"Huh, I'm back..."
Naruto shouted after opening his eyes. He looked at Orochimaru and blurted out question after question.
"Where was that just now? Why was there a cat... no, a fox? It was so strong..."
"That wasn't a 'where', it was inside your body."
Orochimaru pulled Naruto's jacket up and pointed to the area below his navel, "It's probably around here."
"Here?"
Naruto touched his belly, looking incredibly surprised. "But why put a fox inside my stomach?"
"Because the Nine Tails is very powerful and extremely dangerous."
Orochimaru chuckled. Looking down at the village with its lights dimming from atop the Fourth Hokage's head, he seemed to see the Nine Tails rampaging within.
"The Nine Tails itself might not have intended to destroy the village, but it's too easily used."
Since the Warring States period entered the era of ninja villages, ninjas banding together greatly increased their overall power. What was once impossible for smaller ninja clans, and even difficult for powerful ones, became much easier.
This included capturing Tailed Beasts and using them as weapons of war for attacks.
Back then, even without counting the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, there were many ninja villages capable of doing this.
Interestingly, in the early days of new ninja villages, not many people realized this shift. It wasn't until Uchiha Madara left and then returned to unleash the Nine Tails' wrath that the First Hokage realized the danger of Tailed Beasts and convened the Five Kage Summit.
Orochimaru explained to Naruto the village's losses and casualties during the Nine Tails' rampage, indirectly answering his questions.
Naruto's eyes widened. This was a forbidden topic in the village, and no one would ever mention it to a current Jinchuriki, not even Uzumaki Aoi and Jiraiya, who had always looked after Naruto.
They either saw Naruto as a monster or a child, but Orochimaru had no such psychological baggage.
Since he had already met the Nine Tails in his mindscape, this matter had to be addressed. Letting it be was the greatest irresponsibility.
Naruto lowered his head and looked at the Uzumaki symbol on his stomach. "No wonder they call me a demon fox."
It was just fake kindness. They were already fearful and wary of the container of a Tailed Beast, yet they were forced to hide these feelings behind a cheerful smile due to the presence of the two 'Sannin'. This only added to his resentment.
When he turned away, this negative emotion naturally erupted more fiercely, unintentionally leaking out.
Moreover, despite Naruto's carefree nature, he had a talent for sensing other people's emotions.
"I thought I had done something wrong."
Naruto's little face brightened considerably. He clapped his hands and laughed, "So it's because there's a fox in my stomach."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "You were treated like this for no reason, don't you hate them?"
"Why should I hate them?" Naruto looked up. "I'm actually very scared of such a fierce fox."
This behavior made Orochimaru nod inwardly.
Naruto seemed to have a natural ability to empathize with others, to understand their hardships, and he was strong enough, or rather carefree enough, to endure the pain inflicted upon him.
This personality might truly make him a perfect Jinchuriki.
"But, even though the fox is scary..." Naruto's little face showed confusion again. "Just because it's powerful, is it right for the village to imprison it?"
Orochimaru was not surprised by Naruto's question. Since he could empathize with the villagers, he could also empathize with the Nine Tails, which caused him suffering.
This ability might be Naruto's reliance for becoming a perfect Jinchuriki, but on the other hand, it could also turn him into a "self-righteous martyr."
He had heard this term from Genie Lamp.
Both saints and self-righteous martyrs see the suffering in the world, but the difference lies in who pays the price to alleviate that suffering.
If Naruto were to let the villagers face mortal danger in exchange for the Nine Tails' freedom, he would become the latter.
Besides, the world itself was imperfect, and how could it be easy to make everyone happy?
But even so, Orochimaru would not dismiss it with hypocritical words.
"Some might say the Nine Tails' uncontrollable power is its original sin, deserving of resentment and imprisonment..."
Orochimaru changed his tone. "But in truth, it hasn't really done anything wrong."
Decades ago, the Nine Tails was just happily running through the forest, as it had done for millennia. But it unfortunately encountered Uchiha Madara, who craved power, and its peaceful days came to an end.
