Cold Chakra poured out like a tide, instantly muddying the originally clear water within the Sealing space. Naruto felt a chill rush straight to the top of his head and subconsciously swallowed.
But this fear did not last long. Naruto quickly adjusted his mindset and began to scrutinize the Nine-Tailed before him, even taking the initiative to start a conversation.
This unexpected behavior made the Nine-Tailed pause for a moment, and then, feeling slighted, the Nine-Tailed flew into a towering rage!
In an instant, a gale erupted within the Sealing space, and the water beneath their feet surged into monstrous waves once again.
Yet Naruto remained unafraid; in fact, because of the Nine-Tailed's actions, he began to trade insults with it.
He loudly rebuked the Nine-Tailed for bringing him all sorts of misfortune, accusing it of having the nerve to throw a tantrum now.
In short, it was all emotion and no technique, while the Nine-Tailed didn't hold back either, stating directly that it hadn't stayed in his body by choice.
"You feel wronged? I feel wronged too!"
For a time, within the mental world of the seal, the two engaged in an exceptionally "cordial and friendly" exchange.
Eventually, the Nine-Tailed seemed to find it boring and simply turned around, ignoring Naruto.
"Ah! Don't run away! We haven't settled this yet!" Naruto ran up to the cage, reached his hand in, and shouted while pointing at the Nine-Tailed.
Naruto rushed to the front of the cage, reached inside, and shouted while pointing at the Nine-Tailed.
At that very moment, a golden chain suddenly flashed, pulling Naruto away from the spot just in time!
It turned out that the Nine-Tailed's sharp claws were lunging through the gaps in the cage toward the spot where he had just been standing.
"Tch!"
The Nine-Tailed snorted coldly, its gaze finally turning toward Amane, who had stepped in to save Naruto. "Hmph? Looking closely, isn't this that other brat from back then?"
Clearly, the Nine-Tailed recognized Amane.
The other child of the Fourth Hokage, who had sealed it here twelve years ago.
Amane smiled at it and said, "Ah, should I say it's been twelve years? Stay still. If you try any more little tricks, I don't mind placing a Tail-Sealing Seal on you."
Before her voice had even faded, eight brilliant golden chains suddenly shot out from behind Amane, charging into the cage and instantly binding the massive Nine-Tailed tightly!
"Amazing!" Naruto couldn't help but exclaim in awe at the sight.
"This damn Sealing Jutsu again! Curse you!"
Along with the Nine-Tailed's violent roar, an incredible force surged through the chains, slamming into Amane's body.
[As expected of the strongest Tailed Beast. With pure brute force alone, it can actually bypass the Chakra-suppressing effects of the Adamantine Sealing Chains to a certain extent.]
Amane understood. Tailed Beasts were essentially aggregates of massive Chakra; logically, the Adamantine Sealing Chains should be able to counter them completely.
However, when facing such a massive entity, physical strength is equally crucial; otherwise, mechanisms alone cannot hold it.
Unfortunately for it, while two years ago she would have needed Sage Mode to augment her strength, now she only needed to slightly increase her Chakra output to handle it.
She didn't even need to apply any other Cursed Seal debuffs to the Nine-Tailed.
"Curse you! If you have the guts, let me out and we'll fight again! I'll show you..."
"A Tailed Beast Ball, right? Do I look stupid?"
It was true that the Adamantine Sealing Chains could render a Tailed Beast immobile, but a different approach was clearly needed to deal with a Tailed Beast Ball.
After this forceful suppression, the Nine-Tailed finally quieted down for the time being.
At this moment, Amane keenly sensed that within the paper seal hanging above the iron gates, the Chakra belonging to her father, Minato Namikaze, was fluctuating violently.
She smiled in that direction and whispered reassuringly, "Leave the rest to me." Then, she turned her gaze toward Naruto, who was still in a state of shock.
"Alright. We have plenty of time in this Sealing space. Now, I'm going to tell you a few things."
Naruto set aside his usual playfulness. After witnessing the scene just now, he instinctively realized that what Amane was about to say would definitely be important to him.
"First is the existence of the Nine-Tailed. In short, there are nine powerful life forms in this world composed of massive Chakra. They are known as the Ichibi to the Nine-Tailed because they possess anywhere from one to nine tails."
Amane explained.
