Hanekawa naturally wouldn't rush forward to court death.
With his small frame, he wasn't even enough to fill the Nine-Tails' teeth gap.
However, judging from Uzumaki Kushina's situation, she hadn't fully transformed into the Tailed Beast state but only entered a partial transformation, and with just five tails.
With Tsunade and Minato Namikaze around, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
Hanekawa let out a sigh of relief but couldn't help feeling a bit envious.
That chakra capacity was practically endless, countless times more than his.
Even though he had his cheats, his chakra level was only slightly above average, nothing exceptional.
He couldn't help wondering when he'd get a cheat that boosted chakra capacity.
Hanekawa didn't have to wait long before Uzumaki Kushina returned to normal.
He quickly stepped forward and scanned the three of them—none of them were injured.
"Hanekawa."
Uzumaki Kushina looked a bit embarrassed and said, "I must've scared you, right? Sorry."
"Not at all," Hanekawa shook his head and replied.
"I've always said, this brat has nerves of steel," Tsunade chuckled lightly.
As her student, Hanekawa was qualified to know about the Nine-Tails, so they hadn't hidden anything from his.
Besides, Hanekawa had already seen Kushina's partial transformation, so there was no point in further concealing it.
"Not bad for Lady Tsunade's student," Minato Namikaze said with a warm smile.
Hanekawa felt a sense of warmth.
No wonder he was called the "Little Sun."
But… he quickly remembered another of Minato's nicknames: "Blue Water."
Ah, the things us Naruto fans come up with!
"You've already gained control over the Nine-Tails, haven't you? Why did it go berserk again today?" Tsunade asked Kushina.
"I was trying to borrow its power," Kushina explained.
Borrow? Hanekawa secretly thought to himself. That's more like taking by force.
In the original series, Uzumaki Kushina's relationship with the Nine-Tails was terrible—constant chains and restraints.
"Just be careful," Tsunade sighed.
She wanted to advise against it, but as a Jinchūriki, mastering the Nine-Tails' power was essential.
It wasn't just for Kushina's sake; it was also for Konoha's benefit.
"I understand," Kushina said, nudging Minato with her elbow and smiling. "With the Flying Thunder God Technique, nothing will go wrong."
"Mm," Minato nodded.
In the original series, the Flying Thunder God Technique could even teleport away a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"What's the Nine-Tails?" Hanekawa pretended to ask innocently, as if hearing about it for the first time.
"Legend has it that the Sage of Six Paths had nine immensely powerful summons, ranked by the number of tails from one to nine," Tsunade recalled. "The Nine-Tails resides in the Hidden Leaf Village."
"It was the First Hokage who sealed the Nine-Tails," Minato added, "and the ninja chosen as its container is called a Jinchūriki."
"I am the current Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails," Kushina said with a complicated expression.
Although every village treated its Jinchūriki as a trump card, the frequent rampages made their lives far from pleasant.
Ever since becoming a Jinchūriki, Kushina had essentially been under house arrest.
"I have a question," Hanekawa hesitated for a moment before asking, "Does the Nine-Tails have intelligence?"
"Yes," Kushina replied. "Its intelligence rivals that of a human."
"Then why not try cooperating with it?" Hanekawa asked in return.
"Cooperate?" Kushina was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. "It only harbors hatred toward me. Cooperation is impossible."
"I think it's worth a try," Hanekawa said firmly. "If you could establish a partnership, you wouldn't have to take such risks to borrow its power."
Tsunade looked surprised but couldn't deny that this was a unique perspective.
Both generations of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki had never considered the feelings of the Nine-Tails. Or rather, neither had the higher-ups of Konoha. They only cared about its power.
Minato Namikaze's eyes lit up.
This was indeed an unconventional idea.
"The problem is, we can't just let it out," Minato quickly pinpointed the issue and asked, "So what kind of cooperation could there be?"
"I'm not sure," Hanekawa paused before replying. "But since it has intelligence, it might have preferences similar to humans."
"Teach it to gamble!" Tsunade blurted out.
She had never gambled with a Tailed Beast before.
"That sounds pretty fun," Uzumaki Kushina immediately became interested.
The Nine-Tails was very lonely, and so was she.
Confined to the barrier all day, there were fewer than ten people qualified to talk to her.
Now, with the addition of the Nine-Tails, it felt like she had gained a new toy.
"But the sealing space doesn't allow physical items to be sent in," Minato said, frowning slightly.
"Huh?" Kushina asked, disappointed. "Then what should we do?"
"Chakra is universal," Hanekawa suggested after a brief thought. "You could use chakra to simulate things."
"Great idea!" Kushina's eyes lit up. She asked eagerly, "What should I simulate?"
"What do you do when you're bored?" Hanekawa asked back.
"Read books or play games," Kushina said, though she looked doubtful. "Would a Tailed Beast like those?"
"Who knows," Hanekawa replied with a smile. "Just give it a try."
"Then let's start with books!" Kushina paced back and forth, then said, "But we shouldn't let it read everything at once. We should keep it curious."
"Good idea," Hanekawa suggested. "Make it want more."
"What kind of book should we give it?" Kushina suddenly remembered something and pulled out a book. "How about this one?"
Minato glanced at the book and smiled warmly, like the sun.
It was none other than The Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja, written by Jiraiya—a book he personally loved.
"I think that'll work," Hanekawa said, recalling his past life.
When he first got into online novels, every book seemed great. Only after reading for a while did his standards rise.
The Nine-Tails, having never read anything, wouldn't be picky either.
Most importantly, it was too lonely.
After being confined for so long, anyone would feel isolated.
Just having something to read would already be a treat.
Of course, Hanekawa wasn't sure if this would succeed.
If it didn't, it wouldn't matter much—nothing would be lost.
But if it worked, Hanekawa could gain favor with both Kushina and Minato, giving her more security in Konoha.
"I'll go see it now," Kushina said, closing her eyes.
Her consciousness sank into the dim sealed space.
The Nine-Tails sensed Kushina's presence and immediately became enraged.
It slammed against the iron gates formed by the seal and roared, "Damn human! I'll eat you alive!"
A fierce wind swept toward her.
Kushina stepped back until she was as far away as possible, then began condensing chakra into words.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan and a practitioner of sealing techniques, her chakra reserves and control were more than sufficient for this task.
"Big Fox, make sure to read this," Kushina wrote before leaving the sealed space.
"What is this?" The Nine-Tails instinctively looked over, curious about what she was up to.
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