voices again—don't answer."
"That's an evil creature trying to deceive you."
"Now stay still. I'll seal that chakra away again."
Naruto's danger sense screamed.
But he didn't move.
He couldn't.
Hiruzen didn't ask for permission.
His fingers flared with chakra.
"Five Elements Seal!"
The palm strike landed squarely on Naruto's stomach.
A new seal overlaid the Eight Trigrams.
"This is for your own good,"
Hiruzen said softly—almost contentedly.
The moment Naruto heard those words, cold realization swept over him.
Too late.
The pain exploded through his body as the crimson chakra collapsed inward.
"Gah—!"
He bit down hard, refusing to scream.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
Naruto lost consciousness.
(End of Chapter)
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