Kurama roared with extreme speed, trying to cover something up with volume and disdain.
But that overly intense reaction, the gaze fixed on Naruto as if trying to see through him, and the persistent questioning attitude—which clearly contradicted "disdain"—only served to confirm Naruto's suspicions.
Looking at the stubborn and irritable giant beast before him, the smile on Naruto's lips deepened.
So even a powerful being like the Nine-Tailed could have such awkward feelings, similar to a pet vying for affection?
This discovery made him feel a little amused, and a little... strangely warm.
"Yes, yes, yes, you're not jealous, you're the most generous."
Naruto waved his hand and said in a tone used to coax a child, "Big Yellow is just a regular Ninken. He can't compare to the majestic Lord Kurama at all, so relax."
Although the words sounded reassuring, combined with Naruto's stifled smile, they sounded completely teasing.
"Hmph! Does this great one need your comfort?"
Kurama snorted viciously, but the intense gaze focused on Naruto seemed to relax slightly.
It sullenly withdrew its massive head and lay back down.
Its tail, however, was still impatiently slapping the ground, kicking up dirt. It was clearly extremely dissatisfied with Naruto's attitude but couldn't afford to continue arguing about the "dog."
It could only hold its breath, turn its head away, and leave Naruto with a sulky, furry silhouette.
"Calm" temporarily returned to the consciousness space, leaving only Kurama's heavy breathing and the dull thud of its tail occasionally hitting the ground.
Naruto looked at its appearance and finally couldn't hold back, bursting into laughter.
The sound of the laughter seemed to make Kurama's ears twitch slightly, but its head turned even further away, as if saying, "I can't be bothered with you."
Naruto stopped laughing, but the warmth and seriousness in his eyes gradually replaced the amusement.
He walked a few steps forward until he reached the edge of the sealing bars, looking up at the massive figure with its back to him.
His voice was not loud, but it carried an unprecedented clarity and solemnity, echoing in this space that belonged only to the two of them:
"Hey, Kurama."
"..."
There was no response, only the sound of the tail hitting the ground paused for an instant.
Naruto took a deep breath and continued, "You know, since the night I was born, you have been sealed inside me.
We spent the days when I was ostracized by the villagers and alone, and we have experienced a lot of time together."
He paused, his blue eyes appearing exceptionally bright in the dim space.
"We share a common enemy: the Mysterious Masked Man who caused the Nine-Tailed Fox Attack, killed my parents, and also controlled you."
When mentioning that name, Naruto's voice carried a chill, but it quickly shifted back to a more determined warmth.
"Facing such an enemy, facing this world that still has many problems but which I want to change... shouldn't we be the ones standing side-by-side the most?"
He stretched out his hand, and even though it was separated by the sealing bars, the gesture felt like an invisible invitation and confirmation.
"So, Kurama."
Naruto's voice became unusually soft, yet full of power.
"To me, we are brothers, comrades who must trust each other, and... in a sense, the most special family.
Your place in my heart is unique and irreplaceable by anyone else.
Big Yellow is a companion, a friend, but he will never be 'Kurama.'
That position, from beginning to end, can only be occupied by you."
After the words fell, the consciousness space plunged into true silence.
Even Kurama's heavy breathing seemed to quiet down.
The tail that had been restlessly slapping the ground finally became completely still, resting softly on the "floor."
After a long while, Kurama's muffled, thunder-like voice sounded again. It still carried that impatient tone, but the sharpness and anger seemed to have dissipated significantly, even mixed with a hint of extremely slight, hard-to-detect awkwardness:
"...Hmph, you smooth-talking brat. Who said we're brothers or family... Stop trying to get close to me."
Despite the words, it slowly turned its head back, and those lava-like beast eyes looked at Naruto once more.
This time, the gaze lacked the previous intensity and annoyance, replaced by a complex, deep scrutiny, and a subtle hint of being moved.
It didn't admit it, but it didn't refute it either.
Naruto looked at its returned gaze, and a brilliant, cloudless smile bloomed on his face.
He knew that some things didn't need verbal confirmation.
Some connections had already quietly taken root during this long symbiosis of conflict and adaptation, becoming unbreakable.
"Then it's settled!"
Naruto said with a grin, as if he had just concluded a major agreement.
Kurama looked at his carefree smiling face, finally just snorting a blast of hot air from its nose, lying down again, and closing its eyes.
But this time, its posture appeared much more relaxed; that silent acquiescence was already the best response.
Naruto clapped his hands sharply in front of his chest, his eyes focused and bright.
He didn't say anything more, instead immediately beginning to form hand signs.
The hand sign movements were not fast; each sign carried a peculiar rhythm, subtly echoing the pulse of the immense Chakra within him.
As the sequence of signs was completed, he raised his right hand.
In his palm, instead of the usual Chakra light, complex and archaic black characters appeared. These characters subtly writhed like living things, emanating an aura that was profound, stable, and contained the dual mysteries of sealing and unsealing.
This was clearly not an ordinary Sealing Technique, but a high-level skill that touched the core of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. It bore the style of the Sealing Techniques of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, yet it seemed to have been "adjusted" or "inheritedly applied" by Naruto based on his own understanding.
Eight Trigrams Sealing Style: Variation.
"This feeling is..."
Kurama, inside the cage, suddenly raised its head, its pupils contracting as it stared intensely at Naruto's hand reaching toward the sealing gate.
The next second, Naruto's right hand, carrying the flowing black characters, pressed lightly yet incredibly firmly onto the massive sealing gate.
There was no earth-shattering boom, nor any violent surge of Chakra.
There was only a faint "click," as if a lock cylinder had been delicately picked by a precise tool.
Then, near the bottom of the indestructible sealing gate, which symbolized absolute confinement, a perfectly round hole suddenly appeared between the tightly fitting wooden planks and talismans.
At the edge of the hole, black sealing characters coiled and froze like vines, maintaining the opening while miraculously restraining the full outpouring of the violent Chakra within.
"Whoa~"
The Nine-Tailed involuntarily let out a deep roar filled with astonishment.
It clearly felt that the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which had bound it for over a decade and was as solid as a rock, had indeed been opened with a controlled, stable breach!
"Naruto, what are you doing?"
"Although the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style still needs to be maintained, I've had some breakthroughs recently researching Sealing Techniques. I can open up some space without triggering the countermeasures left behind by the Fourth Hokage and his wife, giving you more freedom."