"I think so too." Naruto was still young and nodded happily as Orochimaru agreed with his view.
"But not being wrong doesn't mean doing it is right."
Orochimaru lowered his head, looking at the Uzumaki mark on Naruto's body, as if meeting the Nine Tails within.
"It posed a fatal threat to the villagers. This is an objective problem."
Perhaps it was Orochimaru's overwhelming presence, even more so than the Nine Tails he had seen before, that instinctively shifted Naruto's thoughts towards the weaker party. He asked doubtfully, "But this seems like our problem, it has nothing to do with the fox."
"How can it have nothing to do with it? To exist in this world is to be connected by these invisible threads."
Orochimaru gazed into the blurry world under the moonlight and suddenly asked, "Naruto, what's your favorite food?"
Naruto was taken aback by the sudden question but still replied, "Ichiraku Ramen, especially the char siu, it's really delicious."
"Char siu... is probably made from pork or poultry."
Orochimaru nodded slightly and continued, "You eat char siu to fill your stomach, but do you have any enmity with those pigs or chickens?"
Naruto shook his head blankly. "Of course not."
"But you've established a 'eater and eaten' link with these animals you've never met, just to fill your stomach."
Orochimaru said calmly, "It's the same for the village and the Nine Tails."
"It's not important who created the problem now. When life and death are involved, it needs to be resolved urgently."
"There's no solution to the Nine Tails. It can't guarantee it won't be captured, so the village offered another method. Although there are still many drawbacks, overall, it's acceptable."
Orochimaru patted Naruto's head. "That's roughly the process. Do you understand now?"
Naruto stood there, deeply moved.
At such a young age, he had heard much about justice and evil, and sometimes about love stories. But this was the first time he encountered such a purely pragmatic perspective, detached from personal emotions, focused on solving a problem.
In this story, the Nine Tails was not at fault, but neither were the village and its villagers. They were just trying to eliminate a disaster.
Naturally, there would be conflict between the two sides; it was just a matter of who had the upper hand. Now the village was stronger, so the Nine Tails was sealed. But if the Nine Tails found an opening, it could retaliate against the village.
It was imaginable that the two sides would quarrel endlessly over this matter.
Although Naruto was young, as a container of a Tailed Beast, he deeply understood this and lamented,
"But this is so silly. Why don't they work together to find a better solution?"
A child's view of the world is naturally simple. Guided by Orochimaru towards rational thinking, he immediately came up with a seemingly perfect solution.
But most people in the ninja world lacked this purity. Most villagers feared and were wary of the Nine Tails' power, and the Nine Tails might still think, 'Why should I fix the problems you created?'
Furthermore, even the problem of Tailed Beasts was not isolated. Once interests were involved, it became a whole new mess.
But for now, Orochimaru did not directly deny Naruto's view. Instead, he nodded. "You are absolutely right, I think so too."
He patted Naruto's head and smiled. "I'll handle the village's side of things, and convincing the Nine Tails will be up to you. How about it, do you have confidence?"
Becoming a perfect Jinchuriki, at least for now, seemed like a win-win situation for both sides. And Orochimaru himself would gain a top-tier fighter, killing several birds with one stone.
Naruto was excited, as if shouldering a great responsibility. "Leave it to me, I will definitely do this."
The Nine Tails would not be easily convinced, and Naruto would likely hit a wall soon. At that time, Orochimaru would provide him with appropriate guidance.
"Very good, I look forward to your performance. But get a good night's sleep today."
Orochimaru clapped his hands together, and another him appeared out of thin air. Seeing Naruto's extremely curious expression, he smiled.
"This is the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I'll teach it to you when you become a ninja."
"Then it's a deal." Naruto nodded vigorously and obediently let the Shadow Clone carry him as he leaped from the Hokage Rock.
After watching Naruto leave, the smile on Orochimaru's face faded. He looked at Genie Lamp beside him and asked, "How was it? Did you discover anything about the Nine Tails?"
