While the Akatsuki were locked in battle with Jigen, Naruto had already slipped unnoticed into the deepest chamber of the underground base—the place of greatest importance.
At that moment, he floated above a massive altar using Bukūjutsu, gazing down at the creature below: a slug-like monstrosity with ten writhing tails. The Ten-Tails.
Its enormous single eye blinked curiously at Naruto. Other than Jigen, this was the first human it had ever seen.
"So this is the Ten-Tails you mentioned?" Inside the seal space, Kurama couldn't hold back his disdainful snort. "Tch, it's hideous."
"You mean to tell me that I and the other Tailed Beasts were born from that thing?"
Kurama's nine tails lashed the ground of the seal space in irritation, his face twisted in disbelief. Clearly, he was disappointed with the Ten-Tails' appearance.
"No, you weren't born from this Ten-Tails. You came from another one."
Hearing this, Kurama let out a long sigh of relief. "Hah, I knew it. With how handsome I am, there's no way I came from something this ugly."
"The other Ten-Tails must have looked much more imposing, right?"
"No… the other one's even uglier."
Naruto wasn't wrong. Whether it was the grotesque husk of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path or the hermit-crab-like form of the Ten-Tails' complete body, neither could be called "good-looking."
At first glance, the one before them—with its gaping white teeth, a giant eye on its forehead, slug-like body, and tentacle-covered rear—was indeed monstrously ugly. But stare long enough and it almost seemed… ugly-cute.
Judging by its size and the amount of chakra it emitted, however, this Ten-Tails appeared to be only a juvenile. Its chakra levels were surprisingly low.
"ROAR!" Perhaps annoyed by being stared at, the Ten-Tails bellowed at Naruto.
"What's it saying, Kurama?" Naruto asked.
"How the hell would I know?" Kurama snapped. "I don't understand a word of it."
"But weren't you once part of the Ten-Tails? You don't remember anything?"
"Not a thing." Kurama shook his head firmly, then sneered at the beast. "No way I was ever part of that brute. If it has the guts, let it fight me."
Kurama brimmed with confidence now.
Even though only his Yang half resided in Naruto, his strength had soared after training with Kakarot's group. He had even mastered Yang Release Chakra Mode.
He was stronger now than he had ever been in his complete form.
Ever seen a fist the size of a mountain?
Anyone who messed with him would get a firsthand lesson in the true essence of muscles.
He wasn't about to forget all those years of suffering.
"Then come out and fight it," Naruto said, eyes lighting up.
"Not a chance!" Kurama cut him off without hesitation. "You're always trying to trick me into coming out. Not happening."
Naruto: "…"
"It says… it's hungry."
While Naruto and Kurama bickered, Kakarot suddenly spoke.
"!!!"
"You can understand it?"
"Yeah," Kakarot nodded. "Its speech sounds a bit like a leopard's… but also kind of like a saber-toothed tiger."
Naruto suddenly remembered: back during the Dragon Ball Adventure days, Kakarot had indeed shown the ability to communicate with animals. By the Z-era, though, that ability seemed to vanish.
Still, the ability had been passed down to his son Gohan, who as a child could speak with little dinosaurs and forest critters.
But that wasn't a Saiyan trait—other Saiyans didn't have it.
Naruto looked back at the beast. "So, you're hungry? Can you understand me?"
The Ten-Tails gave a surprisingly human-like nod.
"If I feed you, will you come with me?"
One of Naruto's main goals here was to take the Ten-Tails away.
"ROAR!"
Kakarot translated: "It says, if you can fill its belly, it'll go with you."
"What does it eat—chakra?" Naruto asked. Feeding a juvenile Ten-Tails shouldn't be too difficult.
Naruto didn't have much chakra himself—only a few hundred 'chakratons' at best, which likely wouldn't be enough. But ki… ki he had in abundance.
"Would ki work?"
He raised his right hand, and a translucent white glow appeared in his palm.
The slug-like Ten-Tails' enormous eye locked onto the energy, shining with eager desire.
"ROAR!"
Kakarot: "It says it can absorb it, and it wants you to hurry up and give it some."
"That's easy enough."
Gathering a portion of ki, Naruto extended his palm and gently pushed the energy toward the Ten-Tails.
"Here—catch!"
Not in the form of an energy blast, of course. Otherwise he'd just end up with a dead Ten-Tails.
"ROAR!"
With the infusion of ki, the Ten-Tails roared again. This time, even without Kakarot's translation, Naruto could hear the excitement in its voice.
Naruto steadily increased the flow—half a layer… a full layer… until he had given it the equivalent of two layers of ki.
The Ten-Tails let out another roar.
Kakarot: "It says it's full now. Any more and it'll get indigestion."
Naruto blinked. That little bit and you're full? Weakling. Pathetic.
He pointed at the beast. "Alright then, as promised—you're coming with me now."
"ROAR!"
The Ten-Tails bellowed again.
Kakarot translated: "It says there are strange rods stuck in its body. It can't move—it's bound in place."
Naruto looked closer. Sure enough, several massive black stakes were embedded in its tails and torso.
Products of Yin–Yang Release, the sort of restraints ordinary people couldn't hope to undo.
But they posed no problem for Naruto.
With a few casual ki blasts, he shattered the rods easily.
"ROAR!"
Freed from the bindings, the Ten-Tails howled skyward in exhilaration.
"Now, you'll come with me, right?" Naruto asked for the third time.
Its answer was… a massive Tailed Beast Ball.
"ROAR!"
The sphere hurtled toward him, but Naruto dodged it with ease.
The Ten-Tails roared again.
Kakarot: "It says now that it's full, it's changed its mind. Before it regrets its decision, it wants us to leave—otherwise it'll eat us all."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So… it's breaking the deal?"
"Forget it," he said, rolling up his sleeves. "It's still a Tailed Beast. And the simplest, most straightforward way for Tailed Beasts to bond… is with fists."
Naruto crooked his finger at the monster.
"Come on. Let's fight."
Boom, boom, boom!
The earth shook with the impact of heavy blows.
One strike, two strikes, three—like someone was slamming down a colossal hammer.
"Yeah, that's it! Give it a shoulder throw!"
"Hit it in the eye—just like you hit me back then!"
"Heh heh, go for the waist! Grab its tails! Pound it harder!"
As the ground quaked rhythmically, Kurama's gleeful shouts rang out from within the seal space.
A world where not only the Nine-Tails gets beaten—achieved.