"You can help me win… without coming out?"
Naruto's world was still spinning.
Being yanked up and down like a broken training dummy had left his stomach churning and his vision blurring, yet the instant that familiar voice sounded inside his head, clarity cut through the dizziness like a blade.
Inside his consciousness, he hurriedly pressed the question, barely able to keep the excitement out of his thoughts.
How?
Are you going to teach me how to use the Nine-Tails' power?
Lock let out a short, scornful laugh.
"In your dreams."
The answer came back crisp and merciless.
"I'm not teaching you that. If you want the Nine-Tails' power, you'll have to deal with it yourself."
There was no mockery in his tone—only certainty.
Lock wasn't lying. The chakra he used wasn't something Naruto could simply imitate. It wasn't borrowed through the seal, nor coaxed out through rage. It was something entirely his own, something granted and dominated absolutely. Naruto's path to power lay elsewhere, and Lock had no intention of cheapening it for him.
Naruto felt a knot tighten in his chest.
"You can't come out, and you won't make me stronger…" he shot back, frustration bleeding through.
"Then what are we even supposed to do?"
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Lock spoke again, irritation sharp enough to sting.
"Naruto, violence isn't the only way to solve a problem. Use that rusty wooden brain of yours for once."
Naruto froze.
"Huh?"
The sting hit a second later.
"Why are you yelling at me?" Naruto protested indignantly inside his own head.
"I knew it! You're just messing with me!"
Anger and grievance boiled over. Dangling upside down, he flailed instinctively, arms thrashing uselessly through the air as if he could somehow grab the words themselves and throw them back.
Outside, Kakashi watched with mild curiosity.
Is he talking to that other personality?
So he's finally going to let it out…?
With that thought, Kakashi casually tightened his grip on the rope again.
Naruto and Sasuke jerked violently, their bodies bouncing once more.
Inside the mindscape, Lock felt the nausea bleed through the connection.
"Tch."
Any thought of dragging this out vanished.
"Enough," Lock said flatly. "Listen carefully."
Naruto forced himself to focus, swallowing hard as the dizziness threatened to overwhelm him.
"Look at the book Kakashi is holding," Lock continued.
"What's its title?"
Naruto squinted through watering eyes, forcing his vision downward despite the motion.
"Mngh—Young… Young A-Ming?"
The realisation hit him like a lightning bolt.
His eyes widened.
"That's—wait—that's your book!"
Only now did Naruto truly register what Kakashi had been reading from start to finish.
The novel.
The one Lock had written.
A ridiculous thought burst forth before Naruto could stop it.
"Are we… are we going to trade spoilers for the bells?"
Inside the consciousness, Lock went very still.
If Naruto could see him, he would have noticed the look—half disbelief, half utter resignation.
"…Forget it," Lock said after a beat.
"Just do exactly what I tell you."
He abandoned any attempt at indirect guidance.
"I'm going to tell you what happens next in the story. You'll use it to seize Kakashi's attention."
Naruto's breathing slowed.
"While his focus is pulled away, you use Multi-Shadow Clone again and attack together," Lock continued calmly.
"Make noise. Shout about revenge. Make it look reckless."
Naruto listened, eyes burning with focus.
"But one of those clones—only one—needs to transform."
"Transform?" Naruto echoed.
"Yes. Have that clone turn into a shuriken," Lock said.
"Mix it in with the others. When Kakashi dodges, that shuriken clone will get close to his waist."
"And when he's distracted—"
"It transforms back and takes the bells," Naruto finished, excitement flaring.
"Exactly," Lock said.
"Can you do it?"
Naruto didn't hesitate.
"I can!"
His admiration surged uncontrollably.
He'd always thought Lock solved everything by crushing it outright. Power, fear, blood—that was the image burned into his mind.
But this?
This was cunning. Precise. Cold.
If Naruto had the words for it, he might have called it strategy. Deception. Turning the enemy's habits against them.
Outside, the moment came.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, voice cracking with exaggerated rage.
"If you've got the guts, shake me until I puke! Otherwise, when I get down, I'm going to beat you black and blue!"
As he yelled, Naruto frantically blinked and gestured with his eyes toward Sakura's position.
He raised his voice even louder, making sure Sasuke could hear through the ringing in his ears.
"When Sakura cuts the ropes, we rush him together! Revenge first, bells second!"
Sasuke, pale and dizzy beside him, ground his teeth.
"You're way too loud, idiot…"
With teammates like this, defeat really did feel inevitable.
Kakashi, however, merely chuckled.
"Oh? Beating your sensei up?" he said lazily.
"Then I guess I'll have to use Konoha's ultimate secret technique on you."
The rope twitched ominously.
"One Thousand Years of Death."
From a distance, Sakura found her moment.
Shuriken flashed.
The ropes snapped.
Naruto and Sasuke hit the ground hard, knees bending instinctively to absorb the impact.
"Now!" Naruto shouted.
His hands flew into seals without hesitation.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Smoke exploded outward.
Ten Narutos burst forth, charging in a chaotic wave.
And as Lock had instructed—
Naruto's voice rose again, loud, reckless, overflowing with emotion.
"Chapter Thirty-One! Mother's Friend—"
Kakashi froze.
"What?"
The words didn't register at first.
But then Naruto kept talking.
Names. Scenes. Dialogue.
A-Ming. Events that had never been published. Details that should not exist.
Colour drained from Kakashi's face.
"That's… impossible."
His eyes snapped to the book in his hand, then back to Naruto.
"How do you know this?" he demanded.
"No one should know this!"
Then realisation struck.
"The author's name…"
His breath caught.
"Lock. Uzumaki Lock."
Kakashi stared at Naruto like he was seeing him for the first time.
"…You wrote this?"
Naruto's clones didn't slow.
"Don't stop!" Naruto shouted, voice deliberately frantic.
"Support us! Now!"
Sasuke and Sakura snapped out of their shock instantly.
Questions died unspoken.
This was an opening they might never get again.
Shuriken and kunai flew.
Kakashi moved on instinct, dodging, weaving, body flowing through practised motion.
Yet his eyes betrayed him.
They flicked back to Naruto again and again, ears straining to catch every word of the unfolding story.
"The plot… it's seamless," Kakashi muttered under his breath.
"So A-Ming even went that far…"
For a split second—just a split second—his focus slipped.
That was all it took.
Amid the storm of metal, one shuriken flew differently.
Its trajectory was too clean. Too deliberate.
As Kakashi shifted aside, it twisted mid-air.
Smoke puffed.
The shuriken became Naruto.
Hands closed around cold metal.
The bells jingled.
Clear. Bright. Final.
Kakashi's smile vanished.
He reached for his waist.
Nothing.
Behind him, Naruto landed lightly, bells clenched triumphantly in his fist.
"Hee-hee!" Naruto laughed, breathless and exhilarated.
"Kakashi-sensei—looks like I win!"
The bells chimed again, echoing through the clearing.
Silence followed.
Kakashi slowly straightened.
Then, to Naruto's surprise, he laughed.
A deep, genuine laugh.
"Well played," Kakashi said at last, closing his book.
"…Very well played."
Inside Naruto's consciousness, Lock said nothing.
But if he had been visible—
He would have been smiling.
---
A/N: Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded. Please Check It Out. It will really help me out and will keep me motivated to continue.
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