Chapter 21: Confrontation with the Nine-Tailed
"Brat, why don't you try saying that again?"
The Nine-Tailed was extremely displeased. Putting aside the fact that it was sealed inside Naruto's body—which was simply fate—why was it that this three-year-old brat didn't show even a hint of fear after encountering it!
"I said, you're like a toothless tiger; you've got no skills other than useless animal roars!" Narutorepeated himself as requested, following the Nine-Tailed's demand.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The Nine-Tailed's repeated roars echoed throughout the space. The massive air currents generated by the roars made Naruto's clothes rustle loudly, and gusts of foul wind blew directly into his ears and nose.
"Your breath really stinks!" After the roaring stopped, Naruto pinched his nose and fanned the air. "Big fox, as long as you tell me where this is, I might consider being a bit nicer to you, or even help you peel off that Paper Charm on the cage!"
"Brat, the price of deceiving this old man is not something you can bear!"
"I'm not lying. As long as you tell me where this is, I'll definitely have a better attitude toward you."
"And the Paper Charm on the cage..."
"If I'm in a good mood, I'll naturally help you peel it off." Naruto avoided the main issue, using wordplay to beat around the bush with the Nine-Tailed.
"This is inside your own body!" The Nine-Tailedrevealed the truth. "It was when your consciousness was at its weakest that I pulled it here to me."
"So you're the culprit..." Naruto suddenly understood the reason. Moreover, this big fox in front of him was likely the Nine-Tailed sealed within him.
"In that case, the Paper Charm on this cage must be the Seal."
"Brat, as long as you help me peel off the Paper Charm, I'll manifest outside and help you kill everyone who hurt you. What do you think of this deal?"
"I don't think much of it!" Naruto didn't fall for it. "Big fox, I hate it when people try to fool me like a child, especially with such amateur lies."
"Brat! You've provoked me!" Since the Nine-Tailedwas currently sealed, all it could do besides verbal threats was to trip Naruto up with Chakra.
"I've already provoked you, haven't I?" Narutowasn't afraid of the Nine-Tailed at all; he remembered the Five Elements Seal Hiruzen Sarutobi had placed on him very clearly.
"You're the Tailed Beast sealed inside me, right..." Naruto spoke the truth. "Once the Paper Charm is peeled off, you'll be able to escape, and you want to use my body to do things, right?"
"You brat..."
"I said, don't try to fool me like a child." Narutoshrugged. Perhaps feeling that standing and talking was too tiring, he simply sat cross-legged in front of the cage, resting his chin on his hands and looking up at the Nine-Tailed.
"Offer some substantial benefits, and I think I might reconsider."
"You're asking for death!" The Nine-Tailed didn't want to talk to Naruto on relatively equal terms. A massive paw suddenly lunged at Naruto through the gaps in the cage.
"Look!" Naruto lightly tapped the sharp claw that was only a dozen centimeters away from his forehead. "See, you can't do anything to me at all. You should face reality, for instance, by sitting down and having a proper talk with me."
"What do you want to talk about?" The Nine-Tailed's tone softened slightly. "What do you think you could possibly talk to me about?"
"For example, you tell me everything I want to know, and I can give you partial freedom." Narutoproposed his terms; he now understood that he held the absolute upper hand.
Although the Nine-Tailed Fox before him could speak, was enormous, and possessed some human-like qualities, it was still a beast at its core.
Since it was a beast, it had an innate longing for freedom. Much like a pet dog at home, if you wanted it to be obedient, you had to leash it and take it out for a walk every now and then.
Naruto believed that this giant Nine-Tailed Foxsealed inside him was no exception.
Sure enough, after hearing Naruto's words, the Nine-Tailed fell silent for a moment. The ferocious expression on its face vanished, replaced by a lazy look as it lay down inside the cage.
The Nine-Tailed rested its massive head on its paws, its house-sized pupils staring at Naruto. "What do you want to know?"
"Your name!" Naruto asked his first question without hesitation.
"Nine-Tailed!" The Nine-Tailed's tone was very perfunctory.
Naruto naturally picked up on the perfunctory nature of the Nine-Tailed's words. He shook his head and made a move to stand up, as if to end the conversation. "Since you're not being sincere, let's end this meeting and send me back."
Naruto had a very precise grasp of the nuances of negotiation and communication, and he knew exactly who held the upper hand. Most importantly, Naruto knew how to quickly bridge the gap between a human and a beast.
Whether human or beast, as long as the party in the absolute superior position showed the other some respect, it was easy to gain their goodwill. Knowing each other's names was undoubtedly the best way to start.
"By the way, before I go, let me introduce myself. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, the man who will become Hokage in the future!"
"What a disgusting smile, just like that man's!" The Nine-Tailed muttered grumpily. "Kurama!"
"That's more like it. This is the right way to start." Naruto snapped his fingers and sat back down cross-legged. "Kurama, that's a very nice name."
Naruto extended his fist. "Nice to meet you!"
"Brat, you're really annoying!" Although the Nine-Tailed was being stubborn, after a moment's hesitation, it still extended its paw and bumped Naruto's fist.
"Thanks for the compliment; I quite agree that children are always annoying." Naruto nodded solemnly before changing the subject. "First, tell me what I'll have to pay to let you out or give you temporary freedom."
"Oh?" The Nine-Tailed suddenly became interested. "Why don't you state your demands first? Instead, you're asking questions from my perspective?"
Naruto naturally couldn't tell the Nine-Tailed that this was a negotiation technique. It was better to keep some things hidden; otherwise, he might seem too opportunistic or calculating.
"Because I wanted to let you out in the first place..."
"Then hurry over and peel off the Paper Charm!"
"But without knowing the consequences, I feel a bit uneasy!" Naruto gave a playful smile. "You scared me quite a bit at the start, and you were very fierce!"
Now it was the Nine-Tailed's turn to be silent. It really hadn't expected this "three-year-old" child, Naruto, to be so difficult to deal with.
Yet somehow, throughout these dozen or so exchanges with Naruto, after the initial rage, it now only felt... comfortable.
Yes, comfortable. It was the comfort that came from feeling respected and valued, a feeling that made the Nine-Tailed a bit flustered.
"The consequence is that you will lose consciousness, lose control over your own body, and it might even lead to your body breaking down." The Nine-Tailed decided to come clean.
This wasn't just because talking to Naruto was comfortable, but also because the Nine-Tailedknew that this child, who didn't look very old, was not easy to fool at all.
The Nine-Tailed felt it should cherish this hard-won opportunity.
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