"Take this!" Naruto shouted, rushing toward the cage and slamming his fists against its unbreakable bars. The deafening clang echoed through the sewer-like maze.
"What exactly do you want from me? Want me to say, 'I'm sorry, it was just instinct—I was only trying to save our lives, please forgive me'?"
Naruto mocked in the Nine-Tails' voice, then flipped the bird at the beast.
"Go to hell—I don't care about your reasons or who you are. You nearly got us all killed! I won't surrender just because you're too scared to face things!"
The Nine-Tails thrust its massive razor-sharp claws through the gaps in the bars, forcing Naruto to stumble backward repeatedly, yet he still glared at the fox with unwavering defiance.
"You better watch your mouth, brat! Or else I—"
"Or else what?" Naruto interrupted mockingly. "All I have to do is look at you, and you're already pissing yourself! 'Don't make eye contact with them!' 'I won't become a slave to the Sharingan!' Oh, and when Pain was pounding the crap out of me with no way to fight back, you said, 'I won't let some fake control me—I will never submit!'" Naruto jeered. "You claim you control everything, so look at yourself now—you're nothing but a coward!"
"I swear—I'll kill you for this!"
"Then come on! I'll give you the chance!" Naruto spread his arms wide and yelled.
He could feel the Nine-Tails' chakra seeping out from the cage, enveloping him completely.
Suddenly, Naruto removed his contact lenses, revealing the crimson Sharingan beneath. Instantly, the Nine-Tails' chakra vanished.
"I knew it… You're already this scared without me even doing anything? You're nothing more than a cowardly fox afraid of the Sharingan!"
Only now did it all click for Naruto—the Sharingan wasn't the only thing capable of controlling tailed beasts. Pain's Rinnegan had the same effect.
With the Nine-Tails' limited understanding, it believed brute strength was the answer to everything because all it knew was power—the absolute kind that crushed everything in its path.
But now it had encountered a force able to suppress it, a power that could manipulate it at will.
Just the existence of such power was enough to instill fear into even this invincible creature.
Even if Naruto felt he could protect the Nine-Tails, it didn't matter to the beast. It still believed the Sharingan was unbeatable, convinced it would eventually fall under its control one day.
He turned, dry-heaved a couple of times, and then walked away without looking back.
"Where do you think you're going, you puny brat?" the Nine-Tails roared at Naruto's back as he walked away. Naruto stopped walking.
"You think you can just walk away like this?"
Naruto's shoulders trembled slightly. He turned around and smirked.
"I originally came in here to talk with you—to figure out how we should move forward. We still have a lot left to do, like how to deal with Madara Uchiha… But suddenly I realized something—I don't need you, you scared little furball. If all you can do is cower in fear, then what use am I keeping you for?"
"You've gotta be kidding."
The Nine-Tails scoffed, "You know full well that without my power, you couldn't handle those truly difficult situations. You need me!"
"You're right," Naruto shot back, "but I don't need you—it's you who needs me! Because even though you're trapped here, you're still my power. If you leave me, you'll become a slave to Madara and Pain, just like those other jinchuriki they've captured."
He turned around, revealing the crimson Sharingan in that eye before sliding the contact lens back into place.
"So no matter how scared you are, I'll drag you along and fight alongside you, because I need you to stay inside me. I'll never let them take you away from me!"
With that, he walked away without looking back.
"I'll shut you up right now, and I won't come back until I'm sure you're no longer a coward! I don't need a voice questioning me while I'm fighting!"
After saying this, Naruto left his spiritual world.
***
## Real World ##
Naruto opened his eyes to find Tamako sitting on a chair beside his bed, dozing lightly.
Hearing Naruto's breathing return to normal, she smiled as her eyes fluttered open. "Naruto-sama, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Tamako." Naruto noticed her frowning; she must have thought he was lying.
"Really, I am okay, Tamako. I wasn't lying to you. I was just lost in thought."
As he spoke, he got off the bed and pulled out the sword from behind him. Tamako watched in confusion, unsure of his intentions.
Suddenly, he slashed the sword through the air several times.
"Damn it!"
He slashed again, his frown deepening.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
"What's wrong?" Tamako asked. She wasn't really worried he'd do anything unreasonable.
She dismissed everyone else but remained by Naruto's side.
Staring at the sword in his hand, Naruto said, "I sent one of my Shadow Clones back to Konoha. With the Sharingan, it decoded a mysterious stone tablet... I discovered some things—about the secrets of this sword, why I can't channel wind chakra through it, and why it consumes so much of my chakra."
He looked up at Tamako. "The reason this sword can transform into various forms is because it naturally produces both Yin and Yang energy."
Tamako sucked in a breath. That explained why the sword took on different forms depending on the wielder.
Yin energy provided form, while Yang energy gave it strength.
"Then why does it consume so much of your chakra?"
"Because its production of Yin and Yang energy has a purpose," Naruto explained. "Did you know this sword was originally a gift to the Hidden Mist Village?" Tamako nodded. "The First Hokage presented it to them after defeating Madara Uchiha in battle."
The First Hokage used this sword to defeat Madara. He sealed a vast amount of chakra within it, thereby weakening Madara's strength. This allowed him to successfully seal the Nine-Tails and place it inside his wife, Mito Uzumaki. That's why the sword has its own consciousness—it's filled with the First Hokage's chakra."
"So? What are you getting at?" Tamako asked.
She had studied the sword relentlessly over the years, yet she'd never managed to decipher the seals etched into its blade, or figure out why she couldn't sense the seals' intended function.
Initially, she thought those seals were responsible for the sword's shape-shifting abilities and its ability to amplify Naruto's power.
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