I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 264 The Deal with the Nine-Tails

"..."

A brief silence.

Then, a huge, blurry figure emerged from behind the iron bars of the "cell"—a large, orange-red fox with nine tails. It glared fiercely at Uchiha Hikaru, its eyes filled with displeasure: "This aura… another inherently evil Uchiha? What are you doing here? Get out!"

The word "roll" was followed by the sound of the word falling.

A fierce aura suddenly erupted, transforming into a blood-red wave that surged outwards!

In the blink of an eye.

This spiritual space was filled with thick crimson blood, as if it had transformed into a boundless sea of ​​blood.

"……Oh."

"You're an old fox over a thousand years old, yet you're still so irritable, Kurama."

Uchiha Hikaru said it casually.

To be fair, the Nine-Tails' aura is still very strong.

If she had met this guy when she first arrived in the Naruto world, she might have been a little shocked. But now... after experiencing the trials and tribulations of several other worlds, seeing this scene again felt like having seen the ocean and finding other waters insignificant; her heart was completely unmoved.

Besides...

Although Kurama acted very fiercely.

However, to Uchiha Hikaru, who knew the original storyline, this guy was actually no different from a large orange cat or husky; he was just a tsundere who said one thing but did another.

Compared to its neighbors like Sukuna, Naraku, and Muzan, Kurama (the Nine-Tails) could even be considered a kind and innocent creature. Considering its history of being repeatedly captured and controlled over thousands of years, even its madness is understandable.

the other side.

Nine-Tailed Fox's pupils contracted: "What...did you just say?"

Nine Lama?

How does she know this name?!

"Well, I'm a born evil Uchiha, so what's so strange about me knowing a few secrets that no one else knows?"

"..."

Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes slightly and remained silent.

Just as Uchiha Hikaru recognized it.

It actually "knew" Uchiha Hikaru.

After all, before returning to the Uchiha clan as "great-grandmother," Uchiha Hikari had stayed at Naruto's house for several months. And Kurama (the Nine-Tails) could "see" the outside world from the perspective of a Jinchuriki. So, putting everything else aside, he knew that Uchiha Hikari possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan.

And considering what the previous Uchiha members with the Mangekyou Sharingan did...

A guess vaguely surfaced in Nine-Tails' mind:

"Ha, the Uchiha are just the Uchiha."

"Besides the tone of his voice, even his appearance is so repulsive, just like that man from back then..."

Speaking of "that man," Kurama's expression grew even more disgusted: "So, you came here this time to imitate those Uchiha guys from before, to let me out and cause a ruckus in Konoha? I knew it, guys like you will never be content with the status quo!"

"However, if that's your goal... I wouldn't mind cooperating this once. After all, I've wanted to tear this despicable village to shreds for a long time!"

"..."

Uchiha Hikaru pursed her lips slightly, looking at Kurama with the eyes one would give a husky: "You...have you misunderstood something?"

"Misunderstand?"

A mocking look appeared on Kurama's furry face: "Are you trying to say that you're different from the other Uchiha?"

"...That's not what I meant."

Uchiha Hikaru scratched his head: "What I mean is, besides having more chakra and being a bit bigger, what other noteworthy advantages do you have? If I wanted to destroy Konoha... I could do it myself, why would I need you?"

"!"

Nine-Tails paused for a moment, then flew into a rage: "Are you implying I'm weak?"

"puff--"

Uchiha Hikaru couldn't help but laugh out loud.

At that moment, she was thinking about Hashirama Senju's famous scenes.

Um... it's that head-patting gesture where the Nine-Tails says, "You're too strong, you need to be sealed away."

Strictly speaking, the difference between the Nine-Tails and Hashirama Senju isn't actually that great. It's just that how much power the Nine-Tails can unleash depends entirely on the user's skill. If used simply as a giant beast, even a slightly stronger Kage-level fighter could fight it to a standstill. But if one can awaken the "Perfect Jinchuriki," then that's a different story.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Seeing that Kurama was beginning to unleash a raging, impotent rage, Uchiha Hikaru's smile vanished. He coughed a few times and got to the point: "I don't know how much you know about me, but I am friends with this child's father, Minato Namikaze, who sealed you away. So, I'd like to speak with you on his behalf."

"If possible, I hope you can get along well with Naruto, and at least don't always cause trouble when he's training his ninjutsu."

During this meeting, Naruto did not bring up his ninjutsu training.

However, based on the information provided by Shisui and some scattered words spoken during Naruto and Sasuke's arguments, Uchiha Hikaru could easily guess that Naruto had indeed become the "bottom of the class" in the Ninja Academy again.

