Hearing this, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at the giant fox in front of him.
"That's it?"
Hearing the disdain in Hoshiyomi's tone, a vein popped on the Nine-Tails' forehead. He roared irritably:
"You have no idea what those eyes represent! In front of those eyes, anything a tailed beast does is completely futile!
Back then, we were forcibly split apart by that power. Now Madara wants to use the same power to gather us back together again—and he won't even have to break a sweat. The Rinnegan's control over tailed beasts is nearly absolute. Do you understand?!"
Hoshiyomi stared at the Nine-Tails for a long while, then let out a long "Oh~~."
"Oh~~~ I get it now."
Just as the Nine-Tails' expression began to ease slightly, he heard Hoshiyomi continue:
"So what you're really worried about is this—if you let Naruto become a perfect jinchūriki, then when you're extracted again, Naruto will die for sure."
"You bastard!"
Having his true thoughts exposed so directly, the Nine-Tails immediately flew into a mix of anger and embarrassment. He glared at Hoshiyomi, feeling that if not for the cage restraining him, he would've slapped this bastard to death on the spot.
Yet, looking at Hoshiyomi's calm face, the Nine-Tails strangely felt a bit guilty. Images of Naruto's foolish, bright smile surfaced in his mind, and in the end, he gave up struggling.
Lying flat on the ground, he spoke in a low voice:
"You're right. If I stay the way I am now, then even if Madara extracts me, with Naruto's current physique—and if he's treated in time—he might still be able to live another two or three years.
But if I really let him become a perfect jinchūriki, fully merging our lives together, then once I'm extracted, Naruto will die without question."
That was the real reason the Nine-Tails refused to let Naruto become a perfect jinchūriki.
The situation was different from the original timeline. Back then, the enemy Naruto and the Nine-Tails faced was only Obito—a half-baked threat.
Although Obito also possessed the Rinnegan, he had only just fused with it and was unfamiliar with its abilities. Obito himself was nowhere near as powerful as Madara.
Under those circumstances, the Nine-Tails had been willing to gamble on Naruto's future—and his own survival.
But now, the enemy had changed from a half-baked Obito to Uchiha Madara at his peak—and on top of that, Madara had gained a pair of Rinnegan he awakened himself.
Faced with this, the Nine-Tails gave up resisting altogether. With his own chances of survival already near zero, he wanted Naruto—the kid he'd grown somewhat fond of—to live a little longer.
The boy was still so young. The Nine-Tails couldn't bear to see Naruto die along with him.
If death was inevitable, then at least let Naruto live a bit longer. With Hoshiyomi around, he knew that wasn't an impossible request.
Looking at the Nine-Tails—now stripped of his tough facade and filled with inner conflict—Hoshiyomi felt both annoyed and amused.
So that was what all this had been about.
Still, this only confirmed that the Nine-Tails had changed a great deal from his original self.
Now that the root of the problem was clear, the solution became much simpler.
Hoshiyomi looked at the Nine-Tails and said directly:
"You know, saying something like that is really underestimating both me and Naruto."
The Nine-Tails opened his eyes and carefully sized Hoshiyomi up before replying:
"I admit that you're incredibly strong now—so strong it's hard for me to believe. You're even stronger than Hashirama was back then.
But you're still a step short of the old man. With your current strength, you might have a slim chance of winning against Madara—but it's practically a nine-to-one split. And you definitely won't be able to stop Madara from extracting me from Naruto."
"Even if you defeat Madara in the end, Naruto will still die."
It had to be said—the Nine-Tails' assessment was actually quite objective. Although Hoshiyomi was only one step away from breaking through and could easily level up just by grinding a bit more, he deliberately suppressed his progress. He wanted to make a dramatic, heroic entrance at the critical moment and truly stun everyone.
Because of that, if he fought Madara with the Rinnegan at full strength right now, the best he could manage would be roughly a four–six split. Against Six Paths Madara, it really would be nine–one—or even worse, with nine–one being somewhat generous.
And it was true that, at present, he had no way to save Naruto. However, Hoshiyomi had already prepared his response:
"I just said it—you're underestimating both me and Naruto.
I can tell you very clearly: I'm only one final step away from breaking through. And as for what I said about Naruto, you've already sensed it too, haven't you?
There's actually a third source of chakra inside Naruto—one besides you."
At those words, the Nine-Tails' pupils shrank sharply. He truly hadn't expected Hoshiyomi to have sensed even that power.
Of course, the Nine-Tails knew that Naruto was Asura's reincarnation. Having grown up at the Sage of Six Paths' side, how could he not know about Hagoromo's two sons?
When he was first sealed inside Naruto, the Nine-Tails hadn't noticed it. But as Naruto grew older, he gradually realized that Naruto was Asura's reincarnation.
In fact, it was precisely because of this that he didn't dare let Naruto die. Back in the ancient war, it was Asura who defeated Indra.
Although Indra had now reincarnated into Sasuke, Madara was still Indra's previous reincarnation. Who knew what would happen if Madara killed Naruto, Asura's reincarnation?
Seeing the Nine-Tails' expression, Hoshiyomi shrugged.
"You already know it yourself. At my level, sensing that guy's chakra isn't a problem."
The Nine-Tails spoke with a serious tone:
"So… how much do you actually know?"
Hoshiyomi didn't bluntly reveal that he knew the entire truth. Instead, he answered vaguely:
"Not the full details, but it's not hard to guess that it has something to do with the 'old man' you mentioned—the Sage of Six Paths."
Hearing this, the Nine-Tails secretly let out a sigh of relief. If Hoshiyomi had claimed to know everything outright, he might've started suspecting that this guy was some kind of ancient monster.
Just then, Hoshiyomi continued:
"What I really don't understand is this: you already know that Naruto has deep ties to the Sage of Six Paths, so what exactly are you still worried about?
If the Sage of Six Paths was really that powerful, wouldn't he have left behind some kind of contingency plan?"
The Nine-Tails froze. His fluffy ears twitched as he propped himself up and stared at Hoshiyomi, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
Hoshiyomi's words actually made a lot of sense.
Asura and Indra were both the old man's sons. When Indra came after Asura back then, it was the old man himself who stepped in to resolve the matter.
No matter how old he was at the time, the Sage of Six Paths would surely have anticipated that such a situation could happen again. There was no way he wouldn't have left something behind as a safeguard.
Could it be that he really had been worrying for nothing?
Thinking this way, the Nine-Tails suddenly felt that Hoshiyomi's argument was extremely convincing.
"Ahem… you've successfully persuaded me. Go bring Naruto in."
...
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