The Devil is Out of Prison
On the first day, Naruto kept changing positions. If he stayed in one posture for too long, his legs would go numb.
On the second day, he figured all that movement might have disrupted his chakra flow. So he narrowed it down to two positions: one for the morning, another for the afternoon.
Now, it was the third day. Naruto sat cross-legged, completely still.
"This shouldn't be happening. Why is there still no chakra?" he muttered, puzzled.
He knew his own body. After years of eating Black Dragon and Red Dragon meat, it had become... abnormal. His mental energy was strong, and the vital force granted by the Dragon Egg should've produced chakra within minutes—enough to rival multiple Kakashi-level ninja. Why was it taking so long?
At this rate, he was going to develop hemorrhoids.
"I think your posture's the problem," the Nine-Tails snarked from within his seal. "You sit there like a rock, cutting off your own blood flow. How are you supposed to refine chakra like that?"
Kurama had a point. Early chakra refining demanded the right mental and physical state. Once you got used to it, you could mold chakra in any position—even upside down. But for a first-timer? You needed optimal circulation and calm focus.
"Don't distract me, Big Fox!" Naruto growled.
Then—suddenly—he felt it.
A strange sensation surged through him. A unique energy filled his entire body.
"Chakra?" Naruto stared at his palms, feeling the power flowing through him. Parkour dreams suddenly felt achievable. He could practically see himself leaping over rooftops, punching craters into the ground, walking up trees and across water.
"Big Fox! I did it!" he shouted, practically vibrating with excitement inside his Mindscape.
There was no one else to share it with, after all. He didn't know many people yet. Just Kurama.
"I know," came the lazy response.
And with that, the Nine-Tails rolled over and went back to sleep.
"Eh—?" Naruto froze, flabbergasted.
He suddenly remembered that moment when Jiraiya demonstrated the Rasengan to Minato, only for the Fourth to calmly say, "I know," while Jiraiya made that exaggerated Liang Feifan-like face.
Or Tang Youyou, knowing a secret she couldn't tell, turning her grief into... appetite.
Naruto might've been even more heartbroken than both of them.
Kurama squinted an eye open, slightly smug. The brat was way too hyped. Sure, he'd successfully refined chakra, but he, the Nine-Tails, had oceans of chakra and didn't make a fuss.
Naruto decided not to argue. He would follow Tang Youyou's example: turn pain into hunger.
He downed two large bottles of cola, grilled some meat from his inventory, and left the Mindscape to clear his head.
"...Congratulations, brat."
The voice came just as he faded out of the seal.
Naruto grinned. "Hmph. Tsundere fox," he muttered, keeping his voice low so Kurama wouldn't explode.
Standing, he rubbed his numb legs. He really needed to work on his posture next time—his legs prickled like they'd been stabbed by a thousand senbon.
Suddenly, voices echoed nearby.
"Are you really from the Hyūga clan?"
"Then show us your Byakugan!"
"Those eyes are disgusting!"
"You Byakugan monster!"
A girl was sobbing quietly nearby.
"…Hinata?" Naruto's ears perked up.
Hearing the jeers, the mention of the Byakugan, and the crying, he immediately recalled a certain scene from the movie he'd watched. No doubt about it—it was her.
"Double jackpot today!" Naruto grinned. Refining chakra and running into Hinata? Luck was on his side.
As expected, Hinata had gotten lost after running away from home again.
This girl had the uncanny ability to solo the enemy's crystal while the whole team had wallhacks—and still get caught. She'd done it twice already. A third time seemed unlikely.
After getting lost, Hinata had followed smoke in the distance to ask for directions, only to be intercepted by three bullies who quickly began their verbal assault.
Timid as ever, Hinata lowered her head and began crying, hugging her legs.
Naruto—still in high spirits—decided to give the brats a lesson they wouldn't forget.
He accessed his inventory, pulled out his Skeleton Fun Suit (a Halloween event reward), and quickly changed. Then he opened a bucket of red dye and poured it over the suit.
Ready, Naruto began his approach.
"You look even more like a monster when you cry!"
"Catch the freak!"
One of the boys snatched Hinata's hat and stomped it into the snow.
"Monsters like this should be— AHH!"
One of them froze mid-sentence, staring wide-eyed.
The other two turned to look and were instantly struck dumb with terror.
The costume was terrifying.
A full skull-faced clown mask, with a jagged mouth split to the ears and fanged teeth. The upper body looked like exposed ribs, adorned with shoulder-skulls. A spiked Skull Hammer dragged behind him, painting a red trail in the snow.
The red-dyed suit looked like it had just come from a massacre. Even the horns on the clown mask dripped scarlet.
Naruto's unsteady gait—thanks to numb legs—only made it creepier, like a demon just out of hell.
Even Hinata forgot to cry.
"Apologize," the demon growled, his voice distorted and low beneath the mask.
"S-sorry!" one of the kids stammered.
"To her."
"Sorry!" the three shouted at Hinata, shaking with terror.
"Since you've apologized…" Naruto raised his hammer dramatically, "Then die!"
The bluff worked.
"RUUUUN!"
One kid broke into a sprint, his soaked pants revealing his utter terror.
The other two followed, shrieking about demons, fleeing with wet trousers.
Naruto bent to pick up the hat they'd trampled. It was the one he'd given her last time. She'd kept it.
He walked toward Hinata.
She trembled as the monster approached.
"Here. Hold this."
She instinctively took the old hat from him.
Then Naruto pulled out a second one: a pirate hat, gold-trimmed with a cartoon skull under a V-shaped brim. He placed it on her head.
"Brave pirates aren't born kings. But the blood in their veins won't let them bow."
The demon's voice echoed in her ears.
"Next time someone bullies you, don't cry. Don't bow your head. Look up. Face it."
"You're the strongest."
Hinata blinked. "Nani?"
She looked up and saw a shimmering purple doorway, starlight swirling behind it.
"Someone's coming. I have to go."
His figure began to dissolve into light.
"Wait!" Hinata stepped forward.
Too late. He vanished.
But just before he disappeared, she caught a glimpse of blue eyes behind the mask.
Hinata blinked, then looked around, but the demon was gone.
She noticed the hat had fallen off. She picked it up gently.
"A pirate…" she murmured. "Don't bow… face it bravely…"
"Miss Hinata! Are you alright?" Several Hyūga clan shinobi arrived, scanning the chaotic area.
"I'm fine, Bamboo," Hinata said softly, hugging the two hats to her chest.
She thought back to their previous meeting.
That time, he'd appeared like an angel.
This time, like a devil.
But they were the same person.
"Who... is he?" she asked, unsure if the question was to Bamboo or herself.
"Hm? Did you say something, Miss?"
"It's nothing. Let's go home." She smiled, looking completely different from the tear-streaked girl she'd been moments ago.
The angel and the demon are the same person... and that feeling... it's really good.