In theory, it doesn't really matter.

After all, compared to "demon fox," the nickname "bottom of the class" is actually a bit more palatable.

but……

Uchiha Hikaru was quite curious to see if Naruto would be any different in the future if he took the "genius" route.

Of course.

The Nine-Tails will never cooperate obediently.

"Ha, why should I do as you say?"

"Just look at my eyes."

Uchiha Hikaru closed his eyes, then opened them again a few seconds later, his eyes glowing with a fiery crimson: "My Mangekyou Sharingan can foresee parts of the future. Would you like to see them?"

……

Hikaru Uchiha did not show Kurama the entire 700-episode Shippuden series verbatim.

Instead, they selected a portion of it, mainly scenes related to him and Naruto, and broadcast them to him.

Nine-Tails' expression was somewhat unpredictable.

Hmm... it's actually quite difficult to see any expression other than disgust on its big, furry face.

"...You mean, this masked 'Uchiha Madara' will start the Fourth Shinobi World War in over ten years? And I'll team up with this brat to fight against him?"

"Impossible... Absolutely impossible!"

"He's the son of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina; those two were the ones who sealed me away... I'd rather die than team up with him!"

Nine-Tailed Fox was filled with indignation.

Uchiha Hikaru, however, simply looked at it with interest: "Are you sure?"

"..."

"Well, never mind. You probably thought what I showed you was all Sharingan genjutsu."

"But it's okay."

"I can make another deal with you. On the condition that I won't interfere with Naruto's training, I'll grant you one wish that isn't too unreasonable. How about it?"

This time.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was moved.

"Can you let me out of here?"

"...Do you even know what 'not too excessive' means?"

Releasing a tailed beast from a jinchūriki's body signifies the jinchūriki's death.

Therefore, it's impossible for Uchiha Hikaru to do that.

but……

If it's just a part of the Nine-Tails that's taken out, then it's not a problem.

In the Naruto world, chakra includes the concept of the soul, which is why Ashura and Indra were able to reincarnate through chakra, and why Minato and Namikaze were able to separate a portion of their souls and store it as chakra within Naruto. Therefore, taking a portion of the Nine-Tails out to experience the beauty of the human world is roughly equivalent to releasing the Nine-Tails.

—That's how Uchiha Hikaru fooled Kurama.

"……Really?"

Nine-Tails was confused by this explanation.

However, it also knew that this was probably the best outcome. So after a brief consideration, it nodded in agreement, then gathered a portion of its chakra and released it from the cage.

in this process.

Uchiha Hikaru glanced at the sealing technique on the cage.

She could vaguely sense that the technique contained the aura of two chakra, which she guessed were probably Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. However, due to the conditions set when the seal was sealed, the current loosening of the seal was not enough for them to break free from the technique.

Uchiha Hikaru could forcibly break the seal and pull them out.

But doing so would be pointless and might even create some complications—this Minato Namikaze chakra might not recognize her, and if she were mistaken for the masked man's accomplice, there would probably be a lot of explaining to him.

I might as well just ignore it.

soon.

The chakra dispersed from the Nine-Tails formed a small Nine-Tails, two or three meters tall, outside the cell.

"...Is it this chibi-style?"

Uchiha Hikaru reached out to rub the Nine-Tails' head, but it dodged away with a look of disgust: "What are you doing?"

"Of course, we'd seal you away with magic and take you out. What else could we do?"

"...Hurry up."

Under Little Nine-Tailed Fox's impatient tone.

Uchiha Hikaru activated the "Four Symbols Sealing Technique," sealing the small Nine-Tails within his own soul. He then waved to the Nine-Tails' main body in the cage, and with a thought, extracted himself from Naruto's mental world.

Going back to reality.

In the living room.

Uchiha Hikaru slowly opened his eyes and saw Naruto, who was covered in sweat, and Esdeath, who looked wary, beside him.

"What are you doing...?"

"That brat suddenly emitted a very fierce aura, like something was about to emerge... Was that you? Are you alright?"

Esdeath offered an explanation, then asked another question.

"certainly."

Uchiha Hikaru smiled gently, then raised her right hand and glanced at the back of her fair hand—there, a fluffy fox head had appeared, looking quite chibi-like, like an old-fashioned cartoon sticker. But only she knew that this fox head contained the chakra of the little Nine-Tails.

"Speaking of which..."

Am I now considered a "Nine-Tails Jinchuriki"?

(End of this chapter)