Chapter 71: Controlling the Nine-Tailed and Minato Namikaze's Appearance (Happy New Year's Eve!)
"Your eyes!"
A stream of water with a pitch-black luster flowed directly to the giant iron cage sealing the Nine-Tailed. The beast's pupils inside the cage were wide open, its massive claws scratching the bars and leaving deep marks.
However, those scratches quickly returned to their original state under the influence of the Sealing Jutsu, and the Nine-Tailed, after eight years, fell into a state of utter madness once again.
"Brat! I will kill you!"
Hearing the Nine-Tailed's roar, Naruto, standing in front of the iron cage, remained unmoved. Instead, he pointed to his own eyes and asked back, "Is it because of these Sharingan of mine?!"
"I don't care where you got those eyes from." The Nine-Tailed bared its teeth, the fangs in its mouth clearly visible. "The person I hate most in my life is Uchiha Madara, followed by the evil power of the Sharingan, and last is you father and son!"
"Now that I have both, what does Kurama plan to do?!" Naruto asked back with a smile, his attitude somewhat arrogant. "Don't forget that you're still locked in a cage, and... before these eyes, you are at my mercy!"
"Roar!"
The Nine-Tailed's unwilling roars were incessant, creating air currents that formed a massive shockwave, mixed with the Nine-Tailed's Chakra, rushing towards Naruto.
Naruto squinted, raising his arm to block his face. After the Nine-Tailed's roar ended, he didn't forget to smooth his messy yellow hair, his posture very calm and composed.
"With a Seal binding you in front and the Sharingan suppressing you from behind, tell me where you get the confidence to be so arrogant toward me!"
Naruto took two steps forward to a position where the Nine-Tailed's claws could barely reach. Looking at the cold, glinting claws before him, his mood was incredibly pleasant.
He couldn't forget what the Nine-Tailed had said back then; it was with these very claws that it had pierced through his parents' bodies, causing Narutoto become an orphan from the day he was born. Furthermore, because of his parents' death, he had no protection, making his childhood incredibly miserable!
But now, things were better. With the help of the life experience game system, Naruto finally had the capital today to go toe-to-toe with the Nine-Tailed, and even the chance to vent all the hatred he had suppressed in his heart for five years.
"Now there are only two paths before you." Narutoraised two fingers and lightly touched the Nine-Tailed's sharp claw. "First, take the initiative to give me everything of yours; second, after I control you, I will take everything from you with my own hands!"
"Don't even think about it!" The Nine-Tailed was still irritable. "No matter what you say or do, as long as I find an opportunity..."
"It seems you intend to refuse..." Naruto interrupted the Nine-Tailed's roar, shaking his head with some regret. "You, who have lived for a thousand years, really don't know how to adapt to the circumstances. Then I'll give you a lesson today!"
After saying that, the unique patterns in Naruto's eyes spun rapidly. Through the Genjutsu Chakraenhanced by the Mangekyo Sharingan, he struck directly at the Nine-Tailed's brain. In the next instant, the violent Nine-Tailed became like a wooden carving—no movement, no sound, no expression—as if it had become a doll in Naruto's hands.
"Actually, I really didn't want to go this far." Narutoprepared to leave after doing all this. "As an accomplice in the murder of my parents, even if you were suspected of being controlled, you ultimately committed the act with your own reason. I'm just doing what I should as an avenger."
Naruto turned around and waved his hand behind him. "Kurama, stay obediently bound inside my body. When I find a way to completely control your power one day, I will come to see you again and end your pain with my own hands!"
"Naruto..."
"Who's there!"
As he was about to leave, Naruto sensed someone calling him from behind. His originally pleasant mood instantly tensed up; he hadn't expected someone else to exist inside his body.
But when Naruto turned around again to look at the source of the voice, he recognized the person at a single glance. This caused a massive wave to surge in his long-steady state of mind.
"Father?!"
Looking at the young man wearing the hokage robes, with golden-yellow hair and a face forty percent similar to his own, tears instantly wet Naruto's eyes. Even the excellent vision of the Mangekyo Sharingan became blurred at this moment.
"Naruto... you've suffered..."
"It's not hard! Not hard at all!"
Naruto shook his head like a rattle. He ran a few steps toward Minato Namikaze's consciousness, making a move to throw himself into his arms, but unexpectedly passed right through.
"This is a sliver of consciousness I sealed inside you before I died because I couldn't stop worrying about you. I thought I would only appear when the Nine-Tailed was no longer bound by the Seal or when you were being tempted by the Nine-Tailed..."
Minato Namikaze's words, combined with his sunny smile, made Naruto feel an unprecedented warmth. This was the most primal emotion of a child for their parents. Even though what stood before Naruto was only a remnant consciousness of Minato Namikaze, this emotion was not weakened in the slightest.
However, consciousness is after all just consciousness. Aside from being able to speak with Minato Namikaze, Naruto's greatest wish could not be realized...
Even with his biological father right in front of him, he couldn't even manage a hug...
How cruel!
Naruto's fists clenched tight. After the initial happiness and joy came a thick sense of hatred and unwillingness. The mastermind behind this outcome deserved to die!
"Your growth has exceeded my expectations." Minato Namikaze sensed Naruto's negative emotions, and his warm words sounded again. "But my child, the death of your mother and me is already a settled matter. You must have your own life, your own friends, your own bonds, and even your own wife..."
Once Minato Namikaze's remnant consciousness appeared, the time it could exist was already destined. After breaking free from the Seal, this Soul that had trickily escaped from the Shinigami's hands would be taken by the Shinigami once again.
Therefore, Minato Namikaze had no lectures or blame for the current Naruto. All he had was endless guilt and the most heartfelt expectations for Naruto.
"I have them! I have everything you mentioned, Father!" Although Naruto was smiling as he answered Minato Namikaze, his tears broke through again. "I'm very satisfied with my current life; I have goals and motivation. I also have friends; my classmates at the Ninja Academy get along with me very well. I have bonds too; though not entirely, I see him as a younger brother. As for the wife you mentioned, I've already succeeded more than halfway; the rest is just waiting until I'm an adult!"
"Father, please rest assured, I'm doing well... I've always been doing well... So you... how much longer can you stay in my body?"
"About ten minutes." Minato Namikaze gave a rather cruel answer. "It's Father's fault. Not only could I not protect your mother, but even you... I let you, as a newborn, carry such a heavy burden."
"It's fine, it's fine!" Naruto's signature silly grin climbed onto his face. This time, the smile had no trace of acting; it came completely from the heart. "As long as it's something you and Mother gave me, I have no complaints. On the contrary, I'm very happy, because after all, this is what you left for me!"
"Then, do you want to see your mother?"
"Can I?!"
"Of course you can." Minato Namikaze smiled slightly and beckoned Naruto. "Don't resist, follow my consciousness this way. Your mother has been waiting anxiously for a long time!"
[If you like this novel, please share it on Facebook. The author is deeply grateful.]