Around ten at night, Naruto went to bed as scheduled.
After all, he had to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next day to train.
At his age, when his body was still growing, he couldn't afford to stay up late.
The night was silent. Clearing his mind, Naruto quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Yet, it wasn't long before Naruto, still groggy, suddenly woke up.
This wasn't a natural awakening. The icy cold sensation around his ankles was what jolted him out of his sleep.
Naruto opened his eyes drowsily. However, upon seeing his surroundings, he instantly assumed a battle stance, his gaze vigilant as he surveyed his environment.
The dim corridor stretched endlessly, its dark gray walls creating an oppressive atmosphere. It felt as though he were trapped inside the belly of a giant serpent.
Beneath his feet was ankle-deep water. Although clear, it was freezing cold, and it was precisely this that had awakened him.
Naruto distinctly remembered falling asleep at home. So why, when he opened his eyes, was he in a completely unfamiliar place?
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Kidnapping?
Could it be that the Third Hokage or Danzo had finally acted against him? Was this one of Konoha's secret prisons?
Naruto's expression darkened at the thought. If that were true, it would spell disaster.
Though he had the support of his system, he still needed time to steadily grow stronger.
"No... it can't be Danzo. I'm certain my actions up to this point haven't exposed any flaws. With the Third Hokage keeping him in check, Danzo wouldn't dare hold onto such a dangerous wildcard like me."
Naruto quickly calmed himself, analyzing the situation rationally.
Danzo might possess the overpowered Kotoamatsukami from Shisui's Sharingan, but even so, it was his trump card for survival. He wouldn't recklessly use it unless he was absolutely certain he could control both Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
As he thought of the Nine-Tails, a realization struck Naruto like lightning. He carefully scrutinized his surroundings once more, piecing together the clues.
"The consciousness space within the Eight Trigrams Seal?"
Naruto muttered to himself. With the mystery unraveled, the fear in his heart gradually dissipated.
"The Nine-Tails... an old acquaintance, huh?"
Since the sealing techniques of the Eight Trigrams Seal were in place, even if he had prematurely entered the Nine-Tails' domain, there was no reason to panic.
"So, it's Kurama, one of the top-tier powerhouses in the early stages of Naruto."
With a smirk, Naruto waded through the water, heading deeper into the shadowy corridor.
As he carefully approached the end of the passage, Naruto was taken aback by what he saw.
Eight branching paths appeared before him, each equally dark and seemingly endless.
"Damn, this is definitely the Eight Trigrams Seal for you. Even the consciousness space is so intricate?"
Naruto couldn't help but complain. However, he had a plan.
Based on his understanding, the Nine-Tails was sealed within his body, and his sudden appearance here must be connected to it.
Staring at the eight pathways, Naruto sat down on the ground, steadied his breathing, and relaxed his mind to sense his surroundings.
In less than three seconds, Naruto opened his eyes and turned toward the pathway leading to the Gate of Death.
"Sealed behind the Gate of Death, huh?"
He rose and walked toward the corridor leading to the gate.
Naruto's knowledge of the Naruto series gave him confidence. While the twists and turns of the Eight Trigrams Seal's consciousness space seemed complex, they weren't particularly advanced in the eyes of true experts.
In the original story, Sasuke had entered Naruto's consciousness space and confronted the Nine-Tails simply by relying on his Mangekyo Sharingan.
As Naruto approached the end of the corridor, his mind filled with visions of what the Nine-Tails might look like.
Soon, he arrived at a massive stone hall.
Unlike the low corridors he had passed through, this hall, constructed of black stone, had an entrance towering over 30 meters high. Its interior was so vast that its full extent remained unseen.
Though there was no door blocking the entrance, Naruto could only make out a shallow pool of water through the dim light. The rest of the hall was shrouded in darkness.
If he hadn't already known what lay within, Naruto would never have dared to step inside. The sight was too terrifying.
Swallowing hard, Naruto took a cautious step into the stone hall.
