Chapter 20: Nine-Tails, I've Come to Bargain
"A long, long time ago, I met an old beggar.
Naruto looked at Hinata and Neji in front of him and began to spin a tale.
"He took out a secret manual and told me that I could buy it for only 9.9 taels. The manual was called the Buddhist Palm. I didn't buy it, but because I felt sorry for him, I paid him the 9.9 taels anyway."
"And then?"
Hinata gazed at him with her Byakugan, full of interest.
But Neji was already too lazy to listen anymore.
Whoever believes this is a fool.
"That night, I dreamed of him. He said he was a deity from Takamagahara. Seeing that I was kind-hearted, he gave me three gifts."
Naruto patted his stomach and said, "This is the source of the black tattoo."
"Sugoi!"
Hinata covered her little mouth and let out an exclamation of wonder.
Neji sighed helplessly.
This guy is beyond saving; he's just waiting to die.
"That's right!"
Naruto's face was exceptionally serious.
As long as he believed it was true, it was true.
Then, he repeated what he had told Neji yesterday to her.
"This... such a precious thing, Naruto-kun, I can't..."
After listening, Hinata shook her head repeatedly.
"Besides you, I'm not close to anyone else. I can't exactly give it to them, can I?"
Naruto interrupted her in time.
Hinata froze for a moment.
Did Naruto-kun mean that she was someone he was close to?
Thinking of this, she let out a soft sound, blood rushed to her head, and her face turned the color of sunset clouds again.
"?"
Naruto was a bit dazed.
What's going on?
He completely couldn't understand why Hinatawould be shy.
Though the little loli was quite cute when she was shy.
Neji snorted coldly, feeling offended.
He went straight to the open space, sat cross-legged, and followed what Naruto said, trying to absorb Natural Energy.
In the original work, it was mentioned that the prerequisite for practicing Sage Mode was a large amount of Chakra.
Although Neji was a standout among his peers, his Chakra clearly didn't meet the requirement.
So at the beginning, Naruto suggested he shouldn't draw in too much—just a sliver at a time—using a 'kite' tactic to absorb it gradually.
"I... I'll train too!"
Hinata couldn't stand Naruto's scrutinizing gaze and also ran to the side to start her cultivation.
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Since the two of them had entered the zone, he naturally had to practice the Eight Extremes Fist.
Meanwhile, his original body was currently under the Treehouse.
The Naruto, Neji, and Hinata in the classroom were all Shadow Clones.
After his successful sales pitch, two more members had joined his clone class-skipping plan.
At this time, the rice field had begun to flourish again after the watermelons were gone.
Including the previous plot, he currently owned two rice fields.
Once the rice entered the growth phase, it didn't need a dedicated Shadow Clone to watch over it.
So, he dispelled one.
Number One practiced Eight Extremes Fist, Number Two delved into ninja tool techniques, and Number Three did physical training.
And he himself prepared to learn Wind ReleaseNinjutsu.
Naruto had originally intended to leave this to a Shadow Clone, but after a few days, he found the progress to be extremely slow.
So today, he came to find the reason.
Actually, he already had a suspicion, but he needed to verify it.
Naruto's hands began to form seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
He opened his mouth and spat out a blast of transparent white gas.
Dust swirled up from the ground.
He frowned slightly; he had clearly followed the hand signs recorded on the sealing scroll perfectly, and he had channeled enough Chakra.
But this C-rank Ninjutsu looked about the same as a D-rank.
Naruto closed his eyes and performed it again.
But this time, he deliberately slowed down his speed.
He could clearly sense that the Chakra flow within his body was being interfered with midway.
To the point that it veered off course.
"There is only one truth."
Naruto opened his eyes.
He remembered that in the original work, Narutohad extreme difficulty practicing Ninjutsu in the early stages because of the Nine-Tails' interference.
He had thought that given their current relationship, it wouldn't cause trouble.
He didn't expect it to be so heartless.
And here he was, giving it food every day.
Naruto planned to have a reasonable talk with the Nine-Tails.
Well... besides talking sense, he didn't have any other options.
He went to the Inuzuka Clan and collected his first month's income in advance, which was 100,000 taels.
After all, there weren't that many Ninjas in Konohawho kept dogs.
The market wasn't big enough.
Naruto then used half of it to buy nearly twenty catties of dog food.
"Big Fox."
He knocked on the gate of the seal.
"What?"
The prone Nine-Tails didn't even open its eyes.
"Brought you food."
Naruto threw the dog food in front of it.
"Oh? I recall there are still four hours until mealtime."
The Nine-Tails opened its eyes, and seeing so much dog food, it was stunned for a moment before its mouth curled into a grin. "Brat, do you want something from me? Forget it, I won't agree to any of your requests."
"You're making this very difficult for me."
Naruto looked at its mountain-like body. "I haven't charged you rent, and I even play fight the landlordwith you when I'm free. Is there no friendship between us?"
"Friendship? Hahahaha!"
The Nine-Tails laughed wildly as if it had heard a joke.
Only after a long time did it stop.
"There can be no feelings between humans and Tailed Beasts."
"Fine, if we can't talk about feelings, let's talk terms. What conditions do you want to stop your leaking Chakra?"
"Unless you let me out."
"If I let you out, would you even dare to go out?"
Naruto said with a half-smile and a calm face.
"What do you mean?"
The Nine-Tails stood up, its overwhelming Chakrafilling the Sealing Space. "Brat, are you looking down on me?"
"Tailed Beasts aren't invincible. This is Konoha. Once you go out, what will you face?"
Naruto held up three fingers. "Sealing Jutsu, Sharingan, Wood Release."
With every word spoken, the pressure in the air became several times thicker.
When the words 'Wood Release' were uttered, the nine tails churned frantically.
A massive air wave slammed Naruto directly against the invisible wall.
"How do you know about that?!"
The Nine-Tails' ferocious face pressed against the iron bars, appearing somewhat deformed.
"Did you think my parents didn't leave behind any control measures?"
Naruto wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said.
"Minato?"
The Nine-Tails' expression froze, and it began to hesitate.
Kushina wasn't as good as the first Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Mito; it could see the outside world through the seal.
Even by its standards, Minato was considered a hero of his generation.
It was entirely possible he had left something behind.
Moreover, if not for Minato, how could this brat know about his parents?
No one had ever told him.
Naruto noticed the change in its expression and couldn't help but smile, saying, "Big Fox, I'm very willing to be friends with you. I can even lend you my body."
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
The Nine-Tails looked at the little tot in front of it in surprise and said, "If you let me completely possess your body, you will lose yourself entirely."
"You can try it."
Naruto shrugged. "See what happens?"
"..."
The Nine-Tails was stunned by his overly confident demeanor.
Just what kind of measures did Minato and Kushinaleave behind to make this brat so fearless?
Dammit!
I, the grand Nine-Tails, am actually being threatened by a brat.
Although it feared nothing, the Sharingan and Wood Release made it very uncomfortable.
"If you turn off the Chakra fluctuations, I can lend you my body to go out for some fresh air. Plus, I'll feed you every day and play fight the landlord with you."
The more Naruto spoke, the more he felt like he was getting the short end of the stick.
Damn, his escort service was really thorough.
Thanks to Haidi Canglong, Yidai Tianjiao i, and Zhuo Jiusi for their tips."