"What's more—"
Tsunade paused, her purple eyes sharply fixed on Utatane Koharu.
"Advisor Utatane Koharu, you said Naruto relies on the Nine-Tailed's power, but in fact, you are wrong, completely wrong. In Tanzaku Street, I personally witnessed Naruto's battle with Orochimaru. From beginning to end, the Nine-Tailed inside Naruto never went berserk, nor was there any Tailed Beast Chakra leakage. The seal was very stable."
"Heh—"
Tsunade recalled Naruto's world-destroying Great Ball Rasengan, his ghost-like taijutsu, and his vast, ocean-like Chakra. She couldn't help but let out a half-mocking, half-meaningful laugh.
"With Naruto's strength, he doesn't need to borrow the Nine-Tailed's power at all. He himself is a tailless Tailed Beast!"
"Advisor Utatane, I can tell you with great certainty that I see the shadow of the First Hokage-sama in Naruto."
"What?!"
Utatane Koharu's glasses almost fell off in shock.
It was one thing for him to defeat and drive away Orochimaru with his own strength, but Tsunade actually said Naruto was comparable to the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama?
Who was he?
That was Senju Hashirama, who was known as the God of the Ninja World!
He could pin the Nine-Tailed to the ground and beat it like a dog!
In the era when Senju Hashirama was still alive, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki was not a nuclear weapon to threaten other countries, but merely a cage to imprison the Nine-Tailed.
"Tsunade—you—are you sure—"
Utatane Koharu's voice trembled uncontrollably.
Tsunade calmly retorted, "Have you forgotten my identity?"
Tsunade, the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama!
Was there anyone more familiar with Senju Hashirama than Tsunade?
Of course there was, Uchiha Madara!
But he wasn't here.
Utatane Koharu fell silent, then pushed up her glasses and began to smile.
"I think Homura, Hiruzen, and you, Tsunade, are all correct."
"Considering Naruto's situation comprehensively, any means of surveillance and control are undesirable. We should try our best to satisfy him, treat him well, and make Naruto develop more affection for the Village."
Tsunade nodded, "Then let's continue with the other agenda items."
After Naruto left the meeting room, he walked out of the Hokage Building and stepped into the sunlight.
At this moment, the sunlight and air in Konoha Village seemed different.
"Is this the change in mindset?"
Naruto murmured to himself.
"Now that I've controlled all the Konoha higher-ups with Kotoamatsukami, I am the uncrowned king of Konoha Village, the true controller."
"There are no more mountains, no more crises on me."
"I can do whatever I want, without hiding anything."
Naruto took a deep breath. This was the taste of freedom.
Although with his previous strength, he no longer needed to worry about others, the fact was that his ties with the Village prevented Naruto from completely letting himself go.
Now, with even the Konoha higher-ups under his control, Naruto could either be a hands-off boss or live a free and unconstrained life.
A win-win solution.
"That's right!"
After experiencing the joy of freedom, Naruto immediately thought of Kurama.
"Hey, Kurama, do you want freedom?"
"What do you think? We seemed to have an agreement before, have you forgotten? Do you find it interesting to stay in such a broken cage?"
Kurama's playful and mocking voice echoed in Naruto's mind.
"Alright, I'll fulfill my promise today."
Naruto readily agreed.
At night, after the celebration for Tsunade's return ended, Naruto continuously teleported using the Shadow Instant Kill Array, moving away from Konoha Village until he reached a quiet, uninhabited primeval forest.
Towering ancient trees stood like silent giants, guarding this tranquil place.
The air was filled with the scent of earth, decaying leaves, and a slightly oppressive aroma unique to primeval forests.
Moonlight flowed like mercury, illuminating a small clearing in the forest.
Uzumaki Naruto sat cross-legged in the center of the clearing, his eyes closed tightly, his breathing long and steady.
His mind sank into the sealing space—
That familiar, sewer-like space separated by a giant iron grate.
Inside the sealed gate, the Nine-Tailed's colossal, mountain-like orange-red body lay prostrate, its nine tails restlessly flicking unconsciously.
Its huge head lifted, and a pair of scarlet, lava-lake-like beast eyes stared intently at Naruto outside the bars, its gaze filled with scrutiny, suspicion, and a hint of nervousness that even it was unwilling to admit.
"Brat—"
The Nine-Tailed's voice was deep and hoarse, like rumbling thunder, echoing within this consciousness space.
"Are you really—going to unseal it? Now? Here?"
It couldn't believe it. Decades of imprisonment, human deception, exploitation, and fear—had long made it scoff at any human "promises."
Even if this blond brat acted differently, this was about unsealing it!
Releasing this power capable of destroying a nation!
How dared he?
So, Kurama hadn't actually taken Naruto's initial promise seriously at all.
Even when Naruto brought it up again earlier today, Kurama hadn't paid it any mind.
"You'll see."
Naruto slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness returning to reality.
He looked up at the bright full moon, his eyes clear and resolute.
"Kurama, do you remember the Valley of the End?"
"Do you remember Uchiha Madara, whom you hated, who controlled you with his Sharingan?"
"Do you remember those who saw you as a weapon and a disaster, who only wanted to use or seal you?"
The Nine-Tailed's pupils in the sealing space contracted slightly. It didn't care how Naruto knew these things, letting out a suppressed growl from its throat.
Those memories of humiliation and anger surged up.
Naruto stood up, facing the giant beast's eyes in his consciousness, and said word by word:
"I am different from them."
"I told you I would give you freedom. Not exploitation, not deception, but true freedom."
"Of course, the reason is also very simple—I am strong enough, strong enough that I don't need to use you, and I don't fear you at all!"
The moment his voice fell, Naruto's hands instantly formed complex seals in front of his chest, his fingers flying, and then clusters of Chakra flames ignited on his fingertips!
"Sealing Jutsu: Release!!"
"—!"
Naruto spread the five fingers of one hand and forcefully pressed them onto the manifest seal pattern on his abdomen.
At the same time.
In his own consciousness space, Naruto peeled off the sealing tag pasted on the iron gate bars.
"Rumble—"
Reality and the consciousness space simultaneously shook violently!
A dazzling golden light erupted from Naruto's body!
The powerful Nine-Tailed Chakra, like a volcano suppressed for billions of years, uncontrollably erupted and poured out. Like a mountain flood, it surged wildly from Naruto's body in all directions, like a blood-red sea mist, engulfing the surrounding silent forest.
At the same time, within the sealing space—"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The giant iron grate that had imprisoned the Nine-Tailed for twelve years, like decaying deadwood, snapped, disintegrated, and turned into nothingness piece by piece!
The entire sealing space began to shake violently and collapse!