Unlike Kurama, who needed to expend great effort to barely pull Naruto's consciousness from the surface into this space, as the owner of this body, Naruto seemed to be able to enter here very easily. He just hadn't been aware of it before.
The closest he had come before, Naruto had only thought he was "dreaming."
After all, having been called "demon fox" for so many years, it was understandable to occasionally dream about it.
But seeing it today, it seemed that wasn't the case.
However, today's Naruto was not in a good mood at all.
Danzo's last few words had indeed enraged him.
Even though Naruto had never seen his parents, the Minato and Kushina couple were still his closest relatives.
He was human too, with emotions and desires.
When he heard the truth and tragic details of his parents' deaths with his own ears, no matter how mature Naruto usually was, he inevitably fell into anger.
This anger wasn't just directed at Danzo.
It also contained anger toward the Nine-Tails.
There was even a part that felt resentment and grievance toward Minato's "selfless" sacrifice.
He was great.
But Naruto's future had taken a different path because of it.
This was something that might be hard for Naruto to let go of, no matter how old he got.
After coming to this space, Naruto's form kept changing constantly.
Sometimes he appeared as his ninja academy days, wearing an orange tracksuit, looking like a short winter melon.
Sometimes he was in his twenties, as he appeared when sailing the seas.
Or he would change to his current appearance, looking sixteen or seventeen years old.
Like a shape-shifter, Naruto's appearance in this space seemed to be "interfered with" by something, unable to stabilize.
Behind the barred gate, Kurama stared blankly at this scene, seemingly still unable to process what was happening.
But soon, when his gaze met Naruto's, he had no time to continue thinking.
Naruto's gaze also passed through the barred gate, focusing on the large orange-red-furred fox.
After learning part of the truth about his parents' deaths, Naruto no longer looked at the big fox in front of him as just "prey," like he had initially.
"So it's you..."
When enemies meet, their eyes burn with particular hatred. Naruto even set aside Danzo, who was being continuously beaten by him in "reality."
From Naruto's current perspective, the Nine-Tails was undoubtedly his greatest enemy.
Along with his words, the originally dark environment of the sealed space, like underground sewers, began to be swept by cool winds.
The wind drilled into Kurama's nose.
It was a fishy sea smell.
It was the fierce wind from the ocean.
When Naruto returned to the pirate world for the second time, he had felt it through Naruto's senses.
But why was there a sea wind here?
Before Kurama could think, what followed was dense raindrops falling like a swarm of bees, and he could even faintly hear thunder.
Even where he was lying became covered with a layer of seawater.
In the blink of an eye, this sealed place seemed to be "contaminated" by another space, filled with various elements from the sea.
Naruto's form also briefly solidified, becoming his true appearance in the pirate world.
With the Supreme Grade sword "Musōkō" at his waist, his haori fluttering in the sea wind.
The long golden hair behind him, whether due to the wind or something else, now floated slowly like clouds around a deity, giving off an extremely strong sense of oppression.
"K-kid!"
Kurama felt like he had bitten his tongue, stammering once before recovering his original deep, fierce voice.
He was about to say something mocking, but before he could speak, he felt a pressure as real as substance.
That should be what Naruto called "Conqueror's Haki"?
Kurama wondered to himself. In a sense, he had also listened to Naruto's lectures along with Sasuke, and he might have learned more solid knowledge about the pirate world than Sasuke.
After all, he had personally witnessed Naruto's battle with Aokiji, and he even knew that in that sea there was a special ability completely different from ninjutsu that could still control natural elements.
But there was no time for him to reminisce now.
Naruto's Conqueror's Haki was released at full power in a rare display, something that even Red-Haired Shanks had never seen.
Unlike in the outside world where he would be limited by physical factors.
In this space, Naruto was in his strongest state.
Thick black lightning spread wildly around, and a deep blue aura expanded rapidly from Naruto as the center, quickly enveloping the entire space.
For a moment, seawater, fierce winds, and lightning all retreated before this Conqueror's Haki.
Even the sealed bars restraining Kurama made several creaking sounds under the strain.
This also meant that the seal on the Nine-Tails' power was loosening.
Normally, feeling such changes in the seal, Kurama would be overjoyed and might even "generously" transmit power through the cracks to the jinchuriki to entice them to continue using his power next time.
But today's Kurama only felt an ominous premonition.
Conqueror's Haki was a suppression and washing of the spirit, and when its intensity exceeded a certain limit, it could even produce physical impacts on reality.
Kurama now had a very clear understanding of this.
When Naruto's Conqueror's Haki continuously washed over his consciousness, he could only think of the intense powerlessness he felt when Hashirama had used "Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands" to capture him.
"Hmph, kid, do you want to..."
Clang!
Before Kurama's words finished, a blade of light wrapped in Conqueror's Haki flashed and struck directly at the sealed bars in front of him.
It was fortunate that these bars were the manifestation of the seal's interior, and their strength wasn't just what they appeared to be on the surface.
But even so, Kurama looked in disbelief at the hair that had been cut off by the blade light.
Hey, hey, wasn't this supposed to be a mental space?
"Tsk."
Kurama saw Naruto, whose pupils were filled with deathly silence, clearly make a clicking sound, then put the sword back at his waist and begin what seemed like warming up with punches?
For some reason, Kurama felt that if he let Naruto throw this punch, his fate wouldn't necessarily be any better than when he was beaten by Hashirama years ago.
Swish, swish! Swish, swish!
As Naruto threw rapid punches in place, his skin also quickly turned red, with steam rising from it.
This punch was a boxing technique mastered by Elizabello II, one of Naruto's drinking buddies from the New World. A perverted-level martial art that could unleash all the power accumulated over a period of time in a single punch.
Combined with Naruto's own physique and Haki, the destructive power it could display was even more terrifying.
He had even made some improvements to it, such as being able to forcibly release it even when not fully charged, though the destructive power would be much smaller and he couldn't charge again for a short time.
But just this point alone was enough to make Elizabello II grateful to him. This modification could be said to have eliminated the last weakness of the "King Punch."
When Naruto used this boxing technique, its power was even greater than Hakai. If not for being unable to use it in duels with masters, this would be his most frequently used finishing move.
But now there happened to be a target that couldn't move.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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