Inside the sealed space, Naruto finally saw the Three-Tails, Isobu.
Compared to Kurama, who was over ten meters long and looked like a walking natural disaster, Isobu—only a few meters in size here—looked like a tiny turtle toy.
It was hard to imagine that this little guy was actually the terrifying Three-Tailed Beast.
Sensing Naruto's arrival, Isobu slowly raised his head and stared at him with his mung-bean-sized eyes.
Then he spoke in a deep, muffled voice.
"Kurama… is this the jinchūriki you acknowledged?"
"His strength is impressive… and his chakra feels somewhat familiar."
Kurama snorted and crossed his arms proudly.
"Of course! The old man's jinchūriki is naturally the strongest."
"Unlike you. Imagine getting controlled by a Sharingan like some rookie."
"Didn't you and your jinchūriki try to stop that masked brat?"
Isobu lowered his head slightly and spoke weakly.
"Yagura and I tried our best… but we still lost."
"You may not know this, Kurama, but the masked man possessed not only the Sharingan, but also Wood Release. That power suppresses tailed beasts heavily…"
Kurama waved his paw dismissively.
"Bah, it's just some stupid Sharingan tricks."
Isobu blinked slowly.
"Then why were you sealed inside a human in the first place?"
Kurama instantly choked.
He coughed twice awkwardly.
"That's… different!"
"Being sealed? Who said the old man was sealed?"
"That's called responding to the old man's call and forming a partnership with humans!"
"Oh…"
Isobu nodded slowly.
"So that's how it is."
"I thought only Yagura and I had that kind of bond."
"I didn't expect even you, Kurama, managed to find a human willing to trust you."
He paused sadly.
"Unfortunately… Yagura won't live much longer."
"How long does Yagura Karatachi have left?"
Minato Namikaze, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke.
His voice carried a hint of emotion.
After all, he and Yagura were both Fourth Kage.
Yet both of them had sacrificed their lives for their villages far too early.
Isobu turned to look at Minato with confusion.
"Kurama… who is this human?"
Kurama glanced at Minato lazily.
"That's the Fourth Hokage."
"He's got some blood connection to Naruto."
"And thanks to his brilliant cooperation with the masked idiot back then, half of the old man ended up sealed inside Naruto."
Minato: "…."
He had to admit it.
Kurama had a very special talent for twisting the story.
Back then, the situation had been desperate. There was no way to stop the Nine-Tails from rampaging.
The only option had been to sacrifice his own life to seal half of Kurama into Naruto.
But Minato clearly remembered sealing the Yang half of the Nine-Tails.
Why did this fox's personality feel so… shameless?
With that thought in mind, Minato quietly glanced at Naruto.
The answer suddenly seemed obvious.
Yeah… this kid probably rubbed off on the fox.
Naruto listened to their conversation quietly.
He wasn't particularly surprised to hear that Yagura was dying.
When he removed the genjutsu earlier, he had already sensed that Yagura's body was full of holes.
His vitality was practically gone.
Unless someone used a massive amount of Yang Release chakra to save him, Yagura probably only had a few months left.
Saving a Kage-level ninja like that would cost an enormous amount of life force.
Naruto had absolutely no intention of wasting his energy on a Mizukage he barely knew.
Besides…
A weaker Mizukage was far easier for him to influence than a powerful one.
Seeing that Kurama was about to start bragging again, Naruto stepped forward.
"Alright, Kurama. Stop wasting time."
"How do I obtain the Three-Tails' power?"
Kurama looked annoyed at being interrupted.
"Simple."
"Just bump fists."
Naruto blinked.
"…That's it?"
"Yeah."
Naruto walked over to Isobu and stretched out his fist.
Isobu hesitated for a moment, then extended his tail.
Fist.
Tail.
Touch.
Naruto waited.
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
"…Now what?"
Kurama shrugged.
"That's it."
"You can now borrow the Three-Tails' power."
"His chakra attribute is Water Release."
Naruto sensed his chakra and quickly noticed the difference.
A strong water attribute had indeed appeared within his chakra.
He chuckled.
"Getting the Three-Tails' power was surprisingly easy."
"Way easier than getting yours, Kurama."
Kurama snorted proudly.
"That's because the old man recognized you."
"Isobu just doesn't have much personality."
Then Kurama added with a cold grin,
"If you run into the other tailed beasts, don't expect them to be this cooperative."
"Most of them don't listen to me at all."
"In fact, some of them are my sworn enemies."
Naruto smirked.
"You mean Shukaku, the One-Tail?"
Kurama's face immediately darkened.
"Don't mention that stupid tanuki!"
"He's obviously weaker than me, yet he keeps trying to challenge my position as the Number One Tailed Beast."
"That damn raccoon is completely out of his mind."
Kurama stretched lazily.
"Anyway, you got what you wanted."
"Now get the hell out."
"The old man is tired."
With the fox practically kicking him out, Naruto left the sealed space.
Back in the real world, Naruto began testing his new power.
He gathered Water Release chakra in his palm.
With a single thought, a sphere of water formed instantly.
The water ball floated in the air, constantly shifting shape under Naruto's control.
Unlike Wind Release, which still required hand seals for complex techniques, Naruto could manipulate water almost instinctively.
It felt as if he had gained a Water Release Bloodline Limit.
For simple techniques, he didn't even need hand seals.
Although extremely complex jutsu still required them.
The reason was simple.
In ancient times, ninjutsu didn't require hand seals at all.
It was Indra Ōtsutsuki who invented the hand seal system to make ninjutsu easier for ordinary ninja to learn.
In Naruto's opinion, hand seals were basically training wheels.
They helped beginners control the size and shape of their jutsu.
Powerful ninja could simplify seals.
Exceptional ones could pass their abilities down to their descendants.
And that was how Bloodline Limits were born.
Of course, this only applied to elemental bloodline abilities.
Special clans like the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, and Kaguya possessed abilities inherited from the Sage of Six Paths' lineage, which made their bloodlines far more unique.
While Naruto was casually playing with water near the pool, two figures arrived.
Zabuza Momochi.
And Hōzuki Mangetsu.
When they saw Naruto controlling water without hand seals, both of them were shocked.
But then they quickly calmed down.
After all…
Naruto wasn't a ninja on the same level as them.
His strength was already comparable to — or even beyond — a Kage.
Compared to him, they were basically minor league players.
After a brief pause, the two approached respectfully.
Mangetsu spoke carefully.
"Mizukage-sama… the Fourth Mizukage has woken up."
"He and Genji-sama would like to invite you to the Mizukage Building to discuss something important."
After a brief pause, Mangetsu added,
"The Fourth Mizukage has agreed to your conditions."
"He also hopes to establish deeper cooperation with the Uzumaki."
Naruto glanced at him.
"I thought you'd take the opportunity to kill the Fourth Mizukage."
"Wasn't your original plan with Zabuza to launch a coup?"
"Too bad. You missed the perfect opportunity."
Mangetsu gave a bitter smile.
"If we killed the Fourth Mizukage now… we wouldn't be able to stabilize the village."
"Even if we didn't kill him, he won't remain Mizukage for long anyway."
"He'll step down sooner or later."
Naruto tilted his head.
"And you're confident you can become the Fifth Mizukage?"
Mangetsu hesitated.
"There's… a certain chance."
"But I will do everything I can to become the Fifth Mizukage."
Then he looked at Naruto seriously.
"I just hope… you can give me a little more time."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to [Chuyoda] for joining my Patreon page!🎉Your support means the world to me. 🙏
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
I upload 2 chapters daily on Patreon!
There are 100+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
📢 Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[One Piece: Pirate Chat Group]