The Nine-Tails looked at Yoruha and said coldly, "You go to such lengths for Naruto, yet that brat sees you as a rival. In his mind, your image isn't exactly great."
These words weren't meant to sow discord—the Nine-Tails was simply curious. Naruto clearly didn't think much of Yoruha, so why would Yoruha go this far?
Yoruha understood what the Nine-Tails was saying, but he didn't care.
"I know. He's just a kid—jealousy is natural. Besides, that's just how he is. I'm well aware that he sees me as a rival, but I believe that if I were ever in danger, he wouldn't hesitate to save me."
"Being seen as a rival isn't a bad thing. At the very least, it motivates me to keep getting stronger, and it gives him someone to chase after. As long as I keep improving, he'll have to push himself to grow too. In the end, it benefits both of us."
Yoruha didn't care what Naruto thought.
At this stage, Naruto still had a childish mindset—after all, he was only twelve years old.
But Yoruha knew that once Naruto grew up, he wouldn't be the same as he was now.
Not to mention, Yoruha and Naruto weren't even on the same team.
Naruto's attitude didn't really matter to him.
Everything he had just said to the Nine-Tails was, in truth, just to fool it.
Yoruha knew exactly how Naruto would turn out in the future—Naruto would never truly see him as an enemy.
And even if he did, so what?
Yoruha had absolute confidence that his future would be no worse than Naruto's—he might even surpass him.
So why bother worrying about such trivial things?
Perhaps it was because he had spent so much time fooling Sasuke and Naruto in the past that now, facing the Nine-Tails, Yoruha naturally started making things up again.
Whether it was true or not, or how much of it was true, he didn't care.
He'd forget about it in a while anyway.
But the Nine-Tails believed him.
Because Yoruha spoke with complete seriousness, without the slightest change in his emotions.
There was no malice in his tone.
That meant he must be telling the truth.
The Nine-Tails was baffled. "Brat, you're just a kid yourself, yet you talk as if you're not?"
It found Yoruha's attitude ridiculous.
He spoke as if Naruto was a child while excluding himself from that category.
Yoruha said calmly, "I may be young, but that doesn't mean I'm a child."
The Nine-Tails assumed he was just being stubborn.
But Yoruha wasn't wrong—his soul had never been that of a child.
The Nine-Tails sneered, "Even if you're strong, at the end of the day, you're still just a kid. And you don't lack any of the typical childish thoughts."
Yoruha didn't bother arguing with the Nine-Tails.
He simply turned and prepared to leave.
But after walking a few steps, he stopped.
With his back to the Nine-Tails, he said, "Honestly, I think you should just accept Naruto. Do you really want to spend your whole life trapped in a Jinchūriki, carrying your hatred forever?"
"If you accept Naruto, at least you'll have a bit more freedom."
"And that brat… he has a lot of potential. Don't you think?"
The Nine-Tails snorted. "Dream on! You think I'd submit to that kid? Keep dreaming!"
Yoruha shook his head, then turned to look at the Nine-Tails. "I'm curious—why do you have so much resentment?"
"You know that as long as the Jinchūriki system exists, you Tailed Beasts will always be trapped inside a host, right?"
"Whether it was the First Hokage's wife, the Fourth Hokage's wife, or now Naruto—even if you don't accept him, there will always be another Jinchūriki after him. You're not getting out."
"And even if you did, you'd just be captured and sealed again—whether by Konoha's shinobi or another village's."
"But if you accept Naruto, at least you could have some freedom. You wouldn't have to spend every day in this dark prison."
"Who knows? Maybe you could even gain a friend in Naruto."
"ROAR—!"
A deafening roar—that was the Nine-Tails' response.
Yoruha shook his head. "Stubborn as ever. This is the only chance you have to gain some freedom."
"Otherwise, all that awaits you is an endless cycle of sealing. What's the point?"
"Hmph! You think I'd submit to that brat? On what grounds?"
"Is he Senju Hashirama? Or the Sage of Six Paths?"
Yoruha paused for a moment.
He knew about the Sage of Six Paths, but he hadn't expected the Nine-Tails to mention him.
"The Sage of Six Paths?"
Seeing Yoruha's puzzled expression, the Nine-Tails chuckled. "Don't tell me you don't know about him?"
"Of course I do—he's the legendary founder of the shinobi world."
The tales of the Sage of Six Paths were well known across the ninja world. But since so much time had passed, people treated him more like a mythical figure than a real person.
Many shinobi didn't even believe he had ever existed.
Yoruha's response was exactly what the Academy taught.
Naturally, he knew who the Sage of Six Paths was, but there was no way he would reveal that to the Nine-Tails.
Besides, it had been so long that most of the stories about the Sage had faded from memory.
All he really remembered was that the Sage had given Naruto and Sasuke their Six Paths powers.
That he was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's son.
And that he had sealed her away.
So Yoruha's reaction wasn't entirely an act.
The Nine-Tails smirked. "He truly was the founder of the shinobi world. But people only repeat his legend—they have no idea how powerful he really was."
As it spoke, the Nine-Tails' mind drifted back over a thousand years.
Even its own memories of that time had started to blur.
Seeing the Nine-Tails lost in thought, Yoruha turned to leave.
The Nine-Tails was exasperated. "You're really that impatient? You won't even listen to the rest?"
Yoruha truly wasn't interested. He could already guess what the Nine-Tails was going to say.
He just couldn't recall the finer details.
But that didn't matter.
He had no intention of memorizing it anyway.
As long as he was strong enough, by the time the Fourth Great Ninja War arrived—even if he wasn't some destined savior—he was confident he could at least protect his own life.
So he had no interest in the Sage of Six Paths' stories.
But for some reason, the Nine-Tails felt that Yoruha was different from the others.
Whether it was Indra, Asura, Hashirama, Madara, Mito Uzumaki, or Kushina Uzumaki—none of them had ever really spoken to it like this.
They had all treated it as a disaster, a monster.
Though Yoruha had reinforced the seal, making the Nine-Tails want to tear him apart, after talking for so long, it could sense that Yoruha, like the Sage of Six Paths, truly saw it as...
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