People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Itachi patted Sasuke's head affectionately and said, "In that case... Sasuke, are you ready? The training ahead will be very tough."

Sasuke replied with a strong voice, "I'm ready!"

Sasuke is currently showered with love and affection. Not only is Itachi teaching him ninjutsu, but Kaori, who is the same age as him, is also teaching him basic medical knowledge and the principles of sealing techniques.

Even Deidara, who is used to doing things his own way, will fight Sasuke with taijutsu if he is in a good mood when Sasuke asks him for help with training.

...

Back at the Root base, Naruto found himself bound by four chains once again. This time, however, no sealing runes were inscribed on his body, but several instruments were connected to him.

The other end of the device was connected to dozens of ninjas.

Danzo, standing before Naruto, said coldly, "Naruto Uzumaki, this time we will stimulate the Eight Trigrams Seal within your body with the chakra of the five elements, causing the seal to loosen. Then we will attack the Eight Trigrams Seal with Yang Release and Yin Release chakra. This process will be extremely painful. Are you ready?"

Naruto's eyes flashed with a cold glint: "Enough talk, come on."

With Danzo's command, the machine began to operate, and the ninja on the other end of the machine began to refine his own elemental chakra. The chakra of the five elements flowed into Naruto's body continuously.

As the five elemental chakras surged into Naruto's body, Naruto's face contorted in pain, and the Bagua sealing technique on his abdomen gradually became visible.

"Now's the time!" Danzo shouted from the side.

The Root ninjas of the Nara and Akimichi clans refined their Yin and Yang Release chakra and poured it into Naruto's body once again.

Naruto roared in pain as his Tailed Beast Cloak covered his entire body, and five tails appeared on his back.

Although Naruto was able to draw upon the power of Kurama after making peace with it, Kurama's chakra was too violent, and with Naruto's current physical condition, four tails were his limit.

Naruto now possesses five tails, which has exceeded his limits, and his rationality is beginning to be eroded.

Danzo showed no reaction to Naruto's screams, instead staring coldly at the Bagua seal on Naruto's abdomen.

At this moment, the Bagua seal is breaking down little by little.

Inside the Nine-Tails' space within Naruto, Kurama scolded him, "Naruto! We can't let them continue to break the seal. You can't withstand all my power right now."

Naruto's eyes revealed a sinister glint: "Don't worry, Kurama, they won't and wouldn't dare to completely destroy the seal. Danzo is testing the limits of my body's endurance. As soon as I show any signs of completely losing my mind, they will stop trying to break the seal!"

As if to prove Naruto right, just as Naruto's sixth tail appeared and he was about to completely lose his mind, Danzo ordered, "Stop!"

Chapter 224 Kurama and Naruto

All the Root ninjas stopped transferring chakra into Naruto's body.

At this moment, the Bagua seal on Naruto's abdomen was already tattered, with only half of the Bagua seal incantation remaining.

Danzo looked at Naruto, who was panting heavily, and muttered to himself, "Is the Six-Tails the limit...? That should be enough."

After watching Danzo leave with the Root ninjas, Naruto smiled smugly.

Inside the Nine-Tailed Space.

Kurama looked at Naruto lying on the ground, covered in sweat, and couldn't help but scold him: "Naruto, you're too reckless. Even if the seal is broken now, I will have to use a lot of my power to restrain my chakra so as not to harm you. I'm not in a hurry to break the seal right now!"

Naruto sat up from the ground: "Kurama, we have less time than I thought. We have to face the entire Hidden Leaf Village, as well as Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki."

I thought I possessed the strength of a Jonin, and with Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's help, they wouldn't really kill me. To think I could seize half of your body from Kushina was incredibly naive.

Kurama said seriously, "Naruto, even if you master all my power, it doesn't necessarily mean you can fight against the entire Hidden Leaf Village. You should know that even when I was in my complete form, I still fell into the hands of the Hidden Leaf Village twice. You need other powers."

"Other forces?"

Kurama tapped its large fox head: "Although I hate that power, I have to admit that it is very powerful. It was because of this power that Hashirama Senju was able to defeat me back then."

Naruto asked in surprise, "Wood Release? Can I learn that? It's unlikely, isn't it?"

"Idiot, of course it wasn't Wood Release! Although Hashirama Senju's Wood Release was a little bit strong, what I truly lost to Hashirama Senju was a Sage Art ninjutsu called 'Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands'!"

"Sage Techniques and Ninjutsu? What are those?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Sage Techniques are ninjutsu released using Sage Chakra. Sage Chakra is a special chakra that is formed by absorbing natural energy and fusing it with one's own ordinary chakra."

Naruto looked at Kurama with a blank expression, not understanding a word.

Kurama sighed deeply: "I knew you wouldn't understand. Just think of it as if you mastered Sage Chakra, then you would have great power. That's all you need to understand."

"Then how should I master Sage Chakra? Kurama, do you know it?" Naruto asked curiously.

Nine-Tailed Rabjam arrogantly turned his head away and said, "Hmph, how could I possibly know such a thing! I'm only telling you this because you're too weak right now. Otherwise, even if you begged me, I wouldn't reveal a single word to you!"

"Oh yes, yes, Kurama, you're the best! Tell me quickly!" Naruto ran to the cell where Kurama was imprisoned and buried his head in Kurama's fur, pleading sweetly.

"Get away! Don't stick to me!" Kurama impatiently shoved Naruto away.

Naruto reluctantly left Kurama's soft fur.

"Cough, there are only three places in the entire ninja world where one can learn Sage Mode: Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave. The leaders of these three places are all old guys who have lived for over a thousand years and call themselves Sages. Heh, but they're not ashamed at all. They dare to call themselves Sages."

