"Huh? I'm here again!"
That night, after Naruto fell asleep, his consciousness once more drifted into the familiar space where the Nine-Tails was sealed.
Standing before the massive sealing gate, Naruto cupped his hands and shouted,
"Hey, fox inside! I'm here again! Come out and chat with me!"
"Scram."
A cold, irritable voice echoed from behind the gate, mercilessly rejecting him.
"Why?"
Naruto plopped himself down in front of the gate, utterly unbothered.
"But I've got so many questions I want to ask you!"
...
Silence answered him.
The stillness itself felt like a form of protest.
"Why aren't you talking?"
Naruto didn't mind in the slightest. He began rambling to himself.
"Big Fox, did you know? I started school today. I even learned how to condense chakra! I'm telling you, the teacher only explained it once and I understood it right away. I thought I was a genius at first—but then I realized everyone else learned it just as fast. I was happy for nothing."
He scratched his head, then continued thoughtfully,
"But ever since I learned Observation Haki, I feel like I can sense other people's emotions more clearly… and I also feel like I've gotten a bit smarter."
"Wait."
The voice suddenly returned.
Naruto froze.
A moment later, the enormous fox stepped into view behind the bars of the seal, its gaze sharp and focused.
"What did you just say?" the Nine-Tails demanded."What is this Observation Haki?"
"Whoa! Big Fox, you came out!"
Naruto's face lit up instantly. Delighted that the Nine-Tails was finally willing to talk, he answered without hesitation.
"Observation Haki is a power I… learned in another world."
"Another world?"
The Nine-Tails' pupils constricted.
It didn't brush the statement aside like the others had. Instead, it connected the dots—Naruto's strange words, the dragon from before, the sudden isolation from the Tailed Beast space, the surge in Naruto's Yin chakra.
Its tone sharpened.
"Explain."
"It's just… another world."
Naruto scratched his head, looking troubled.
"Um… I don't really know how to explain it."
Because of the system's restrictions, he quite literally couldn't explain it.
The Nine-Tails studied Naruto's expression and quickly understood. After a brief pause, it asked more precisely,
"You can travel to another world. And there, you learned a technique called Observation Haki that allows you to sense emotions. Is that correct?"
"Mm-hmm!~"
Naruto nodded vigorously, then added happily,
"And I made really reliable friends there!"
The Nine-Tails ignored the word friends entirely.
Instead, it asked,
"The dragon you fought last time—was it from that world?"
"That's right!"
Naruto clenched his fist indignantly.
"Uncle Kaido is way too hateful! He actually got serious with a kid. I'm definitely going to beat him up with Yamato next time!"
"Kaido…"
The Nine-Tails' eyes narrowed.
"That is the dragon's name? Can you communicate with it?"
"Of course!"
Naruto nodded confidently.
"Uncle Kaido's not normal and his temper is terrible, but you can still talk to him. And he's not really a dragon—he ate a Devil Fruit that lets him turn into one."
"A Devil Fruit… that allows transformation?"
The Nine-Tails grew increasingly intrigued.
"And how do you enter this other world?"
"Well…"
Naruto hesitated, then waved his hands.
"It's kind of like—whoosh—and then I'm there."
...
For a moment, the Nine-Tails was speechless.
Still, it patiently continued questioning Naruto about the other world.
Naruto, at an age where the desire to share burned brightest, talked endlessly. The Nine-Tails was unusually patient, and Naruto could clearly feel that the fox's malice toward him was far weaker than before.
Besides, Naruto had already realized something important.
This fox couldn't leave.
With that reassurance, he forgot all about being cautious and poured out everything he knew about the Pirate World.
Unfortunately, he had only spent three days there—and two of them unconscious. His understanding was shallow, and his descriptions fragmented.
The Nine-Tails frowned deeply.
"Kid."
After a long silence, the Nine-Tails made a decision.
It extended a massive paw toward the seal, curling it slowly into a fist.
"Let's make a deal."
Naruto looked up.
"In the future, when you encounter danger, I will lend you my chakra," the Nine-Tails said slowly."But in exchange, you must not block my perception of the outside world."
"How about it?"
Understanding the other world through Naruto's words alone was insufficient.
If it wanted answers, it needed to see.
"Lend me chakra?"
Naruto stared at the fox for a moment, then stood up and walked closer to the gate, smiling brightly.
"Okay! What do I need to do?"
At this moment, Naruto felt no malice from the Nine-Tails at all. He remembered how its chakra had protected him in the Pirate World, so he agreed without hesitation.
As for not blocking its perception—
He didn't even understand what that meant.
"Just put your fist through and bump fists with me," the Nine-Tails said, lowering its fist to Naruto's height.
"Oh!~"
Naruto raised his own small fist, reached through the sealing gate, and gently tapped it against the Nine-Tails'.
The instant their fists touched, a warm sensation flowed into Naruto's body.
His eyes widened.
He could clearly feel the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"It's so warm!" Naruto exclaimed in shock."It feels really comfortable!"
At this moment, the Nine-Tails possessed only its Yang half.
With its hostility restrained, its chakra felt like sunlight—vast, powerful, and warm.