In the damp and cold sealed space, one man and one fox stood quietly facing each other from across the red cage bars, their heights contrasting sharply.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Water droplets fell from the eternally dark cell above, emphasizing the eerie silence within the seal space.
"Human, how…how do you know my name?"
Kyubi couldn't hold back any longer and broke the silence first, staring intently at Naruto.
Naruto, with his hands in his pockets and his large black robe draped over his shoulders, answered with a nonchalant expression and dead fish eyes, "I heard it from others."
"You're lying!" Kyubi reacted violently, baring his teeth and shouting angrily, "Despicable human, do you still want to continue deceiving me?"
"Human? Are you talking to me?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Despicable human, when I get out, I'll tear you to pieces!"
"It seems you still don't understand the current situation, Kurama." Naruto looked up with a smile and suddenly pointed at Kyubi.
"What do you want to do?"
"Haha, I was just trying to scare you. Look how frightened you are." Naruto grinned.
"Damn it! Are you mocking me?"
Kyubi roared in fury, seemingly ready to unleash another wave of red Chakra.
But this time, Naruto's expression changed instantly, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a serious look. He pointed at Kyubi and said, "Bind him."
As his words fell, the red cage bars suddenly shrank inward at a rapid speed, rapidly compressing Kyubi's movement space.
"Roar!!!"
"Damn it! What have you done! Aahh!!!"
Kyubi's roar echoed as the red cage bars were struck violently, making loud bangs.
[Four Symbols Seal, max level.]
Naruto stood calmly, patiently waiting for Kyubi's anger to subside. It was a while until the sealed space was quiet once more.
"Human…"
"I'll be back, Kurama. I hope that next time, we can have a pleasant conversation." Naruto said, his consciousness flickered and he left the seal space directly.
In a flash, Naruto stood in the hallway. The heavy rain outside had almost stopped. He reached into his pocket, trying to find his apartment key.
As he pulled out the keys, he suddenly heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the other end of the corridor, and it seemed that there was more than one person.
After what happened just now, Naruto furrowed his brows and stared at the entrance of the corridor.
"Naruto!"
A girl's bright and melodious voice starkly contrasted with the death and blood. Her jade-like neck moved with her sakura-pink hair, so white it was almost dazzling.
Sakura walked out from the hallway with a smile, waving at Naruto from afar. The post-rain golden sunlight filtered through her hair.
Following behind him were two people, the lazy Kakashi and the icy-faced Sasuke.
"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi had been to Naruto's house before, but this was the first time he used the front door, so he seemed somewhat unfamiliar with it.
For some reason, Anbu's members liked appearing on rooftops or outside windows, places animals usually prefer. It's no wonder they wore animal masks.
Sasuke stared straight ahead at the blond boy who was about to open the door. His gaze stopped at his smooth forehead without the forehead protector, and he said with a tone of disdain mixed with regret, "Tsk."
"Sakura? Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke? Why are you here?" Naruto's hand was behind his back, ready to activate the Four Symbols Seal at any moment.
"That Chunin Exams," Sakura said loudly, mustering her courage, "We all want to take part in it together with you, Naruto!"
"Huh?"
Naruto tilted his head, his hand behind his back slowly relaxing.
…
The Root's underground office.
"Danzo-sama, the mission failed. Isata is dead."
A Root Shinobi wearing a blue patterned mask knelt on one knee, while Danzo, with his right eye bandaged, sat solemnly in front of his desk without saying a word.
"Dead?" Danzo asked sullenly, "What about the Kyubi's Jinchuriki?"
"He…"
"Speak!" Danzo stared at the Shinobi and said dissatisfiedly.
The Shinobi, who was half-kneeling on the ground, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and answered mechanically, "The Kyubi's Jinchuriki swallowed Isata."
"Swallowed?"
"It's a Sealing Technique!" The Root Shinobi responded truthfully, "It should be the Four Symbols Seal of the Uzumaki Clan. Isata was sucked into the seal."
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Danzo tapped the table and coldly spoke, "Go tell Sandaime that the Jinchuriki Qualification Test Experiment has failed and the target exceeds the Root's containment value."
"Temporarily set the violation level to: 7."
In the Root, everyone had to obey Danzo's orders absolutely and never ask any questions. The Root Shinobi acknowledged the command and disappeared immediately.
…
On the other side, Sandaime was smoking his pipe with a serious expression, his brows tightly furrowed. He was looking at two reports on his desk.
One report was the mission failure test result from Root, and the other was a collective request submitted by Team 7 to restore Naruto's eligibility for the Chunin Exams.
The form not only contained requests from Sakura and Sasuke but also an unexpected accountability statement from Kakashi, complete with handprints and signatures.
"Hokage-sama, this..." The The Hokage's guard, Raido, stood by with a similarly grim expression, "The power of the Jinchuriki has already exceeded the village's control."
"It hasn't reached that point yet." Sandaime exhaled a puff of white smoke. His face was withered like tree bark, but his eyes were sharp like a hawk's.
"Kakashi mentioned Naruto's Jutsu in the mission report from the Land of Waves, describing it as scorching lava. That's a fusion of Earth and Fire Chakra Attributes into Lava Release, used by Yonbi's Jinchuriki from the Land of Earth."
"Yonbi… Jinchuriki?" Raido was a little surprised, "How could Naruto use the Jutsu of the Yonbi's Jinchuriki from the Land of Earth?"
"I don't know." Sandaime said seriously, "I initially wanted to test whether Naruto had been replaced by someone else in the Land of Waves, possibly by the recently appeared self-proclaimed Shinobi God."
"Naruto's recent behavior is very strange, with inexplicable wealth and power... but only the members of the Uzumaki Clan can use the Four Symbols Seal, and only Naruto can contain the Kyubi..."
As he spoke, Sandaime let out another helpless sigh, closed his eyes and gave instructions, "Order the Anbu to cease the surveillance on the Jinchuriki."
"But… Hokage-sama, wouldn't it be too dangerous if the Jinchuriki is not supervised?"
"After all…" Raido looked at the report from the Root, where it clearly stated.
[Violation Level: 7]
"Hokage-sama, there are only 10 violation levels, right?" Raido swallowed hard, "But even Kyubi's danger level is only 6."
"The Four Symbols Seal is a very dangerous Sealing Technique that can seal the Kyubi and even any object." Sandaime explained in a deep voice.
"The people at Root always like to exaggerate the facts and always ignore individual human beings. But humans have emotions, and weapons can be controlled."
"Sunshine, flowers, bonds of friendship, budding love, recognition from the village… These are the best ways to contain a weapon."