Chapter 63: Negotiating with the Nine-Tailed
If Naruto didn't practice Senjutsu, the Six Paths Sage would definitely not notice him. However, once he practiced Senjutsu and devoured Ashura's Chakra, he would surely attract the Six Paths Sage's attention. If it were discovered that he wasn't the original Naruto, it would be a huge problem.
Having understood this, Naruto asked the system, "Can Ashura's Chakra inside me be extracted and transferred to someone else?"
[Ding! Ashura's Chakra was already sealed in the host's mental space, along with the Nine-Tailed, at the moment the host replaced the original Naruto.]
"The Nine-Tailed didn't notice?"
[Ding! Please have faith in the system's seal!]
Naruto nodded and said, "In other words, if I want to practice Senjutsu, I have to release the Nine-Tailed first, right?"
[Ding! The host can also choose not to release it.]
Naruto shook his head and said, "The Nine-Tailedmust be stripped from me, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble later. Besides, I need to deal a blow to certain people."
[Ding! Please decide for yourself, host.]
"I know I can decide for myself, but I'm currently torn over one issue. If the Nine-Tailed is stripped from me, won't I die as well?"
[Ding! No! The reason a Jinchuriki dies when a Tailed Beast is stripped is that the Tailed Beast's Chakra is intertwined with the Jinchuriki's. When stripping the Tailed Beast, the Jinchuriki's own Chakra is stripped away too. Since Chakra is composed of the body's spiritual and physical energy, stripping the Tailed Beast takes those energies with it, leading to death. When the hoststrips the Nine-Tailed, as long as you immediately practice Senjutsu and convert your energy into Senjutsu, there will be no problem at all.]
Naruto understood what to do. He just needed to learn Senjutsu the moment the Nine-Tailed was stripped from his body.
Since everything was arranged, the Nine-Tailedcouldn't be allowed to go to waste.
So, Naruto sat cross-legged and entered his mental space.
Seeing Naruto arrive, the Nine-Tailed lifted an eyelid and said, "What is it?"
"I came to tell you two things. First, I might be about to practice Senjutsu."
"What does your Senjutsu practice have to do with me?"
Naruto said with a mischievous grin, "That brings me to the second thing. Once I practice Senjutsu, all the Chakra in my body will be converted into...'Senjutsu'."
At first, the Nine-Tailed didn't understand what Naruto meant, but once Naruto finished speaking, the Nine-Tailed suddenly snapped its eyes open and stared at him.
"You mean even this old man will be converted into Senjutsu Chakra by you?"
Naruto wagged a finger in front of the Nine-Tailedand said, "No, no, no! I said Senjutsu, not Senjutsu Chakra. What I'm practicing is pure human Senjutsu, which has nothing to do with Chakra. You will simply be treated as a form of energy in my body and rapidly converted."
The Nine-Tailed felt a hint of fear upon hearing Naruto's words. If what Naruto said was true, he would be in danger.
Naruto smiled and said to the Nine-Tailed, "Don't worry! I won't practice Senjutsu just yet. When I do, I'll set you free. But it's about time you paid some rent. You've lived in my body for thirteen, almost fourteen years now! How much rent do you think is appropriate?"
The Nine-Tailed laughed sinisterly and said, "I dare to give you rent, but do you dare to take it?"
Naruto smiled and replied, "As long as you aren't afraid of me practicing Senjutsu, I don't mind!"
The Nine-Tailed's Chakra carried his malice and hatred. If the Nine-Tailed didn't control it, it would definitely be transmitted to Naruto through the Chakra.
The Nine-Tailed had intended to intimidate Naruto, but seeing Naruto's attitude, he realized intimidation was useless; Naruto had even turned it around to threaten him.
The Nine-Tailed sighed, sat up, and extended a fist, saying, "Come and take it!"
Naruto looked at the extended fist and smiled. "You're not going to struggle a bit more?"
"We both know everything now. Why should I make such futile struggles? Besides, you are the reincarnation of Ashura; it's only right to give the Chakra to you."
Naruto smiled and shook his head. "I am not Ashura. Ashura's Chakra and soul were already sealed away the moment I arrived in Naruto's body. So now, I am Naruto, and Naruto is me, but I am definitely not Ashura."
"Then how do you plan to deal with Ashura?"
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tailed, pondered for a moment, and smiled. "Within a year, you will definitely know how I handle it."
The Nine-Tailed nodded. "Fine! As long as you don't harm Ashura, you can come and take my Chakra once every three days."
"Is this a deal?"
"Think what you want!"
After the Nine-Tailed spoke, Naruto smiled and bumped his fist against the Nine-Tailed's.
The moment he touched the Nine-Tailed's fist, Naruto felt the sheer magnitude of the Nine-Tailed's Chakra.
Naruto guided the Nine-Tailed's Chakra to be stored near his heart, just like in the original story. This way, as long as Naruto didn't die, the Nine-Tailed's Chakra wouldn't dissipate.
By the time Naruto finished receiving the Nine-Tailed's Chakra, the beast was no longer as plump as before. Though its overall size hadn't changed, it was clearly visible that the Nine-Tailed had become skin and bones.
Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he asked, "Are you going to be okay like this?"
The Nine-Tailed curled his lip arrogantly and said, "This old man is a mass of Chakra; I'll recover in a day or two. Now get lost!"
Naruto smiled and exited the mental space.
When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw his whole body glowing with golden light and quickly retracted the Nine-Tailed's Chakra.
Next, Naruto activated Kagura Minds Eye. He only breathed a sigh of relief after sensing that no Anbuwere monitoring him.
"That was careless! If the Anbu had seen that, I would have had to silence them."
In fact, the Anbu had already left after learning that Gato's wealth had been plundered.
After all, they had already witnessed the Jinchuriki's strength. If someone targeted the Jinchuriki, they wouldn't be able to help much anyway; the most they could do was notify the village. It was better to report the situation to Hiruzen Sarutobi and let Kakashi keep an eye on things.
Hiruzen Sarutobi also knew that sending people to watch Naruto was useless now, so he recalled both the Anbu monitoring Naruto and the ones sent to scavenge Gato's assets.
Another two months passed, and the Land of Waves Great Bridge was finally completed. In the original timeline, it was called the Great Naruto Bridge.
But since so many things hadn't happened this time, it was simply called the Land of Waves Great Bridge.
During these two months, Naruto took Chakrafrom the Nine-Tailed every three days. Now, Naruto had at least twenty times the Chakravolume of the Yang Nine-Tails in his body.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and the others could clearly feel that Naruto had become much stronger again. This made them curious; Naruto had only been doing ordinary training lately, so why had he suddenly become so much more powerful?