Inside the sealed space, the Nine-Tails lay sprawled out on the ground.
Its red, slit-pupil eyes stared blankly ahead, unfocused and reflecting nothing.
Its attention wasn't on the space it was in, but instead on that small figure sweating through the snow outside.
Hundreds of days and nights—Naruto had lived this way.
No one pushing him, and yet he never slacked off. Day after day, nonstop training.
And so, from a clueless brat, he'd slowly grown into a ninja with real skill.
To the Nine-Tails, Naruto was still weak, but there was something about him—an unwavering will that even moved the beast.
It couldn't help but recall the first time they met.
Back then, it had done everything it could to tempt and manipulate Naruto, but the boy's willpower crushed it.
From that moment on, the Nine-Tails had believed that Naruto was destined to become strong.
It was also the first time the fox had ever been treated like an equal by a human, not just some wild beast to be scorned.
Even if that human was just a kid.
This past year, Naruto, knowing it got bored, took time every day to watch TV with it. Sometimes they'd even argue about the storylines of the shows—experiences the Nine-Tails had never known.
Sure, Naruto's goal was just to stop it from interfering with his chakra.
But still, that warmed the Nine-Tails' heart.
Because if Naruto only cared about that goal, there were more direct and effective ways to do it.
Like asking one of those annoying Leaf Village ninja for help.
To Naruto, the Nine-Tails was the only one around he could talk to.
But to the Nine-Tails, wasn't Naruto the only human in all these years who'd even tried to talk to it?
"Maybe... I should've just agreed to this brat's request from the start."
So many times, as Naruto clumsily battled its chakra to perform his jutsu, the Nine-Tails had found itself thinking that.
But it always stopped itself. Pride's a tricky thing.
"Maybe that day really will come," the Nine-Tails muttered to itself, "the one where humans and Tailed Beasts can talk and laugh together, just like he said. A blond, blue-eyed kid... maybe it's this brat standing right in front of me."
"He really might be... the Child of Prophecy."
And today, the Nine-Tails finally found a reason to give in:
"If he is the Child of Prophecy, then it doesn't matter what I do—he'll overcome my chakra anyway."
"If I keep this up, I'm just wasting my time. Better to end the fight now."
"Yep. That's all it is. It's definitely not because the TV shows are getting good! And it's definitely not because I'm starting to like the kid!"
Having rationalized that, the Nine-Tails pulled its chakra back, confining it completely within the sealed space.
From now on, Naruto wouldn't be affected when using jutsu.
He wouldn't need to waste tons of energy suppressing the fox's chakra and reinforcing the seal, either.
That meant his path as a ninja could go even smoother.
As expected, not long after it withdrew its chakra, the brat showed up in the sealed space.
…
Naruto glanced at the massive fox curled up behind the gate, its eyes closed like it was asleep.
He knew better—it was definitely pretending. Too proud to admit anything.
Smiling knowingly, Naruto didn't call it out.
He zipped over to the TV, popped in one of the many memory cards he'd been stockpiling over the past year, and queued up Investiture of the Gods, starting at episode three.
Once the episode was playing, he left the sealed space and got back to training.
Just like he'd planned, now that tree climbing was complete, it was time to tackle water-walking.
And lucky for him, the training area had a shallow stream right nearby—perfect for practice.
Back in the sealed space, the moment Naruto disappeared, the Nine-Tails opened its eyes.
It looked at the episode playing on TV… then glanced at Naruto, already training on the water, and curled its lips into something like a grin.
"Not bad, brat."
Then it settled in to watch.
It had been waiting a whole year for this moment. And now it was finally satisfied.
Now it could binge Investiture of the Gods from start to finish. And not just that—every other show Naruto had queued up too. No more interruptions!
Naruto, the evil remote-control tyrant, had finally stepped down. Now the Nine-Tails was the one in charge.
Meanwhile, Naruto was feeling amazing.
First off, his chakra had suddenly surged for no apparent reason. Then came the water-walking training—way harder than tree climbing, but his progress was ridiculously fast.
Before, he'd guessed he might master tree climbing by the end of today. But now? He was confident he could master water walking before heading home too.
No more having to tiptoe around random chakra disruptions. Getting used to this new stability, Naruto felt like his chakra moved exactly the way he wanted it to.
Plus, all the tree climbing practice helped. He only fell into the stream three times before he could stand steadily on the water's surface.
At first he was wobbly, but with more practice, he was gliding across the water like it was solid ground.
"Hell yeah! Nailed both tree climbing and water walking ahead of schedule—time to go learn some new jutsu from Grandpa Hokage!"
Naruto jumped up in excitement on the water, landing firmly again with a splash.
By now, it was getting dark.
There was still time before he usually went home, but today, Naruto decided to give himself a break.
First, he'd go home and change out of these wet clothes—no need to catch a cold.
Then, he'd cook up something delicious to reward himself.
With that plan in mind, he did a quick cleanup, then dashed off toward home, full of excitement.
With chakra enhancing his steps, Naruto was moving fast.
But he hadn't gone far when something unexpected made him stop mid-leap through the trees.
Not far ahead on the path, he spotted three boys about his age surrounding a girl.
Mocking voices echoed in the air.
"I heard you're from the Hyuga clan. Come on, show us that Byakugan!"
"If you won't, then quit looking this way."
"Freaky eyes. Bet you're a monster, huh? You damn white-eyed freak."
The girl had short, pale lavender hair and pure white eyes, her features delicate and refined.
Hearing those words, her big eyes welled up with tears.
"…It's her."
Naruto looked at the familiar face and murmured quietly to himself.