Even though he moved with care, the silence of the place was oppressive. Every splash his steps made seemed deafening in the absolute stillness.
Suddenly, before Naruto could even take in his surroundings or search for the core of the seal, a chilling yet searing energy enveloped him.
In that instant, Naruto became acutely aware of every sensation around him. Whispers, giggles, and mocking laughter, faint and sinister, echoed in his ears.
These sounds immediately triggered the hatred he harbored toward the villagers of Konoha. The negative emotions he had grown accustomed to were amplified to an unbearable degree.
A surge of rage, resentment, and an overwhelming desire to destroy everything in sight erupted within him.
"Damn it... damn it all!"
Unlike the anime, where the scene was over in an instant, Naruto now faced an entirely different reality.
In the anime, viewers saw Naruto reach the Nine-Tails' sealed area with relative ease. But here and now, the momentary influence of the hatred nearly overwhelmed him.
With a roar, Naruto forced himself to snap out of it, his eyes wide with fear.
Even a brief moment of surrender to the hatred had been enough to envelop him in the Nine-Tails' dark red chakra, which was visible to the naked eye.
"What terrifying power," Naruto muttered. Stabilizing his emotions, he managed to dispel the chakra that had begun to erode his will.
Before he could even catch his breath, a deep, cold, and disdainful voice echoed through the hall.
The voice, filled with regal authority and condescension, reverberated in every corner, commanding absolute attention.
"Uzumaki… Naruto?"
Naruto froze upon hearing those words and slowly lifted his head.
What lay before him was still an endless abyss of darkness. As he cautiously scanned the shadowy surroundings to either side, he suddenly caught sight of something.
Out of the pitch-black void ahead, two enormous vertical pupils slowly emerged, glowing with an ominous crimson light.
The pupils seemed like a gateway to an abyss; even a brief glance was enough to leave one with an unnerving, soul-piercing sensation.
Naruto realized he was standing less than five meters from those enormous, scarlet eyes.
The overwhelming visual impact was indescribable, shaking him to his very core.
"Who… are you?"
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Naruto asked cautiously.
His soul had come from another world, and his relationship with the Nine-Tails was a delicate one. He wasn't sure if the creature knew that Naruto had been replaced.
If the Nine-Tails didn't know, he could proceed with his plan as usual. If it did, then it was time to come clean.
Know yourself and your opponent, and you'll always emerge victorious. Naruto had always been a firm believer in careful preparation before action.
"Hmph. Who am I?"
The massive vertical pupils reflected Naruto's young, barely composed face, betraying his attempt to appear calm.
"I didn't expect… you to get here so quickly."
Hearing this, Naruto breathed a silent sigh of relief. This statement revealed that the Nine-Tails was unaware of his soul's replacement.
"Strange guy. I ask you a question, and you don't answer. Instead, you spout some cryptic nonsense," Naruto replied, tilting his head with a deliberately childish innocence. "Oh, by the way, what do you look like? Or are you just a pair of eyes?"
"Hmph."
The Nine-Tails let out a cold snort, and suddenly, clusters of golden light illuminated the pitch-black hall.
Naruto's eyes widened as a colossal iron gate loomed into view before him.
Through the narrow gaps of the gate, he caught sight of a massive, terrifying orange-red silhouette.
"Whoa… why are you so big?"
Despite his internal shock, Naruto maintained an expression of wide-eyed curiosity. "By the way, who's the jerk that locked you up in here?"
He tilted his head and examined the surroundings, then glanced at the gate again before addressing the Nine-Tails with an apologetic tone. "Sorry, but this gate is way too high. I don't think I can help you get out."
At first, the Nine-Tails was merely intrigued that this little brat had managed to manifest his consciousness at such a young age.
But who could've predicted that the brilliant, cunning Minato Namikaze would have a son so… foolish?
The boy had just outright declared his intention to release the Nine-Tails—in front of the creature itself.
"Hmph. Brat, do you truly want to set me free?"
---
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