She went on to explain that all Tailed Beasts possess immense power and that they were originally free to live in this world.
But then Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage...
In order to end the endless wars of the Warring States Period, he established the Hidden Village system and captured all the Tailed Beasts, gifting them to the major nations. He hoped to achieve permanent peace between nations through this "balance of power" strategy.
To control this power, the nations came up with a solution.
That was to seal them within human bodies. By imprisoning the Tailed Beasts this way, they could also gradually tap into their power, eventually aiming to utilize it fully.
Such a person is known as a Jinchuriki.
"Wait!" Naruto keenly caught the key point. "By that logic, aren't the Tailed Beasts... victims?"
Amane's description was so objective that Naruto quickly identified the issue. Before even feeling surprised about his own identity, he pointed this out.
Amane shook her head gently and said, "Naruto, I don't want to judge the actions of our predecessors. Regardless, you are the Jinchuriki now. How you view this issue and what you do in the future is something you need to explore and choose for yourself.
Whether you see the Tailed Beast as an equal being or merely a tool for power, the choice is yours."
Naruto fell into silence, his clear blue eyes involuntarily turning toward the Nine-Tailed, who was feigning sleep in the cage. The latter kept its eyes closed, pretending to be deaf to everything.
"I..."
"Remember, once a Tailed Beast is sealed within a person, that person will die the moment the Tailed Beast is extracted."
Amane seemed to guess what Naruto was going to say, so she revealed the final piece of information about being a Jinchuriki.
At this, Naruto opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. After all, he was only a twelve-year-old child who hadn't experienced any great trials; this issue felt far too heavy right now.
"Then... who sealed it inside me?" Naruto asked with difficulty.
Amane glanced at the Sealing tag above the iron gates behind her and said, "Your parents."
This answer left Naruto stunned. He suddenly raised his hands and gripped Amane's shoulders tightly, asking urgently, "What did you say?"
"I am not lying, and you didn't mishear." She felt the strength in the hands gripping her shoulders suddenly intensify, then vanish completely in an instant.
Seeing the lost and bewildered expression on Naruto's face, Amane couldn't help but sigh.
The two sat together in the Sealing space, falling into a long silence.
The surrounding atmosphere was occasionally oppressive and occasionally turbulent, but it eventually settled into calm.
"For what reason?" Naruto asked after a long while.
"...Everyone's understanding is different. I think you should ask them yourself in the future why they did it."
Amane's statement was like a bolt from the blue, instantly making Naruto perk up.
Ask them personally in the future? Did that mean... Just as he was about to ask, Amane pointed behind her at the Nine-Tailed, who was pretending to sleep inside the iron gates.
"Master its power, and you will understand what I mean."
Naruto followed Amane's lead and looked at the Nine-Tailed, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"In other words, as long as I can master this power, I'll be able to see my parents?"
Amane nodded and gave him a look that said "you're quite smart."
Naruto scratched his head, unable to grasp the logic behind it. However, he seemed to have some self-awareness and didn't continue to struggle with what he couldn't understand; besides, he felt that Amane wouldn't lie to him.
So he immediately followed up, "What were my parents' names?"
"I know, but I can't say right now. Although you have the right to know, it's also for your own safety. I hope you can understand."
The Konoha higher-ups had completely locked down the truth of Naruto's parentage, and their motives were quite intriguing. Telling Naruto now would likely bring him unnecessary risk.
With Naruto's personality, it would be a miracle if he didn't go around telling everyone once he knew.
At the very least, it would have to wait until Naruto had Jiraiya's protection.
"Alright, do you have any more questions about yourself?" Amane looked at the pondering Naruto, who appeared quite troubled, his eyes occasionally opening to look at the Nine-Tailed and then back at Amane.
Finally, he seemed to give up. He lay flat on his back on the floor of the Sealing space and said, "I don't get it... so I won't think about it."
"Fair enough. Anyway, you'll have plenty of time to spend with it in the future," Amane said with a smile. "Now, I'll teach you how to enter and exit this place."
Given Naruto's natural friendliness and his social butterfly level of extroversion, combined with the fact that she had now told him about the Nine-Tailed's background, Amane felt that the time for full reconciliation would definitely come sooner than in the original work.
Outside the Sealing space.
In the small grove, a thick, ominous red Chakra suddenly shot up into the sky!
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