Chapter 308: Second Cycle
Within the consciousness space, time seemed frozen.
Naruto watched somewhat anxiously as the Nine-Tails before him fell into prolonged silence. The massive fox's eyes were tightly closed, brows furrowed, facial muscles twitching slightly, as though immersed in some extremely intense, even painful emotional vortex.
Judging from its constantly changing expression, it seemed to have seen something far exceeding expectations, something deeply disturbing.
Finally, the Nine-Tails' massive eyelids trembled, slowly opening. Within its eyes was bottomless shock, lingering fear, and... an indescribable fury and panic nearly bursting forth!
The final scene echoing in its consciousness was Naruto activating that mode burning with blazing red chakra! It clearly "heard" another version of itself roaring at Naruto.
"...This technique... Naruto! What have you done?!"
That was what it saw—a conversation between "itself" from another spacetime and the more mature Naruto from that timeline.
"This is a technique I temporarily invented borrowing Satsuki's power. I call it Yin-Yang Release: Bipolar Life Cycle Guardian Contract Spiral..."
"Naruto!" The other self's voice was full of terror and protest.
"...Sorry, I used Yin Release to freeze the causal chain between you and this mode," that mature Naruto's voice carried resolute calm yet spoke the cruelest words. "This technique consumes my life energy. I'm counting on you—after gaining freedom, please protect the world before those guys completely disappear..."
"Bastard?! You... why would you do this?!"
"We're together, remember? From cellmates who hated each other, to partners who fought together, to brothers who fought side by side... You and I stopped being separate long ago!"
That Naruto's final voice carried weary laughter yet pierced the heart of the Nine-Tails witnessing all this.
"...Maybe it's also because, seeing companions die beside me, I couldn't help myself. Looks like... I'm not suited to be Hokage after all..."
This final murmur rang like a death knell in the Nine-Tails' mind.
People might forget memories due to trauma or time, but marks engraved in the soul's depths—no power could completely erase them. Mistakenly believing himself merely a traveler carrying another world's soul—this was the "current situation" Uzumaki Naruto had understood until now...
At this moment, Naruto didn't know that the shock the Nine-Tails experienced was completely different from what he'd anticipated. Why did the emotions the Nine-Tails showed after opening its eyes... carry sorrow?
"Hey... Naruto."
"...Yes!"
Naruto was shocked to discover the Nine-Tails' voice was terribly hoarse, carrying suppression. If he weren't confident enough in his bond with the Nine-Tails, he might mistake it for the Nine-Tails feeling disappointed and furious upon discovering "he wasn't the original Naruto."
However, in complete contrast to this heavy atmosphere was the clear system notification suddenly ringing in Naruto's mind:
[Ding! Congratulations, Host: Bond with canonical character "Kurama" has risen to Level 8! (Relationship has undergone fundamental transformation!)]
What's going on? In this kind of atmosphere... the bond level actually increased?
"You, come here."
Not understanding what medicine the Nine-Tails was currently selling, Naruto still obediently walked forward several steps, looking up at that massive fox.
Then—
"Thump."
A not-particularly-loud light sound. The Nine-Tails raised one massive forepaw, as though flicking a small marble, gently flicking Naruto backward into a somersault. The motion carried some exasperation, but the force was controlled extremely well—Naruto felt no pain, just sitting rather awkwardly on the ground.
He raised his head, blue eyes full of confusion, looking uncomprehendingly at the Nine-Tails.
And the Nine-Tails, after experiencing that brief, cathartic interaction, its silent and sorrowful emotions seemed to finally find an outlet. It deeply, completely opened its giant eyes. This time, the gaze it directed at Naruto was even gentler than during their earlier reconciliation. Deep within that gaze churned an indescribable emotion mixing gratitude, heartache, and protective will.
"You kid..." The Nine-Tails' voice remained hoarse but carried a sighing tone. "...You've hidden things really deep..."
"...Sorry," Naruto thought the Nine-Tails meant his "soul from another world" identity, lowering his head somewhat guiltily. "It's quite incredible, right? This kind of thing..."
"Yeah," the Nine-Tails' response was meaningful. "Even you yourself... have been deceived by yourself..."
"What?"
"Wait, let me explain slowly." The Nine-Tails shook its massive head, temporarily shaking away those heavy future scenes. It released a huge breath, that appearance carrying incomparably genuine relief at surviving disaster.
It adjusted its emotions, pulling attention back to the present, speaking in as natural a tone as possible:
"Right, since we've already talked this far, then now it's time to unlock this final shackle the Fourth left behind."
It used its claw to point at that massive iron gate bearing the character "seal."
"With this thing still here, the chakra I can smoothly output to you remains restricted, unable to achieve truly perfect coordination."
The Nine-Tails spoke extremely naturally. However, by worldly common sense, tearing off the seal talisman's consequences were typically the Tailed Beast's power completely rampaging, breaking through the cage, while the jinchuriki would be devoured and lose their life.
But for the current Naruto and Nine-Tails, this "common sense" based on hatred and fear had long been completely shattered by their relationship, appearing somewhat outdated.
Naruto first froze, then a smile appeared on his face. He nodded forcefully, standing back up, unhesitatingly extending his hand toward that paper talisman at the iron gate's center containing powerful sealing force—
Just as his fingertips barely touched the talisman's edge!
Smack!
A slender hand appeared without warning from thin air, firmly grasping Naruto's wrist about to tear off the talisman!
Simultaneously, a voice that to Naruto felt both familiar yet incomparably unfamiliar—gentle—rang beside his ear.
"Stop, Naruto."
---
(Regarding this actually being a second cycle mistaken for reincarnation setting, the author actually always planned to write it this way, with some foreshadowing laid earlier)
(But the first cycle isn't the original work—it's a parallel world of Naruto where the second mc was always female)