Chapter 7: Friends

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“Where is this?”

Water flooded up to his calves, the light dim, and the air damp.

Naruto didn’t like this place.

He turned around and saw a massive iron bar; the pillar was thicker than a man.

Looking further inside—

Wasn’t this the daytime? That nine-tailed fox frolicking like a silly dog?

Naruto smiled; he already understood what was going on.

But haha... why was it alone here? No, why was a fox locked up in solitary confinement?

Sensing Naruto’s mood, the Nine-Tails shifted, making some noise to remind him it was still here.

Naruto laughed even more.

He laughed because the Nine-Tails in the training ground didn’t match the one in front of him. The little Nine-Tails in the training area was like a silly dog, mouth open, tongue out, pupils wide, running and rolling around wildly, knocking over countless flowers and plants.

And now?

Did this Nine-Tails think Naruto hadn’t seen it because he was busy training earlier?

Now it was pretending to be serious in front of him.

“Not talking? Playing it deep? Well, I’m leaving then!”

Without waiting for a response, Naruto turned and walked away.

“You brat.”

Sure enough, the Nine-Tails called after him.

There was no helping it; the Nine-Tails desperately longed for freedom!

This was something seasoned inmates who had spent decades in prison could deeply understand and empathize with.

Besides, there was at least communication in prison, but here was solitary confinement, scarier than any prison.

After experiencing those two hours of frolicking, the Nine-Tails craved freedom even more.

If it hadn’t had those two hours, it wouldn’t care; after all, it had lived like this for decades and was used to it.

But now, it just wanted “one more taste.”

“Brat, can you still go to that place during the day?”

“Yes,” Naruto answered.

“Then... then...”

The Nine-Tails felt its mouth couldn’t open.

Who would have thought that the Nine-Tails, a tough guy who had wandered the world with wild abandon all its life, would ever plead like this in a low voice.

“I like making friends. Next time I go there, I can take you with me.”

Naruto spoke on its behalf.

“But only one hour each day.”

“No, five!” The Nine-Tails stretched out a paw to bargain.

Naruto said firmly, “At most one hour.”

“If you keep bargaining, I’m leaving,” Naruto threatened when it tried to negotiate.

“Hmph!” The Nine-Tails snorted heavily, finally agreeing.

“Well, then I’m off.”

“Wait, brat.”

The Nine-Tails suddenly called after him, asking, “How long is one hour?”

Huh?

Naruto was speechless. If you don’t know how long an hour is, then why were you arguing with me just now?

‘This Nine-Tails is a bit clueless,’ he muttered, then explained, “About half of today’s time.”

“Only half?” The Nine-Tails suddenly stood up.

“Still not enough for free? This is because we’re friends that I’m giving you so much time. If you threaten me, there’s no deal, and I’m leaving.”

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“You...”

The Nine-Tails forced itself to calm down and finally crouched back down.

Better something than nothing.

“Brat,” the Nine-Tails wanted to say more but was interrupted by Naruto.

“I’m not a brat. I’m Uzumaki Naruto. You can call me Naruto.”

Naruto introduced himself, then asked, “What’s your name? What do you call yourself?”

The Nine-Tails stared at him silently, not answering.

‘Just a name. Is it really that hard to answer?’

Thinking this, Naruto threatened again, “Not talking? Then I’m leaving. If I leave now, all this is meaningless.”

Naruto turned to leave.

“Wait.”

The Nine-Tails clenched its teeth and gave in, “Kurama.”

“Kurama? That’s your name? Then we’re friends from now on.”

‘Friends?’ Kurama murmured to itself.

Naruto thought for a moment and decided to give a little incentive.

“As a witness to our friendship, tomorrow I’ll let you play inside for two hours.”

Two hours? The same as today?

Kurama was pleasantly surprised. If Naruto weren’t here, it might have howled to the sky!

“Don’t think it’s too short. You know, even I need to spend a lot of energy to get in there, and I can’t stay long each day.”

Kurama believed this. Maintaining that place must consume enormous energy.

After realizing this, it no longer resented Naruto.

In fact, it even wanted to ask how it could help extend the daily time.

But it stopped itself.

It was Kurama, a tough guy, not a dog.

“Since we’ve agreed, I’m leaving. Wait, how do I get out?”

At these words, Kurama nearly fainted.

You don’t even know how to leave and still threaten me?

“Haha, just kidding. Goodbye.”

Saying that, Naruto vanished.

Kurama stood there stunned for a moment.

“That brat.”

With a helpless sigh, Kurama visibly brightened.

Tomorrow it could run happily again.

Though the time was a bit short.

Suddenly, Kurama thought of something. It immediately retracted all its overflowing chakra, then refined it into pure chakra and released it again.

Kurama’s chakra was wild and hard for a child to absorb, with side effects. Pure chakra was different.

After absorbing it, Naruto would gain a substantial increase in chakra daily.

Although refining pure chakra took effort, this kid was worth it.

The amount needed to be controlled, as a child’s daily absorption had an upper limit, depending on bloodline and talent.

Still, Kurama had plenty of chakra to spare daily, so wasting some was no problem.

This wasn’t really helping Naruto, but helping itself.

Yes, that was it.

Thinking about Naruto’s mention of “friend,” Kurama closed its eyes, lost in thought.

The next day.

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Naruto woke up early.

In the past, his living expenses always appeared on the table as soon as he woke up, so Naruto planned to return early to get that money and avoid any complications.

Just before leaving, Naruto suddenly had a thought.

During the day, walking past others, he didn’t know how many hateful glares he would receive. Naruto feared he might not be able to resist attacking them.

So, Naruto planned to disguise himself as someone else.

With that in mind, he opened his panel and glanced at his chakra.

Today he was going to learn advanced skills, so his chakra had to be pumped up.

But that glance froze him.

Chakra: 2172/2172 (C)

(Increase: 20 (child) x (1 + 200% + 5000%) x 2 = 2120/day)

(Recovery: 1% (child) x (1 + 200% + 2000%) x 2 = 46%/hour)

How did it double like that?

Naruto checked the detailed info and records and finally understood.

“Oh, it’s Kurama.”

Who would have thought this guy was so proud.

Taking advantage, Naruto scanned his panel again.

Not much change.

Sealing speed +20, chakra control +10.

The rare SSSSSS talent was still kicking in.

At this moment, Naruto had a deeper understanding of this unique SSSSSS talent.

It was passive, not instantly realized, but slowly fulfilled.

Though slow, gaining 20 and 10 points daily was still terrifyingly fast compared to an average person’s max of 100 points.

Naruto knew it wouldn’t last forever.

The game’s detailed description:

Below 70 points: 1:1

71-80 points: 2:1

81-90 points: 5:1

91-95 points: 10:1

96-100 points: 20:1

101-500 points: 50:1

The higher the level, the more the multiplier, and each point gained represented a huge leap in strength.

But this wasn’t Naruto’s current priority; his mission was to get his living expenses.

Unsealing → Pig → Ox → Dog → Tiger

Transformation technique.

Bang~

After the smoke cleared, an old man appeared.

It was the same old man Naruto had seen a few days ago.

This old man was ordinary, a lonely elder, definitely unremarkable, so disguising as him to go home was perfect.

Naruto glanced himself over—he looked quite convincing. His max-level Transformation Technique wasn’t a joke.

Seeing the time was right, Naruto set off for home.

In the guise of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.