"Do you know where these three places are?"

"I don't know. These three places are very hidden. Only by using reverse spirit communication can one get there."

"Reverse Summoning Technique..." Naruto felt this was quite troublesome, as the Reverse Summoning Technique could only be used by signing a contract with a summoning beast.

Before you have summoning beasts, using the Reverse Summoning Technique is tantamount to suicide, because you don't know where you will be teleported to.

"Don't feel it's difficult. It's actually very simple if you want to go there. Jiraiya and Tsunade from Konoha, as well as Orochimaru who defected, have signed contracts with Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave, respectively."

Upon hearing this, Naruto silently began to ponder.

Orochimaru's defection is not planned, nor is Tsunade's familiarity with Naruto.

That leaves Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze's master.

Naruto smiled and said to Kurama, "I understand, Kurama. I have a plan in mind."

Looking at Naruto's smiling face, Kurama felt a mixture of relief and pain.

Kurama still remembers the first time he met Naruto.

Naruto was only three years old at the time. He was bullied by a group of children his age and fell into a coma. By a twist of fate, he entered the Nine-Tails' space.

When Kurama saw Naruto, he became enraged and wanted to kill him.

However, Naruto's gaze was vacant as he approached Kurama and said, "Please, kill me."

Faced with Naruto's request, Kurama calmed down and asked, "Why?"

"I don't know what I did wrong, why everyone bullies me, why everyone hates me. If my very existence is a mistake, then why not just kill me?"

There was absolutely no lingering attachment to life in Naruto's eyes.

At that time, Kurama wanted to use Naruto to break the seal.

Naruto complied without resistance, but the Eight Trigrams Seal was too strong, and the young Naruto was unable to break the seal on the cage.

Later, Naruto found a way to freely enter the Nine-Tails' space and would come to Kurama every day, wanting to help Kurama release him from his cage.

After a while, Kurama also became acquainted with Naruto.

But what truly made Kurama open his heart to Naruto was that one day, Kurama didn't want to deceive Naruto anymore, so he asked Naruto, "If the seal is broken, then your life will come to an end. Even so, will you still do it?"

Naruto gently stroked Kurama's fur: "Kurama, you must be in a lot of pain. I can feel it. You are not a tyrannical beast. They misunderstood you, feared you, and forced you to be sealed inside a Jinchuriki. I can feel your grievance, resentment, and anger."

“You are my only family, and it is my duty to release you from your cage.”

From that day on, Kurama completely opened his heart to Naruto, chose to trust him, told him everything about Naruto's past, and promised to unconditionally support Naruto no matter what decision he made.

When Naruto chose to take revenge on everyone, Kurama chose to support him. Even though he was sealed by the Eight Trigrams Seal, Kurama forcibly used his enormous chakra to create a crack in the seal, supplying Naruto with the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Chapter 225 Naruto's Mission

"Naruto, do you really intend to kill Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki? They are your parents, no matter what."

Kurama is now considering Naruto's best interests in everything, so while it's great for Kurama that Naruto plans to kill Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, it doesn't quite agree with Naruto's intentions.

Naruto's face instantly darkened: "What kind of parents are those who give birth to me but don't raise me? Where were they when I was being bullied? They keep saying it's for Konoha, for the ninja world, but they've never said it's for me, nor have they ever asked for my opinion. They forcibly imposed their will on me. By what right?"

If they had died long ago, I could forgive them for everything, because I would take these words as their last words and use them to encourage and comfort myself.

But they're alive! I can't fool myself! Since they're all alive, why impose this shackle on me?

But only you, Kurama, have always been by my side, healing my wounds and comforting me. So as long as Kushina Uzumaki has half of you inside her, my hatred for them will never be resolved!

Kurama sighed softly: "...Naruto, I'll say it again, I hope you'll think it over carefully. Whatever decision you make, I will always be there for you and support you forever."

"Don't worry, Nine-Lama, I know what I'm doing."

After comforting Kurama, Naruto left the Nine-Tails' space.

Not long after, several Root members found Naruto and freed him from his restraints.

"Lord Danzo and the Third Hokage are waiting for you at the Hokage Building."

A glint of light flashed in Naruto's eyes.

Upon arriving at the Hokage Building office, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo had been waiting for quite some time.

Hiruzen Sarutobi cut to the chase and asked, "Naruto, are you able to control the Nine-Tails' chakra now?"

Naruto nodded and said, "It's a bit of a stretch, but it's acceptable."

Danzo said with some pride, "Hiruzen, I've said it before, Naruto Uzumaki is the best choice in my hands."

Konoha has been plagued by bad news, but today there is finally some good news that made Hiruzen Sarutobi finally smile.

"Very good! Naruto, I am now issuing you a mission: go to the front lines, rendezvous with your Team 7 captain Kakashi, and assist Kakashi in repelling the ninjas of Kumogakure!"

Naruto thought to himself that they had indeed called him here to get him to join the war, but this destination was not where Naruto wanted to go.

"Lord Hokage, may I go to the battlefield where we are fighting the Sand Village?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in surprise, "Why?"

Naruto explained, "The Hokage once told me that I should learn from the Fourth Hokage, and Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, was the Fourth Hokage's teacher. So I want to go to the battlefield in Sunagakure and learn from Jiraiya."

Hiruzen Sarutobi praised with satisfaction, "You've grown up, Naruto! Alright, I grant your request. Go to the front lines and join Jiraiya to help him defeat Sunagakure!"

Naruto accepted the mission and left the office.

Danzo solemnly said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Hiruzen, it would be best if I could place a Root sealing technique on Naruto Uzumaki. I saw the figure of someone in Naruto Uzumaki."

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in confusion, "Who?"