The moment the idea of unsealing it appeared, an invisible force lifted Naruto into the air.
He slowly floated toward the center of the giant cage.
There, a scroll with the character "seal" was quietly attached.
Inside the pitch-black cage, Kurama eagerly waited.
Although it had been freely running around the training space for nearly ten years, this seal still felt like a thorn, constantly wedged between itself and Naruto.
With this thorn in place, Kurama always felt uneasy and restricted!
Now, true freedom was finally about to arrive!
Naruto reached out and lightly peeled off the scroll.
The next second, Naruto landed on the ground.
He fixed his gaze on the core of the seal on his abdomen.
A key?
With his current mastery of fuinjutsu, he didn't need one at all!
He spread the five fingers of his right hand. Five different types of chakra condensed and shimmered at his fingertips. Then, he firmly placed his entire palm over his navel and twisted hard counterclockwise!
In an instant, inside the circular seal with black borders on his stomach, a dark tomoe suddenly appeared at the center and began to spin rapidly clockwise.
As it spun, the tomoe quickly expanded, like ink spreading in water, swiftly filling the entire space within the seal's circle.
At the same time, as the anchor point of the entire sealing space, the large gate that symbolized the ultimate restraint had a massive circular lock at its center, with a precise structure and an embedded Fibonacci-like spiral pattern.
At this moment, this giant lock began to rotate in sync with the tomoe on Naruto's abdomen.
The spiral structure continuously contracted and disintegrated outward as it spun.
Until—
The moment the black tomoe completely filled the seal's circle, the Fibonacci-like spiral structure also completely disappeared.
The lock was open!
"Bang—!"
Kurama, which had been poised and ready, smashed through the cage with the accumulated joy and power of a thousand years!
"Roar!!!"
A roar that shook the entire space erupted. Kurama was so excited that its entire body trembled.
Freedom!
Kurama had finally regained this priceless freedom!
From now on, Kurama swore it would never again be enslaved by any human—
"Why are you roaring so loudly?"
A voice of clear dissatisfaction, like a clap of thunder, precisely shattered the soaring ambition Kurama had just felt.
"Ga—!"
Kurama's movements instantly froze, and its deafening roar came to an abrupt halt.
Time seemed to stand still. It held its imposing posture of roaring at the sky with its giant maw wide open, yet it dared not make a single sound.
The only part of the fox that dared to move was its eyes.
Its pair of cautious little eyes slowly and carefully moved downward. It immediately saw Naruto, the small figure who had been affected by the gale force of its roar.
That small figure was frowning and looking at it.
Their eyes met!
Seeing this, Kurama's raised head, which had symbolized "freedom," instantly drooped like a wilted eggplant, becoming completely docile.
Never again! I will never do that again!
"Cough, cough, cough!!"
It quickly lowered its head and made a few very soft, fake coughs, as if to prove that its throat had just suddenly felt a little itchy.
Yes! That's all it was!
Naruto gave Kurama a speechless glance.
This guy's voice was still as thunderous as when they first met!
Especially in this enclosed sealing space, the reverberation effect was multiplied several times. That last roar made Naruto's ears ring.
Actually, Naruto didn't really care.
But what if it disturbed the flowers and plants? That would be bad!
Seeing how well-behaved Kurama had become, Naruto temporarily let it off the hook.
He looked over the remnants of the shattered cage, which Kurama had swatted apart, and then at the giant beast that had regained its freedom. Naruto suddenly paused.
The seal was undone... now what?
What should he do next?
Oops!
He had only thought about unsealing it before, and he didn't know how to proceed after the unsealing!
They said that mastering a Tailed Beast means using its chakra, so the question is, how does he use Kurama's chakra?
He looked around, but in this empty space, there was no one he could ask. His mother, Kushina, didn't seem to have appeared either.
Finally, he could only turn his gaze to Kurama.
"Hey, Raccoon," Naruto asked with a bit of confusion, "what do I do now to get your chakra?"
"?"
A very human-like, strange expression flashed in Kurama's massive vertical pupils.
No way?
Haha!
This guy actually doesn't know how to use my chakra!
Heh, as if I would voluntarily hand over a method to 'enslave' myself!
Kurama stopped to think carefully.
