Naruto calmly looked at Kurama and said, "Aren't you the fox spirit inside me?"
Seeing the situation around him, Naruto Uzumaki did not panic.
Jinchūriki, Nine-Tails, yōkai...
These words permeated his entire childhood.
At first, he didn't believe these things, thinking that those people must dislike him and deliberately fabricated these things to maliciously slander him.
But later, he slowly realized that it was all true. His strange appearance, his recent rampage, and the conversation between Shimura Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen all made him understand.
I am the fox spirit that people talk about.
But he was still not satisfied!
Why was I born a fox spirit?
Why should I have to endure other people's cold looks and insults?
There were even people who wanted to hit him at the slightest disagreement.
If it weren't for following Danzo these past few years and learning a powerful Wind Release ninjutsu...
I'd probably be beaten so badly I wouldn't even recognize my own mother by now.
Now, even his most respected grandfather Danzo was cursing him, and he was about to leave him.
Naruto Uzumaki felt that the future was bleak and he didn't know what to do.
"You're not surprised at all to see me?" Kurama looked at Naruto with some astonishment.
His calm and composed demeanor was beyond his expectations.
"Haven't I always been called the fox spirit?"
"I had already guessed this, so what's so surprising?"
"But you..."
As Naruto spoke, he turned to look at Black Zetsu.
He was already prepared for the existence of the Nine-Tails, but he was completely unaware of Black Zetsu.
"Heh—Naruto, I've finally met you," Black Zetsu said.
"My name is Ōtsutsuki Asura."
"Perhaps you haven't heard of my name, but that's okay."
"All you need to remember is that you are the reincarnation of my chakra, and I am the second son of the progenitor of ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths."
Although Black Zetsu wished he could kill the Sage of Six Paths, that unfilial son, with his own hands, he had to impersonate his second nephew for the sake of saving his mother.
Only in this way could he lay the groundwork for the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
"Ōtsutsuki Asura? Reincarnation? The progenitor of ninjas? The Sage of Six Paths?"
Naruto was completely confused. His years of painful experiences had indeed made him far more mentally capable than ordinary people.
However, due to his limited knowledge, he didn't know any of what Black Zetsu was talking about.
Fortunately, Black Zetsu was prepared and knew that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't very intelligent and that it wouldn't be easy for him to fully accept everything.
So he began to slowly recount the story of the Sage of Six Paths and the Ninja Sect.
Of course, this was Black Zetsu's modified version of "The Life and Death of the Sage of Six Paths". In order to let Naruto Uzumaki understand all of this more intuitively, he even projected the scene directly onto the water surface under Naruto's feet.
Black Zetsu was very engrossed in his explanation, and Naruto Uzumaki was listening very attentively.
Only the Nine-Tails was locked in a cage, its ears twitching occasionally, its paws crossed, lying there as if asleep.
He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to resist slapping that inhuman black thing to death through the cage.
In Black Zetsu's narration, the Sage of Six Paths became an unparalleled demon and the greatest unfilial son in history.
In his childhood, he was arrogant and disrespectful to his superiors and inferiors; in his youth, he bullied men and women; and in his young adulthood, he was bewitched by a toad and, together with his unfilial younger brother, personally sealed away their mother who loved them dearly.
"Why...why would someone like this be called an immortal?"
Upon hearing this, Naruto Uzumaki finally couldn't help but ask.
The Nine-Tailed Fox in the cage sighed inwardly, "Thank goodness I didn't fall for that nonsense. If you had believed that, I, Kurama, would have laughed at you for two and a half years."
Black Zetsu: "..."
This was bad!
When recounting the events, too much personal emotion had been involved.
It seemed like they had gone too far in portraying that unfilial son.
However, Black Zetsu was, after all, a great director who had experienced thousands of years of vicissitudes and had a profound cultural background. What kind of complex scene hadn't he seen?
He quickly explained, "It all started with my birth..."
Black Zetsu continued to deceive Naruto, claiming that since Asura's birth, the Sage of Six Paths' personality had changed drastically, and under his influence, he began to benefit all living beings in the ninja world.
In his later years, he devoted himself to world peace, researching a world where all beings were equal, where there was no longer any discrimination or injustice, and where people could realize any dream.
That was—Infinite Tsukuyomi!
Unfortunately, by the time this technique was successfully developed, the Sage of Six Paths was already too old and frail to perform it. So he left behind a stone tablet, hoping that future generations could build this dream world and bring eternal peace to the ninja world.
What did the old man do?
Whether Naruto believed Black Zetsu's lies or not was another matter, but Kurama's worldview was completely shattered.
How come he didn't remember these things?
If it was true that he didn't know about those things in his early years, that was one thing; after all, the Sage of Six Paths was already middle-aged when he created these tailed beasts.
But he knew how the Sage had fared in his later years; the Sage of Six Paths had never actually researched Infinite Tsukuyomi.
A stone tablet had been left, but as a tailed beast, he couldn't decipher its contents.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
"A world where all dreams can be realized without discrimination and injustice?"
Naruto Uzumaki murmured to himself, "To be honest, this is the world I've always longed for."
However, he didn't quite trust Black Zetsu, mainly because the guy didn't look like a good person.
Moreover, since the other party had said that the Sage of Six Paths left behind a stone tablet, then he should wait until he saw the stone tablet and it proved that what the other party said was true before deciding what to do.
Just as Naruto was about to ask some more questions, his figure suddenly disappeared into the mental space.
Do you think he'll believe what you're saying?
After Naruto left, Kurama raised his eyelids and looked at Black Zetsu, asking a question.
"It doesn't matter. As long as you don't cause trouble, he'll believe it sooner or later," Black Zetsu replied.
Black Zetsu didn't expect to make Naruto Uzumaki obey him in one go.
Back then, when he was deceiving Madara Uchiha, he had gone to great lengths to guide him and let him find the evidence himself, which made him believe in the Eye of the Moon Plan without a doubt.
Therefore, Black Zetsu had plenty of patience. He had waited a thousand years, so why would he care about a little more time?
As long as Naruto Uzumaki had this idea in his mind, he would fall into his own trap.
...
In the outside world.
Naruto was thrown violently into a specially designed room, and the impact forced him to exit the mental space.
"You are... people from Root?" he asked.
"Where is Grandpa Danzo? I want to see Grandpa Danzo!"
After regaining his senses, Naruto Uzumaki looked at the masked ninjas and said with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
Having spent four years with Danzo Shimura, he was quite familiar with the people of Root.
"Hmph, Lord Danzo is so busy with affairs of state, how could he have time to see you, you fox demon?"
"From now on, this will be your home. Three meals a day will be delivered to you. You'd better behave yourself. If you dare to cause trouble, we won't be lenient with you."
...
If you're enjoying the ride, please drop a Powerstone and a quick Review!