In the darkness, Carl's consciousness slowly returned, and the memories from before he lost it began to resurface.
"What were those black spheres...?"
"Where... is this place?"
He opened his eyes to see a gray and gloomy space. His fingers twitched, feeling a damp sensation.
Carl slowly got to his feet. In front of him stood a massive prison gate. Rubbing his forehead with a frown, he muttered,
"Did the locals lock me up? Tch..."
Just as Carl was trying to make sense of the situation, a deep, rumbling voice suddenly echoed,
"You carry the scent of that old man... Who are you?"
In such a strange environment, most people would've been scared half to death hearing that voice out of nowhere.
But Carl only let out a puzzled "Hmm?"
Was his current state really so bad that he couldn't even sense another presence nearby?
A massive shadow gradually loomed over Carl.
He turned and looked up, locking eyes with a pair of enormous crimson pupils.
An oppressive, violent aura swept through the space.
Carl's expression didn't change. He narrowed his eyes, calmly sizing up the massive figure emerging from the darkness—
A colossal, crimson fox with nine tails swaying ominously behind it.
The moment Carl got a full look at the beast, waves of shock roared through his mind. This figure... there was no mistaking it.
Nine Tails.
The Nine Tails from Naruto!
This space, this fox—
It was obvious now.
He was inside Naruto's seal!
...
A storm of thoughts flashed through Carl's mind in an instant.
The Nine Tails, seeing the human below not even flinch, actually pause in thought, immediately bared its fangs.
Red chakra surged around its enormous body, boiling the water below.
The sudden turbulence broke Carl's train of thought.
He looked up slowly, his voice calm as he spoke,
"Kurama."
"...What?!"
The ferocious expression on the Nine Tails' face froze instantly.
Shock flooded its eyes, and the raging aura surrounding it completely dissipated.
It leaned down abruptly, eyes locked on Carl.
"How do you know my name? You... you must be connected to that old man! Tell me—where is he now?!"
But Carl only turned away, walking toward the massive prison gate.
The gaps between the bars were large enough for him to slip through.
He lifted his foot to step out—
But an invisible force blocked his way.
He tried to use Kamui to warp space, yet here the space seemed locked.
Even his Dark-Dark Fruit powers couldn't twist open a passage.
The Nine Tails had been watching his every move.
Seeing Carl fail, its expression twisted into a mocking smirk.
"So that's how it is. No wonder you showed up here. Looks like you ticked off the old man and got sealed away, huh? He's really something if even the brat carrying me didn't notice a thing."
The Nine Tails had been trapped for so long it had clearly gone stir-crazy, talking more than usual now that it had someone to listen.
But Carl was in no mood for this.
Dragged here out of nowhere, sealed up by that old bastard...
Yeah. Carl had already figured it out.
The one who ambushed him and Lily the moment they arrived at their weakest point—
The Sage of Six Paths!
That meddling old man who dropped into Naruto's finale like a divine cheat code!
Carl's face darkened at the realization.
Behind him, the Nine Tails kept rambling on.
"Hey, stop wasting your energy. Just stay here with me. The brat won't last long anyway. When I find a way out, maybe I'll even take you with me..."
"Shut up."
...
Hum!!
Carl spun around.
Dark vortices erupted from his palm, dragging the Nine Tails toward him with crushing force.
"Nani!?"
Before the beast could react, a blinding white light burst from Carl, blasting it back with overwhelming repulsion.
The massive fox slammed into the far wall, water crashing around it.
For a moment, the Nine Tails stayed down.
Then, with a roar, it leapt up again, its fury boiling over.
It lunged at Carl, one colossal claw ready to crush him like a bug.
But before it even touched him, a giant hand of pure darkness materialized, covering the entire prison.
The oppressive power washed over the beast, clearing the rage from its eyes.
Boom!
The dark hand grabbed the Nine Tails like a toy, hoisting it into the air.
It tried to unleash its chakra—
But the moment the red energy appeared, the darkness devoured it completely, leaving not even a ripple.
Now the Nine Tails was truly panicking.
It hadn't been manhandled like this since Hashirama himself pinned it down with his Wood Release.
But at least Hashirama had the decency to declare it "too dangerous" before busting out the big moves.
This human hadn't even posed—
One moment he was just standing there, and the next his arm turned into a giant dark hand, grabbing the Nine Tails like it was nothing.
Did the old man send this guy to teach it a lesson?!
It was the one unjustly sealed here!
It was supposed to be the victim!
Carl held the Nine Tails aloft, black mist seeping from his eyes, murderous intent radiating off him.
The thought crossed his mind—
He could crush it.
Sure, tailed beasts couldn't truly die.
But against his darkness?
Its chakra would scatter and never reunite, lost forever in the void.
The Nine Tails, attuned to malice, felt his killing intent.
Its heart jolted—
And then, suddenly, the dark hand vanished into mist, dropping the beast to the ground with a splash.
Carl ignored it completely.
Because he was finally starting to sense... the outside world.
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+100 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg