Kushina was a member of the Uzumaki clan, and moreover, she had been designated as the next Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. As such, the clan had already told her many things about the Nine-Tails.
Yet only now did she realize that her own understanding of the Nine-Tails was actually inferior to that of Arata—an outsider.
She had never once heard anyone say that the Nine-Tails could speak human language, much less that it even had its own name!
Thinking of this, Kushina asked curiously,
"The Nine-Tails has a name? What is it called?"
Seeing how eager she was, Arata deliberately took his time before replying,
"The Nine-Tails' name is something only those it acknowledges are qualified to know. You're not qualified yet."
Although Arata's words carried a hint of condescension, Kushina understood that, at present, she truly wasn't worthy of knowing the Nine-Tails' name. Still, her competitive streak was strong. Almost immediately, she made up her mind that she would definitely make that demon fox tell her its name with its own mouth!
With a resolute expression, she declared,
"I'll make it tell me its name itself!"
Arata nodded.
"That's a good attitude. I hope you can keep it up. Come with me."
As he spoke, Arata took Kushina along. In the blink of an eye, they appeared right in front of the Nine-Tails.
At this moment, the Nine-Tails—having already been thoroughly battered by Arata's lightning bombardment earlier—had completely lost any interest in resisting. Although arcs of lightning were still crackling across its body, it couldn't even be bothered to care anymore and simply lay there, sound asleep.
After all, the power of this kind of electric shock was limited. Once it adapted, it could practically ignore it. The real problem was that it couldn't break free from the lightning threads binding it.
Those threads didn't look like much, but their toughness far exceeded the Nine-Tails' expectations. Earlier, it had even forcibly gathered a Tailed Beast Bomb, yet still failed to blast the lightning threads apart.
Following Arata, Kushina approached to within just a few meters of the Nine-Tails. At such close range, she finally truly understood how terrifyingly powerful it was.
Leaving everything else aside, just the chakra within the Nine-Tails—vast and unfathomable like a boundless ocean—was something she had never seen before.
No—strictly speaking, this was the second time.
Because during her earlier interactions with Arata, Kushina had already discovered that the chakra within him seemed just as endless. No matter how she tried to sense it, she could never determine its depth.
That meant Arata's chakra reserves might even surpass those of the Nine-Tails.
As for the Nine-Tails' chakra, although it was still astonishingly immense, Kushina could at least roughly estimate it—it was at the super–Kage level.
Still terrifying, yes, but compared to Arata's bottomless chakra, it clearly fell short by more than a little.
That made sense. Otherwise, how could the Nine-Tails be so obediently confined within Arata's space? Obviously, its strength was inferior to Arata's—if it weren't, this would never have happened.
This realization only deepened Kushina's admiration for Arata. The Nine-Tails was a calamity of the shinobi world—something everyone fled from on sight—yet Arata could imprison it as casually as if it were a pet.
At such close range, Kushina could clearly see the lightning constantly dancing across the Nine-Tails' body, as well as the rising heat in the surrounding area. She understood immediately: the reason the Nine-Tails wasn't moving wasn't because it didn't want to—it was because the lightning had completely suppressed its ability to act.
With that realization, Kushina felt even less afraid. With a powerful Arata at her side, and the Nine-Tails bound so tightly it couldn't move, this bold little girl marched straight up to the Nine-Tails, slapped its eyelid, and shouted,
"Hey! Nine-Tails! Wake up!"
The resting Nine-Tails felt something like a mosquito landing on its eyelid and slowly opened its eyes.
What it saw wasn't a mosquito, but a human girl it had never seen before—one with familiar red hair. Instantly, the Nine-Tails thought of Uzumaki Mito.
Looking closer, it realized that this little girl really did resemble Mito in several ways.
But what kind of existence was the great Nine-Tails? Since when had it ever tolerated being so brazenly provoked by some brat? Immediately, it let out a furious roar.
The roar produced a deafening boom. Violent winds surged through the space, nearly blowing Kushina away.
Fortunately, Arata appeared beside her in time and grabbed her, or else the girl would have been swept away by the gale.
Only then did the Nine-Tails notice Arata's presence. Facing the brat who had tormented it all day, its hatred ran deep.
Unfortunately, it didn't dare to act up. After suffering once already, it had no desire to experience that again. If it acted too arrogantly, who knew how Arata would deal with it next?
So after seeing Arata, it merely snorted coldly and resumed its aloof posture, lying back down.
...
Having been sent flying by the Nine-Tails' roar, Kushina showed no fear at all. Instead, her naturally combative nature was stirred. She walked back up to the Nine-Tails and continued,
"Stop pretending you're asleep, Nine-Tails! I know you can talk! Tell me—who was it that killed Mito-hime?!"
The Nine-Tails was about to go back to dozing off, but Kushina's words made it open its eyes again.
Because they reminded it of another nightmare—
Uchiha Madara.
Perhaps only that man was enough to make the Nine-Tails temporarily set aside its hatred for humanity. After all, no matter how hateful humans were, none compared to Madara, who had treated it like nothing more than a disposable pet—summoning it when useful, draining it dry, and discarding it when done.
That was the greatest humiliation it had ever suffered.
Kushina's nerve also made the Nine-Tails regard her in a new light. Other humans—even Kage-level powerhouses—wouldn't dare say a word when facing it, often turning tail and fleeing on the spot.
As for children, most would burst into tears the instant they saw it, terrified out of their minds—who would dare speak to it like this?
As for how this little girl knew it could talk, the Nine-Tails didn't even need to think about it. It was almost certainly Arata who had told her.
And Arata himself was something the Nine-Tails deeply feared. This kid had originally been nothing more than an ordinary human—something the Nine-Tails, sealed within Mito, knew very well. It simply couldn't understand how someone with almost no connection to the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline could grow to such a level of power.
If it weren't for maintaining its cold, aloof image, the Nine-Tails might have already asked out loud.
As for Kushina's question, although it wanted to keep silent, Arata—standing nearby with his arms crossed—slowly raised a single finger.
That was enough.
The Nine-Tails knew that if it tried to play tricks, another storm of lightning would surely follow. Left with no choice, it finally said unwillingly,
"The one who killed Uzumaki Mito… was Uchiha Madara."
When it spoke those four words, the Nine-Tails ground its teeth in hatred.
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