Naruto's words were like a silent Tailed Beast Ball exploding within the Sealing Space!
The Nine-Tailed's massive body suddenly stiffened! Its giant vertical pupils instantly contracted to their limit, then abruptly expanded!
They were replaced by an unprecedented shock and fury!
"Wh-what?!" the Nine-Tailed roared.
Its huge head snapped up, causing the iron gate to shriek with a deafening clang! The entire Sealing Space vibrated again from its violent movements, and the calm liquid surface churned with monstrous waves!
"You... what did you say?! Who... who is inside your body?!"
The Nine-Tailed's enormous beast eyes were fixed on Naruto's tiny consciousness, as if trying to find some flaw in him!
"Minato Namikaze?! Uzumaki Kushina?! They're inside you?! That's impossible!!!"
It frantically recalled that bloody night. Minato Namikaze, the blond Fourth Hokage, had indeed used the Reaper Death Seal! It had personally seen the huge Shinigami apparition appear, devour Minato's soul, and seal half of its own Chakra inside!
"Brat! What nonsense are you spouting?! Trying to deceive this great one with such absurd lies?! They are already dead!"
However, Naruto's face still held that knowing calm, and his deep blue eyes were unwavering.
"I'm not spouting nonsense, Big Fox," Naruto said calmly. "They are indeed dead, but they left their Chakra inside me!"
Naruto extended his small finger and gently tapped his abdomen, the core of the Eight Trigrams Seal.
"So it's just Chakra?!"
The Nine-Tailed calmed down; that was acceptable. It was a Chakra creature and knew how miraculous Chakra was!
Seeing the Nine-Tailed calm down, Naruto's expression became serious again.
"So, Big Fox, to be honest, it would be a lie to say I bear no hatred towards you," Naruto said, lifting his head, his gaze becoming frank. "After all, they are the parents of this body, and whenever I think of them, there's always a bit of hatred for you in my heart. This is human nature. If it weren't for you, I would now be Konoha's most uninhibited second generation, living a happy life! Not being ostracized and resented by the Konoha villagers!"
The Nine-Tailed was silent, its huge head slightly lowered, seemingly sensing Naruto's hatred. However, the Nine-Tailed felt no hatred!
"But," Naruto's tone shifted, his voice resolute, "I also know that the true culprit is that masked bastard! He is the direct killer! And you, Big Fox..."
Naruto looked directly into its huge beast eyes, his gaze unwavering:
"You were merely a powerful weapon forcibly wielded and abused. Your will was stripped, your power misused. In a sense, you and I are both victims of that conspiracy. You are trapped here, bearing hatred that isn't yours; and I, carrying the infamy that belongs to you, grew up in solitude."
A dead silence filled the Sealing Space, broken only by the faint sound of Chakra fluid slowly flowing. The Nine-Tailed's breathing seemed to stop. It had never imagined hearing such words from a human, especially a Jinchuriki.
"So," Naruto spread his hands, his tone carrying a nearly cold rationality, "this hatred towards you for indirectly causing these results is much weaker and more complex than my hatred for the masked man. I prefer to see it as an obstacle to overcome, rather than an irreconcilable grudge."
He took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with determination:
"And, I have a goal. A very big goal."
"A goal?" the Nine-Tailed asked instinctively.
"I will resurrect them," Naruto said resolutely, his voice not loud, but carrying an unshakeable determination. "No matter what, they are the parents of this body! The kindness of birth must be repaid!"
"And this goal," he looked at the Nine-Tailed, his gaze burning, "requires power. Unparalleled power! Power that touches the rules of life and death! I need your power, Big Fox!"
Naruto's words struck the Nine-Tailed's heart like a heavy hammer. Resurrect the dead? This forbidden idea, this arrogant goal, spoken by a brat, carried a chilling seriousness and persistence.
"So," Naruto concluded, his tone returning to its previous calm, even with a hint of settling accounts, "the score between us is difficult to settle. Let's just leave it at that for now."
"The damage you caused when controlled, indirectly leading to their deaths, is a fact. But in the future, I want to resurrect them, and this requires your full assistance, which is also a fact. Moreover, in this process, I will also help you gain freedom."
He pointed again to the quietly standing clone prepared for the Nine-Tailed outside the iron bars:
"Let's call it even. Let past grievances remain in the past. From now on, we start anew. You give me Chakra, help me grow stronger, and assist me in achieving my goal; and I will give you a window, give you freedom, and fulfill my promise. We will coexist as equals, each taking what we need, mutually beneficial."
Naruto extended his hand, his small palm separated by the seal, as if inviting:
"How about it? This deal, isn't it fair? Instead of tormenting each other in hatred and imprisonment, why not look forward together?"
The Nine-Tailed's huge head hung low, its giant vertical pupils staring intently at Naruto, then at the clone. Thousands of years of wisdom frantically churned in its mind, weighing the pros and cons, discerning lies from truth.
The Nine-Tailed was silent for a long time, so long that Naruto thought it would refuse again. Finally, it let out a low, hoarse sound, as if using all its strength, with a desperate resolve and a hint of anticipation for new possibilities that even it hadn't noticed:
"Hmph... even? Brat, you really dare to say that..."
The giant beast eyes slowly lifted, looking at the small clone.
"Then let this great one see what kind of hell is outside your window."
The Nine-Tailed's immense willpower, like an invisible tendril, carefully, with millennia of accumulated vigilance and a barely perceptible tremor, extended towards the clone.
This wisp of its consciousness instantly merged with Naruto's clone!
The next second, the Nine-Tailed "saw."
It wasn't the eternal iron cage of the Sealing Space!
It raised its hands — small hands, belonging to Naruto's clone.
Occupying a Jinchuriki's clone to achieve an alternative freedom, it actually worked!
Watching the Nine-Tailed skillfully control the clone, Naruto said with a smile:
"How about it, Big Fox? I didn't lie to you, did I?"
The Nine-Tailed occupied Naruto's clone, and the clone's eyes turned into a pair of red vertical pupils. Faced with the facts, it let out a reluctant snort as a response!