"So, how do you absorb its chakra?"
Naruto asked curiously.
Kurama folded his arms confidently. "Naruto, you just need to help me restrain it. Leave the rest to me."
"Got it." Naruto nodded, his sharp gaze locking onto the Nine-Tails inside the iron cage.
The complete Nine-Tails felt uneasy and roared, "Trash! You actually made an agreement with a human! Who are you? Where is this place? Why am I here like this?"
"Damn loudmouth Nine-Tails!"
Seeing it like this, Naruto quickly lost his patience.
The complete Nine-Tails had always been irritable. Ever since it was sealed by the Fourth Hokage, it had raged inside Naruto's body for years before calming down.
If Naruto wanted to influence this Nine-Tails like he did with Kurama…
Wouldn't that take more than ten years? By then, it would be far too late.
Besides, Naruto hadn't received any new missions from the system, so there was no reason to waste time influencing it.
As for Kurama, he didn't seem to have any sympathy for the complete Nine-Tails either.
In fact, compared to humans, Kurama seemed even more hostile toward it.
Just imagine—
someone identical to you suddenly appears.
He's stronger, better in every way, and everyone around you recognizes him more than you.
And you? You can only stand by and watch like a clown.
Who could stand that?
Kurama didn't need anyone else meddling in his affairs.
Even if he decided to share, it would be his decision. No one had the right to interfere.
Naruto immediately understood Kurama's hostility.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains—Change!"
"Wood Style—Myojin Gate!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Boom!
Two powerful sealing techniques burst forth from Naruto's hands.
Since the complete Nine-Tails was sealed within Naruto's body, its movements and chakra were already heavily restricted.
Facing two high-level sealing techniques, it had no chance to resist.
Before long, Naruto had the Nine-Tails completely bound.
Kurama took the chance to infuse his chakra into the iron gate and began to absorb the Nine-Tails' chakra in a strange, almost parasitic way.
Absorbing the complete Nine-Tails' chakra would take quite some time.
When Naruto returned to Konoha, everything looked the same as when he had left.
However, his disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed. Sarutobi Hiruzen had already summoned him to the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage held his pipe, his expression serious.
"Naruto," Hiruzen said gravely, "even though you're no longer a Jinchūriki, the outside world still knows you as one.
If you leave the village recklessly, you may attract dangerous people who wish to capture you."
Naruto was silent for a moment before suddenly asking,
"So how did you hide my identity in the first place?"
"Huh?" Hiruzen froze, his old face stiffening.
Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Okay, okay, forget it. I don't really care anymore. I'll… try not to wander around from now on."
Even Naruto didn't believe his own words.
Hiruzen sighed helplessly.
For some reason, he had the same feeling he once had with Asuma—
that as children grew up, they gradually slipped out of his control.
The only difference was that Naruto was much sharper than Asuma had ever been.
Putting that aside, Hiruzen changed the subject.
"Naruto, you know every ninja team must take on missions, right?"
"I know," Naruto nodded. "But I don't think catching cats and chasing dogs will really help me improve."
Seeing Naruto's obvious disdain for low-level missions, Hiruzen felt a headache coming on.
"Naruto, you're very strong," he said patiently, "but what about your teammates? They need to grow too."
"I've already arranged everything," Naruto said honestly. "Sasuke has his own training plan, and Sakura has her own development path. You don't need to worry."
On the surface, Naruto was polite and respectful.
But deep down, he was sighing.
Is this old man ever done talking?
Hiruzen rubbed his temples. "Fine. Since you already have a plan, I won't press further."
"In that case, I'll head back," Naruto said with a nod, then turned and left.
Hiruzen watched his back, feeling a faint sadness.
The son of a hero had suffered through a miserable childhood and grown into a very different person from his father.
And that… was the result of his own negligence—and Danzo's manipulations.
Naruto now walked his own path, untouched by the so-called Will of Fire.
Like Minato, Naruto possessed extraordinary talent, but unlike Minato, he was no longer the same kind of man.
Hiruzen knew: Naruto stayed in Konoha only for the sake of a few precious people.
After returning home, Naruto finally relaxed.
Today had been an exhausting day.
First, he helped Sasuke take photos.
Then he made a training plan for him.
After that, he went out to reseal the Nine-Tails, met Kurama and Uchiha Itachi again, made a deal with Kurama, and even got lectured by the Third Hokage.
No wonder he felt tired.
After a quick shower, Naruto collapsed into bed and fell asleep.
A week later.
After mastering tree climbing and water walking, Sasuke once again challenged Naruto.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't win.
Naruto gave him a scroll containing the Konoha Body Flicker Technique to help him train further.
Although the Third Hokage had told Naruto that each team needed to complete official missions, Naruto completely ignored it.
Since their team was formed, they hadn't completed a single one.
Over the past week, Naruto and Sakura's side business had flourished.
It was winter break, so fewer people had been buying photos of Sasuke at first.
But word spread quickly—from ten people to a hundred.
Soon, Naruto and Sakura only needed to sit by the Uchiha District gate, and customers would come lining up.
That day, outside Uchiha Station—
A table. Two chairs.
Naruto and Sakura's makeshift "office."
Before long, three to five girls of varying ages were lined up in front of them.
All of the photos for the day sold out in minutes.
Naruto opened his system interface and checked the mission progress.
[126,400 / 10,000,000]
Naruto: "..."
This progress was way too slow.
He had earned over 100,000 silver coins in one week—equivalent to around 6,000 yuan from his past life.
Two people splitting it meant around 400 yuan each per day. That was a great income.
But for the mission? Far too little.
At this pace, he'd have to keep selling until the Fourth Ninja War to complete it.
That was ridiculous!
Sakura happily sorted the silver coins. "Naruto, we made a lot today! I've got almost forty thousand silver coins!"
Even now, disappointed customers were still leaving because they'd run out of stock.
Naruto shook his head slightly. "Sakura-chan, we need to speed this up. How about we make multiple copies of each photo?"
That would save a lot of time—though the quality might drop a little.
"Okay!" Sakura agreed without hesitation.
Not just because Naruto suggested it—she'd also realized the demand far exceeded supply.
At this rate, it wasn't nearly enough to meet Konoha's growing appetite for Sasuke's photos.
And if they could pull this off… they'd basically be set for life.
Sure, this wasn't exactly a world ruled by money.
But who ever complained about having too much?
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