Hmm... it seems I actually would!
After all, Naruto was one of the few beings in its long fox life who could be called a "friend."
Although Naruto was sometimes very violent, as Naruto himself said, he was just so powerful and had "bipolar disorder," sometimes wanting to hit something.
It was already great that he could control his impulse to hit people—no, to hit a fox—most of the time.
Just as Naruto himself said, he loved the fox very, very much.
Although it was a bit frustrating, Kurama... well, it tentatively agreed.
However, this "bipolar disorder" was too terrifying!
When he was manic, he'd chase it for a one-on-one fight, and when he was depressed, he'd insist on hugging it and stroking its fur, almost stroking its smooth, glossy red fur bald!
The human mind is truly complex and hard to understand!
"What, you don't know either?" Naruto asked, confused, seeing that Kurama had been in a daze for a while without saying anything.
"Naruto!" Kurama hesitated for a moment, then gave the answer in a deep, muffled voice.
"Next, you just need to use your own chakra to pull on my chakra, like fishing, and guide my chakra into your body."
Originally, Kurama had planned to let a chakra clone actively enter Naruto's body.
But, it was Kurama, and it had its pride!
Besides, it still had some complaints about Naruto occasionally wanting to "practice" with it. Although it didn't say anything and considered him a good friend, it still had some grudges.
"I see." Naruto nodded in realization.
With a thought, the chakra in his body surged, and a clone, purely condensed from chakra, separated from him!
As soon as the clone appeared, it rushed toward Kurama without hesitation!
However!
Just as the clone reached out its arm to try and pull Kurama's massive chakra out of its body—
A sudden change occurred!
"Swoosh—!!!"
Without any warning, six golden, shimmering chakra chains shot out from Naruto's main body, aimed directly at Kurama.
"Swish, swish, swish—!"
The chains sliced through the air. In a flash, the six chains had tightly wrapped around Kurama's enormous body, binding it securely.
No matter how Kurama struggled, it couldn't move.
"This is... Adamantine Sealing Chains?"
Naruto's pupils constricted as he instantly recognized the familiar sealing jutsu.
He also possessed the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
However, although these chains originated from Naruto's body, they were not something he had consciously summoned.
The chakra driving the chains felt both familiar and foreign.
"This chakra... it's Kushina!"
Kurama, bound by the chains, raised its head abruptly. A look of astonishment and realization flashed in its vertical pupils.
Almost simultaneously.
Naruto clearly felt a gentle yet powerful chakra calling to him.
He didn't resist.
The next moment, the scene suddenly changed.
He was now in a strange space woven with a warm yellow and pure white.
"Naruto!"
A gentle voice, like a spring breeze rustling through a heartstring, softly sounded.
Naruto followed the voice and looked up, his gaze instantly fixed.
Standing before him was a beautiful woman with hair as red as fire and a gentle demeanor!
Her beautiful, soft red hair, like a burning flame, cascaded down like a waterfall. A small hair clip on the side of her forehead added a touch of charm.
This iconic red hair silently announced her identity.
His gaze dropped. A pair of sky-blue, lake-clear eyes were staring at him without blinking, filled with complex emotions.
In those eyes, expectation, joy, love, concern, relief, reluctance, and a deep, thick love were intertwined!
It was as if she wanted to pour all the motherly love that had been missing for twelve years into this silent gaze.
Looking at her face, her features and the look in her eyes, Naruto felt like he was looking in a mirror.
Before, Naruto thought he looked more like his father, but now it seemed...
He had clearly inherited his mother's breathtakingly beautiful face!
Combined with his father's golden hair,
Tsk, tsk...
No wonder he was such a handsome guy!
Finally, his gaze involuntarily returned to her blue eyes.
He met her gaze, a gaze she was reluctant to pull away from for even a moment.
Just a second ago, Naruto had felt a hint of unease, not knowing how to face this mother he had never met.
However, the moment their eyes met, all his unease and hesitation melted away like snow.
Her warm eyes, filled with infinite tolerance, had silently provided the answer.
This look... it's so familiar!
Naruto was overwhelmed with emotion.
That's right!
The only person who can look at you like that is your mom!
Without any words or preparation, a name he hadn't spoken for twelve years naturally slipped out.
"Mom!"