Yoruha chuckled lightly.
"You don't have to believe me. It was just a suggestion."
Kurama, who had been wavering just moments earlier, now stared at Yoruha with a cold, piercing look.
The intensity of that gaze made Yoruha's scalp prickle.
"Why are you looking at me like that? You're the one who doesn't believe it."
Kurama lay back down, shutting its eyes with the clear intention of ending the conversation.
Seeing that he couldn't convince the fox, Yoruha stood up, preparing to leave the seal space.
"If you don't want to, then forget it. Just… try not to tempt him with your chakra so often. It's Nine-Tails chakra—he can't resist that kind of allure."
"And honestly, constantly baiting him to use your power doesn't do you any good, and it doesn't do him any good. Hurting someone else without benefitting yourself… why bother?"
Kurama remained silent, eyes closed, refusing to acknowledge him.
"Go away. I'm going to sleep."
Yoruha was speechless.
But he didn't get angry.
He knew exactly what Kurama's personality was like.
"Then I'm leaving. See you another time—though preferably not. Hahaha."
With that, Yoruha vanished from the seal space.
Only after he disappeared did Kurama open its eyes.
The cage—now empty and quiet—felt strangely hollow.
For reasons it didn't understand, something inside Kurama tightened with a faint sense of loss.
Yoruha was the first person in decades—no, centuries—willing to speak to it as an equal.
Even though the boy irritated it sometimes…
That was precisely why Kurama considered him someone worth talking to.
Otherwise, if it were anyone else?
They wouldn't just be annoying—Kurama would be enraged.
Staring at the empty cage, Kurama muttered softly:
"I wonder if that brat will come again…"
Then it snorted.
"…Hopefully not. Every time he talks, he pisses me off. Tch."
But even as it said that, a faint loneliness seeped through.
Perhaps this was why Naruto, in the original timeline, managed to earn Kurama's acknowledgment within just a few months—
Kurama had always been starved for someone who could speak with it, listen to it, and treat it like a being, not a monster.
Originally, Naruto should've been the first person after the Sage.
But Yoruha appeared out of nowhere and stole that spot.
Looking around at the spacious, black-and-gold cage, Kurama let out a soft laugh.
"This brat's power really is something. His Eight Trigrams Seal is far stronger than Minato's."
Yoruha's version of the seal differed from Minato's in a crucial way—the cage holding Kurama was several times larger, far brighter, and far less suffocating.
Unlike Minato's original seal, Yoruha had actually tried to improve Kurama's living conditions.
This was deliberate.
He didn't see a point in torturing the Nine-Tails for no reason.
Pain would only deepen its hatred for humans.
A more comfortable environment meant Naruto would have a better chance of communicating with Kurama.
Otherwise, Kurama's resentment toward humans might spill over onto Naruto himself.
Yoruha didn't do all this because he and Naruto were particularly close.
It was simple:
He didn't want Naruto's rampages to become his problem.
After all, Yoruha was currently the only person in Konoha with sealing techniques strong enough to restrain the Nine-Tails.
If Kurama ever broke free again, Kakashi would definitely call for him.
And he probably couldn't refuse.
He lived in Konoha—if something happened to the village, he'd deal with it.
That was only natural.
Yoruha genuinely respected Konoha as a home.
Politics and high-level power struggles didn't concern him.
Compared to the other great nations, Konoha had the most comfortable atmosphere—
the place he'd most willingly call home.
Helping the village was no burden.
And Naruto would one day become the savior of the ninja world.
Building a good relationship early on was never a bad thing.
More friends meant more paths forward.
Looking at the now-bright, expanded cage, Kurama felt a subtle warmth despite itself.
Sure, it was still a prison.
But compared to the past?
When it had been pinned down by giant molten pillars inside Mito and Kushina—
with its entire body nailed to searing rock—
it was torture.
Even for a creature of chakra, the pain was real.
It had spent decades like that.
Of course it held a grudge.
Even Minato's seal—though not as cruel—was still cramped, cold, and suffocating.
But Yoruha's modified seal allowed it far more freedom.
It was brighter. Spacious. Livable.
Of course, that required Yoruha to keep feeding chakra into the seal.
A normal Eight Trigrams Seal wouldn't have drained him so badly.
Kurama hadn't mentioned it, and Yoruha hadn't brought it up—
but Kurama knew.
It knew exactly what Yoruha had done.
And Yoruha was the first in a thousand years to speak with it on equal footing.
Even if today was their first meeting…
even if they'd only talked for a few hours…
In Kurama's heart, Yoruha already belonged in a different category than every human it had met.
Someone…
on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths.
Of course, it would never admit it out loud.
Kurama lay down and sighed.
"The shinobi world is so dark… I wonder if that brat will slip up one day."
Then it chuckled.
"No. With his personality? Impossible. If someone's going to get screwed over, it'll be someone else. With how vicious that brat is, he'll be the one causing trouble for everyone else. Hahaha…"
Kurama genuinely hoped Yoruha wouldn't die young.
Although the boy had monstrous talent and that mysterious power inside him…
A genius who hasn't grown up is just a corpse waiting to happen.
Yes—Yoruha's power far surpassed his peers.
But in Kurama's eyes, he had not yet reached the monstrous heights of Hashirama or Madara.
He was strong—Kage-class and among the stronger ones at that.
A miracle for a twelve-year-old.
But nowhere near the realm of mythical monsters.
Then again, expecting a twelve-year-old to reach Hashirama's level was absurd.
Even Yoruha himself felt his current strength was already unbelievable.
He had once thought becoming an elite jonin within half a year was impossible.
Yet here he was—far beyond what he'd dared to imagine.
His growth was on par with Naruto during the Fourth Great War—
when the Sage directly granted him Six Paths power.
A moment ago, Kurama had insulted him nonstop.
Yet now, the fox found itself… worrying.
It didn't want Yoruha to fall.
In the thousand-year history Kurama had witnessed, countless dazzling geniuses had appeared—
but most died before they could reach the heights of Hashirama and Madara.
The ninja world was cruel.
Too cruel.
And Kurama didn't want Yoruha to become another name on that long list.
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