This meeting was not just to gather information from the Six Paths era or to observe the Nine Tails Jinchuriki's character. The most important thing was to investigate the Nine Tails.
After a discussion with Shukaku in Sunagakure Village, Orochimaru had many doubts.
He deeply respected time and understood how long a thousand years was. Naturally, he had certain expectations for Tailed Beasts that had lived for so long.
But after interacting with them, he found that Shukaku was like a child. The Nine Tails, though more composed, had a temperament no older than a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
This could not be fully explained by living in seclusion. Although the White Snake Sage and the Slug Sage did not fully understand human societal rules, they could by no means be described as simple.
In comparison, the Tailed Beasts' ancient ages seemed to have been lived in vain.
"Comparing through my perspective, besides Chakra, the Nine Tails and others should also have a kind of physical shell."
Genie Lamp rubbed his chin. "At least what I saw just now is different from the part of Tailed Beast Chakra that was pulled out by Shisui's command in Sunagakure. It wasn't as pure."
He suddenly remembered an interesting point. In the original timeline, with Kushina's help, Naruto finally temporarily defeated the Nine Tails and took its Chakra, allowing him to enter Nine Tails Chakra Mode.
But the battle did not end there. Even then, the Nine Tails still possessed the ability to use a Tailed Beast Bomb, and its scale was super large.
If Naruto hadn't activated the Eight Trigrams Seal in time, it was unclear who would have won.
Was it that Naruto couldn't drain the Nine Tails, or was there another part of its Chakra that couldn't be taken?
Of the two possibilities, Genie Lamp leaned towards the latter. Because even with a perfect Jinchuriki like Gyuki, after fully transforming into a Tailed Beast, he was still not equal to Gyuki's本体. To exert equivalent combat power, it relied more on strategy and tactics to compensate.
Genie Lamp shared his speculation with the other party. Orochimaru nodded slightly. "My view is similar. I've fought with the Gyuki Jinchuriki a few times before. After he transformed into a Tailed Beast, his Chakra didn't have such a strong violent will."
If the insects of the Aburame Clan were to devour Tailed Beast Chakra, it would be like moths flying into a flame, sure to die in droves. But when facing a Tailed Beast, there might still be a chance to struggle.
To say that the Tailed Beasts' extreme negative emotions were caused by being imprisoned by humans was sheer nonsense. In contrast, if they originated from Otsutsuki Kaguya, thus naturally possessing violent emotions, it would be somewhat plausible.
But Orochimaru didn't take a definitive stance on this possibility.
Even though the Otsutsuki clan was indeed a great threat to the ninja world, and Princess Kaguya had indeed kept living beings on the ground, one couldn't make a judgment based on subjective emotions.
It was merely a difference in perspective. From the perspective of wheat, farmers during the autumn harvest would probably be considered absolute demons.
As an alien nomad, Princess Kaguya had no reason to empathize with humans and act in such a way. It was understandable and not purely attributable to brutality.
Excluding these two possibilities, the Tailed Beasts' strange negative emotions were very intriguing.
However, it would be difficult to find an answer in the short term.
"By the way, have you seen Minato and his wife?"
Orochimaru looked at Genie Lamp. "I made a rough investigation and found no trace of them."
By this time, the two had existed as Chakra spirits for five or six years. Even Orochimaru couldn't deny their potential. If they had gained anything, it would be worth exchanging for Naruto as collateral.
"They are asleep within the seal. They can only vaguely sense things around them and may not be worth communicating with..."
Genie Lamp rubbed his chin, his expression peculiar. "However, there is an unwelcome guest you might need to pay attention to."
"An unwelcome guest?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. What kind of unwelcome guest could evade his sight?
"Sage of Six Paths."
Genie Lamp didn't play coy and spread his hands. "It seems this old gentleman is also very interested in the reincarnator of his son."
Orochimaru's reputation preceded him, and he had recently created a wooden ninja, derived from the former White Zetsu. This had caused quite a stir.
Today, he was also involved with Ashura's human host. It was natural for the Sage of Six Paths to take a closer look.
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