Chapter 41: Kurama, Devour Him!
"Human?"
Hatred burned in the Nine Tails' eyes, its violent killing intent erupting within the damp, gloomy dungeon. Crimson chakra surged outward like mist, desperately trying to burst past the bars of the cage.
But no matter how fast that red chakra spread, it could never break through—always crashing helplessly against the crimson bars.
Between the gaps of the cage was something like an invisible iron curtain, separating inside and outside into two different worlds—making it a prison of death.
"Yes, human." Naruto no longer spared a glance at the fake Sakura in the puddle. He turned, grinning as he faced the raging Nine Tails.
"So what can you do? Come out and fight me then?"
"ROAR!!!"
A thunderous roar shook the entire space. The ceiling dripped even faster, torrents of filthy water cascading down.
But nothing changed. Naruto still stood there, smiling recklessly.
At that instant, the person behind him suddenly stood back up, kunai in hand, lunging straight for Naruto!
The blade streaked toward the back of his neck—but Naruto stood motionless, as if he hadn't noticed the ambush.
Boom!
Just before the fake Sakura could strike, a red tendril shot up from the ground with a loud crack, slamming toward the attacker.
The figure bent backward in a nimble dodge, the tendril grazing the tip of their nose. Seeing the red appendage—its texture identical to the crimson bars—the fake Sakura broke out in a cold sweat.
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
This place wasn't real—it was only an illusion!
But in the very next moment, more crimson tendrils sprouted from the ground, moving with uncanny precision as they struck at the intruder.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The tendrils attacked relentlessly, shattering the floor into rubble. Wherever the fake Sakura dodged, pits and craters appeared.
Their speed grew faster and faster, nearly beyond the eye's ability to track.
Squelch!
One tendril pierced deep into the figure's muscle. With a bloodcurdling scream, the fake Sakura faltered, and the other tendrils seized the opening.
Her limbs were pinned to the ground, flesh and skin skewered through. One tendril even pierced her abdomen, leaving a gruesome wound.
Blood spurted out, splashing across the ground—forming the faint, eerie image of a fox's head.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
The searing agony ripped through her mind. Transformation could no longer hold, and with a loud pop, her true form was revealed.
It was a masked shinobi, blood seeping beneath the mask.
He never expected that a mere genin brat could pull off something like this. Normally, at the brink of life and death, a genin should fight with fear.
But Naruto was different. From his battle with Zabuza, he had grown. Dancing along the edge of death no longer filled him with terror—it thrilled him.
He had come to understand: life and death in battle aren't decided by the enemy's strength, but by one's own will to fight.
In other words—so long as it's an enemy, use every ruthless means to kill!
The man's screams echoed through the dungeon. From behind the crimson bars, the Nine Tails stared, a flicker of dread flashing in its eyes.
It could sense the oppressive aura of those tendrils—an aura identical to that of the cage that bound it. If the brat could control those tendrils, then he could likely control the cage itself.
But what the Nine Tails didn't expect was that Naruto, who had never turned his back once, had already caught sight of the fear in its eyes—and smiled.
"Well?"
"What do you mean, 'well'?" The Nine Tails bared its fangs, red eyes glaring at Naruto. "Human, you deserve to die!"
"I'm asking how the performance was." Naruto ignored the beast's insults.
"Performance?" The Nine Tails sneered, glancing at him with disdain. "You humans love killing each other. It's been the same for a thousand years."
"Guess that's true." Naruto tilted his head, his neck cracking sharply. "Ow, ow! Damn, that hurts. I'm dying here, I'm dying!"
Should've known—showing off never ends well.
"Ahem." Naruto coughed awkwardly, waving his hand under the Nine Tails' scornful gaze.
The pinned-down shinobi—whether Anbu or Root was unclear—was suddenly dragged beneath the ground by the crimson tendrils. A moment later, he reappeared inside the bars.
Still conscious, adrenaline pumping, the shinobi's terrified eyes locked onto the towering, mountain-like fox.
"What are you trying to do, human?"
Naruto lowered his head, his eyes shadowed. The Nine Tails saw only the curve of his lips curling upward.
"Devour him."
"What?!" The Nine Tails roared in fury. What enraged it was not the command itself, but that this human dared to command it at all—ordering it to swallow such filthy prey.
What did he think it was? A dog?!
Outrageous!
"Human! You will pay for your insolence!"
The dungeon trembled violently, as if on the verge of collapse. A crimson gale erupted out of nowhere.
Naruto stood in its path, his body swaying like a reed in autumn winds, before steadying again.
This time, his voice rang cold and sharp, his expression stern as he locked eyes with the beast. With a tone that brooked no refusal, he commanded:
"Kurama, devour him."
The moment Naruto called its true name with flawless precision, the Nine Tails froze.
Naruto's eyes burned with fierce, terrifying emotion.
"Devour him!"
His roar thundered, brimming with killing intent. In that instant, he seemed like an entirely different person—his eyes blood-red, blazing as if ready to ignite.
The Nine Tails had no choice. Its mind went blank, its body moved against its will. With a massive snap of its jaws, it seized the dying shinobi.
"No! No!! … Help me!"
"AAAAHHH!!!"
The crunching sound of bones filled the dungeon, mingled with agonized screams. Then, with one final swallow, the shinobi's voice vanished.
Silence. Utter silence. Only Naruto's heartbeat remained, slowing bit by bit until it returned to normal.
The red in his eyes faded, and his expression softened back to normal.
As if it had all been a dream. Yet the bloodstains on the ground reminded the Nine Tails that it had, for a moment, truly been forced to obey.
In that instant, the boy's soul had loomed vast, towering. Before him, the mighty Nine Tails had felt like nothing more than a housecat.
Like a short-tempered master scolding his pet—the ferocity in his gaze had made even the Nine Tails shudder, yielding in instinctive fear.
Humiliation. Utter humiliation!
The strongest of all Tailed Beasts, reduced to swallowing a human like some mangy dog.
Recalling the sensation still clinging to its throat, a wave of nausea surged. For the first time in its life, the Nine Tails nearly gagged.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)