Naruto's main body watched as his Shadow Clones entered a meditative state one by one, then nodded and prepared to sit down and join the training as well.
"Kid, your method is not bad."
Just then, a voice echoed in Naruto's mind.
"Using clones to train together is equivalent to thirty people tackling one jutsu at the same time; the training progress has increased by thirty-fold."
"This kind of brain-burning training method is something only a freakish Jinchuriki like you would dare to play with."
Naruto paused, recognizing the voice as that of Nine-Tails, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
He walked over to a large rock, sat down with his back against it, and lowered his voice.
Although he knew that conversing with Nine-Tails only required doing so within his consciousness, he still habitually spoke out loud.
"Kurama, I thought you weren't going to talk to me."
"Hmph."
Nine-Tails rolled over on the grassland and twitched its ears.
It certainly wouldn't admit that because of the new environment these past few days, it had been in a good mood and had unintentionally slept until now.
But how could it possibly say such a thing out loud?
It was the Nine-Tails, the strongest Tailed Beast, not some pet fox that would be satisfied enough to purr just from being full and basking in the sun.
Naruto heard the meaning hidden in Nine-Tails's voice and smiled.
He didn't say anything more, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and prepared to join the training.
"Uzumaki Naruto..."
At this moment, Nine-Tails's voice rang out again.
"Your method can indeed quickly improve training efficiency, but have you thought about what happens when all these clones are dispelled? More than thirty sets of memories of training the same jutsu will all flood back into your brain in an instant."
"These aren't just thirty different memories, but thirty highly similar yet not identical memories, each carrying its own insights, trial and error, and thought processes. They will overlap in the same memory area of your brain. You might fall into cognitive confusion, or even become an idiot. I don't want my Jinchuriki to turn into a drooling fool."
Naruto opened his eyes and chuckled.
The number of thirty clones was something he had calculated using Absolute Control. His current brain capacity and information processing ability were just enough to withstand the memories transmitted back from thirty clones simultaneously without overloading. Any more, and there would be a risk of brain damage.
But if Nine-Tails took the initiative to help, this upper limit could be raised significantly. Nine-Tails's Chakra itself had extremely great restorative capabilities, which could buffer the impact on the brain during information overload.
However, Naruto didn't explain. He leaned back and said with a smile, "Isn't there still you?"
"Hmph!"
Nine-Tails rested its chin on the back of its paw and closed its eyes, adopting an attitude of 'I can't be bothered with you.'
Not retorting was, in itself, a form of tacit approval.
The silence lasted for a moment, and just as Naruto closed his eyes again, Nine-Tails suddenly spoke up once more, "Uzumaki Naruto."
"You train and train, but in the end, isn't it just to become stronger? Why go through all this trouble? Wouldn't it be better to just use my Chakra?"
Naruto spoke, his tone serious. "Kurama, I hope we can become partners. I hope that you accept me from your heart, and then voluntarily give me your Chakra. Not because I can suppress you using some ability, and not because I want to use your power to achieve some goal."
"You are an independent life, Kurama. You have lived much longer than me and have seen far more of the dark side of humanity than I have. I understand that you cannot trust humans. But I still want to say, I want to be true partners with you—not for your power, but because you are you."
Nine-Tails's tails flicked on the grass, sweeping up a small patch of grass clippings.
"Partners?"
Its voice carried mocking sarcasm, but hidden within that sarcasm was a certain wavering that even it hadn't realized.
"You are willing to be friends with a Tailed Beast?"
In a trance, an image from long, long ago involuntarily surfaced in its mind.
The Sage of Six Paths was wearing a white haori and sitting among the nine Tailed Beasts, saying something to them.
He said that one day, a person would appear who would understand you, accept you, and treat you as partners rather than tools.
He recited their names one by one: Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku... Kurama.
He smiled and patted its head. "Kurama, you have the most stubborn temper. In the future, if you meet that person, don't scare them away."
Nine-Tails shook its head vigorously, shaking the image away.
It had seen too much human greed and hypocrisy. Those who wanted to use its power, without exception, all used sweet words as bait, only to eventually reveal chains and Fuinjutsu.
This kid spoke of partners and friends, but who knew if it was just another trap?