"So, has a day's time given you a chance to think things through?" Lexon stood on the water's surface, looking at the large, orange-red fox tightly bound by golden chains within the prison, and spoke flatly.
"Ah... I forgot again..." With a wave of his hand, the chain restraining the Nine-Tails' mouth loosened.
The chain slid off and fell.
This time, after regaining his ability to speak, Kurama didn't roar.
He was silent, not saying a single word, not even meeting Lexon's gaze.
'He's gone into a shell?'
Lexon thought, looking at Kurama.
'It does seem a bit dishonorable to hang someone up for a whole day and night without any real grudge...'
"Still with us, little fox?" Lexon waved at him from outside the prison.
But the Nine-Tails seemed determined to ignore him.
"Not answering me?" Lexon rubbed his chin, musing.
"Then let's just keep you tied up. But I can't guarantee I'll be back tomorrow," he continued. "It might be a few months... or a few years?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden chains suddenly trembled, making a sound.
Kurama was shaking.
'So he is a little scared... In that case...'
Lexon turned slightly.
"Wait!"
As expected, Kurama spoke, stopping Lexon from leaving.
"What's wrong?" Lexon smiled, turning to face Kurama directly.
"I... agree," the Nine-Tails, who had been hanging in mid-air for a day and a night, yielded.
"Agree to what?" The smile in Lexon's eyes deepened.
Veins seemed to bulge on Kurama's fox-like face. He stared at Lexon, filled with hostility, and gritted his teeth. "To not interfere with that brat's chakra..."
"And?"
"To... have... a! better! attitude... toward you..."
"You should have just said so earlier." Lexon waved his hand again. All the golden chains shattered, link by link, gradually dissolving into pure chakra. The Nine-Tails, as a result, regained its freedom.
However, the moment he was free, the Nine-Tails dropped to all fours, assuming a menacing posture. His face was ferocious, a red light glowed in his eyes, his orange-red fur stood on end, and his nine tails rose behind him, whipping through the air.
His crimson Tailed Beast chakra surged wildly. He suddenly rushed forward, slamming violently against the iron prison, creating a deafening boom.
The iron prison shook. The yellowing talismans stuck to it glowed faintly, gradually calming the vibrations.
Lexon was not alarmed by Kurama's sudden action.
He calmly looked at the ferocious fox head, which was just inches away, and slowly raised his arm.
Chakra, so dense it was almost tangible, surged around him, instantly forming hundreds of golden chains that danced in the air.
Seeing this, Kurama's ferocious expression gradually softened. He retracted his crimson Tailed Beast chakra and slowly retreated back into the prison.
He didn't want to be tied up again.
That feeling of being helpless and unable to move was no different from being controlled by the Sharingan—perhaps even worse.
Lexon also retracted all his chakra.
"Don't go back to your corner just yet," Lexon suddenly said to Kurama. "Extend one of your little paws to me."
Hearing Lexon's words, the anger in Kurama's heart flared even higher.
But he was in a weak position now. No matter how reluctant he was, he could only follow Lexon's command and extend one fox paw through the bars to Lexon.
'The tsundere little fox finally obeys.'
Lexon thought to himself, then placed his hand on the Nine-Tails' paw.
[Sign-in]
[Sign-in successful]
[Congratulations on obtaining "Nine-Tails' Chakra" (Yang): One of the nine chakra portions separated from the Ten-Tails' body by the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, in ancient times. The terrifying chakra of the Nine-Tailed Beast, Kurama. Allows the user to undergo Tailed Beast transformation via Tailed Beast chakra, greatly enhancing strength.]
'Good luck.'
Lexon praised silently in his heart.
'Although it's only the Yang half of the complete Nine-Tails' chakra, it's still very substantial.'
"Not bad, not bad."
He said, removing his hand from the Nine-Tails' paw, signaling that he could pull it back.
Kurama's face was full of confusion and vigilance. He had no idea what Lexon was doing, or what he was talking about.
"Hmm... Seeing as you've been so cooperative, I'll give you a little reward..." Lexon mused. "You must get bored being sealed in here, right?"
Kurama just glanced at him when he heard the question, then looked away without replying.
'It is really boring being locked in here. I can only observe the outside world through the Jinchuriki... so I sleep most of the time.'
'The things that guy brought the brat yesterday looked pretty interesting...'
Kurama was, in fact, a little interested in the game console Lexon had brought Naruto yesterday, but his personality would never allow him to show it in front of this despicable man.
"Here, this is for you." Seeing Kurama didn't respond, Lexon just started pulling things out of his space ring on his own.
Lexon actually found it strange that he could sense his space ring even in this mental dimension, but he could only assume this was a space between reality and illusion.
The next second, he pulled out a display screen and placed it in front of the prison.
Then he pulled out a matching remote control.
This set of equipment was a television, a machine for watching shows.
"You're a fox... so what should I give you to relieve your boredom..." Lexon held the remote, pressing buttons.
Although Kurama pretended not to be interested, he couldn't help but turn his attention to Lexon.
"This one." Lexon suddenly clapped his hands. He pressed the remote, and the screen instantly lit up with an image and began playing sound.
Kurama turned his head, his eyes fixed on the TV screen. He was puzzled by the five large characters that appeared on the screen.
'Fox Spirit Matchmaker? What is this?'
"Just watch this for now. You're both foxes, you should like it." Lexon put the remote back into his space ring, not intending to leave it for Kurama.
He had set it to auto-play the next episode, so Kurama shouldn't be bored until this anime, Fox Spirit Matchmaker, was finished.
Not giving him the remote was also for convenience, to make Kurama more cooperative later.
'If he's interested in the TV shows when I come back next time, I can use both threats and bribes.'
'After all, Lexon wasn't some unreasonable, violent thug who liked to use force...'
'It's definitely not to further exploit Kurama's value and make him work willingly...'
"See you next time, then." Lexon waved goodbye to the fox, who was now staring intently at the screen.
'I hope I never see you again.'
Kurama cursed viciously in his heart.
The next moment, Lexon vanished, leaving the mental dimension.
"Alright, I'm done thinking. We can play now," Lexon said with a smile to the impatient Naruto.
"Yay!" Little Naruto jumped up and down happily.
He hadn't expected Lexon to come back to play so soon. Being able to play happily with a friend made him very happy and diluted the loneliness hidden in his heart.
"What are we playing today?" Little Naruto asked.
"Whatever you want to play," Lexon replied warmly.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]