"Aquatic Vital Point Strike!"
Guren activated her secret technique, converting her life force into chakra, gaining an explosive boost in power for a short time.
"Crystal Release: Thread of Light!"
As her chakra surged to its peak, Guren soared into the air.
Several translucent crystal threads wrapped around her, and a beam of chakra condensed at the tip like a laser cannon from a sci-fi fighter jet.
A piercing blue laser shot straight toward Naruto.
Naruto moved his hands, suddenly thinking of a new application for Shikotsumyaku.
From beneath his feet, a bone dragon emerged and lifted him into the air.
Enhanced by Sage Mode, the dragon grew to nearly a hundred meters in length.
With a grotesque skull head and skeletal frame, it looked like a full-blown boss monster—leaving everyone at the scene stunned.
Guren's Thread of Light struck the bone dragon's head directly.
A burst of sparks erupted on impact.
Thread of Light wasn't weak—its power surpassed most ninjutsu.
Yet when it collided with the bone dragon's head, it couldn't even make it budge.
When the laser finally dissipated, the dragon's head remained utterly unscathed.
This combination of perfect Shikotsumyaku and Sage Mode created a bone dragon with terrifying defense.
Naruto was fairly satisfied. He figured that any attack below Six Paths level probably wouldn't even leave a scratch.
High offense, high speed, high defense—with both his HP and chakra bars practically maxed out, Naruto had unknowingly become a perfectly balanced fighter.
Compared to most ninjas, who leaned heavily on attack or speed, he was ridiculously overpowered.
"Impossible!" Guren stared at the unharmed bone dragon, starting to question reality.
Even in her Aquatic Vital Point state, even using Thread of Light… she couldn't break through his defense?
Kimimaro stared blankly at the massive bone dragon, completely unaware Shikotsumyaku could even be used like this.
Thinking back to how he always used it for close combat, he suddenly felt a bit ridiculous.
With the test complete, Naruto rode the bone dragon and approached Guren.
Her crystal dragon—when compared to his hundred-meter beast—looked like a child's toy.
With one sweep of its tail, the crystal dragon shattered into glittering shards.
Guren was sent flying and slammed into the ground, clutching her chest as she coughed up blood.
Suigetsu's jaw dropped.
"Great… another monster we can't afford to provoke. He's even scarier than Kimimaro."
Naruto didn't even glance at Guren as he turned and walked away.
However, the injured Guren looked at him with a strange light in her eyes.
There was no hatred—only something ambiguous and unreadable.
Returning to the underground corridor, Naruto went to Orochimaru and asked for several supplies.
Orochimaru, like some twisted version of Doraemon, had a stockpile of almost everything.
Once Naruto had everything he needed, he returned to the crystal room.
He closed his eyes, and his consciousness entered the Nine-Tails' sealed space.
The giant fox, who had been lounging lazily, slowly opened one eye.
"Why are you suddenly here?"
Naruto glanced around the space and said calmly,
"To fulfill my promise."
"Huh?" Before Kurama could react—
Naruto began performing sealing techniques, inserting object after object into the sealing space.
But that wasn't all—he gathered chakra and activated Yin-Yang Release. Combined with fūinjutsu, he began remodeling the entire space.
The original space Minato Namikaze created was nothing but a dark, damp prison of water and bars.
Kurama stared blankly at the blond boy working tirelessly.
A strange feeling welled up in his chest.
He'd almost forgotten that promise Naruto made years ago.
And yet… Naruto hadn't forgotten. He was actually fulfilling it.
Kurama had long gotten used to this shadowy, cramped seal. But… if it could be better, who wouldn't want that?
Under Naruto's modifications, the space transformed into a vast open field. Even the lighting became warm and bright.
Then, Wood Release chakra surged—trees sprouted one after another.
Kurama now stood in the center of a lush forest… almost like the days before he was captured by Madara.
He used to loathe Wood Release.
But now… it felt completely different.
Kurama stretched with a long yawn, breathing in the fresh "air" of his new home.
Satisfied with the layout, Naruto finally stopped.
This whole remodeling cost him over 100 units of chakra.
But he didn't even feel tired.
Kurama wanted to say "thank you"… but the words stuck in his throat.
"Tch… took you years to do it. I thought you forgot."
That was all he could muster—his usual tsundere grumble.
Naruto clapped the dust off his hands.
"I always do my best to keep my promises."
"From now on, if you ever want to get some fresh air, you can send out a chakra clone."
After Naruto left, Kurama began running freely around the space.
Though there were no other creatures here, this feeling—running unrestrained—it had been far too long.
He thought of the other eight tailed beasts, comparing his treatment to theirs.
In that moment, Kurama felt… lucky.
Lucky that Naruto had become his jinchūriki.
Compared to the days of Mito and Kushina, his current life could only be described as bliss.
Most of all—he could see hope for true freedom.
The next day, Naruto found Orochimaru in the middle of an experiment.
To be fair, Orochimaru was indeed a qualified researcher.
Seeing Naruto approach, he handed the experiment over to Kabuto and led Naruto into a dimly lit rest room.
Perhaps due to his snake-modified body, Orochimaru's rooms were always cold and damp.
If a normal person lived here long enough, they'd get rheumatism for sure.
But this was the Sound Village—none of Orochimaru's people were what you'd call normal.
With a creepy grin, Orochimaru asked,
"Naruto-kun, what can I do for you?"
In just two days, Orochimaru had fully accepted the fact that his fate was now in someone else's hands.
But that didn't mean he would give up—he was still chasing immortality, still searching for a way to one day break free.
Naruto slowly revealed the reason for his visit.
At first, he wanted to share some scientific advancements from the future—but then realized: rapid tech development might ruin the world.
After all, even if he didn't say anything, technology would eventually advance—it would just take longer.
And during that time, he could raise his strength to a point where even technology couldn't threaten him.
So, in the end, Naruto only gave Orochimaru advice on entertainment.
He described all sorts of wild and flashy entertainment concepts from the future.
As Orochimaru listened, his expression grew more and more… strange.
Some of the ideas were so insane that even he, a shape-shifting pervert, found them a bit much.
But after thinking it through… if these "entertainment cities" were built, they could make an obscene amount of money.
And research required funding.
Naruto had no deeper motive behind this suggestion.
He just thought that if the shinobi world only had violence and war, it would be far too boring.
Only when flowers bloom in every corner…
…does avoiding beef truly become enjoyable.