"Freedom?"White vapor puffed from the Nine-Tails' nostrils as it sneered. "Compared to the old me, you've already enjoyed far more freedom than you deserve. Why don't you try living in this sunless cage yourself?"
"Kurama, you still don't understand?"
Naruto stretched out his hand. Instantly, several red wooden tendrils surged from the ground, intertwining into a flat platform. As the tendrils slowly lifted upward, Naruto rose into the air until he stood face-to-face with the Nine-Tails at eye level.
"I'm going to release you—on the condition that I don't die."
"You're… going to release me?"A flash of shock appeared in the Nine-Tails' eyes. It stared at Naruto in disbelief. "Human… why?"
"I know your power is immense, Kurama," Naruto said calmly. "The village needs that power. But honestly, I don't care about any of that. I just want freedom. I want to live the life I choose."
"The moment I became a jinchūriki, the one imprisoned wasn't only you—it was me as well."
"I refuse to give my life to this decaying village and become its slave."
"Then why not simply destroy the village?"The Nine-Tails bared its fangs viciously. "Damn that Konoha ninja village! They've imprisoned me for over a hundred years!"
"Human, how about we join forces and wipe this village out completely?"
"No." Naruto rejected the idea without hesitation.
"Why?" the Nine-Tails asked, confused. "Don't you hate that village?"
"I don't," Naruto said, shaking his head.
Of course he didn't. He had only transmigrated here a few days ago. At most he felt dissatisfied with the village, but nowhere near hatred. As for Minato and Kushina… what did their story have to do with him?
He had already figured it out: as long as he remained a jinchūriki, he would never be truly free.
The village would remain the same village. As long as he stopped being the jinchūriki, someone else could take the role for all he cared.
"I already told you," Naruto continued. "I want freedom—but I don't want to become a slave to freedom."
"People inevitably become slaves to the obsessions in their hearts."
"But I'm already rich, and my strength isn't weak either. I'd rather indulge in beautiful women and fine wine, living however I please, than become some kind of savior."
The Nine-Tails froze.
It stared at Naruto in confusion.
"Human… don't you crave power?"
"Kurama, your power is actually quite weak," Naruto replied bluntly.
"What did you say?"
"I'm not interested."
"Do you even hear yourself?" The Nine-Tails suddenly sounded uncertain. "Brat, if all the tailed beasts in the ninja world fought me together, they still wouldn't be enough for me alone. And you call me weak?"
"Stop wasting time on meaningless arguments," Naruto said impatiently. "Kurama, let me ask you something—do you want to leave this place?"
"Of course I do."
"Good. When the time comes, I'll come find you again."
Naruto snapped his fingers. The prison instantly returned to its original spacious appearance.
"What do you mean by 'when the time comes'?"
But Naruto didn't answer. His consciousness faded into a phantom and vanished.
The next day.
The ringing of an alarm clock echoed through the room. Naruto, still half asleep, sat up in bed and dragged his groggy body to wash up.
He wiped the fog off the mirror and forced a small smile.
Just as he stepped out of the alley near his house, a Mist ninja wearing a straw hat suddenly appeared in front of him and shouted without hesitation:
"Kid! Die!"
The man lunged straight at Naruto.
"Wait." Naruto immediately stopped him.
"What?"
The man actually froze, then forced out a laugh.
"What's wrong, brat? Begging for mercy won't help you!"
Naruto yawned and said indifferently:
"Uncle, I'm the top graduate of this year's Ninja Academy. Your clumsy transformation technique is way too obvious."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Cold sweat formed on the Mist ninja's forehead.
"I remember that even a chūnin doesn't earn that much money unless they're doing dangerous missions," Naruto continued casually. "Just so you know, I've killed Mist jōnin before. Their blood splashed all over my face."
"If I injure you, you'll miss work, and that's not worth it."
Naruto waved his hand dismissively and walked straight toward the disguised ninja without a hint of caution.
"Uncle, how much do you even make a month? Why risk your life like this?"
"Oh, looks like time's almost up. I'll get going."
Naruto brushed past him.
The Mist ninja didn't move. Sweat dripped down his face as he watched Naruto leave.
Only after the footsteps faded away did the man release the transformation with a bang. He was actually dressed as a Konoha chūnin.
Still shaken, he glanced back nervously.
"What kind of monsters are genin these days…?"
At the Ninja Academy.
After several days apart, Team 7 finally gathered again.
Sasuke and Sakura looked the same as usual. Sakura waved cheerfully at Naruto.
"Over here, Naruto!"
"Sakura, I'm not late, right?" Naruto said with a smile.
Sakura shook her head.
"I just arrived too. Something happened on the way."
"Don't tell me you ran into a Mist ninja?"
"Huh? Naruto, you saw one too?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.
She glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Naruto and Sakura, said nothing, and simply nodded.
"So you ran into one as well."
"It was probably another weird test set up by the village," Naruto complained. "So boring."
"Did either of you get hurt?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"No," Sasuke said briefly.
"We didn't even fight," Naruto added.
"What?!" Sakura looked shocked. "There was no battle? Didn't the Mist ninja attack you, Naruto?"
Sasuke also turned to look at Naruto.
"Nope. I just asked him how much he earns a month. After that he stopped talking."
Sakura: "..."
Sasuke: "..."
It was like Garen building Last Whisper—pure silence and total armor break.Not only killing the opponent, but destroying their spirit too.
Soon, the rest of the classes gradually arrived at the Ninja Academy.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio looked exhausted. Naruto happened to glance at Hinata; she blushed and lowered her head.
Ino looked toward Naruto at the same time their eyes met, so Naruto walked over and started chatting with the trio.
Sakura noticed everything and felt puzzled.
"Since when did Naruto get so close to Ino?"
Sasuke had no interest in such trivial matters. Since it wasn't time yet to submit their Chūnin Exam registration, he simply stood there with his eyes closed, resting.
"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru asked lazily, "weren't you temporarily pulled in to participate in the Chūnin Exams? I heard the Hokage originally didn't want you to join. What happened with that?"
"That happened?" Choji asked in surprise, stuffing potato chips into his mouth nonstop while looking at Naruto.
"It's nothing," Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just here to make up the numbers anyway. I never planned to actually become a chūnin."
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