Behind the bedroom door.
Uzumaki Kushina leaned against the cold door panel, the heat on her cheeks refusing to fade for a long time.
She raised a hand to touch her burning face, her mind uncontrollably echoing Gu Lingxiao's words: "Kurama is actually just a tsundere."
Kurama... tsundere...
Combining these two words created an absurd chemical reaction that diluted much of the fear and anxiety in her heart.
A bold idea grew wildly in her heart.
No sooner said than done!
She walked quickly back to the bedside, took a deep breath, and lay down.
She had to verify it for herself!
Closing her eyes, her consciousness sank, and when she opened them again, she was already in that familiar and oppressive sealing space.
Cold water droplets dripped from the ceiling that disappeared into the heights, cold water accumulated beneath her feet, and in front was that huge iron cage engraved with the character "Seal".
"Roar—!"
A deafening roar rushed towards her, carrying malice and hatred capable of tearing the soul apart.
If it were in the past, Uzumaki Kushina would have already subconsciously frowned, using a stronger will to suppress this tyranny.
But today, looking at the huge fox clawing and roaring crazily behind the iron cage, there was not a trace of disgust or fear in her azure eyes; instead... they were sparkling.
She even felt that although this guy was tied up like a giant bundle by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, it was still desperately baring its fangs, trying hard to look fierce.
That huge fox face was scrunched up, even its nose slightly twitching, looking... just like a big cat that had been provoked but was helpless.
This scene was really... a bit cutely contradictory.
"Hey."
Uzumaki Kushina walked to the front of the cage, hands on her hips, looking up at that huge fox head, and spoke tentatively.
The roaring stopped abruptly.
The Nine-Tailed's giant pupils stared fixedly at the tiny human below.
It sensed it.
From this woman, it could not feel the deep-rooted disgust and vigilance that treated it as a monster and a prisoner as before.
Her gaze had changed.
It was a kind of... playful gaze mixed with curiosity, scrutiny, and even a bit of watching a show.
This made the Nine-Tailed feel a strong sense of unease.
"Um..." Uzumaki Kushina cleared her throat, trying to make her tone sound natural, and summoned her courage to speak that unfamiliar name, "Kurama?"
The moment the words fell, the entire sealing space fell into dead silence.
Kurama's pupils contracted visibly.
Its huge body stiffened.
This name...
Except for the Old Man Sage of Six Paths, how many years had it been since anyone called it that?
This woman... how did she know?!
Before it could recover from the shock, Uzumaki Kushina's next words were like adding fuel to the fire.
"Just now, thank you." She tilted her small face up and said with a smile.
Although she didn't know why, she could feel that when the warm energy surged into her body earlier in the kitchen, it was the Nine-Tailed's Chakra that calmed down first.
"Huh?"
The Nine-Tailed finally squeezed out a word, its tone full of confusion and absurdity.
Was this woman's brain broken?
"I said thank you." Uzumaki Kushina repeated, the smile on her face becoming even brighter, "Let's get along well in the future; I won't treat you as a monster anymore."
Get along well?
On the Nine-Tailed's huge fox face appeared an extremely human-like expression, as if it had heard the funniest joke in the world.
It wanted to laugh out loud, wanted to use the most vicious language to mock this naive human.
However, when it felt that heartfelt, pure kindness from Uzumaki Kushina, all the vicious words that had reached its mouth were stuck in its throat, and it couldn't say a single word.
This feeling... was very strange, and also very unpleasant.
In the end, the Nine-Tailed just "humphed" heavily, turned its huge head abruptly, leaving the back of its head to Uzumaki Kushina, expressing its disdain with action.
But Uzumaki Kushina sharply noticed that the moment it turned its head, its furry, huge ear tips seemed to twitch uncomfortably, and the tips of its nine bound tails behind it also curled imperceptibly.
Seeing its awkward appearance, that word appeared in Uzumaki Kushina's mind again—tsundere.
The smile on the corners of her mouth could no longer be suppressed.
"Hey, don't ignore me. You look really, really like..."
"Shut up!"
"You're the tsundere! Your whole family is tsundere!"
In the darkness, a pair of huge, blood-red beast pupils suddenly lit up. What burned inside them was no longer pure destruction and hatred, but a kind of anger and embarrassment after being poked in a sore spot.
The huge Nine-Tailed was hanging upside down in mid-air in an extremely strange posture.
Countless Chakra chains shimmering with golden light, more solid than ever before, extended from all directions, tying its massive body up like a bundle, unable to move.
It could feel that these chains binding it had become unusually solid today for some reason, as if echoing the inexplicable good mood of its Jinchuriki.
But it couldn't be happy at all!
For thousands of years, it had been called a Demon Fox, a natural disaster, a collection of hatred... no matter how vicious the title, it never cared.
But "tsundere"?
This word, which sounded soft, mushy, and full of foolish human emotions, was simply the ultimate insult to its dignity as a Tailed Beast!
The Nine-Tailed turned its head abruptly, letting out another roar, interrupting her words.
It absolutely would not allow that word to be said from this woman's mouth!
"Alright, alright, I won't say it anymore." Uzumaki Kushina waved her hand with a smile, her mood feeling unprecedentedly light, "Anyway, I will come to chat with you often in the future, Kurama."
After saying this, she did not stay any longer, her consciousness began to slowly rise, leaving the sealing space.
Leaving only the Nine-Tailed alone, tied in place, with full frustration and irritability nowhere to vent.
It could feel that this woman's attitude towards it had truly changed.
But it was just unhappy!
Admit that it was not a pure collection of hatred? Admit that it longed to be understood?
Absolutely impossible!
It, Lord Nine-Tailed, the dignified strongest Tailed Beast, was absolutely not some tsundere! This human woman, don't you dare... don't you dare look at me with that strange look again!
It, Lord Nine-Tailed, was absolutely not some tsundere!