That night, after saying goodbye to Satsuki, Naruto returned home. After busying himself for a while, he sat on his bed and let his consciousness sink into the sealed space.
In the damp and cold sealed space, Kurama's massive body was curled up behind the iron bars. Naruto walked up with a grin and gave a wave. "Kurama, I'm here to chat again!"
Kurama merely lifted an eyelid slightly before closing it again, not even bothering to swish its tail.
Naruto paid no mind to Kurama's coldness and moved even closer. "What's wrong, Kurama? Did something happen? You don't seem to be in a good mood."
After a moment of silence, Kurama spoke, its deep voice echoing through the space. "...Brat, that other brat you were with today, stay away from her from now on."
The other brat? He must mean Satsuki... Naruto immediately understood the reason. Kurama's hatred for the Uchiha was deep-seated. After all, the source of its sealing was Madara Uchiha, who had controlled it to fight the First Hokage.
But staying away from Satsuki was impossible. That girl was currently his highest-point-yielding "sponsor," and her favorability was surprisingly easy to raise.
He had leveled up twice this afternoon, causing his system points to skyrocket. But for now, he had to find a way to coax... no, persuade this big tsundere fox.
"Stay away from the other brat? You mean Satsuki? Why? She's a really likable kid, don't you think?"
Kurama's tail began to swish in annoyance. "Enough with the 'whys'! Just stay away when I tell you to!"
"...Kurama, don't tell me you're jealous?" Naruto covered his mouth. "I didn't think you cared about me that much."
"What?!" Kurama shot its head up. "Don't be so full of yourself, you damn brat! How could I possibly be jealous!" It bared its teeth in anger, all nine of its tails bristling.
"Haha, just kidding Don't get so worked up" Naruto quickly waved his hands to placate it, watching as Kurama huffily lay back down.
After the big fox had calmed down a bit, Naruto spoke. "Big Fox, I never thought someone would tell me to stay away from someone else..."
"What's so strange about that?"
Naruto looked directly into Kurama's eyes. "Probably because... in the village, it's always other people telling their kids to stay away from me."
That sentence made Kurama's tail freeze in mid-air for a moment. After a long silence, Naruto said with a smile, "Sorry, Kurama, I can't agree to that."
He patted his chest. "Because that girl is my very first friend! It's the first time I've ever made a friend!"
Kurama turned its head away, no longer looking at Naruto. It knew, of course, why this kid was ostracized by the entire village—the reason was itself, the "calamity" sealed within Naruto. And now, was it going to make this kid cut ties with his only friend?
Although it hadn't fully trusted Naruto yet, Kurama persuaded itself with its immense pride. Hmph, whatever. It's just an Uchiha brat who doesn't even have a Sharingan. I'll just consider it... a little charity for this kid.
Soon, Naruto's lively voice rang out again. "Right, Kurama! Today I'm going to continue the story! Last time, Xiao Huo-Huo was at the auction house..."
Naruto animatedly narrated his adapted version of Battle Through the Heavens. Although Kurama still had its back to him, its perked-up ears and occasionally swaying tail betrayed the fact that it was listening intently.
The night was deep. Inside the sealed space, Naruto stretched with a satisfied smile. "Alright, Kurama, it's getting late. It was fun chatting with you, but I'm going back to sleep now."
Kurama's ears twitched unconsciously. He's leaving already? It actually wanted to hear the next chapter, but as proud as it was, how could it possibly ask the kid to stay? Wouldn't that be admitting it was captivated by the story?
"If you're going, then go," Kurama said, turning its head away with feigned indifference.
Just then, Naruto mysteriously pulled something out. "Right, this is for you. It took me a long time to figure out how to bring it in here, so accept it with gratitude~"
"What? Brat, I don't need—" Kurama turned its head impatiently, but its words died in its throat.
Naruto was carefully pushing a book through the gap in the iron bars. To materialize a physical object in this spiritual world made purely of chakra required incredible chakra control!
On the book's cover, the words "Battle Through the Heavens, Vol. 1" were written neatly. Inside, the pages were filled with Naruto's own handwriting. The script was childish but neat, and there were even cute little illustrations in some places.
For a moment, Kurama didn't know what to say.
Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I can't stay with you all the time. It must be boring being stuck in here with nothing to do, right?" He pointed at the book. "If you get bored, you can read this to pass the time."
Naruto watched as Kurama carefully coiled a tail around the book, a smile unconsciously forming on his lips. Looks like my research paid off...
Why could a real-world object be brought into this spiritual space? The principle was actually simple—chakra itself was half the materialization of spiritual energy, and the sealed space was, in a way, a reflection of Naruto's inner world.
He had wrapped the book in chakra in the real world, memorized its form and structure, and then perfectly reconstructed it with chakra in the sealed space, like creating an object-version of a "Shadow Clone." Of course, this copy was still fundamentally made of chakra; if it were food, it wouldn't even have a taste.
Kurama looked down at the book in its paw, its pupils flickering slightly. This was the first time it had ever received a gift... The last time it had felt such pure kindness was when that old man, the Sage of Six Paths, was still around.
Suddenly, before Naruto's surprised eyes, Kurama's massive body began to shrink, eventually becoming the size of a large dog. It used its forepaw to flip open the book and actually began to read.
So Kurama can control its size? Naruto's eyes widened. A body made of pure chakra really is convenient...
Sensing Naruto's intense gaze, the smaller Kurama looked up. "Hey, brat, what's with that look?"
That look contained a strange desire—like the urge to pet something cute. The current little Kurama was fluffy, and its ears twitched from time to time. Naruto suppressed the urge to give it a good petting and cleared his throat.
"It's nothing... By the way, do you like the gift?" he deliberately changed the subject, his blue eyes shining with expectation. "It took me a long time to figure out how to bring the book in here."
Kurama was about to say something tsundere out of habit, but it paused when it saw the expectant look in Naruto's eyes. This kid... is only three years old. It realized that the child before it genuinely wanted to make it happy, even developing this kind of chakra application technique on his own.
After a long silence, Kurama awkwardly turned its face away. "...Hmph, it's not bad. I'll reluctantly accept it." It gently flipped a page with its paw and added, "But don't get cocky."
Naruto couldn't help but laugh at Kurama's pretense. "Yes, yes Well, I'm going back to sleep! See you tomorrow, Kurama"
Before leaving the sealed space, he took one last look back—the little Kurama was already completely engrossed in the story, its fluffy tail swaying gently, sweeping a fan-shaped pattern on the damp ground.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: You have established a bond (Level 2) with the original character "Kurama"!]
[Points Awarded: 400!]
-------
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